Page 48 of The Key To His Soul
Truth was that I expected Karima to move the way she did. She couldn’t help it. I was both proud and surprised by how poised Key was and not because I’d known her for a while or was familiar with how she handled herself on defense because I wasn’t. It was the fact that she didn’t let Karima and Ju’s presence knock her off her square. That shit was a turn on.
It was one thing for her to be aware of my women, but to look them dead in the face without being on some messy shit earned points with me, especially after I’d just sucked the juices out her pussy only days ago off the strength. Any other woman would’ve loved to put that shit on front street.
“Aye, do me a solid.” Mav interrupted my thoughts.
“Wassup?”
“Let Key know I’m on Amil head,” he said with conviction.
“I’ll deliver the message.”
“Good lookin’. I’m tryna be a cousin-in-law.” He grinned, rubbing his hands together.
I went to clown him when Karima walked over by herself and slipped her arm through mine.
“This was a nice turn out, Mav. And my baby brought the win home, so that’s a plus.”
“Preciate that,” Mav said. “I don’t think he could’ve done it without his partner. As a matter of fact, I know he couldn’t have.”
“Hating ass.” I snickered.
“Speaking of partners, maybe you two should team up next time, you know, that way you don’t have to share your win with a stranger, bae.”
“Nah,” Mav shook his head, “I already know who I’m locking in with next year. But let me gather my clean-up crew. I’ma hit ya line sometime tomorrow, Khi.”
“Aight.”
We dapped each other up, and he waved bye to Karima before walking off.
“I’m glad we came,” she said, stepping in front of me. “I got to see you in action. I gotta learn how to play.”
I smirked. “Yeah. I got to see you in action too.”
“I think I did well under the circumstances.”
“Mmhmm.”
She narrowed her eyes and put a hand up on her hip. “What?”
Smiling, I shook my head. “I ain’t say nothing.”
“What you wanna do now?” she asked.
“Grab something to eat and head to the crib.”
“Oh,” she uttered. The disappointment in her voice was subtle but there.
“Cheer up, baby.” I bent down to kiss her lips. “Y’all gon’ follow me, and we gon’ sleep in Daddy bed tonight.”
Her face brightened up instantly. “Okay.”
She put her hand in mine, and we walked over to Ju, who fell in step on the other side of me as we exited the park. After making sure they got to Karima’s car safely, I pulled up beside them and rolled my window down.
“Let’s head straight to the house. I’ll order something there. Y’all pull out in front of me.”
Putting my car in reverse, I gave her room to maneuver out of her parking spot and pull off. As I navigated the light traffic and kids running in and out of the street for fun, my eyes drifted to my phone that sat in the cupholder. Part of me wanted to text Key to see if she’d made it home safe. Nothing extra, just that. The other part of me said to hold it down for the night. She’d made it clear by her departure that I was moving on her time now.
I didn’t know how I felt about that, especially when I was used to controlling the motion. Most women leaned in my direction or moved around. Key didn’t do either. She’d thrown a curve ball for me to now navigate if I still wanted to pursue her, forcing me to be even more intentional with my next move. I respected it more than I cared to admit. Gripping the steering wheel, I left the phone right where it was. Tomorrow was another day. Tonight, I’d focus on what I had.
