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“I got you a lil’ somethin’,” Darnell announced randomly, giving a nod towards the backseat that had me quick to turn around so that I could see what it was. And when I found the medium-sized gift bag sitting upright like a passenger, I was already flattered as I reached back to grab it, letting it rest in my lap as I cooed, “Aww. You shouldn’t have.”
“Open it,” he insisted with a grin, splitting his attention between me pushing through all the tissue paper and the road as he said, “Since I couldn’t tell you exactly how to dress without ruining the surprise, I wanted to make sure you were covered.”
With his explanation in mind, I was honestly a little confused when I pulled out a Houston Skyhawks t-shirt and a matching dad cap, frowning as I guessed, “So…we’re… going to a bar to watch the Skyhawks game?”
“Nah, we’re going to the stadium to watch the Skyhawks game,” Darnell announced excitedly, my eyebrows shooting up in surprise as he continued, “I haven’t missed a home opener in almost a decade. And this year, I wanted to share that moment with you.”
Fuck.
I should’ve been flattered.
Iwasflattered.
But I was also sick as hell.
I mean, of all the places in the entire world we could’ve been going to, Darnell just had to be taking me to the one where Lance’s face was surely plastered everywhere? Where fans would be screaming his name and celebrating his success? Where I’d be forced to watch him do what he did best and act like I didn’t secretly love watching him knock people’s heads off?
That was probably a little toxic of me, but the sport was the sport. And even though I was sure his brain was paying for it, it was truly something to watch Lance be so dominant, only making me wonder where else he chose to exercise that particular trait.
See why this is a problem?
In an attempt to disrupt my lewd thoughts of Lance, I went back to what Darnell had said about his home-opener attendance and asked, “So you’re like, a for real fan, huh?”
“Got the team logo tatted on me and everything,” he answered proudly, pushing up the cotton fabric on his right arm to show off the part of his half-sleeve of tattoos that did, in fact, include a nod to the home team.
Examining the artwork, I asked, “How did I not hear about this before?”
“I couldn’t tell you everything about me off the rip, Bri,” Darnell responded. “Had to leave some shit for you to discover over time, you know? Let you peel back the onion and shit.”
Considering how much of a surprise this layer had been, I was honestly a little nervous to go deeper. But luckily, there were still a lot of surface level things I didn’t know either, such as, “What’s your last name?”
“Huh?”
“Your last name,” I repeated. “Aubrey asked me what it was, and I didn’t know what to say.”
Truthfully, I probably should’ve already known for safety reasons. But thankfully, Darnell didn’t make it a big deal when he answered, “It’s Williams.”
“Darnell Williams,” I stated, already giggling at my immediate assessment as I asked him, “I bet your middle name is somethin’ black as hell too, huh?”
“Kareem,” he confirmed with a smirk, only further amusing me as I put it all together.
“Darnell Kareem Williams. I justknowyour mother used to wear that out back in the day.”
“Shit, she still does,” Darnell responded with a laugh. “And my son gets it from her now too.”
“Here he goes with the adorable daddy shit,”I thought as I asked him, “Are you two close? You and your mother?”
With a grin, Darnell answered, “Thick as thieves,” only to double down on that when he added, “It’s rare that we go two days straight without speaking to each other.”
On one hand, I was a little jealous since I literally couldn’t even remember the last time I’d talked to my own mother. But on the other hand, I couldn’t help teasing, “So you’re a Skyhawks superfananda mama’s boy? Lord, what did I get myself into?”
Chuckling, Darnell defended, “I wouldn’t say all that. I just make sure she doesn’t want for anything, you know? Make sure she’s always taken care of.”
Hearing all the different ways he so deeply cared for the people in his life made it hard for me not to smile as I told him, “That’s actually really sweet, Darnell Kareem.” But unfortunately, that energy didn’t last long since there was no amount of conversation that could distract me from the fact that we were pulling into a parking lot relatively close to the stadium, the sight of a banner with Lance’s jersey number on it hanging from one of the light poles making me anxious as Darnell drove past it on his way to what must’ve been his assigned parking spot near a group of tailgaters before turning the car off.
“The tint on these windows is barely legal, so you can change in here if you want to,” he suggested, my eyebrow piqued with confusion until he added, “The t-shirt.”
“Oh.Right. Duh,” I responded nervously, pulling it back out of the bag as Darnell gave a huff of a laugh while telling me, “I’ll step out.” And once he did, I was grateful that I already had a camisole on under my blouse since that meant I didn’t have to get completely naked when I did a quick change into the t-shirt he’d gotten for me, choosing to go without the hat since I’d spent way too much time making sure the edges of my high ponytail were laid for them not to be seen before I finally got out of the car.
