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“Still a clue. See you soon, love.” - Darnell the Daddy
Shaking my head amusedly, I climbed out of bed so that I could find something to wear, trying my best to do the impossible by choosing an outfit that would be appropriate no matter where we ended up. But unfortunately -or maybe fortunately- I didn’t have a lot of time to try and piece my look together, forced to go with my gut when I pulled out the pair of jeans my ass looked the best in, the same stilettos I’d worn the night we met, and a casual blouse that also wasn’ttoocasual in the off chance that he was taking me somewhere fancy.
I mean, if he was wearing jeans and sneakers, it felt safe to assume that we weren’t headed to some black-tie affair. But I still didn’t want to get caught slipping, doing what I could with the time to make sure my hair and makeup were on point before I left to meet Darnell at the store since I still wasn’t quite comfortable with him knowing exactly where I lived.
Maybe after tonight I’d feel differently. But for now, I was leaving my car in an employee parking spot at Just Kickin’ It and popping in to let whoever was closing tonight know what the situation was, whispering a,“Damnit”to myself once I saw it was Aubrey who was standing at the checkout counter since she was literally the only one of my co-workers who’d actually care to be in my business. And of course, she couldn’t wait to greet me the second she finished ringing up her customer, all smiles as she approached me with a super drawn out, “Heyyy Briyanaaa! What are you doin’ here?”
“Just using the store as a neutral site to get picked up from for my date,” I answered, surprised when instead of responding with the “spill the tea” energy that I expected from her, she only frowned.
“But I thought the Skyhawks had a game tonight?”
Now I was the one frowning. “What does that have to do with anything, Aubrey?”
“Your dateisn’t with Hawk?” she inquired confusedly, the mention of Lance catching me completely off-guard as I nervously responded, “What? No. Why would you even ask that? I told you we were just friends.”
Sure, we’d crossed lines that friends weren’t supposed to cross. But considering the two of us plus ol’ girl and probably my dad were the only ones who even knew about that, I was anxious to hear the explanation Aubrey didn’t give when she replied, “I mean, yeah. But…anyway. If you’re not going out with him, then who are you going out with?”
For a brief moment, I thought about backtracking to figure out why she’d assumed I was going out with Lance. But instead of getting caught up on the last person I was supposed to be thinking about right now, I decided to focus on the future when I answered, “Just some guy I met at a bar a few weeks back.”
Just like that, Aubrey was back to frowning as she asked, “The chemistry between you and Hawk was literally palpable the day he stopped in, but you’re choosing to go out with just some guy? Make it make sense, Bri.”
“Hawk…Lanceis just my friend,” I reminded her once more. “And I didn’t mean it like Darnell was some nobody. He’s actually a really nice guy.”
I may not have known enough about him yet to drop a full resume. But somehow, I still felt comfortable defending his decency until I saw the way Aubrey’s body seemed to tense up a little bit when she said, “Wait. Did you say Darnell? What’s his last name?”
When an answer didn’t immediately come to mind, I realized,“Damn. I guess I really do still have a lot to learn,”shrugging my shoulders as I replied, “I don’t know.”
“What’s he look like?”
Because I didn’t know where she was going with this, I was kind of nervous to list, “He’s maybe a shade darker than me, long locs, nice smile, solid build…”
At that, Aubrey gasped and then covered her mouth with both hands in shock, that reaction only making me more nervous until she removed them to unveil the most amused smile. But even then, I still didn’t know what was going on until she giddily shared, “I’m pretty sure you’re talking about my brother.”
With wide eyes, I asked, “Darnell is your brother? The jersey-burning brother?”
“Almostjersey-burning,” she corrected like that made it any better. “But yeah, he’s actually my stepbrother. My mom and his dad aren’t together anymore, so that makes things kinda weird. But we still talk from time to time.”
“This city is too fuckin’ small,” I muttered as Aubrey excitedly asked, “Where are you two going?”
Again, I shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s a surprise,”
“Well he mustreallylike you if he’s skipping out on the Skyhawks home opener just to take you on a date,” she insisted, grinning extra hard when she tossed an arm around my shoulder and added, “Who knows? Maybe in the end, we’ll be sisters!”
Turning my head her way so that I could see her face, I teasingly replied, “Wowww.You’re really tryna get your stepbrother stood up, huh?”
When Aubrey only sucked her back teeth in response, we both started giggling just as the man himself walked into the store looking especially handsome with his locs freshly retwisted, an outfit that thankfully matched my level of casual, and a smirk on his face that only grew when his sister pulled away from me to squeal, “Nelly, why didn’t you tell me you were dating my coworker?!”
“Cause I didn’t need you all up in my business, lil sis,” he answered amusedly, pulling her into a quick hug before turning his attention towards me. “What’s good, Ms. Bri? You ready to roll?”
With one eyebrow raised, I repeated, “Roll.Hmm. Is that a clue? Are we going bowling, Darnell?”
“Good guess, but nah,” he responded with a chuckle. Then he grabbed my hand and gave me an appreciative once-over, eventually landing back on my eyes when he added, “You just gotta trust me on this.”
Even though I was still a little nervous about this whole thing, I did trust him enough to at least see it through. And I was getting ready to tell him exactly that until Aubrey chimed in, “Y’all are too cute.”
Considering the way homegirl had just been a passenger on the Hawk or Bust train five minutes ago, it was honestly funny to hear how quickly she’d switched things up now that she knew I was going out with her brother, an amused grin on my face as I listened to her share, “I was just telling Briyana that I was surprised to hear you were skipping out on the Skyhawks home opener.”
If I would’ve blinked, I might’ve missed the quick flicker of panic in Darnell’s eyes that he tried covered with a nod as he told his sister, “Uh huh. Yeah. It’s no big deal. I’ll catch the highlights.” And when Aubrey was quick to tell him, “Ooh. You two better get going,” before rushing us out of the store, it was clear that something was up, their exchange leaving me curious as I climbed into Darnell’s car so that we could finally head to our still-unknown destination.
