Two days later

"You really like her, huh?" Karmen asked. We were just laying in her bed, talking. I came over to tell her that I wanted to pursue Malia and I wanted to respect both of them. I knew I had to set a boundary. Karmen was a cool chick. She seemed to have taking it well. I was thankful for that.

I looked over at her, nodding my head. "Yeah I do. It's a weird feeling because I ain't never felt this way about no girl." I said honestly.

"Aww." She cooed. She turned on her side, looking at me. "Well, I hope you get her and I hope she realizes what's in front of her."

"What you mean?" I asked.

"You're a good guy, Khari. Yes we've only had sex a couple of times, but you never made me feel bad for it. You never judged me and before we had sex, you was just a genuine guy. You cared even when you didn't have to." She spoke. "And the way you're handling this situation is good. You didn't need to be juggling two women at the same time. Even if one was just a nut."

"So, you really wasn't looking for nothing monogamous?" I chuckled.

She joined in, shaking her head. "I'm emotionally unstable, boo.. I just needed some good dick and you were more than good." I smirked at her causing her to roll her eyes playfully. "But, I knew we were never going to be anything more than that. I saw the way you were looking at Malia at the gym that day. I'm team Khalia. She's intelligent, pretty, and driven. Eventually, I was gonna push you in her direction."

"You real for that Karmen.. Like, I really fuck with you. Girls like you are really hard to find.."

"Yeah, but I really just want her to be happy. Her last guy was no good. She, if anybody, deserves a good guy." She sat up in the bed, glancing at her phone.

I looked at her curiously. "Who? Duane?"

She nodded her head, looking back at me. "He's slept with so many girls behind her back. I think she only knows of one. He tried to sleep with me, but I'm not a hoe." She laughed causing me to laugh with her. "He's dead weight and she need to let him go."

"Why you ain't ever tell her?"

"We aren't close like that and she probably wouldn't have believed me. She loved Duane and probably still do. He could do no wrong in her eyes." Karmen fluffed her curly hair, stood up and went to the bathroom. I looked at the ceiling, sighing. What if she did still love Duane? I had no shot then. She couldn't deny that we did have a connection. I felt it. I knew she did too.

Minutes later, Karmen came out of the bathroom and went to her drawer. She pulled out some night clothes to slip into after her shower. She turned to me with a smirk on her face. "Last time, in the shower please."

"Last time?" I asked for clarification.

"Last time. I promise." She giggled. I shook my head, pulling my shirt off and throwing it beside her bed. Following her into the bathroom, she ran and turned the shower on.

About two hours later, I was leaving. We didn't even have sex because her father asked her to do something. She gave me a good pep talk and told me to never come back over here again. We could be cordial, but out of respect for Malia, she didn't want her getting the wrong idea. Zipping my jacket and tightened my hat on my head, I decided to run to my apartment.

It was getting close to dark, but not quite. In ten minutes, I'd made it. Running up the steps, I found my door, unlocked it and went in. I headed straight into the kitchen to see what I had to eat. I opened the frig and immediately felt disappointed. The shit was empty. I sighed, closing it.

Grabbing my phone out of my joggers, I ordered some wings and Chinese food. I needed to learn how to save my money. When my moms died, she had this big life insurance policy that granted me $500k when I turned eighteen. Most of the money was in a savings while I lived off some of it. I didn't want to be reckless with it. It was the last thing she gave me. I wanted to cherish it.

While I waited for my food, I took a seat on the couch and grabbed my laptop. I had one online class so I decided to check if the professor posted any assignments and she did. It was simple so I got it out of the way. My phone vibrated beside me and I saw it was Randy calling me. I answered.

"What's good la shordy?" I greeted.

"Nun kid. You at ya crib?" He asked.

"Yup. Finishing up some assignments. I got food on the way, you hungry?"

"On the way." He hung up and I laughed, knowing he wasn't turning down any food. Throwing my phone back beside me, I contemplated on texting Malia to see what she was up to. I didn't get a chance to see her in class today because I overslept. Practice was tough yesterday an last night. We had a game in two days against Providence. Coach had been on us about our defense because against Duke, we were ass on defense.

Even though we still won by ten, he wasn't happy. We'd only one because our shots were falling. However, we were a defensive team first. Going into my bedroom, I took off my jacket and hat. I slipped on a wife beater and slipped in my Under Armor slide ins. By the time I had reached the living room, someone knocked on the door.

I swung the door open and was greeted by a short white guy. I don't know why, but he looked scared. It was like my size had intimidated him or something. Or maybe my skin color. "Khari Valentine?" He asked.

"Yeah." I nodded, taking the money out of my pocket and handing it to him. He fidgeted in his pockets to give me change, but I held my hand up. "You good man. Chill." He nodded, handing me the food. I stepped back, slamming the door in his face.

That profiling shit wasn't cool at all. If I was gonna hurt or rob him, I would've been did it. I placed the food on the bar counter, taking a wing and eating it. Another knock at the door came and I knew it was Randy's crazy ass because he started making a beat. "Come in la bitch."

He swung the door open, looking at me with those weird looking blue eyes. Closing the door, he spoke. "Wassup nigga?" He walked over, giving me dap. "I ain't seen yo ass in like a week. You went to New York and disappeared." He chuckled, quickly fixing himself some food.

"Nothin. I had work to catch up on. Practice been hell too." I half lied. I didn't want to tell him about where I was after I came from New York.

"I feel it. I feel it." He took a wing into his mouth. "I'm glad you offered food because I got the munchies like shit."

"Still smoking to keep the nerves down?" I looked at him. He nodded his head, stuffing his mouth with fried rice. Randy had epilepsy when we was high school. Out of nowhere, he had seizures and that shit scared the hell outta me. I hadn't heard of any episodes recently, but I guess it had slowed down. He said he started smoking to calm his nerves. So, I ain't really say nothin about it.

"Plus this shit with Danielle stressing me out. Stress ain't good for me or my epilepsy." He continued eating. I grabbed the carton of fried rice and started to chow down. "She want his space and shit. Then I see her with that white ass nigga that play ball with you."

"Word?" He nodded. "Where?"

He licked his fingers. "On a fucking date. You had to know I crashed that shit." He looked at me, shaking his head. "She ain't leaving me for no white boy. I'm so mad at myself."

I chuckled. "Don't be so hard on yaself. We all make mistakes." I shrugged my shoulders, continuing to eat.

Sitting his food down, he sighed. He ran his hands through his hair. "It's a reason why she really mad at me."

I lifted my eyebrow at him. "Spit it out."

"I had just took her virginity the night before the party." He admitted. I looked at him, shocked. I thought him and Danielle had already went through that. He waited all that time just to fuck up the next day. "Don't look at me like that man.. I know I fucked up."

I shook my head at him. "I ain't about to tear you down even mo. Just make the shit right. Go talk to her and tell her how you really feel. She went on that date to make you jealous prolly."

He didn't say anything so I look to see him sparking a blunt. He looked up at me, and I signaled the okay. I took a bottled of water out the frig and drunk it. "Just need to get back on my medicine." He mumbled.

"Yeah do that. Ion need you having attack out the blue." He nodded, placing the blunt back between his lips. "Danielle let you smoke around her?" I asked.

Randy shook his head, exhaling. "Nah. Plus, I ain't really need to. She kept my stress level down. I feel incomplete without her around."

"You got it bad, g." I chuckled.

"Trust me, one day.. you'd know." He smirked, taking another puff.

"We'll see" was all I said.

"That game against Duke was playa." He said. "You a hot topic on ESPN and shit. And all over social media."

"I tune that shit out." I said honestly. That shit seemed like a distraction to me. Twitter, Facebook and all of that. I needed to be focused. I didn't wanna have a bad game and go online to see people I don't know bashing me. I just found it weird. People said I was a celeb, but I wanted to be oblivious to it. At least til I was through with college.

Randy pulled his beats pill out of his jacket pocket, before taking it off. He hooked his phone to it and scrolled through his phone. "You heard that new Chance the Rapper?" He asked.

"Nah, I heard about it." He nodded. "Oh nah I heard All We Got, thats it."

"That shit bang too. But, I like Blessings." He said, playing the song. He bobbed his head to the beat, mouthing the words. He smirked at me when I started nodding my head. "Nothin like a hip hop gospel song." He chuckled.

We started vibing as the whole mixtape played. He basically got high while finished the rest of my assignments. GOMD by J. Cole came on and started rapping the lyrics. A knock on the door caused me to lift my eyebrows. I ain't expect no more company.

I got up and pulled up my joggers before answering the door. I also made sure to turn the music down. Swinging the door open, I was met face to face with Malia. She looked nervous as hell for some reason. She was dressed so casual. The most causal she had ever been. Sweats, oversized long shirt, and a hat with no makeup. She still killed anybody I had ever laid eyes on. Her face scrunched up. "Wassup?" I asked, leaning against the door.

"You smoke?" She asked.

"Now you know better than that." I smirked. "That's Randy smoking my shit out." I chuckled.

"Randy smoke?" She looked at me with a confused expression.

"Yeah, but wassup? Why you here so late?" I asked, actually concerned.

She shook her head, playing with her hands. "I missed you actually." She chuckled lowly. "Thought we could take a walk or something. But you have company.." She said, looking at Randy who was knocked out.

"We can. He sleep. Let me get my jacket." I said, walking back towards my bedroom before she could protest. I grabbed my throwback Raptors jacket and hat, throwing it on. I walked back toward the front to see Malia now inside. She stood up once she saw me, with a small smile.

"You sure he's gonna be good?" She asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, I'll text him where I'm at. He'll most likely sleep all night anyway." I shrugged, leading her out. I closed the door, locking Randy in. I threw my arm around her shoulder, walking into the cold night.

***

"Wow, I never knew how fun looking at building structures could be." Malia chuckled as we roamed around the city looking at different buildings. I laughed causing her to smile.

"You're the first. I've been in love with buildings since I was a kid. I'd asked my mama to take me sight seeing around the city just so I could look at the buildings." I said, looking at her as I held my lingering smile. I was glad that I was able to share this with her.

"Did she enjoy it as much as I did?" She smirked.

I chuckled, shaking my head. "Oh no, she hated it. She'd only do it because I wanted to." I paused. That woman was amazing." I mumbled.

"I'm sure she was. I can tell." Malia said looking at me, smiling again.

It got quiet as we continued along the sidewalk. It was comfortable though. Although it was cold, it was beautiful out. I hadn't did this in so long especially with someone else. My mom didn't care for the buildings, but she did it because I wanted to. She never complained either.

As we walked, I looked at her seeing that she was in deep thought. "What you thinkin' about?" I asked snapping her out of her thoughts.

She shook her head, folding her arms across her chest. "Nothing. Just how things have changed since you've been here." She admitted, looking up at me.

I looked at her curiously. "And how have things changed?"

"Well." She started. "It was amazing how you peeped Elgin's ways before either one of us did. Even Randy didn't and they hung out a lot. However, since you have been here, Randy has distance himself away from Elgin, especially since the party. I didn't blame him. That was toxic energy."

I shrugged my shoulders. "Real recognize real. I wholeheartedly believed that Randy used Elgin to buy time until I came down. Randy and I been best friends since forever.. That's more like family." She nodded in understanding.

"What about you though?" I asked.

She looked at me, confused. "What do you mean?"

I chuckled, looking ahead as we walked on the sidewalk. "How has things changed for you since I've been here?"

I could see her playfully rolling her eyes, as she matched my walk step for step. She didn't give me an answer right away, but I didn't rush her. "I see things differently."

"How's that?" I probed.

I moved the small piece of hair out of her face before continuing. "I never believed people could change until I met you. When my Duane and I broke up, I believed that he'd be that way forever. However, when I met you, that changed. I've seen growth in this short span that we've..." She moved my hands to find the correct word.

"Hung out?" I finished.

"Yeah, hung out."

I could feel her eyes looking back up at me and I bit my lip, in deep thought. "Besides Danielle and Randy, you've the only person who believed in me." I started. "It's been hard these last six years with people being overly judgmental and not wanting to get to know me for who I really am."

She grimaced because she had been one of those people. When I punched Elgin, I knew she wanted no dealings with me. In her defense, I seemed like an out of control, bad boy. Especially when I beat that boy in the burger joint.

"Well, all that has changed now. Let's look ahead." She said, changing the tone to a more positive one.

I gave her a warm smile and nodded my head. "Yeah, let's do that."

We both looked back ahead of us. She gasped, making me look at her. "Ooooo.. Let's go here." She grabbed my hand and ran towards the restaurant. I kept up, but she was damn fast in heels. I shook my head at the fact she had on heels with sweatpants.

"Damn, how you run in heels?" I asked in shock once we were in front of Pascoe's Pizza.

She laughed a little. "Well, I was on the dance line in high school and our coach made us run in heels. Don't ask why because I'm still not sure why she had us doing that." She said as I pulled the door opened and we walked inside.

The smell of the pizza penetrated my nostrils and I smiled in delight. "Pizza is my favorite food. Any type of pizza was my type of pizza. If I had to choose, it'll be pineapple pizza." She said randomly.

"Ooo, you can dance?" I asked, referring to what she said before we walked in. She looked back at me and winked. "LAWD." I said dramatically.

She shook her head, and turned her focus to the pizza man. "I'll have two slices of Pineapple Pizza." He nodded and looked to me.

"Y'all got five cheese?" I asked. The Italian cook nodded so that's what ordered it. He gave us our total and I could see Malia reach in her purse to pay for it. I shook my head, beating her to the punch. Before I knew it, she took my card away from him.

"What you doing?" I asked, confused.

She took out her wallet, giving the man the money. "I'm paying. You've paid for everything else so it's the least I could do. Plus, I've enjoyed myself so this is my treat to you." She said handing me back my card. I decided to not argue and allow her to. I took the card, placing it back in my wallet.

The man gave her back her change and she stuck it in her wallet before dropping it back into her purse. I gave her the two slices of pineapple pizza and we went to find a seat. We found a booth in the far back, taking our seats. I immediately dug into my pizza, making it a sandwich. After about three bites, I was done. She looked at me, clearly shocked.

"I knew men could eat, but dang. Three bites couldn't even get me half way through my pizza let alone be done with both pizzas." She joked.

"You eat slow." I chuckled as I wiped my mouth.

She rolled her brown orbs playfully. "You eat too fast."

It was comfortable silence between us. I'd just realized throughout that neither of us had been on our phones. I couldn't help, but smile because that's rare. She knew how to occupy my time gracefully. She knew how to make me interested. I hadn't thought of a phone until now.

"What's your favorite book?" He asked out of the blue.

She looked up from her pizza, taking a napkin and dabbin the sides of her mouth. "It's a tie between the Autobiography of Malcolm X and Roots." I nodded my head. "I know you're probably out of my league because I heard you name some books to my sister that I had never heard of." She giggled.

"Yeah I really don't have a favorite. I like To Kill a Mockingbird, Hamlet, Invisible Man, Fences, and Black Boy." I said, sitting back in my seat.

"Oh, I've heard of those. I love Hamlet. Sad, but I love it." She shook her head and I chuckled. "Who's your favorite artist? Any genre." She asked as she cleared her throat.

"I'm a big Kendrick Lamar fan, Chance the Rapper is cool. ASAP Rocky. Big Sean. I'm in the Beyhive too. Beyhiveboyz." Her eyes bulged out their sockets.

"You're in the Beyhive??!!" She yelled in a whisper. I chuckled at her excitement and nodded my head. She clapped her hands like I had just passed a test or something. "You just shot up the ranks." She looked up at me before taking another bite of her pizza. She moaned in delight causing me to have nostalgia. The pineapples were juicy, the cheese on the pizza was hot.. My dirty, dirty mind.

She noticed me staring, and she blushed looking down. I leaned forward, lifting up her chin so she could look at me. I was so close that I knew she was wearing that Vanilla scent perfume. I stared at her lips and she faintly nodded her head.

I leaned, kissing her passionately. Our lips went to war with each other. A slight moan had slipped out of her mouth, and I smiled against her lips. She giggled before kissing me again. The kiss seemed to feel like years and when I pulled away, she pouted. I pecked her lips. "Duane's out. I want to try me and you." She flickered her eyelids back on me.

I couldn't help the growing smile that appeared on my face. Again, she'd given me a chance to prove myself and I wasn't going to let her down. I kissed her again, biting her lip. Her lips parted slightly, allowing me to slide my tongue in. "Don't make me regret this.." She said quietly, pulling away.