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ChapterSix

“Damn, I need to call my mama and tell her that I’m a psychic,” Pardi said, spotting Dallas at the bench press.

Grunting, Dallas finished a set of reps before taking a sixty-second break. “How the fuck is that what you got out of anything I just said?”

“‘Cause, my nigga. What are the odds of me bringing Sev up and then she ends up being your date? A nigga is a psychic.”

“Nah, you just a jackass,” Dallas replied, beginning another set of reps. “Sevyn showing up last night wasn’t shit other than the universe being funny.”

“Aight, no funny shit,” Pardi folded his arms as Dallas finished up. “You know I don’t believe in all that extra spiritual nonsense, but you can’t tell me that Sevyn being there wasn’t something bigger at work. Both of y’all were on an app with fake names, no pictures, and ended up on a date with each other. That shit is crazy as hell.”

Sitting up, Dallas reached for a towel, dragging it against the back of his neck. “I know. I was thinking about it all last night.”

Pardi snickered. “Sis got you out here losing sleep? Yeah, you need to go ahead and hang it up.”

“What part of the conversation were you not listening to? When it comes to anything outside of her safe space—and us dating is well outside of that area—she doesn’t want to hear shit I have to say.”

“Then make her listen.”

Twisting his neck, Dallas glared at his friend incredulously. “And end up in jail? I’m good. You the only crazy ass nigga in this equation.”

“Maybe if you activated that crazy ass nigga a little bit more, you wouldn’t be in this situation.”

“Oh really? Tell me how it’s working out right now for you,” Dallas challenged.

Pursing his lips, Pardi titled his head a fraction of an inch before responding. “Fair point. But still.”

The two broke up laughing as Dallas stood up. “Exactly. And we both know Sevyn. Pressing her isn’t going to end well for either one of us.”

“Ain’t nobody telling you to kidnap the girl until she listens to you,” Pardi argued as Dallas sprayed the bench down. “But at the same time, you gotta stop acting like a bitch when it comes to her. Sevyn gives you so much pushback because you let her.”

“The fuck you mean? You know damn well how many times I told that girl how I felt. I love her.”

And he did. Dallas wasn’t sure when he knew it, but it was well before she expressed her feelings to him. The only reason why he’d been hesitant about moving beyond friendship was that he thought he had time. A serious relationship hadn’t been on his mind back then. They were so young, and Dallas wanted to spread his wings to see what more life had to offer before committing himself to one person.

To him, that’s exactly what Sevyn would have been, a commitment he wasn’t sure he could handle. There was too much on the line; history too important to him to toss down the drain. He stood by his decision. Without it, he wouldn’t know without a shadow of a doubt that Sevyn was undoubtedly the one for him.

He just hadn’t anticipated her giving him so much hell in return. That’s where his calculations had gone wrong. Was his line of thinking flawed? Absolutely. He could own that. But he also wondered how much longer he was supposed to continue paying for a mistake he’d admitted to and apologized for multiple times?

“But have you shown her?”

“What you mean did I show her? I’ve been busting my ass trying to show her. I even built her ass a goddamn deck! Which she didn’t didn’t seem to have a problem with.”

Pardi nodded slowly, scratching the side of his face. “Speaking of, I been meaning to talk to you about that lil ass deck you built her. You know, the one you stopped working on mine for and never came back around to? You still got my goddamn backyard looking like it got hit by an atomic bomb.”

“I told you I’ma finish it. Stop crying.”

“Something you’ve been telling me for months, but it’s cool. I understand. You had to finish Sev’s cause you tryna break her back in.”

“Pardi leave me the fuck—”

“Hey, hey!” a familiar voice called out, resulting in Dallas and Pardi both whirling around. “Now how did I know I’d find y’all niggas in here?”

“Oh shit!” Pardi jeered, extending a hand to Kohl. “Mr. MLB is in the building! What’s good with you, lil bro?”

“Same shit, different day,” Kohl shrugged, slapping hands with Pardi before moving on to Dallas.

“The hell you doing in town so early?” Dallas question. “Sev said you weren’t supposed to be here until next week.”