I woke up the next morning with a slight headache and a plump ass suffocating my morning wood. It took a minute for my eyes to adjust and notice that I had a tight hold on Marley who looked like she hadn't slept this good in a minute. I didn't want to wake her and Lord knows I wasn't trying to get out of this position but I had to get up and piss. Not to mention, I needed the rest of that water she made too so I could stop this hangover before it started. I slowly took my arm from around her waist and slipped out of her bed without waking her.

I grabbed my bag out the living room and headed to the bathroom in the hallway to get myself together. After my shower, I noticed the headache had started to go away a little but I didn't want to chance it, so I grabbed the glass of Marley's hangover water and downed it before looking through the fridge for some breakfast food. I saw everything I'd need to fix me something up real quick but I had no idea what Marley would eat. I settled on oatmeal since whenever we would talk in the morning, she was always eating some. I took some strawberries out as well and started on our breakfast.

"Good morning birthday boyyy," Marley sang as she entered the kitchen.

The food was done and I was making our plates. She looked down at the plates and a smirk appeared on her face.

"Damn, that looks good." She sighed.

"Oatmeal always looks good to you." I chuckled and handed her the bowl of oatmeal.

"Oh shit and you put strawberries in here too." She bounced in her seat, causing me to laugh at her a little harder.

"Yo, you be doing the most."

"Whatever, how'd you sleep?" she asked looking up from her food.

"Good..." I thought about mentioning the position we were in when I woke up but I figured it would just make shit awkward and I wasn't trying to deal with that, not today anyway. "You?"

"Great." She let out a satisfied sigh and went back to eating.

It was even harder keeping it to myself now because I knew I had to have something with why she slept as "great" as she said she did.

"What's the move for today?" I asked while stuffing a piece of turkey bacon in my mouth.

"I can't tell you, just know we're having fun today!" She smiled up at me.

"You foul, man." I sighed while sitting back in the chair.

Before she could respond my cell started going off. I couldn't help but smile when I noticed it was my mother calling.

"Happy Birthday Elijah! Happy Birthday Daddy!!!" I held the phone an inch away from my ear and laughed a little once I noticed they were all singing happy birthday to me.

Marley looked over at me and smirked noticing the smile on my face.

"That was beautiful ladies," I beamed once they were done.

"Thanks Eli." I heard Miracle say in the background.

"Can I speak to my daddy?!" I heard Isabella whine in the background. "Hey daddy, happy birthday!" she sang, her voice was now more clear, so I knew she had taken the phone from my mother.

"Hi Princess, daddy misses you baby girl." I smiled hard.

"Where are you?"

"I'm at Marley's house," I started to explain but she cut me off.

"Without me?!" I knew how dramatic my daughter was but it was still funny imagining her actual reaction.

"Yes Izzy, you have Miri there with you, don't you?" She literally called Miracle "My Miri," it was the cutest thing ever.

"I want my Marley too," she pouted.

"We'll see you later on, I promise," I told her while smirking over at Marley.

"Okay, I love you daddy."

"I love you too princess."

Before I knew it, my mother's voice was coming through the other end of the phone.

"So, how you feeling old man?"

"Like a million bucks." I laughed a little.

"Next year you'll be 30," she sang.

I sighed a little and shook my head already knowing where this conversation was going.

"Ma..."

"I'm just saying, I bet you're sitting right in front of that beautiful friend of yours right now. She's single, you're single..." she trailed off.

"Ma." I chuckled and shook my head while stealing a glance at Marley who was too into her food to pay me any attention.

"I need more grandbabies." She giggled.

"Ma, where are the kids while you're talking like that," I said lowly into the phone.

"Boy hush, those kids are gone. Now I'm not trying to force y'all together or anything, just think about what I'm saying. It's obvious you two care about each other and I see the way you look at her. It's been a long time since I've seen that look in your eyes."

That was the problem, it was all I could think about. I knew that Marley was a good woman. Shit, she was my dream woman but after two months of being her friend, I wasn't sure of how I would even go about taking things to another level with her. It was almost like I was involuntarily stuck in the fucking friend zone.

"Better make a move before it's too late," my mother warned, almost as if she was reading my mind.

"Okay ma, I gotta go." I chuckled. "I'll see you later. I love you."

"Mhm, I love you too with your stubborn old hardheaded ass. Bring my daughter in law with you when you come too," she said before hanging up on me.

"Yo, she stay banging it on me." I laughed before sitting my phone down on the table, causing Marley to look up from her cellphone.

"Yeah, she hung up on me last night too." She laughed and shook her head.

"Please excuse her." I chucked.

Marley looked down at her phone one more time before standing and grabbing our empty plates.

"Go get dressed, we got places to be!" she ordered while washing the dishes we had eaten out of.

I didn't know what to expect from Marley honestly but one thing I didn't expect was 9 laps around the track at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. She really went all out; I got 3 laps in each car, a Ferrari 488 GTB, a Lamborghini Huracan and a Porsche 911 GT3. This was more than I could have asked for and honestly after the race track, I expected for her to be done and ready to go home. She didn't say anything about money but I knew for a fact this shit cost her more than a stack for sure.

On our way out of the speedway parking lot, she was smiling harder than I was.

"Had fun?" she asked while glancing over at me.

"Man, don't even know how you can top that, honestly Lee. That shit was wild." I let out a chuckle and ran my hand over my waves. "What made you think to come up with that idea?"

"I was doing a client's nails a few weeks back and she was telling me about something called the Xtreme Xperience. I thought that it was something you'd enjoy for sure but when I tell you I had to pull strings to get them to come out here off schedule." She looked over at me and raised her eyebrow after stopping at a red light.

"Let me find out you out here caring about a nigga and shit." I laughed, causing her to eye me.

"Of course, I care about your silly ass." She looked away from me as the light turned green. "I wouldn't be out here doing this for someone I didn't care about, remember that."

I just nodded my head and sat back in my seat. Every now and then I'd look over at Marley and smirk. She was a real one, that was for damn sure. My mother saw it, my daughter loved her. Shit I'd be a lie if I said I didn't have feelings for her. I just had to figure her out before I made my move. My mother's words were replaying over and over in my head. She was right. I wasn't getting any younger and if I honestly wanted to get started on giving her these five grandkids, I promised her, it was time to settle down. Thing is the only person I saw that happening with didn't see me in that light or at least I didn't think she did any way.

Our next stop was at this little spot in the art district where we were able to rent a kitchen and cook for each other. When we entered there was an older brown-skin lady with a curly afro and a huge smile spread across her face waiting for us.

"Such a beautiful couple," she beamed.

Marley smiled and thanked her instead of correcting her. After our welcome and introductions, she instructed me to one side of her and Marley stood on the other side. The way it was set up, we both had our own little kitchenette sitting in front of us. The instructor whose name I learned was Amelia let us know that this was a vegan cooking course. We'd make the same meal and compare them once we were done. Winner got bragging rights. I was just looking forward to learning how to cook something I could make for her later on.

"Okay, so today we're making black bean and quinoa burgers with some sweet potato fries. I figured it would be nice to top it off with a little side salad," Amelia informed us with a smile.

Amelia must have noticed the look on my face because she reminded us that she was here to help in any way. After a quick visit to the small grocery market that was literally through a door to the left of us, we went back to the kitchen and got to work. The entire time Marley was trying to steal Amelia from me and use her to her advantage but Amelia caught on to our tug of war and wrote down instructions for the both of us and took a seat. She watched us from a chair in the corner of the room, often calling us out when she saw us doing something wrong but other than that, we were really on our own.

Once we were finished, I noticed my burgers looked completely different from Marley's. She topped hers with some red onions, spinach and kale leaves and a mushroom. Mine, on the other hand, had hella tomatoes, onions, lettuce. Shit, the salad was on my burger. After plating our food, we joined Amelia at the table and went to work on our food. Amelia took a bite of Marley's burger first, giving her a thumbs up, not able to talk because of the food in her mouth. Marley bounced in her seat and stuck her tongue out at me causing me to laugh and shake my head. The look on Amelia's face when she took a bite out of my burger, however; let me know that I had won bragging rights for sure. Marley's dancing stopped and she eyed me from her seat as Amelia's damn near rolled to the back of her head.

"Okay," Amelia began while wiping her mouth with a napkin before continuing, "now Marley, yours was great. It's obvious you're used to making the burgers because you almost have it perfected. Now Elijah, on the other hand, took what he knew about making meaty hefty burgers and applied that to these veggie burgers. I almost forgot that I was eating beans and not meat." She laughed.

"Well, you get bragging rights but you're also going to be making this for me, so I don't know why you're so excited," Marley shot my way while smirking.

We sat and talked to Amelia while finishing our lunch. Marley was a little salty because she chose to finish my burger instead of hers. I mean she should be proud of me, all that talk she does about me needing to eat healthier and what not. Now she knows for sure that I know what I'm doing in the kitchen even when it comes to this whole meatless thing she got going on. These burgers were good as hell and she couldn't deny that.

Finally, we were done eating so we grabbed our leftovers and said our goodbyes to Amelia before leaving. The time was now nearing 5 pm and I was curious to see what else this girl had up her sleeve. We stopped by her house and put the food away before heading back out. After about an hour of driving I noticed we were pulling into Xavier's neighborhood. I didn't know what we were doing here because this nigga swore, he had all this shit to do today so there was no point in coming to see his ass. The number of cars in his driveway let me know that Marley's ass had got my own cousin to keep whatever she had planned from me. The smell of bar-b-q food hit my nose before I got out of the car good and now, I understood why Marley only let me eat half of the damn burger she made for me.

The music and grill smoke coming from the backyard had me a little hype. I noticed my mother's car outside along with Sean and Moriah's. After last night I'm shocked these fools were even able to make it out here today. When I got to the backyard Isabella yelled over to me and sprinted in my direction causing all eyes to fall on me. They screamed happy birthday as I scooped baby girl up in my arms. I spotted Marley off to the side talking to Lola and Naomi with a huge grin on her face. I smiled at her before letting Isabella lead the way to where my mother was. We found her inside with Brianna, Miracle and her best friend Camille. Miracle and Camille was helping Brianna prep the food while my mother played with X and Brianna's 10-month-old son Tylor. She bounced him up and down while talking baby talk to him. She didn't even notice me walk in. I sat down beside her and laughed a little.

"You got it bad ma, you sure you need me to give you any grands. X and Bri will be ready for another one in about a year."

She gave me a look before rolling her eyes at me. "I meant what I said Elijah, your time is ticking."

I laughed loudly and shook my head at her before standing up from the table. She couldn't even hold her own laugh in. After saying hello to Bri and the girls I went out back and straight to the grill where X and the guys were. While X flipped the steak and chicken thighs that were on the grill, Moriah and Sean stood off to the side talking shit with him. I dapped them up and looked around the backyard at everyone who showed up. It was mostly people from work and the guys from the mentor program that X and I volunteered at. I noticed Micah and his homeboy Desmond come out back with a few of their friends. This shit felt like back in the day when family would come together for cookouts and Sunday dinner.

"Aye y'all wanna hit the man cave before shit get started. I got some tree," X offered while closing the grill.

"Why not, let's go work up an appetite while Eli tells us about this stupid ass smirk that plastered across his face," Moriah teased as X led the way.

No sooner than we all got settled in the L shaped sectional were all eyes on me. I chuckled and shook my head while getting comfortable. Xavier passed each of us a pre-rolled blunt and we lit up.

"Gonna tell us what your shorty did for you today or nah?" X asked while exhaling the cloud of smoke.

"Chill." I chuckled. "Marley hooked shit up today. She took me to the Motor Speedway and had the Xtreme Xperience people out there waiting with a Ferrari... a Lamborghini Huracan and a Porsche 911. Three laps in each whip and I'd be lying if I said she didn't have a nigga feeling special. You know they weren't even supposed to be in town this month, so she had to go through hell to get them out here."

"Damn, that's all I would have needed." Sean chuckled and took a deep pull from his blunt.

"You? Man, after that I was ready to take her ass to the court house and just seal the fucking deal," I admitted, causing them to laugh at me. "Afterwards we went to some little spot in the art district where this lady gave us cooking lessons. Legit had my ass in there making veggie burgers and had the nerve to be in her feelings when mine came out better than hers." We all laughed.

"Marley is the shit when it comes to gifts," Moriah admitted.

"She sure as hell is. Now I'm wracking my brain trying to figure out how I'm going to top this shit once her day rolls around."

"Nigga you got eight months to figure it out." Sean laughed and shook his head.

We sat downstairs and talked a little more about bullshit. Watched a little bit of TV and smoked again before heading back upstairs. When I got to the back, I noticed Marley and the girls were off to the side playing with baby Tylor. I watched as she practically drooled over him and wondered if a family was something, she'd want some day. She damn sure looked good holding my little cousin and I knew she loved Isabella. Not to mention how much she loves her nieces and nephews...I mean I'd be more than happy to put a few babies in her, that was for damn sure.

"So nigga, how you plan on getting out of this bitch ass friend zone you put yourself in?" Moriah came up to me and slapped his hand down on my shoulder while looking in the same direction I was looking in.

I sighed and shook my head at this fool before shrugging my shoulders.

"How do I? I mean, I know how to but how do I do that shit without ruining shit between us?"

Moriah laughed a little and shook his head. "Trust me; there is no ruining anything between you and my sister. I know Marley, she wants the same shit you want but y'all gotta stop tiptoeing around the situation and put your feelings out there. I mean seriously, date for a little while don't jump right into a relationship; that way if it doesn't work y'all can suck it up and be friends knowing that you at least tried. But this stalking each other from across the yard and shit is creepy. Look at y'all. You look away and she's eyeing you. She looks away and you're eyeing her. Make your move man, stop being a bitch." Moriah sent a slap to my back and walked off, leaving me in my thoughts.

After the cookout, my mother agreed to take Izzy back to her house while Marley made sure Micah and Miracle would be good until she got home. After everything was settled; we headed back to my house. She said something about a surprise waiting there for me. Thanks to the guys, I was nice as hell and not paying much attention to anything she was saying. However, when we stepped foot in my place, it was clear that everything we did earlier today was just the icing on the cake. My living room was flooded with damn near a whole new wardrobe. I chuckled to myself and made my way to the tower of nine Nike boxes. I wasn't shocked at all to find a pair of Jordans in every box. Marley wasn't a fan of big brands or none of that but she knew what I liked and she also noticed how I would go without just to make sure Isabella was happy. She had shopping bags all over the place but what caught me off guard was the small jewelry bag that sat in the middle of my coffee table. I gave her a look before making my way over to the bag. She was sitting back on the couch with her arms crossed and a huge grin on her face.

Inside was a rose gold diamond-encrusted Armani watch that made my dick jump for damn sure. She knew I loved a nice watch and I lost my shit a few weeks back when we took Izzy to the water park. Her gifts were more than thoughtful and had me ready to take her ass up to my bedroom to show my appreciation, real talk.

"You know we go together now," I told her while taking a seat beside her on my couch admiring the new watch on my wrist.

"Shut up stupid." She laughed and sent a light tap to my shoulder. "I'm glad you like it though. I put a lot of thought into today." The smile on her face would have made you think it was her birthday.

"I can tell." I nodded while pulling her closer to me. Her head rested on my chest while my arm draped around her shoulders. "You're the first woman other than my mother to go all out like this for me. I appreciate this shit for real Marley." I looked down at her and kissed her forehead.

"Don't mention it fucker." She smirked while looking up at me.

"I was thinking about something. I've been toying with the idea for a while now. I just don't want shit between us to change, you know?"

She sat up so that she was able to look directly at me while I continued.