“My place or yours?” he asked once we were in the car.
“Your place is best.”
I pulled out my phone. I typed fast before I lost my nerve.
Me: Fee. Don’t wait up. Dinner was perfect.
Three dots appeared immediately.
FeeFee: Tonight is the night… that you make me a woman…
Me: Go to hell bitch. Betty Wright?
FeeFee: Have fun!
I put my phone face down in my lap and looked out the window. Terror and certainty sat in my chest at the same time. Both of them were telling me I was exactly where I was supposed to be.
Fee had put the melody in my head, and I hummed it low until we pulled into his parking lot. Thank God for Fee, because that was the only thing keeping me calm right now.
Ducane’s apartment was ten minutes off campus. He’d had his own place since sophomore year. He said he needed somewhere quiet to study, which was true. It also meant we had somewhere to be alone without managing anyone else’s schedule.
He unlocked the door and let me in first.
I kicked my shoes off at the door. Bless his heart, my boyfriend was clean. Borderline obsessive, if you asked me. I was the exact opposite.
I followed him into the kitchen. He grabbed me by the waist, lifted me onto the counter like I weighed nothing, then reached into the refrigerator. He twisted the cap off a bottle of water and tipped it toward me.
“Drink.”
I sipped and giggled.
“Should I be scared?”
“No. But I want to make sure you’re as comfortable as possible. Are you still sure?”
“Please don’t ask me again. I’m sure.” I slid off the counter and took the water to the head. I turned to face him, and he smirked, pleased with my boldness. “Ducane, I don’t think I’ll ever trust anyone as much as I trust you. If not you, then it won’t be anyone. I’ll die this way.”
“Poetic.”
“Now show me why I had to jack Tonya up for playing stupid games.”
I loved Ducane. Things had been great, but they hadn’t come without detours and a few fights along the way. Ducane was a handsome man, the kind that gave strong classic Black man, confidence in droves. Sex appeal completely unfair. Smart, prodigy level smart, and the wit always did it for me.
I’m saying all that to say I had touched a few women for thinking I was anything but willing to take it to hell about Ducane Isley Simmons.
Poetic, indeed.
“You drive me crazy, Skye.” He grabbed me up and carried me upstairs to his room bridal style.
On my feet now, he slipped up behind me and placed soft kisses along my neck. I shivered as he unzipped my dress. We had fooled around plenty, but he had always respected my wish to wait. He never once brought it up. It was always my choice.
“I love you, Ducane.”
“I love you too, Skye. More than anything in this world. I’d watch this shit burn to the ground if that’s what you needed from me.”
That was what scared me about us. That was also what I loved the most. My young mind couldn’t formulate or rationalizethe dangers of loving someone so deeply that even the earth burning didn’t scare them.
There’d simply be no other. No other would ever do.
