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“It's literally just my face,” I giggled, causing Kendall to mutter,“Pretty ass,”as he led us out of the house. And in what felt like a blink, we were pulling up to the Houston Zoo, Kendall being a total gentleman when he came and got my door for me and then held my hand as we made our way towards the entrance where a special zookeeper was already waiting on us.
“Okayyy, V.I.P.” I sang, Kendall grinning as he responded, “Only the best for my girl.” And of course, being referred to as such made me blush instantly as the zookeeper introduced herself and then gave us a full rundown on what we’d be doing today, the mention of various animal encounters lowkey making me nervous until Kendall said, “You do know I’d never let anything hurt you, right?”
“Have you ever fought an animal before?”
“No,” he answered, amused. “But I do go up against some of the strongest niggas on the planet every single day, so that has to count for something, right?”
“Fair point,” I agreed with a nod. “But if these animals start acting like,well, animals, I’m getting the fuck out of here.”
“Shit, me and you both,” he laughed, throwing an arm around my shoulder so that we could follow our guide’s lead towards the first exhibit. But we weren’t more than a few steps inside when we heard a very loudly whispered,“Oh my God. That’s Snoop Dogwood.”
Humbly, Kendall acknowledged the little boy and his dad with a wave that seemed to make their whole day considering the huge smiles on both of their faces. And seeing his influence up close made it hard for me not to grin too as I teased, “What’s it like to be so famous?”
“Shit, you tell me. You’re more famous than I am.”
“Not true,” I argued. “You’re known by like, the entire world. I’m only known by a very specific subset of people who enjoy my lewks, the occasional tea, and more than likely spend too much time on the internet.”
“My sister knew exactly who you were.”
“And you didn’t until I introduced myself,” I reminded him, the memory making Kendall smirk as he said, “I’m glad you did.”
“Even though you tried to play me?”
“I wasn’t tryna play you,” he chuckled. “I just had a lot on my mind that night.”
Nodding, I replied, “I remember. You lookedsosad.”
“I was honestly just a little overwhelmed being around people again for the first time since that playoffs shit,” he shared. “And then here your fine ass comes talkin’ about some,“Can I give you a hug, big daddy?”.”
“That isnotwhat I said,” I giggled. And only because we’d finally made it to our first activity -feeding a Galapagos tortoise -did I not give him a full transcript of our conversation, instead choosing to focus on every instruction the zookeeper gave that would keep me from getting eaten.
Apparently, I’d already fucked up by wearing red shoes. But thankfully, the tortoise was much more focused on Kendall who was on his Dr. Dolittle shit as he babytalked the animal while feeding it leafy vegetables from his hand.
It was so adorable.
And things only got cuter as the day went on, every animal we encountered taking an immediate liking to Kendall as if he really did have some sort of innate connection with them.
Or like the animals were on some,“real recognize real”shit.
Because that’s a thing, right?
By the time we left later that afternoon, I’d decided that it was, and that Kendall had passed the vibe check with flying colors. I’d also decided that I needed to see him around animals again sometime soon, the childlike energy our zoo visit had brought out of him leaving my heart on full and apparently his too considering the way he was beaming when he said, “Thank you for doing this with me.”
“And thank you for ensuring that I made it out of there with all of my limbs,” I joked, Kendall smirking as he replied, “I told you I got you.”
Turning his way in the passenger seat, I reminded him, “You also told me you’d show me a lil’ appreciation when we got back.”
“I ain’t forget,” he stated, reaching for my thigh where his hand stayed for the rest of the drive. And it was that little bit of contact that had me ready to go the second we stepped inside my house, only to have a wrench thrown in my plans when my phone began to vibrate with a call from my father.
Sighing, I told Kendall, “I should probably get this.”
“Go ‘head,” he insisted. “I’ma go fix us something to eat.”
“With what groceries?”
“Okay, so I’maorderus something to eat,” he quickly amended. And it was that version that got an approving nod as I finally answered the phone with a cheery, “Hey, Daddy.”
“Hey, baby girl. What you doin’?”
