Page 73 of The Need to Know

“So…?” Ezekiel wanted to know, watching me curiously. “What did Miss Film Critic think?”

Testing the waters, I laid my head on his thigh and faced the ceiling. “I kinda wish the ending was more definite. It’s hopeful, but at the same time, he’s still in the same position.”

“But with more confidence to really seize his future,” Ezekiel noted.

I fiddled with my fingers. “I guess. It’s a cool movie for hip-hop in Detroit. It feels like most of them are based in New York.”

“Closest we’ve got is Hustle & Flow, but that’s Memphis.”

“I gotta watch that again, but that was a good one from what I remember.”

“Who’s your favorite southern rapper?” Ezekiel asked as he looked down at me. If my laying on his leg bothered him, he didn’t say.

“Rapper from the south?” I pondered. “Ludacris.” I started rapping lines from “What’s Your Fantasy,” to which Ezekiel was quick to jump in and rap alongside me.

“For me, it’s definitely Three Stacks.”

“Don’t get me wrong, I like OutKast, but André’s a little…”

“You say overrated and you cancelled. Did you not listen to The Love Below?”

“Eh,” I let out. “People say they love him to sound all deep and intellectual.”

Ezekiel deadpanned and pushed me off his lap, leaving me landing in a thud on the carpet.

His reaction made me lay there and laugh loudly. So much so I snorted and ended up covering my face in shame.

“Yo, did you just snort?” Ezekiel hovered over me with a big grin on his face.

I nodded as I smothered my laughter. “I do that sometimes.”

Ezekiel shook his head, going and grabbing his Pad Thai. “The Love Below is really my favorite album of all time. It’s eclectic and smooth. Every song is fire. You have ‘Prototype,’ ‘Love in War,’ and…‘Take Off Your Cool.’ ” He wrapped the last song title tenderly in his calm voice as he gazed at me, making me want to know what it was about.

“ ‘Take Off Your Cool’?”

He ate some of his Pad Thai and waited until he’d swallowed instead of talking with food in his mouth. “It reminds me of us now that I think about it. It’s about not frontin’, about being honest and not worrying about ego or pride.”

I fingered the carpet beneath me. Why did I like that he was using ‘us’ now? “Us, huh?”

“I feel like I can be honest with you. I mean, I don’t know for sure, but it seems the same for you. We’re not…‘dating,’ so there’s no fear or overthinking. It’s no pressure to put up an image or front to impress each other, we’re just Ezekiel and Nastasia.”

In a way, he was right. I could say what I wanted to him without worrying if it would taint the possibility of us, and he was up-front about his not wanting a serious relationship.

I grabbed my Pad Thai and dug in a little.

“I’ll have to give that album another listen,” I said.

“Oh, you gotta. Every OutKast album is perfection, but that one is my favorite.”

I lay there, head resting on my palm, staring up at him in wonder. I couldn’t stop myself from slipping up and smiling like a fool.

“What?” He suddenly paused.

“Nothing. I just like watching you talk. You sound so educated on the topic.”

“I’m serious.”

“I know.”