Page 12 of Fallynn West

“You know, I’m a daddy’s girl too. He’s one of my favorite people in the world.”

“Your daddy is still alive?”

The way Kehlani’s voice held so much confusion caused me to chuckle, making my presence known. She whipped her head around so fast, and that smile that made me weak graced her face. Carefully, she gave Colony her snow cone and dashed over to me.

“Daddy! What are you doing here?” she all but yelled as she squeezed my legs and peered up at me. Her eyes landed on the flowers. “Are those for me?”

I held them out to her. “They sure are, KeKe. I wanted to do something to put a smile on that pretty face of yours that I love so much.”

“Thank you, Daddy. And they’re purple too!”

“Yes. Your favorite color.”

Once the flowers were secure in her hands, I picked her up and kissed her cheek. Out the corner of my eyes, I could feel Colony watching us. Turning to face her, I noticed how her head was tipped to the side as a coy smile danced on her lips. She was beautiful with her hair pulled out her face, showing her glossy, full lips and captivating, down-turned irises. The longer I stared at her, the harder it was for me to look away. It’d been a while since any woman held my attention the way Colony did, and it was only our second time meeting.

Colony broke the silence and greeted me. “Hello, Mr. Daily. How are you today?”

“I’m well, and yourself?”

“I’m good. We held a friendly competition today for each room, and Kehlani was the winner in her classroom. I rewarded them all for participation, but she and a few others received one-on-one time with me.”

“That’s dope. Do you do that often?”

“I do.” Colony nodded.

With her hand cupped around my ear, Kehlani expressed in what she thought was a whisper, “I’m her favorite. She told menot to tell anyone, but I told her I couldn’t keep a secret from you.”

Chuckling, I held my fist out, and Kehlani dapped me up. “That’s what I’m talking about, KeKe.”

“She did tell me that,” Colony confirmed and stood up. “I think it’s sweet and amazing that she shares such a close bond with you, Mr. Daily. She might be my favorite, but you are definitely hers.”

“You’re one of my favorite people too, Ms. Miles. My daddy beats everyone,” Kehlani clarified.

Colony snickered and stepped around the chairs. My eyes swept over her, taking in the way the dress she wore fit her slender frame perfectly. Her physique was on the smaller side. Her curves were minimal, but the ones she did have looked damn good on her. As Colony made her way over to us, I got a whiff of her perfume and subconsciously inhaled deeply. Whatever she wore, it was unique and inviting. I got a light hint of marshmallow and something else I couldn’t quite put my finger on but enjoyed.

When Colony was only a few feet away, Kehlani wiggled out my arms and walked over to her. She hugged Colony with her free arm, still holding onto her flowers, and thanked her for the day before coming back over to me. Colony and I peered at one another. An uncomfortable silence engulfed us, but I couldn’t pry my eyes from her. The beauty radiating from the outside seemed to be seeping through her pores from the inside, and there was a part of me that desired to know more about her.

“Why are y’all just looking at each other?”

Leave it to Kehlani to break the silence and make the situation more awkward than it already was. The only thing I could do was laugh to lighten the mood. Colony rubbed the back of her neck and smiled.

“Well, I need to get ready for my next one-on-one session. I hope y’all have a great weekend. Be good, Kehlani. I will see you next week. Bye, Mr. Daily.”

“Thank you, Ms. Miles.”

“Colony. You can call me Colony.” She beamed.

Kehlani sharply inhaled. “Can I call you Colony?”

“No, you can’t,” I answered before Colony could open her mouth.

Kehlani pouted, and I shook my head. Giving Colony one last glance, I nodded at her and led Kehlani out the center. Of course, she started in on me, immediately asking question after question on what we were about to do. I answered them to the best of my ability without giving too much away. She didn’t need to know every detail. Some things needed to be a surprise.

As we headed to the house so Kehlani could change, I half listened to her singing in the background as Colony crossed my mind once again. She was doing something to me, something I hadn’t experienced in years, and it almost scared me. Mainly because we hadn’t had a true conversation about anything. We simply spoke in passing, but still, she had some type of mental hold on me.

I needed to talk to someone, so I was anxious to get to my parents’ house. Kehlani and I made it there around five o’clock, and I was grateful that my brother, Dawson, and Sedrick were already there. They were standing on the back porch with my father who was grilling, so I joined them after greeting all the women with love.

“What’s good, Keondra?” Sedrick was the first to notice me. He dapped me up and pulled me in for a brotherly hug.