Aeipathy ➳ Normani ✓

twelve

C H A P T E R T W E L V E

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When Keith woke up the next morning, Normani was not by his side.

He'd reached out one of his arms in search of her warmth and was met with crinkled sheets and the potent smell of her perfume that still lingered on them.

He sat up and stretched. His eyes landed on her crumpled clothing in the same spot Normani had left them last night. She couldn't have left.

He slipped into a pair of sweat shorts and headed out of the bedroom.

Keith found Normani dancing along to one of the albums from his old CD collection in nothing but her panties and one of his vests. There was something inherently heart warming to the way she was confident enough to wear his clothes.

She hadn't heard him when he stepped into the room so she continued to passionately sing-scream the lyrics of Mario's Let Me Love You with a remote controller in her hand.

She manoeuvred her legs into a semi-moonwalk and Keith was reminded again of how little he'd seen her dance and how good she actually was at her craft.

Keith stood in his spot for a while, admiring the way her body became pliable and melted in into the music and took on whichever form it desired.

The song ended and Keith clapped. Normani flinched with a little yelp.

She turned to face him"I- how long have you been standing there?" she asked.

"Long enough," Keith said with a smile.

"You're a really good dancer, by the way."

"Thank you," Normani replied and felt a blush travel all the way to her cheeks. It was far too early for this sort of thing.

He shuffled closer so he could encompass her into a tight, sweet hug.

"Good Morning,"she murmured against him.

" E ku aaro, Awelewa Mi."

"Wait don't tell me, that means, 'good morning' right?"

Keith nodded.

"You're getting much better at understanding Yoruba, I'm impressed."

"One day, I'm going to run circles around you. I'll speak better Yoruba than you."

"Hah, impossible. I'm a native speaker!"

"And I'm Normani Kordei, Nigga."

Keith rolled his eyes at her but his girlfriend gave him a smug smile.

"You know that was a good one," she said.

"Yeah, whatever," Keith said. "Anyway, let's get some food into our systems. I'm starving. What do you want for breakfast?"

"Anything you're having," Normani replied.

"Okay, I'll make us pancakes."

"Sounds good, I'll just freshen up," Normani said and placed a chaste kiss on his jaw before she sauntered back into his en suite bathroom.

She washed her face and brushed her teeth while Keith made plain pancakes with a side of ice-cream and sliced strawberries.

Normani ended up eating all of hers and a majority of his while he watched the way the sun made her eyes look like melted hazel chocolate.

There was an undeniable shift in their relationship, in all the right ways. He felt more connected to her after what had happened last night. He couldn't keep his eyes off of her, she truly was one of the most marvellous creatures he had ever encountered.