15

CHAPTER FIFTEENadonis pov

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THE REST OF THE NIGHT WAS CHILL. Clover and I listened to the rest of the poets and a waitress came and handed us our food, she was looking at us weirdly but ian say nothing. I notice Clover wasn't eating though, I didn't know why we been there for a minute. She was just sipping her drink and ain't say nothing.

She noticed I was watching her and tilted her to the side and smiled. "You always been this observant?" I asked, stirring my drink.

"Only when I care about what I'm looking at," I responded quickly. Shit I need to be smooth when I talk for real, too damn eager.

Clover shook her head and smiled. "Don't gas me."

"I'm deadass. You don't even know how you sit in your silence. You got that kind of energy that makes a man wanna hush and listen for once."

She bit the inside of her cheek, I noticed it's a habit she does a lot. This time she was tryna hide her grin. I watched her mouth open to speak but our waitress came back. She was fye I can't lie.

Her figure was aight, none I was trying to look at for real. She had a slick back ponytail that stopped at her ass and her baby hairs were slicked down like a helmet. She had caramel colored skin with some acne on her face but all and all she was a nice looking girl. If I was with Jeremiah I would've put her own with him for sure.

She  looked directly at me when she spoke, "Alright baby, do you need anything else?" she was staring to hard fa me and her smile was even harder. She leaned in , resting her hand near my forearm, her chest all in my view. "Nah we good," I said not even sparing her a glance for real.

"Okay but if you need anything else, baby, anything at all," she dragged out the word, "you let me know, alright?"

I looked at Clover who was staring at her unbothered. That's my girl.

"Ma'am," she said politely, then paused. "Your job don't require flirting. Just service."

She blinked at Clover, I guess that caught her off guard. The hoe looked at her like she spoke foreign.

Before the waitress could respond, I cleared my throated and acknowledged her. "Yeah, go ahead and get somebody else to cover this table."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me. You acting like you don't know how to work in front of my woman, you disrespectful as fuck. Get somebody else in hea for us."

She didn't say nothing else, she just stormed off. I watched Clover stabbed her shrimp with a smirk on those pretty full lips. "Your woman, huh?"

I grinned. "You heard what I said."

"You lucky I find that kinda bold."

"I'm lucky for a lot of shit tonight."

We both dug into our food. The conversation flowed easy after that—we talked about where we grew up, dumb stories from school, music we loved, family that drained us, and the people we outgrew. She told me about her mom moving to Charlotte, how she had to step up early and raise herself in a lot of ways. How her dad wasn't really there, he was too focused on raising Stacee's family. Clover really was lonely  as a child.. at least to me she seemed that way.

I told her about my pops being in and out, and how he wanted to do something with his life that ain't just make money—but make peace. She already knows my mom so I didn't really think there wasn't any reason to mention her.

"You ever feel like your life been surviving for so long, you don't even know what it feels like to live?" I asked, while pushing my plate to the side.

"Every damn day," she said. I loved into her hazel eyes and smiled small, she returned the smile. We were both silent, at peace. I watched her mouth open when I watched her turn her head to something across the room. Furrowing my brows I followed her gaze.

A dark skin girl, with burgundy lace on with curls stopping at her elbows, big ass gold hoops in her eyes, thick figure, thick lips and a round face I immediately knew who she was— Chanel. Elizabeth's bestfriend. I could tell Clover knew her too because she sighed and rolled her eyes. Chanel stood near the bar, peeking over the rim of her drink—right at us.

I watched Clover stiffen for a split second. She didn't say anything, nor did she react but I could tell she was nervous.. hell so am I. I tilted my head, and pretended I couldn't see her because I know that one wrong move can mess around and have Elizabeth on my ass or worse... my momma.