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Shakira
The amused look on my friends’faces when they saw tonight’s dinner spread told me everything I needed to know.
I was doing too much.
Correction.
I’ddonetoo much.
The food was already made, so there was no turning back now. But I was tempted to throw at least some of it in the trash once Gianna said, “Damn, Kiki. Are you tryna be this nigga’s girlfriend or his Big Mama?”
While Gianna giggled at her own joke, Zara teased, “I’m just gonna assume when you said you were inviting your new quarterback bae over for dinner that you actually meant you were inviting him and his entire team.”
“Coaching staff too,” Gianna tagged on, giggling even harder as I rolled my eyes.
Thankfully though, my girl Penelope was at least somewhat on my side when she said, “Y’all, leave her alone. Kiki’s future baby daddy eating good tonight means we’realleating good tonight.”
She was right that we’d all be eatingextremelywell this evening. But because of the whole future baby daddy thing, I couldn’t help but whine, “Will y’all stop? I’m already nervous enough as is.”
I felt silly admitting it out loud, but it was the truth.
The thought of seeing Kendall again,having him in my home again, had me nervous, and anxious, and giddy as fuck. Feelings that must’ve been obvious to my friends considering the way the three of them looked at each other all googly-eyed before letting out a collective, “Awww!”
“Ew, don’t do that,” I grumbled as I pulled the last cake from the oven.
Yes, the last.
Because there were multiple.
Because I’d donewaytoo much.
It was like once Kendall confirmed he was coming, my mind went into overdrive trying to make sure that tonight’s meal was a hit. And apparently that meant taking what was supposed to be a simple Sunday dinner and turning it into a Soul Food feast complete with dessert options that had me asking myself,“Girl, why?”while Zara asked, “How else are we supposed to act when our girl has a major crush on somebody?”
“Perhaps like y’all have some damn sense,” I suggested.
That elicited a chuckle from Gianna who responded, “But we don’t. And you know that.”
Considering that was one of the main reasons why we were all friends -birds of a feather flock together or whatever-, I had no choice but to agree, “You’re right. Idoknow that, which is exactly why I shouldn’t have even invited y’all’s asses.”
Sucking her back teeth, Zara argued, “First of all, we’ve had a standing invitation to Sunday dinner long before Mr. Snoop D-O single G was even a thing. And second of all, if we weren’t here, then who in the hell would eat all of this food?”
It was a fair point that I didn’t get a chance to address before Penelope chimed in, “Instead of asking questions about the food, how about we just appreciate that it exists?”
“Thank you, Penelope,” I responded with an exaggerated grin that was short-lived once I heard the doorbell ring, the sound of it sending me into a panic as I first glanced at the clock and then asked, “Oh my God, is that him? Is he early?”
Smirking, Gianna replied, “There’s only one way to find out, sis.”
For a second, I thought about sending one of them to get the door. But knowing how wildly inappropriate they all could be, I decided it was probably best for me to greet Kendall myself, my nerves ramping up as I slowly made my way towards the front entrance. And once I was there, I stopped to take a deep breath before I pulled the door open with a smile that flattened once I realized who was actually standing on my doorstep.
Immediately recognizing my disappointment, he chuckled as he said, “Damn. Hello to you too, Kiki.”
“Sorry. I just thought you were someone else,” I admitted as I let Gianna’s little brother in and then gave him a quick hug paired with a slightly warmer greeting. “Hi, Donatello. It’s good to see you. Your sister is in the kitchen.”
“You know I ain’t here to see her,” he replied with a flirtatious smirk that made me roll my eyes a little before I told him, “Penny and Zara are in there too.”
Snapping his head back, Donatello asked, “Bothof my babies are already here? Aww, say less.” Then he took off to greet the women who never paid his ass any mind while I stayed near the entryway, giving it a second before I peeked out of the window to see if there were any other cars pulling up.
“What kind of car does Kendall even drive?”I wondered as I watched a few pass by that were going way too fast to be him. But I perked up a little when I saw headlights turning into my driveway; headlights that belonged to a…Kia Soul?
