hi friends! ☺️ y'all in for some SHIT this chapter.
Four days.
It had been four days since anyone talked to Asantè. He hadn't been to work, or been by Mali's place. His disappearance left Luvie confused yet concerned. She spoke to Tyra and Faven about it but the girls were just as confused as she was about his whereabouts.
Mali mentioned that he checked on Asanté when he didn't return after a while from their outing. He thought that he was probably still with Luvie, but when he texted him, Asanté simply told him that he was straight and left it at that.
After Luvie texted him a few times, she stopped reaching out, figuring that he would hit her up when he was ready.
However, that didn't stop her from missing him. When her parents asked her about him, she simply told them that he was dealing with some personal problems, and that they haven't spoken much within the last few days.
Since she didn't have Asanté to hang out with as usual, Luvie spent time hanging out with Tyra. While she did, Tyra filled her in on her life.
Usually Luvie was the one venting to Tyra about her own problems, that sometimes she would forget to ask Tyra what was going on in hers.
Tyra never held it against her, given that she didn't have much going on with herself. Faven and her lived a drama free life, if they were dealing with any problems it was usually pertaining to boys.
But even then, Faven and Mali didn't have problems within their relationship.
Luvie grabbed her wallet out of her locker after she clocked out for lunch. For the past three hours, her mouth had been watering for some hot wings from next door.
She replied to Tyra's last text on her way out of the room, letting her know that she was going on lunch.
She proceeded to walk through the building, passing by her co-workers and customers. As she neared the entrance, she noticed a familiar face standing with someone else, seeming to have an intense conversation.
The girl reached in to hug Asanté, as he rubbed her back. Luvie bit down on the side of her cheek, not too fond of how cozy their embrace looked.
Luvie took a deep breath before slowly exhaling, pulling her gaze away from the pair. She continued on her way out, going to her text messages to let Tyra know that Asanté was okay.
"Let my pops know I'll drop by to see him tomorrow," Asanté told his cousin from his dad's side. She nodded in response, returning her attention back onto the screen where she was on FaceTime with her girlfriend.
Asanté stopped by his job, knowing that Luvie would be going to lunch soon. He felt bad for going ghost on her for the past couple of days, but he needed the space to get his mind right after what happened at his grandmother's restaurant.
He hadn't counted on running into his cousin when he came in. She mentioned to him that her uncle was now staying with them until he was able to find himself a new apartment.
Asantè was aware that his dad was no longer living with his mom. They had a talk a few days ago, Donald revealing that he left Esi. He had tried to fight for their marriage because he genuinely loved Esi.
However, he was tired of the constant arguments between them and between her and Asanté.
The last straw was Esi kicking his son out of the house.
Asantè had only said what he was trying to tell Esi for the past few years. It was only a matter of time before Asanté snapped at his mother—she provoked him and then played victim and acted surprised when she'd gain a reaction out of him.
After she kicked Asanté out, they had an even bigger argument than she and Asanté did.
Donald fought hard to detach his name from Dante. Unfortunately, as long as he remained with Esi, it just wasn't possible.
Asanté walked over to the counter, his eyes searching around for Luvie. "Yo, Luvie already on lunch?" he asked Dorian.
"Yup," he popped his lips. "She literally just walked out,"
Asantè hummed and turned around, quickly walking out of the store. He saw Luvie a few feet away on the sidewalk, looking down at what he believed was her phone.
"Hey green eyes," he spoke, following behind her. Luvie looked up and stopped, turning around to face him.
"Oh, hi," she meekly replied, locking her screen.
"Come here," he beckoned her, slowing down his pace. Luvie obliged, even though she wanted to stay put in her spot. She cursed her body for wanting to feel his touch,
He held an arm out, pulling her in for a hug. She reached in to give him a quick side embrace then tried to pull away. But Asanté gently pulled her back towards him, his arm snaking around her waist as his other free hand grabbed her chin and leaned in to kiss her.
She wanted to pull away, but her body simply wouldn't let her. As smooth as Asanté was sometimes, she knew she wouldn't be able to hold up her attitude towards him much longer.
Luvie leaned away from their kiss, taking a step back. She quickly turned around, beginning to walk towards the wing spot.
Once they made it inside, Luvie placed an order—Asantè paying for it like he usually did. While they waited for her order, there was a silence between them. On Luvie's end, it felt awkward, she didn't know what to say to him.
And as much as she wanted to address his disappearance from the last four days, she figured he would tell her if he wanted to or when he was ready.
"You been okay?" Asanté asked her, noticing that she wasn't going to say anything.
Luvie hummed in response, avoiding looking in his direction. "Have you?" she questioned him in return.
"Not really," Asanté sighed, tucking his hands in the pocket of his hoodie. The tone in his voice captured Luvie's attention, making her raise an eyebrow. "I'm sorry that I went ghost, I just been dealing wit' some shit,"
"Do you...want to talk about it?" Luvie shifted in her chair. Asanté hesitantly nodded, licking over his lips. Before he could start, Luvie's ordered number was called out at the front counter.
Luvie held a finger up for him to wait, before getting up to go grab her food.
Shortly after she returned, Asanté went into detail about what unfolded at his grandmother's restaurant.
Asanté pulled up in front of Esther's restaurant. Customers and family stood outside, flashing red and blue lights illuminating their distressed faces.
One of Asanté's uncles sat on the inside of an ambulance, his arm being tended to by one of the paramedics.
Asanté got out of the car, passing through the crowd that had formed, watching and trying to understand what was happening.
From a distance, he saw Anaïca comforting their grandmother who was distraught. Esi stood on the side of her, chatting with one of the detectives.
"Granny?" Asanté called to her, as he finally drew closer to the women. "What happened man?"
He took Esther in his arms, rubbing her back as she kept crying. She tried to explain the dire situation through her sobs, but she was too overwhelmed that she was incoherent.
"Calm down, breathe, granny," Asanté coached her, redirecting his attention to Anaïca. "What happened Neek?"
Anaïca opened her mouth but nothing came out. Her eyes were fixated on something else behind Asanté, prompting him to turn around.
His heart dropped, his eyes growing wide as they landed on the van that spelled out 'Coroner' on it. He whipped back around to face his cousin, "Who died, Anaïca?" He interrogated her.
"Mel-Melvin," Esther finally muttered out through her sobs. "H-he was standing a-at the door when they started sh-shooting,"
Asanté slumped his shoulders, as he tightened his arms around Esther. Melvin was a long time family friend. He practically looked at Melvin as another one of his uncles.
No matter how busy Melvin was with work, he always stopped by to visit Esther at her home or restaurant every day. It was a part of his every day routine, that if anyone was looking for him, they could count on finding him there.
"Damn," Asanté uttered, his eyebrows lowering. "Have y'all talked to Shaunie and them yet?" he questioned, referring to Melvin's children.
Anaïca nodded, wrapping her arms around herself. "A police car is escorting them to the hospital, we told them not to come up here. We didn't want them to see him like this," she said.
"Good,"
Esi let out a huge sigh as she approached them. She had her hands tucked in her back pocket, grimacing at the sight of her mother crying. "Ma, don't cry. They'll catch who did this," she reached one hand out to rub her back.
Esther slapped Esi's hand away, causing Asanté, Anaïca and Esi to raise their brows in shock.
"They won't catch who did this, Esi! You want to know why?! Because they didn't catch who snatched Amiyah! They didn't catch who shot up your house the first time! They never catch the people who have been harassing us since your demon seed of a child did what he did!" Esther snapped, aggressively pointing her finger in Esi's face.
"Why are you blaming Dante for this?" Esi frowned.
"Oh for fuck sakes, Esi! Everything bad that happens is a result of Dante's actions! What other fuckin' reason would they have to shoot up this place?! Asantè doesn't even get into trouble! I don't have no fuckin' teenagers or gang bangers hanging around here! This is a family restaurant!"
"Mama, I understand that you're upset but you're directing your anger towards the wrong person," Esi tried speaking to her in a calm voice, holding her hands up.
"No! I'm not, Esi! You have your head stuck so far up Dante's ass that you can't even see he's ruining our fuckin' lives! You're so blinded by catering to your fuckin' son like he's your husband, you lost your actual husband and your other two children in the process! Overcompensating for raising that bastard child of yours and quite frankly being a shitty fuckin' mother!" Esther read her, Asanté beginning to cringe from the secondhand embarrassment he felt.
People from the crowd turned their attention onto Esther, a few policemen pausing and staring at her with baffled expressions.
"W-what?" Esi quietly mustered out, her eyes glossy with tears.
"Yeah, I spoke with Donnie earlier and he told me he left! After you kicked out my grandson—which I knew nothing about and I can't even begin to explain my anger about it—he said he left! He's tired, Esi—I'm tired! We're all fuckin' tired of you shoving that murderer down our fuckin' throats! If you love him that much, why don't you do us a favor and disappear—just go on and live your life wit' just you and that fuckin' psychopath!"
Esi tried swallowing the lump in her throat, a few tears falling down her cheeks. She walked around Asanté and Esther without uttering another word.
"And I know you haven't had your daily call with him today—make sure to mention to him, because of his actions, some children are going to have to grow up without their father much sooner than they thought! He has more innocent blood on his hands!" Esi shouted after her.
Anaïca stood on the other side of her and placed her hand on her hand, as she and Asanté guided her away towards the car.
By then, Luvie had stopped eating her wings, a bit sick to her stomach that an innocent man had his life stripped away from him as a result of Dante's wrongdoings.
"I-I'm so sorry, Tay," Luvie grimaced, reaching over to grab his hand.
"And it's crazy cause my granny doesn't even cuss. You have to really piss her off to get her to that point and everyone knows to avoid being on her bad side. She said what I've been feeling since Dante was sentenced—since my sister disappeared. And for a moment, I actually felt bad for my mom, but then I remembered she doesn't even deserve my empathy," Asanté said, rubbing his index and middle finger over the polished wooden table.
"Is your dad okay?"
"Yeah, he's fine. He's staying wit' my aunt, I was actually talking to my cousin earlier about it when I came looking for you," Asanté told her, Luvie slowly humming, mentally cursing herself for jumping to conclusions. "Shit is just bad right now in my family. I've been staying over at my granny's—just to comfort her for the time being. She told me that I could stay there, but I don't want to be in the way,"
"I think right now would be a good time for you to be there, Tay. She's your grandmother, she probably feels really bad that your mom treated you that way and you couldn't go to her about it. Just...stick around a few more days and think about it, okay? You being around would make her feel more at ease and safe," Luvie convinced him, reaching her other hand out to grab her cup of sprite soda.
Asanté nodded, letting a silence fall over them. He watched Luvie sip from her straw, casually watching the other customers in the front as they put in their orders with the cashier at the counter.
"...how do you know she'll feel that way?" Asanté broke the silence, after pondering on what she said.
Luvie placed the cup down and turned to look at him, cocking her head to the side. "What do you mean?" she questioned him with a confused expression.
"How do you know that she'll feel at ease and safe wit' me around?"
Luvie lightly ran her tongue over her top lip, before gently biting down on her bottom lip. She shrugged, "Because that's how I feel when I'm wit' you," she said. "And I'm sure that's how Faven and Tyra feel as well,"
Asanté nodded again, leaving the conversation at that. He checked the time on his watch, letting go of a sigh. Luvie peeped this, glancing between his watch and then him. "Got somewhere to be?" She side eyed him.
"No," he shook his head, leaning back onto the wall. "Just checking to see how long you have,"
Luvie smirked to herself, grabbing the small container of ranch to dip her wing in it. "Missed me?" She teased, peeking over at him.
"I did,"
"I missed you too," she replied, taking a bite out of the wing. "Do you want to come over after I get off? If you aren't busy," she placed her hand over her mouth as she spoke.
"All I needed was the invitation,"
❦❦❦
Later on after Luvie got off, she and Asanté lounged around in the living room, continuing their marathon of All American.
Asanté was lazily reclined back on the sofa while Luvie's legs rested across his lap as she leaned back on the arm of the sofa.
"I love them so much," Luvie gushed, referring to the characters Olivia and spencer. She looked over at Asanté, seeing that his eyes were closed. She rolled her eyes and got up, heading towards the kitchen.
"Where you going?" She heard him ask her in a raspy tone. She could admit that she loved his sleepy voice, she melted at the sound of it whenever he spoke—especially when they were on the phone at night.
Luvie ignored him, walking into the kitchen and over to the cabinet. She grabbed her favorite cup and went to the fridge to get some ice.
After she was finished, she rinsed off her ice—a habit she had been doing since she was kid, after finding hair in her ice.
While she did that, she felt Asanté place his hands on her waist. "Mm, mm, go back to sleep," Luvie said, removing his hands. "Niggas will have their eyes closed, snoring loudly and swear they wasn't sleeping,"
She turned around to face him, he was rubbing one eye, letting out a yawn. "I wasn't even sleeping, ma, I was just resting my eyes," he lied.
Luvie sucked her teeth and gently pushed him away. "Man, move. Lying ass," she scoffed a laugh.
Asanté stepped in front of her, grabbing the cup out of her hand and placing it on the counter. He then proceeded to grab her thighs and lift her onto the counter as well, before standing between her legs.
"I'm sorry, love," Asanté apologized, leaning in to kiss her on the neck.
"...it's okay, I'm just being a brat," she softly replied, playing with the gold chain around his neck. "You haven't been getting any sleep lately, huh?"
"No," he answered her, rubbing her thighs.
Luvie deeply exhaled through her nostrils, wrapping her arms around his neck. She pulled him closer, connecting their lips. "You better get all the sleep you can because if you fall asleep at the movies tonight, I'm gonna beat you up," she playfully threatened him.
Shortly after Luvie's lunch break, Asanté texted her, asking if she wanted to go to the drive-in movies tonight. He felt guilty for ghosting her but he was glad that the feeling was mutual of missing each other.
With everything that was going on with his family, he needed a distraction.
"Beat me up, huh?" Asanté smirked, his hands sneakily making its way up her shirt. Luvie felt her heart thumping loudly against her chest, slightly lifting her neck up as he leaned in to kiss her there again.
His hands roamed up to where her chest was, squeezing on her breasts that were sitting up comfortably in her bra.
Luvie slid her hands down his arms, gently biting down on her lip. She could feel herself getting hot between the legs, a feeling she hasn't felt even when she was with Benji.
Mostly because she felt like the energy never flowed. Every time they were alone together, he tried making a move on her, especially when she voiced to him many times she wasn't ready.
The way he tried sneaking his hands in places that she wasn't comfortable with him touching—it completely turned her off.
However, the feeling was different with Asanté. She liked feeling his touch against her skin, and when he did, it seemed like he always made sure was comfortable with him touching her.
It was the first time that he went any further than caressing her in innocuous places.
Asanté pulled his hands from under her shirt and grabbed her hands to help her down from the counter. There was a brief moment of silence as he stared at her with some type of look that Luvie couldn't quite make out.
"What?"
"...are you a virgin?" he finally asked, his curiosity getting the best of him.
Luvie poked the side of her cheek with her tongue, cutting her eyes at him. "What made you ask me that?" she scoffed.
"Well, we've talked about our past relationships—or at least I have. You've only mentioned that dumbass from your freshman year, but you haven't mentioned any other relationships other than him. I'm going to assume you're not going to have sex wit' anyone you're not in a relationship wit'," Asanté replied, gesturing his finger up and down at her.
Luvie tucked her hands in the back of her waistband of her shorts, clearing her throat. "Well...you assumed right. I had many opportunities to lose my virginity but I felt like that's all guys wanted from me. To be able to brag about being the one who 'popped my cherry'," Luvie air quoted with her fingers.
Asanté hummed, wetting his lips. "So, if I hadn't stopped—would you have stopped me?" he cocked his head, Luvie's stomach fluttering under his intense gaze.
"...I don't know," she shrugged, looking around the kitchen to avoid eye contact. "Would you have kept going if I didn't stop you?"
"No," he quickly answered. Luvie subtly jerked her head back from his hasty response. "I only did it just to see how far I could go. You're comfortable wit' me—which is a good thing but I want you to lose it when you're absolutely ready,"
"What if I'm ready now?" Luvie slowly met his gaze again. Asanté took a step closer to her, invading her personal space. He leaned down to tenderly kiss her, his fingers lightly tugging at the button on her shorts.
Luvie grabbed his hand, pulling it away. "That's what I thought," Asanté lowly spoke, giving her one last kiss before walking out of the kitchen.
Once he disappeared completely out of the kitchen, Luvie let out a shaky breath she hadn't realized she was holding. While she did agree with Asanté about being extremely comfortable with him and though she genuinely did like him, it simply wasn't enough to lose her virginity to him.
She was going off to college in the fall and he was aware of this. She needed to know if it came down to them getting together, if the feelings would remain the same once she was in another city, three hours away.
Luvie walked into the living room, Asanté was leaning back between the arm of the sofa, his legs stretched out. "Take a nap wit' me?" Asanté said, without looking up from his phone.
Luvie climbed on top of him, wrapping her arms around his torso while she rested her head on his chest. "You just want me to take a nap so I won't nag you about falling asleep on me," she replied.
Asanté locked his screen and slid his phone into his pocket, before he placed both of his hands on her back. One hand sneaking under her shirt again, caressing her lower back.
"You said it," he silently snickered to himself, prompting Luvie to suck her teeth. "You needa take one anyway,"
"You definitely could've put me to sleep," Luvie mumbled.
"I swear, virgins always be the horniest,"
A laugh slipped from Luvie's lips while Asanté smirked. However, Luvie's laugh abruptly stopped as she looked up at him with furrowed eyebrows.
"What?"
"How you know virgins are like that?"
"I like your hair down," he complimented her, trying to deflect from the conversation. "You look good,"
Luvie stifled a laugh, playfully rolling her eyes. "I can't stand you," She simply shook her head, resting it on his chest again.
❦❦❦
Nighttime had fallen, by then Luvie's parents had returned home from work. They were a bit surprised to see Luvie and Asanté snuggled together on the couch, taking a nap.
Candice thought it was adorable Asanté found the time to visit her. She could peep that her daughter was missing his presence heavily over the last few days.
Luvie stood in front of the mirror, adjusting the black headband around her head as her locs were up in a high ponytail. Two strands of locs fell down her face on each side, her baby hairs were neatly laid down.
She wore a white short sleeved crop top that tied in the front, with a pair of tight fitting, high waisted black jeans. A gold nameplate necklace with her nickname 'Luvie' complimented her neck.
Although she wanted to look decent, she was quite too lazy to do any makeup. Instead she only did her eyebrows, while adding a little mascara to her false lashes.
She outlined her lips with a brown lip liner before finishing it with clear gloss.
Once she was done getting ready, she sat in the living room, scrolling through Reddit and occasionally stopping to read over posts made by people looking for advice regarding their relationships or marriages.
While Luvie understood that those people weren't sharing any information that would reveal their true identities, she couldn't imagine her partner going to the internet for advice or seeking validation regarding their relationship problems.
"Buttercup, you want to go get Pho tomorrow?" Candice asked her while coming down the hallway into view.
Luvie looked up from her phone, running her index finger under her lash. "Sure, you're off tomorrow?" Luvie replied, watching her mother plop down on the couch next to her.
"Yup," Candice grabbed the remote, tucking her legs underneath her. "I'll be off for the next four days, you want to have a girls day tomorrow? You can invite Tyra and Faven if they're not busy,"
"Yeah, I'll ask them—you're off for the next four days? What's the special occasion? There's a holiday coming up or something?"
"Juneteenth, girl. I'll be damn if I work on that day, might as well call me a damn slave if I did," Candice scoffed, rolling her neck as she scrolled through Netflix. Luvie snickered, throwing her head back. "Why you laughing? I'm being serious,"
"You crazy,"
Luvie returned her attention to her phone, while Candice continued to search for something to watch. However, Luvie looked away from her phone again, glancing over at her mom.
She softly bit down on the inside of her lip, her mind still racing with emotions from earlier. "Mama," she softly spoke.
"Mhm,"
"When did you know you were ready to lose your virginity?"
Luvie could see Candice's eyebrows shoot up in surprise, seeming to be taken aback by her question. She blankly stared ahead at the TV for a few seconds before fixing her attention onto her daughter.
"Are we finally having that talk?"
"Um, maybe? I don't know..."
Candice placed the remote in her lap and turned her body toward Luvie. "Are you...thinking about losing it to Asanté?" she questioned her.
"N-no, I just—well, I don't know, maybe?" Luvie stammered, then nervously laughed.
Candice grinned and grabbed Luvie's hand, "Calm down, Buttercup. You know I'm not that type of mother, I'm actually happy you came to me because that means I've made you comfortable enough to do so—Lord knows I wasn't able to wit' my mom and that's exactly how my ass ended up wit' Nazim," she ranted on.
"It's just...we had this moment earlier, and for a second—a very split second, I thought about losing it." Luvie explained, fiddling with her nameplate. "I mean, I like when he touches me—might even say I love it. I feel something that I haven't before wit' any other guy I've talked to,"
"It's like his concern wit' making sure I'm very comfortable wit' him, it makes me melt—he's extremely gentle wit' me," Luvie smiled a little, half-shrugging.
"He's bold too," Candice added, as Luvie nodded in agreement.
"And that's something that I love about him,"
A slow smile spread across Candice's face, it was the first time in years that Luvie had gushed over a boy. After the situation with Benji, Candice started to believe that Luvie simply wasn't interested in relationships, since she never mentioned having any crushes or wanting to go on a date.
Although the situation happened years ago, Candice still wanted to put hands on the boy for playing with her daughter's feelings. She was never comfortable with the idea of Luvie dating a senior while she was a freshman.
However, she didn't push on it, fearing that if she did, she would only cause Luvie to go behind her back and do it. And the last thing she wanted was to be a strict parent creating a sneaky child.
"Love, huh?" Candice repeated, playfully poking her. Luvie tried holding back a goofy smile, side eyeing her mom. "Are you growing to love him?"
"As close friends, yeah,"
"No, no," Candice chuckled, waving her off. "Close friends are what Tyra and Faven are. He's considered your romantic partner—close friends don't kiss and go on dates,"
"Well, he can't be that if he hasn't asked me to be his girlfriend yet, mama. I love him as a friend, because that's what we started out as. I think it's too early to say that I love him as my romantic partner,"
"And I understand that, there's no rush on love. But coming from someone who's been observing the interaction between the two of you lately, he definitely means a lot to you. I mean, from the first time he came over, you hugged him first—Sioni, when the hell have you ever hugged anyone first? You don't like people touching you," Candice laughed, prompting Luvie to join in.
"I know," Luvie's laughter died down, letting go of a soft sigh afterwards. "And I think that's when I started to realize how much I liked him. I-I just wanted to know if what I felt earlier was lust or...I don't know,"
"Well," Candice shifted in her spot, placing her other hand on top of Luvie's. "I definitely don't think it's lust, Sioni. You may be a bit confused about what you're feeling towards him but it's okay, most people are at first. I've felt that way towards your bald head ass daddy, now look where we are,"
"Not too much on my daddy," Luvie held a finger up, stifling a laugh.
"My point is, you'll know when you're ready, buttercup. Every woman's experience is different when it comes to her first time. I can sit here and tell you all about mine but I don't want my experience to be some type of blueprint of how your first time should go but," Candice emphasized, pausing briefly, "What I will tell you is that your partner needs to be gentle wit' you—before, during and after. And please, please, please—use protection."
Shortly after Candice finished, the doorbell went off. Candice got up from the couch and walked towards the front door, opening it. "Hi, Asanté," she greeted him, stepping aside to let him in.
"Hey," Asanté replied. Luvie got up from the couch, grabbing her purse and her phone.
"Um, Buttercup, where the rest of yo' clothes at?" They heard Marc's voice appear as he came down the hall.
"For real, she showing too much skin," Asanté teased her, gesturing towards her crop top.
"Man, please," Luvie waved them both off, sliding the strap of her purse onto her arm. "It's only gone be us in the car,"
"Now what if I didn't have tint on my car?"
"Then I wouldn't be seen wit' you in that fishbowl," Luvie scoffed, walking past him out of the house while Candice, Marc and Asantè started snickering.
"Crazy part about that is she's dead serious," Marc shook his head. "Y'all be safe,"
❦❦❦
"And I just remove the headrest?" Asanté pointed to the headrest on his seat. Luvie nodded and pressed down on the button to take the headrest off of the seat.
"And then the seat goes all the way back," she showed him, pushing down on the lever to let the seat back. "I forgot where I seen it but I've done it ever since,"
"Wow, I never thought about doing that," Asanté said, proceeding to do the same thing on his side.
Once the seats were down, Luvie and Asanté decided to go to the concession and get snacks before their movie started.
They stood in line, Asanté's eyes roaming over the different types of candy to choose from. Luvie wrapped her arms around his torso from behind, resting the side of her face against his arm.
"What type of candy do you want? Or do you want popcorn?" Asanté questioned.
"Well, I don't care too much for popcorn or candy. I'll just take a soda," she said.
"Fine, it's not like I wanted to be cute and share anyway," Asanté grumbled, Luvie giggled and pinched his side causing him to squirm a bit. "What kind of soda, ma?"
"Coke," Asanté nodded and stepped up to the counter, beginning to put in an order. "Oh and um, can I get some nachos?" Luvie added.
"Can I get some nachos," Asanté mocked her. Luvie sucked her teeth and pinched him again, making him flinch. "Okay, damn, mean ass,"
She poked out her bottom, slowly blinking. "I'm not mean," she continued pouting.
"Yes you are,"
"Get my stuff before I beat you up," Luvie removed her arms from around him, pointing at the cashier who was placing the nachos on the counter.
"I'm not scared of you and yo' li'l empty threats," Asanté passed the cashier the money and grabbed the nachos along with the cup of soda before giving it to Luvie.
"I see you got my stuff though," Luvie rolled her neck, grinning. She turned around and started walking back to the car, leaving Asanté behind.
He simply shook his head, silently laughing to himself.
The couple made it back to the car, getting into the backseat. Luvie took a few sips of her coke before placing it in the cup holder.
"I should've gotten jalapeños," Luvie complained, dipping one of her nachos in the melted cheese.
"You want me to go back?" Asanté offered, shaking a few skittles in his hand. Luvie hummed, declining the offer. "Good, I wasn't going back anyway,"
"I hope you choke on one of those skittles too,"
Asanté placed a hand over his heart, pretending to be fake hurt. "Damn, that's fucked up. I thought we had something special, green eyes," he looked down at her.
"We do," Luvie smiled.
"Did you miss me?"
"You were only gone a few hours, Tay,"
"So? I missed you,"
"Of course you did,"
Asanté dramatically sighed while Luvie softly laughed. She reached over to grab his chin and pull him in for a kiss. "I did miss you," she said.
Finally, their movie started about ten minutes later. Neither spoke, instead wrappers from their snacks could be heard over the radio the movie played from.
Every few minutes, Asanté would sneak glances at Luvie. His eyes roaming over the outfit she wore.
Naughty thoughts from earlier were still plaguing his mind. It was the first time that he ever touched Luvie other than the usual spots.
He would be lying to himself if he said he didn't want to explore the rest of her body.
His mind even wondered about how she tasted. The more he thought about it, the more his curiosity started to get the best of him.
He thought about mentioning it to her, but he wasn't trying to come off too strong or make her uncomfortable.
However, his taste buds were craving to taste something he never had—and that alone was starting to drive him crazy.
"You know, if you keep staring at me, you're going to miss the movie," Luvie said, ripping her attention away from the screen.
Asante shrugged, "That's a'ight,"
"Is there a reason you keep staring?" She tilted her head, taking another sip from her soda. "You can't be that bored wit' the movie already,"
"I like what I see," he slowly licked over his lips. Luvie smiled as she bit down on the straw, returning her gaze to their movie.
In the midst of Asanté ogling Luvie, they both heard a tap on his side. They both exchanged puzzled looks, remaining quiet.
There was another tap, this time a bit louder than the first. Asanté pressed down on the button to let the window down, but soon regretted it as he felt the cold barrel of a gun being pointed at his temple.
Luvie let out a soft gasp, her eyes growing wide.
"Get out the car," The man instructed Asanté. "Make any sudden movements and yo' girl dead,"
Asanté looked over at Luvie, grimacing. He opened the door and got out of the car, before he could shut the door, another guy got into the car with Luvie, pointing his gun at her lower body.
"Yo', what the fu—" Asanté frowned, watching him.
"Don't worry, he won't hurt her. Just as long as she doesn't try anything—now walk," The man pointed the gun at Asanté's back, poking him with it.
He did as he was told, walking towards the back where the bathrooms were. As soon as they were away from any other moviegoers, Asanté was met with a forceful punch to the stomach.
He instantly dropped to his knees, holding down on the spot where he was struck. The guy started to kick him repeatedly, Asanté grunting out in pain.
After the last kick, the guy crouched down to Asanté's level, pointing the gun under his neck. "Message delivery from Blaise, you got twenty-four hours from now to show up for your next job. If not, consider yourself, yo' moms, yo' pops and yo' bitch ass brother dead," the guy relayed.
He stood up and sent one last hard kick to Asanté's stomach. The guy walked away, leaving him to bask in his pain.
Back at the car, Luvie kept staring ahead, not daring to glance in the man's direction. Her clammy hands shook with fear, as she continued to sit in agony, wondering if Asanté was okay.
As soon as Luvie saw the gun pointed at him, the dots immediately started to connect.
Is this what he was trying to protect her from?
Was she beginning to experience the fucked up part of his world? And if so, just how much worse was it going to get from here?
She never thought to question him or ask him to go into detail about it, figuring that when he was ready, he would finally tell her.
After all, they weren't official.
Was he waiting to see if she was worth explaining it to?
A few minutes later, like before, there was another tap at the door. The man opened the door and got out. Seconds later, Asanté slid into the backseat, grunting in pain and continuing to hold onto his stomach.
"Oh my gosh," Luvie gasped again, sitting up to get a better look at him. "Do you need to go to the hospital?"
"N-no, no hospital—just drive," Asanté winced.
Luvie nodded and got into the driver's seat, she cranked up the car and shifted the gears into drive, before pulling out of the lot.
❦❦❦
yikes 😬 shit just got reallllll
thoughts on Luvie and Asanté?
Her talk with Candice?
Poor Tay Tay can't catch a break. 🥺
that's all now for friends!
see yaaaaaa - Wynnie 💚