A football shot in the air and quickly came right back down into Sanchez's hands. He laid on the floor of his bedroom with his airpods in his ear, throwing the ball up, while organizing his busy thoughts. They weren't even necessarily busy thoughts but really demanding — forcing him to acknowledge them and create a solution to make them disappear. Sensei went quiet then violent and we sparred until we both grew tired...nothing mattered, Frank Ocean played in his ears, and though it was one of his favorite songs he wasn't into it like he usually would be. He lip synced the words but any other time he'd have a full concert especially once Andre 3000's verse came on. However, he wasn't impressed by the song right now. Only by the fact Asha managed to scramble his brain.
For the first time in his twenty one years of life he was feeling emotions and physical sensations he never had. The idea of liking her sparked after she left him disappointed the night of his birthday. He never cared to have people in his life, so being cut off wouldn't even make him blink. Asha had the last laugh on that one because the following days he was annoyed. Annoyed he couldn't call her. Annoyed he couldn't see her simply because he wanted to. Annoyed he was annoyed. Then Christmas Eve came around and he quickly realized he indeed liked her. He had gotten excited when Sydnie said she would be joining him and Ruben to view the lights, but that wasn't his realization.
The realization came to him when he knocked on the door and suddenly grew nervous to see her. The many times he'd seen her before he hadn't gotten nervous, and when she came downstairs that nervousness was replaced by warmth. He wanted to give her a hug and confess how much he'd missed her but he kept his cool. He wanted to gauge what type of time she was on and when she didn't greet him he figured she was gonna be a lil distant. It stung a bit but it was why he pointed out her hair change to let her know he wanted to talk. The more the night went on he was happy she opened up to let their natural connection flourish. The way they joked and played was like they hadn't gone without talking.
Then Christmas day felt like a whole nother ball game. It started when he saw her zoom past the house on the dirt bike because the last thing he expected was to see the heel wearing Asha on a dirt bike. Her skillsets seemed to be limitless and he was impressed, amazed and turned on. But what took place later that evening changed something for him. He sat in the living room having an intense game of thumb war with one of the kids when Asha's yelling and cursing silenced the house. Almost everybody quit moving and speaking in surprise. When she kept going he watched everyone jump up to see what exactly was going on but he stayed put just like the children and Ruben. Even from the living room it was obvious Asha was in distress from the tremble and crack in her voice. He wasn't sure who she was arguing with until he heard her say she wanted her daddy back.
The pain in her voice made his chest tighten as he sat waiting on Ashton to respond. He never did. Asha came speeding through the living room and out the back door. The look on her face made his heart quicken because he wanted to go after her but he knew her family would probably do it. He and Ruben looked at each other before he turned back to see who was going to check on Asha, but instead he heard a young voice screaming and a lot of commotion. He recognized it as Asha's brother as he cursed his dad for hurting her feelings over and over again. That was when he decided to get up and go see about Asha. She was leaned against a tree, sobbing and he hated how it made him feel. But it also showed him that she wasn't this perfect, put together girl like he thought she was.
She had issues as well.
Now he was trying to decide how he was going to come clean or if he even should. He knew it wasn't going to be an overnight process for him to get over his way of thinking and how he liked to move. However, he was now open to changing but he didn't want to hurt anybody. Effort wasn't always enough for people and he knew there were people who didn't like teaching the ropes of love. Some people never wanted to relive the days where they had to show someone how love works and how to move when involved with someone else. He wasn't dumb though. He knew the basics but he also knew he was prone to fuck up while trying to learn.
"Ugh." he groaned as he pushed himself up from the floor and tossed the football onto his bed. He needed to ease his mind.
He threw his head back to get his locs out his face then tied them back in a ponytail. He was headed to the kitchen to make lunch and probably watch a movie before he went down to the gym. It was still off-season but that didn't mean the work stopped. As an athlete, he needed to be in great shape at all times and prepared for whatever could be thrown his way. Therefore, he had to put in work outside of his time with the team and his coaches. But the team was holding MAT practice to prepare for upcoming spring practice in three weeks so he was active almost everyday.
Dorian laid sprawled on the couch half asleep with Lottery Ticket playing on the tv but Sanchez couldn't tell whether his eyes were open or not. He fanned his arm in front of the tv causing Dorian to slowly look up at him. "I thought you were sleep? I was about to gone and take me a nap too."
"Nah, I was just laying around." Sanchez went in the kitchen and took a bag of marinated meat out the fridge. "You hungry?"
"Hell yeah! What you 'bouta make?" Dorian sat up, stretching his limbs with a loud yawn.
"Spicy chicken burritos."
"Oooh, and I got a cold strawberry kiwi drink in the fridge. A nap is on my agenda forreal." he rubbed his hands together.
"Lemme ask you something." Sanchez cut the sink on and began washing his hands. He looked over his shoulder and with his head down in his phone, Dorian nodded for him to go ahead. "What advice do you have when it comes to dating? You've been in two lengthy relationships and I know your folks done schooled you on some stuff."
"In what sense?" Dorian put his phone down. "Like overall dating tips or specially geared toward you?"
"It wouldn't be the same? Just tell me what you think is important when it comes to dating somebody."
"Not having expectations. Yes, have your standards and your boundaries but don't go into it automatically expecting things from people. Dating is about being open-minded if you ask me. People will surprise you and you'll surprise yourself."
"Okay." Sanchez nodded, taking the meat from the ziplock bag and dropping it into the air fryer bowl.
"Listen. This is one I struggled with in my past. You gotta listen to what they are telling you whether it's outright or through their actions. We as people can't help but show who we are and what we want, you just gotta be listening. Along with that is compromising. After they've said what they needed to say, y'all gotta come to a middle ground that works for the both of you. Sometimes you will, other times you won't and I don't know how right that is but from my experience you won't all the time."
Dorian continued, "Uh...have fun I guess. That's my problem. Don't make it serious especially since we're so young. We got all the time in the world to get married and have kids and shit. Make it fun by not taking it too seriously but respecting each other and including them in stuff you like to do. Oh! My mama told my sister this the other day so this one is new for both of us. Make sure you live outside of them. All your friends don't need to be theirs, they don't need to be exposed to all your places of peace. Keep things for yourself."
"Hm." Sanchez hummed and nodded his head.
"She also told my sister not to put all her eggs in one basket and to still date until she's officially being courted. I don't really know what that means but they seemed be on the same page with it."
"You ain't ask your dad?" the front door opened and Zeek walked in with a slim jim hanging from his mouth. "Wassup Zeek?"
"Y'all really gotta start locking this door. I stay just walking in this bih like I live here." he pushed the door shut and locked it. "What y'all on?"
"Nothin' just talking about dating while Chezzy boy makes us some to eat." Dorian answered.
"Dating? Which one of y'all boys dating now?" he dropped his bag on the floor and sat at the island. "You and Shanya finally on that? Congratulations brother."
"Nah, I think she just tryna feed me dreams until she ready. I'm off her. You ain't finna bench me and think I won't walk out the game. Deuces." Dorian threw up the peace sign.
"Know your worth. I respect it." Bahzeek gave him dap. "So it's you Chez? You dating now, nigga?"
"Nah...I'm just thinking about it." he admitted.
"What!? Tell me something new. What's going on?"
"It's complicated."
"Ain't nothing too complicated to comprehend." Zeek rested his arms on the island, ready to hear what Sanchez had to say.
Sanchez made a face then turned around to grab a pot to start the process for his lime cilantro rice. Dorian and Zeek started to snicker but waited to see whether Sanchez would actually speak and let them know what was going on with him. Like discussed before, he never really spoke to them about women he may have had in his life at the time. They always found out after the fact. He couldn't necessarily move like that in this situation because it was new territory and he didn't want to go about it the wrong way.
He took out the ingredients he needed to chop up and huffed before he spoke, "It's Ash—"
"What I tell you!?" Zeek smacked the counter, proud he called it first. "Y'all gon' stop playing with my skills."
"What fucking skills, bro? Shut up and listen." Dorian laughed.
"There's not much for me to say other than I like her. I'm just tryna figure out what I'm gonna do now that I know that." he grabbed a knife and cutting board.
"You gotta tell her."
"And then what?" he smashed a garlic clove. "The last time I talked to her was Christmas. It's almost March."
"So what? There's an expiration date on feelings? Love work on it's own time and it's own dime." said Zeek.
"All of a sudden I'm into relationships now? She's gonna think I'm tryna run some type of game on her 'cause I miss her."
"People's mind change everyday, bro. We're allowed to change our mind based on new circumstances. I mean unless you still don't want a relationship."
"I don't know what I want to keep it a bean with you. All I know is I like our vibe together, I still be wanting to talk to her every—I'm not telling y'all niggas this." he quickly frowned.
The boys smacked their teeth.
"You might as well get your words together now cause if you tell her she's gonna ask. They always do, that tell me why you like me bullshit." Dorian rolled his eyes. "Irritating as hell."
"She's gonna wanna know if you being real with her and you just said you don't want her to think you tryna run game so just say it."
"I'm still not telling y'all niggas. I'll write that shit down."
"That's cool too." Zeek shrugged. "Just make sure you know what you want before you tell her anything."
"Fuck!" Sanchez closed his eyes and lowered his head. "How y'all do this, man?"
"Through years of practice, and you'll still mess up. How that saying go? You can't learn unless you fail. Gotta make mistakes and just keep it pushing to get it right the next time."
"And like I said don't take it too serious. Don't think just because you like her you have to see a future of marriage and kids. Be in the moment. Take it by day."
Sanchez took in everything they were saying to him but it only added on to his thoughts, creating more questions. He had been working on trying to answer his own questions by watching videos and letting his thoughts out on paper, but it wasn't doing as much justice as he liked. He felt like his mind wouldn't be able to rest until he told Asha how he felt. Even if he didn't know exactly what he wanted yet. He hoped that when he did confess that whatever she said afterward would help him decide what he wanted. He knew he was down bad about it when he prayed for his mom to help him. To help him let go of that fear and just be with his life.
He had already chosen to let others in his life by fully accepting the Mitchell's invitation into their family. Ever since Christmas he'd gotten Drew's number, Granddad's number and Jeremiah's number. So far he talked to Drew the most but he and Jeremiah gamed together when he had time after classes and his workouts. Now, he needed to work on opening up a little bit more to invite romance in his life. The fear was turning out to be much more difficult to overcome than he expected. But if Asha would take a leap of faith he was more than willing to push himself.
"I wish I could just wake up and be like I wanna love you and I want you to love me too. Like damn!" he aggressively chopped the onion.
"You just said it. Now call her and say it again. Hurry up before you're not as frustrated and can't say it so freely." Zeek pushed Sanchez's phone closer to his hand.
"What about it is so hard for you? You already show love from the affection you give her, you cooking her meals, on the phone talking about every damn thing for hours. Is it the committing? You're afraid to say I'm going to be with you for as long as I love you?"
"At first it was the fear of losing someone but at this point I've dealt with so much loss what's another one? I see now that I can move past loss. It takes time but it's possible. Now, I'm just scared to fuck it all up because I've never given myself to anybody or let them give themselves to me." he admitted.
"You gotta try and make mistakes to get it right. There's no way possible to get right on the first try. No way."
"Even the people like my brother and his girlfriend who've been together since early high school...just because it's the same person doesn't mean they weren't fucking up. It's a learning process and y'all either learn together or learn from one another and apply it to the next."
"Y'all making it sound so simple." he huffed.
"It's not." Dorian quickly shook his head. "We're just letting you know that you have to dive in, put your best foot forward and keep it moving. Things work out and some things don't but it's all about the experience."
A few days later, Sanchez sat against his locker scrolling on his phone for a few minutes. Practice had just come to an end and though he was tired he had a class in the next hour so he wasn't going home yet. He wasn't too excited about it because he wanted to take a nap but he had to do what he had to do. He swiped thru the photos and videos on his Instagram feed, liking very few but looking anyway. It didn't take long for him to get bored with the app so he made a quick post to his story then exited it. He got up from his seat and grabbed a towel as he headed for the showers.
He made his shower quick, picked up a meal from the cafe then found a table to occupy near his class' building. The food wasn't the best today but he ate it anyway, mostly enjoying the fruit slices he grabbed from the football facility. As he munched on the variety of fruit, he people watched. He didn't care to be on his phone and wasn't up for listening to music, therefore, watching people be people was his form of entertainment.
"Why the hell is he lookin' like that?" he laughed to himself.
Like he heard Sanchez through his headphones, the young man frowned up his face even more. Sanchez mocked his expression as the boy walked past earning the middle finger. He only laughed, popping more fruit in his mouth.
"Je that's not funny. I was catching a cramp from holding it for so long. I had to. I literally had to." he could recognize that voice anywhere. He slightly turned his head to peek over his shoulder and sure enough, Asha and Jema were coming up behind him.
"It's only funny because I just know the professor was like 'what the hell!? in the middle of my lecture tho'." Jema laughed.
They were finally beside the table he sat at and simultaneously glanced in his direction. He expected a small smile and possibly a 'hey' as they kept it moving — it was their new norm whenever they saw each other out, but instead Asha stopped. She reached in her tote bag then pulled out an envelope with his name on it. He looked up at her in confusion, taking it anyway.
"It's an invitation to my mom's 40th birthday gala next month. I know you have spring practice and stuff so if you can't make it it's fine. Just let her know."
He nodded, "Aight...you got a minute to talk?"
"I'm actually on my way to my internship. Is it important?"
"A lil but I don't want you late so go ahead."
She went to walk away but stopped herself and looked at him. He could see the wheels in her head spinning as she wondered what he could want to talk about. "What is it?"
"Don't worry about it. I'll catch you another time."
"Okay." she walked away.
He watched her walk alongside Jema to the student parking. He softly beat on the table as he thought about the lost opportunity. He could've asked was she available to talk later, he could've walked with her to her car and told her. He had options. But he took neither of them and now he was going to be thinking about it for the rest of the day. He checked the time on his phone and decided it was time for him to go to his class. He dumped his trash in the nearest garbage, shaking his head and huffing at himself.
With a small exhale, I stood in the bathroom fixing my hair and making sure I didn't look as overwhelmed as I felt. It was week three of my internship and I was starting to feel the pressure. The workload had increased and the deadline window had decreased. I wasn't upset about it because I was learning alot about the music industry and gaining experience in the exact position I wanted at a more major label. I was interning at a small record label named Eclectic Sounds and it was amazing. I simply didn't expect to be handed so much work but after seeing the task list both the marketing team and the PR had, it was understandable. I just had to come to the bathroom and breathe.
The time on my apple watch read 4:30pm which meant I had an hour and a half left on the clock. I washed my hands then walked out the bathroom to music that filled the halls. The walls were plastered with the signed artist's accomplishments or well captured photos from a photoshoot. I opened the door to the marketing team's side of the building and took a seat at my desk. It was directly outside my boss, the senior marketing chief's door filled with papers and folders I had been given before my small break.
"Mitchell." he called as soon as I sat down. I threw my head back but stood up anyway and walked into his office.
"Yes?" I stood before his desk. He was a slim black man, standing about six foot even, 130lbs soaking wet with a sharp temp fade.
"The folder I gave you for Amina Black is the very last thing I need from you so don't stress about it. Get that one done little by little but run your ideas by me first. You've been doing a very good job with keeping the rollouts on track and taking note from the meetings. Don't get overwhelmed. You've been handling yourself well." he looked up at her as he said the last sentence.
How did he know she was getting overwhelmed? She had no idea but the reassurance made her release a small breath and relax a little more. He wasn't a man of many words. He rarely changed his facial expression so she never knew what he was thinking or if he had been satisfied. All she had been running on for the past few weeks was hope and self affirmations that she was doing exactly what was asked of her.
"We had a busy lunch so focus on aligning their schedules with their social media duties for the rest of today so you can come back tomorrow ready to crush your task. Good?"
"Yes sir." she nodded. "Thank you."
He smirked, "You're welcome. And stop wearing those blazers. The team thinks you're out dressing me."
"I'll knock it down to once a week." she softly chuckled.
"Mondays only." he pointed.
"Mondays it is." she walked out and sat back at her desk with a sigh of relief.
She organized all of her papers and put them to the side except the print out of each artist's social media duties for the month. She wrote their current schedule out on paper then thought of an easy way for them to get things done without being stretched thin. As she wrote, scribbled then wrote again, time began to speed past her. It was five minutes before clock out when she stopped to glance at the clock while typing her made schedule into the shared spread-sheet. She hit save and exit then leaned back in her chair.
After work she had to go by Ruben's house to pick up something he needed to give her. She didn't think too much of it, thinking maybe he cooked something she had told him she liked. It led her to remember her encounter with Sanchez today. He wanted to talk but she was on her way to Eclectic and couldn't be late. She took her phone from the desk and went to his thread at the bottom of her messages. You still want to talk? she typed out and sent. The door to her boss' office closing made her look up to him packed and ready to go.
He gestured for her to get up. She shut her computer down and put the papers she'd set aside into her tote bag. She stood up and followed him to clock out and go home. On her way to her car, her phone pinged in her hand with a reply from Sanchez: Yeah, but I'm at my pops right now. I can come by after I leave. She chose not to respond because he was right where she was headed. She got in her car and headed opposite of where she lived to Temple Terrace where Ruben lived. When she arrived, she parked behind Ruben's truck and got out.
"It's dark over here." she glanced around, using her phone's flash to help her travel the pathway up to the door.
"That's not how the song go!" she heard a voice shout from inside.
"Then how it go!? You swear you know everything!" another voice was just as loud.
She pushed the door bell and the loud talking came to a stop. The door opened to Sanchez cradling a cat and Dorian and Zeek standing in the living room, craning to see who was at the door.
"How you know where my pops stay?" Sanchez frowned at her.
"He told me to come by and get something."
"Is that Bug!?" Ruben yelled from somewhere in the house. Sanchez moved aside and let her in.
"Hey." she spoke to Dorian and Zeek. They responded and told her Ruben was in the kitchen. She rounded the corner to Ruben cutting the stove off. "Hey, it smells good in here."
"Cajun salmon and garlic potatoes." he looked over at her. "You welcome to stay and eat. I made enough incase you was hungry."
"Aw thank you. What would I be to pass up food?" she watched him maneuver the kitchen.
"Hungry. But this what I wanted to give you." he picked up a business card and flyer. "One of my regulars at the shop helps out with the big concerts in town, and he said they're lookin' for somebody to help with the social media marketing. It ain't a record label but I think it's pretty close."
Asha pouted, "Aww, thank you for thinking of me. I'm surprised you even remembered what I wanted to do."
"When people talk, I listen."
"My hands are full right now with my internship but I am grateful that you would even bring this to me. I can pass it along to one of my classmates."
"That'll work too." he nodded. "Where your internship at?"
"Eclectic Sounds. I'm their marketing intern." she smiled.
"Hell yeah!" he gave her a high five. "You already where you need to be! What, intern there for a year and apply to the big boys?"
"I've talked with a few people I met in LA and apparently it's easier to get in a record labels if you've worked outside of music like; product campaigning at Nike, social media managing for Fenty Beauty. Pretty much doing what they'll want you to do but with companies you'll need to befriend in order to do really well in the position."
He nodded, "Makes sense, I guess. They do say networkin' get you in higher places than experience."
"Yup so we'll see." she watched him cut everything off.
"Alright the food's done. I need everybody to go wash ya hands."
Asha looked over her shoulder seeing all the boys get up from the couch and head for the hallway. Ruben pointed for her to follow. She walked behind the boys and stood near the wall as they pilled in the bathroom shit talking one another. They pushed each other around, flicked water and admired themselves all while cleaning their hands. Only boys. She waited until they filed out of the bathroom one by one to step in and wash her hands too. When she returned, there was an extra chair at the table beside Sanchez and Ruben was sitting plates down. She quietly sat down and pushed her hair behind her ears. For some reason she felt like she was invading Sanchez's privacy even though he spent the holidays with her family. It didn't help that Dorian and Zeek kept stealing glances at her as if she was in the wrong place.
"You good." Sanchez's assured her, holding her bouncing leg still.
"Alright. Let's eat." Ruben gave Asha her plate then sat down at the head of the table with his.
It didn't take long for the men to start up conversation about the upcoming spring game and their practices. Asha sat listened with nothing to add to the conversation. She wasn't into the mechanics of football even though she watched it. She simply found the form fitting uniforms and the aggression attractive. The topic moved to spring break and what the boys had planned. Of course, they were going to Miami where most people cheated and single people did the unthinkable with strangers from other schools.
"Asha, you going somewhere for spring break?" Ruben tried to get her to join the conversation.
"No, I'll be here working. I don't get my break until the semester is over."
"Then you right back in for summer classes?"
"Yup. But I'm going to spend the rest of the year traveling before I start worrying about post grad jobs. I don't need a break yet."
"Couldn't be me. School be turning my brain into mush. I need a break every other assignment." Dorian commented. "You are dedicated."
"And I'm just used to school, school, school. I've never played a sport or was in fun clubs. Everything was scholastic."
"That's why you be upside down at parties." Zeek laughed.
"Upside down?" Ruben asked, confused.
"She be on her head shaking her tail feather." Zeek clarified, and the boys laughed while Asha palmed her face.
"Nah." Ruben laughed. "I don't believe it."
"Believe it." Sanchez nodded his head. "She be up on the tables, on the floor. She don't care if she in a skirt or tights. Just play the music and you'll see her."
"Stop." Asha elbowed him. "Y'all doing too much. I pretty girl bounce and mind my business."
"Lies!" the boys called her out in unison.
"Matter of fact. Somebody sent me a video of her the night of my birthday. I know I got it somewhere in here." Sanchez grabbed his phone but Asha quickly grabbed his hands.
"Are you forreal?" she looked at him.
"What?" he grinned. "You were pretty girl bouncing remember?"
"You're annoying. I'll pinch you."
"Go ahead...but you already know what'll happen next." he shrugged. She squinted at him. "Yeah, now unhand me you little lying heathen."
"Don't start that mess at the table now." Ruben told them because they looked like they were going to.
"You heard the man so move yo hands." Sanchez pushed her hands away with a smirk.
Asha reluctantly moved her hands but it allowed her to catch a glimpse of the time. She needed to be getting back home to finish her assignment before midnight. With a gasp, she let Ruben know she enjoyed the dinner and took her empty plate to the kitchen. She was going to wash it but Sanchez let her know he was on dish duty and would clean it. Ruben told Sanchez to walk her out to her car. She said goodnight to everybody then went out the door, forgetting just how dark it was when she arrived. It was even darker now.
"Before you get in the car let me talk to you." Sanchez stopped her from bypassing the chairs in front of the garage door. "Come sit right here."
She sat down in the chair and looked at him while he sat on the hood his car. "What is it?"
"The last couple of months been weird as hell." he started as he stared down the road. "I can't even describe to you how I felt but it didn't feel good, I can tell you that much. I was sitting tryna figure out what's so different about this? I done lost friends before. I'm used to a lil circle cause I don't care to open up to people. You get what you get and that's it, but I don't move like that with you and it's not even intentional." he finally looked at her. "I'm an open book with you and I like having that one person I can say and do exactly what I feel with. It's new but for some reason I want you to know exactly who I am. And I always wanna be wherever you at and the shit is odd. For me at least...."
Asha didn't know where this was going but her stomach was now aching. It was violently twisting in knots because it was feeling like he was going to confess feelings to her but she also believed him when he said he doesn't do relationships. Therefore, she had to sit there and listen to him say everything he had to say and hope it actually went somewhere.
"I know I'm doing a lot of talking and I'm not done but I need to tell you all this and hope you understand when I'm finished."
"Okay." she nodded, adjusting the way she sat.
He huffed and stared down the road again. "I'm not this hopeless romantic or big believer in love. I've seen it and yeah it's like aw or whatever but the shit is damaging. Traumatic even. I've seen the the so called 'happy ending' and I've seen the raw too and thats sticks with me the most." he put his eyes back on her. "That pain. Someone waking up and being like 'I don't wanna be here no more' and dipping out. Or going off somewhere for a minute and coming back to them dead—"
Asha's heart sunk and she knew this conversation wasn't going where she thought it was. Now she was growing a little agitated because if he was just going to just her why it won't be her, he could've left it where they were. Cordial and minding their own business.
"—I stayed up at night listening to my pops bawl his eyes out for his wife back for years, and maybe I was wrong for letting his trauma control me, but I was the one who had to console him. We didn't have nobody else. It felt like my pain too because part of it was and I never want to feel that again. I'm afraid of feeling that type of pain again."
Asha swallowed as she took in his words. He hadn't taken his eyes off her and she could see the raw emotion in his orbs. He was stripping himself bare to tell her this when he didn't have to.
"So, to avoid that shit like the plague, I don't let women get this close to me to avoid feeling deeper emotions than I've ever dealt with. I can admit that...and Pops told me I was gonna be knocked upside the head one day, but I wasn't tryna hear that. I guess he was right cause I've had this gotdamn headache for months and I'm scared as hell, man."
"What are you saying to me, Sanchez?" her heart was thumping.
"That I like you too and I want to keep getting to know you, but I just ask you grant me some patience as I figure this out 'cause I don't want nobody hurt but I like you, Asha."
Asha could've squealed and smiled until her cheeks hurt by the fact he liked her back. She got up from her chair and stood in front of him. "If only you would've said this two months ago."
She watched his face fall as he closed his eyes in defeat. He huffed and said, "I was just tryna figure out how I really felt so I ain't come to you on no bullshit. I didn't want you to feel like I was just saying something to keep you around. But at least I told you. Better late than never at all, right?"
"Aww, I was only joking." she wrapped herself around him. "I'm sorry. It was a bad joke."
"Yeah it was. I'm sweatin' some crazy right now." he turned his hands over when she pulled back to see. She touched his hands that were warm and clammy.
"And shaking." she smirked. "Aw, it's okay. It let's me know you're being real with me. I will say I didn't see this coming tho."
"I know. Me either but it was bothering me and had me doing a lotttt of thinking. I've been reflecting and looking at life with a new mindset. That's why I asked that you be patient with me 'cause I know it won't be an overnight thing. I don't know how long it'll take me to get a grip but I'm pushing myself to be open-minded and get over this fear. That's a lot in itself."
"Take it slow?"
"Take it slow." he nodded.
"I'm letting you know now there will need to be some form of progress and a lot of conversations that neither of us may want to have. But I'm always open ears and pretty understanding."
"You cool as hell, man." he chuckled, shaking his head.
"I thought we established that a long time ago." she smiled.
"We did." he stared at her, taking in her features. She pulled him off the car by his arms to create a change because he was making her nervous.
"I need to get home before I get a zero on tonight's assignment. I'll call you tomorrow tho." she walked to her car.
He put his arm around her waist, stopping her from opening her car door, but also pulling her against him. He kissed her temple which took her by surprise though she love it. "Thank you."
"For what?" she looked up at him.
"Being understanding. I'ma try my best not to let you down." he reached and opened her door. "Let me know when you're home."
"I will. Goodnight." she smiled.
"Goodnight." he pushed the door shut once she was inside.
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Q U E S T I O N S
1. any thoughts on Dorian and Zeek's dating advice?
2. any feelings on how he told Asha? did y'all squeal? cause I damn sure did.