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Shakira
Beinga social media influencer was a gift and a curse.
Of course, it was nice to make money for doing the things I probably would’ve been doing regardless of if I was getting paid for it or not. But sometimes, it got annoying to have to turn every instance of my life into “content”.
Like tonight, for example.
All I wanted to do was go to dinner with one of my besties. But instead of just letting it be that, my manager -my aunt- suggested we kill an entire flock of birds with one stone, turning what would’ve otherwise been an ordinary night out into a multi-part production that included a full glam session that we filmed for TikTok, a photo shoot for my Instagram that would fulfill the stipulations of my contracts with Pretty Little Thing and She’s Happy Hair, and finally, a trip to a restaurant that hadn’t even been in my original plans but was now since I apparently owed them a sponsored post too.
Yeah, it was a bit much. But thankfully, everything about Franklin’s made up for it.
The food was delicious, the drinks were on point, the service was excellent, the chef was fine, and the lighting wasperfectfor pictures, making it less of a hassle for Gianna to capture me sitting pretty while I posed with my dessert. And even though Gianna wasn’t technically here on business like me, I was happy to return the favor for her more personal reasons, the way she was serving face bringing a smile to mine until she frowned and asked, “Ain’t that your boy?”
Without even looking to see who Gianna was talking about, I started to giggle, knowing good and well whatever “boy” she was referring to was more than likely just some random who had tried -and failed- to get at me in the past. But when she leaned into the table and insisted, “I’m serious, Kiki,” I honestly started to worry a little as I slowly turned in my seat and discovered that the person she was talking about was, in fact, someone I was interested in.
And his ass wasn’t alone.
Frowning, I watched intently as Kendall and his date were guided over to a table that wasn’t far from where Gianna and I were seated, the sight of him pulling out her chair making my stomach turn since it all looked so…romantic.And when he took his seat across from her, I was even more dialed in, immediately noticing the way he couldn’t stop grinning like he was that damn happy to be here tonight.
That damn happy to be here withher.
Fuck.
“If you stare any harder, you’re gonna burn a hole through something,” Gianna teased.
But not even that was enough to stop me from glaring at Snoop, his laughter only intensifying my irritation as I groaned, “Maybe that’s my goal.”
Truthfully, I knew it wasn’t fair for me to be mad at him for being out with someone else since it wasn’t like we’d done more than share a few words and exchange a few DMs. But I guess I was just…disappointed, even more so when Gianna pointed out, “I can’t say that I completely understood it the night of your party, but Idefinitelyget it now. Baby boy isfine.”
To say he was fine almost felt like an understatement, mainly because of how versatile his attractiveness was.
At my party, he was cool and casual fine with his backwards cap, jeans, and plain tee.
In the picture he’d sent from training camp, he was rugged fine with his rough facial hair and his Skyhawks hoodie.
And tonight, he wasjust… fine fine with his fresh haircut, designer tee, and a single gold chain around his neck that somehow set his entire fit off.
It was maddening.
“Like, honestly. Why is he that good-looking?” I asked Gianna, frustrated in a variety of ways as I quickly quenched my thirst with a sip of water before turning back towards Kendall’s table for another peek. But this time, instead of being all into his date, he was looking right back at me, smirking as he gave an upward nod to say,“What’s up”that made me panic as I responded with an awkward grin of acknowledgement before telling Gianna, “We should go.”
“Nuh-uh,” she groaned. “Not until I finish my cheesecake.”
“You can’t just take it with you?”
“Girl, what you want me to do? Stuff the plate in my purse?” Gianna asked, chuckling as she said, “You’re either gonna have to sit here and wait until I finish it or sit here until the waitress can properly bag it up for me. And you know they be taking forever, so you might as well just let me finish.”
Considering how busy the restaurant was starting to get, I knew she was right. And even though it pained me to stick around now that I’d been exposed, I had no choice, telling Gianna, “Fine. Just… hurry up, please.”
Ideally, she would’ve responded to my plea by scarfing it down. But instead, Gianna took her dear sweet time, savoring every bite like it was the best dessert she’d ever had and taunting me with each swallow.
Asshole.
I was just getting ready to tell her how bad of a friend she was when our waitress strolled up with a fresh tray of drinks, the sight of it making me frown as I told her, “I think you might have the wrong table.”
“Actually, these are courtesy of the gentleman over there,” she explained with a smile and a nod towards where Kendall was sitting, the little grin he gave once I glanced his way making me frown harder as I hissed, “He cannotbe serious.”
“Is there a problem?”
