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He laughed again. “Why, sweetheart?”
“Because I do too, and I don’t know if all I’ll want to do is talk.”
“I mean… We grown as hell. So it’s whatever you wanna do. Call me when you get home, though, aight?”
“Okay. Actually… I have a half day at the boutique since you bought the place out. Thank you for that. I really appreciate it. So… If you maybe wanted to grab breakfast or something, we could. That’s if you’re not busy or anything.”
“What part of town are you in?”
“Germantown.”
“Aight. Give me about fifteen minutes. I’ll meet you at Staks.”
“Yay,” she cheered before snapping her lips shut. She’d meant to think that, not actually say it, but the sound of his laughter made it worth it.
“Keep fuckin’ around, Denali. I’ll see you soon…”
seventeen
Elite
“So tell me about yourself,”Denali requested as they sat across from each other in the blue booth.
They’d been at Staks long enough to place their order and receive their food, but she didn’t seem to care much about it. More than anything, she was just happy to see him, and that meant a lot to Elite.
“What do you want to know?” he asked, watching her as she took a sip of her mimosa. He got her a flight of them and an Irish coffee for himself. “My past isn’t something I really talk about a lot. It’s heavy.”
“Well, if you don’t want to talk about it, I understand, but I like knowing a person’s history… about their romantic relationships and the relationship they have with their parents. Childhood often shapes adulthood, especially if there were traumatic events that a person hasn’t healed from.”
Elite smiled with one side of his mouth. “You sound like someone that’s dealt with a lot of toxicity in your life or relationships.”
She chuckled, finally covering her hash browns with ketchup and mixing it.
“I tried to love a man who was in survival mode and out for self. I don’t want to go through that again.”
“I feel you. It takes a lot to deal with someone in survival mode when you were raised in love. You basically have to teach that person how to accept your love and give them time to learn that they can trust you if they haven’t healed.”
“So you’ve done it before?”
“I was the personinsurvival mode. I can admit that I healed a lot, but my marriage ending showed me I still had a lot of work to do.”
Setting her fork down, Denali gave him her full attention. “How long were you married? And when did you get divorced?”
“We would have celebrated our three-year anniversary this month. Instead, we got divorced last month.”
“Were there children involved?”
“She had a set of twins with someone else, but I don’t have any children.”
Denali nodded. “Do you want any?”
“Eventually. I feel like there’s a lot of shit I need to work out as a man before I’m ready to become a father.”
“I respect that, and I’m glad you know that and chose to wait.”
“Thank you. I wish more women would share your perspective.”
“Is that why you and your wife divorced?”
