Page 24 of Meet Me at the Altar

I placed a subtle kiss behind her ear, and she shivered.

“Mm. Do that again,” she murmured.

I chuckled. “Look at ya hot ass.”

“When did you learn to play like this? I don’t remember you ever knowing how to play pool.”

“After I lost a grip on a game that I thought I could talk my way out of,” I explained as I set up for my next shot.

She moved into my line of vision and bent over the table. “Drè.”

I kept my eyes on the balls instead of her cleavage that was fighting for space in that tight ass T-shirt she wore.

“Not now, baby girl.”

“Drè,” she called out again.

“What, Kalli?” I asked after I missed the shot.

She smiled and sunk her teeth into her bottom lip. “Just wanted to make sure you were paying attention.”

“You’re ratchet for that.”

We played a little longer before we headed next door to Rooftop, a soul food restaurant that had a beautiful view of Downtown Cherokee Springs from the rooftop bar.

Once we were seated, we ordered shrimp, sweet potato fries, and cocktails.

“This view is amazing. I’ve wanted to come here since they built this place four years ago. It’s the perfect date night restaurant.”

“What stopped you?”

“No one to come with.”

“What about Rutherford?”

“You mean Remy?”

“Yeah. That nigga.”

“It was too special a place to go to with him. Don’t ask me why, but I never wanted to go with him.”

“Did you ever move in with him?”

“We did. We had just started back living together the year before he cheated. We had tried living together before, but I loved my space, and he was too junky. So, I moved out.”

“How did you find out about him cheating?”

“I came home after getting laid off, and I found him in the bedroom fucking our neighbor’s daughter. I mean, this kid used to keep Remy’s nieces and nephews when they would spend summers with us so that we could have a break. She used to spend the night at our house sometimes to get breaks from her older parents. She and I used to do each other’s nails and hair, watch movies together, and binge watch TV shows while eating junk—all things her parents weren’t interested in doing with her.”

“Damn. That’s crazy. You lost your job and your man in the same day?”

“Yeah. I remember the only thought that went through my mind after I left was where in the world is Drè. I cried so hard and for so long. You were the only one who could ever console me when I was inconsolable. I felt so alone and so lost like no one would ever get me again.”

I reached across the table and took her hand into mine and rubbed my thumb over her fingers. “I’m sorry that I wasn’t here to see you through the rough times, but I promise that you’ll never have to go through them alone again.”

“Thank you,” she whispered and smiled shyly.

The waiter came and took our dessert orders before we finished our meal. After he left, she looked back at her plate with a curious expression. “So, seafood. I noticed you ordered the same thing when I came to your hotel room. What’s with that? I don’t recall you eating so much seafood in the past. I mean, you always liked it, but this is different.”