I felt a slight heat creep up my neck. I looked down, rubbing a hand over my waves. "Man, I ain’t about to tell her nothing. She told me today she wanna take things slow, so we ain’t been doing much pillow talking anyway."
Eli nodded at that, his expression finally shifting. "London is pregnant again."
My eyebrows shot up. A genuine smile broke across my face, and I reached out to clap him on the shoulder. "Damn, man! Y'all started the honeymoon early. Congratulations, bro."
"Yeah, she’s nine weeks," Eli said. He looked a little guilty. "I feel kind of bad because she was looking forward to the open barand the parties. Now we gotta play it safe the whole weekend and during our honeymoon."
After their wedding in Tulum they were spending their honeymoon in Cancun at Impression Isla Mujeres by Secrets
"Damn man, that’s tough but still I’m happy for yall," I told him. "Babies are a blessing. I hope it’s a boy this time."
"Shit, me too," Eli laughed.
Just then, the waitress appeared with my order. As I reached for the bag, Eli flagged her down. "Hey, I know y’all are about to close, but can I please get an order of the churro cheesecake to go?"
She smiled and nodded. "Of course. Let me ring that up for you."
I looked at Eli and chuckled. "Damn, she already having cravings?"
"Yeah man, it’s wild," he said, pulling out his card.
I watched him for a second, thinking about how far they’d come. "How did y’all get over the bullshit to get to the point of being married with two kids? I know y’all were beefing bad when she found out she was pregnant with Heavyn."
Eli sighed, his gaze dropping to the counter. "Honestly, we would have probably called it quits if it wasn’t for therapy. Shit really happened too fast between she and I. I told her how I felt in July, by November we found out she was pregnant, and by December I bought the land to build our house. We always knew we loved each other, but therapy helped us work through our baggage. She was scared to love me out loud because of Brandy, and I didn’t know how to let Brandy go fully."
Their whole beginning was wrapped up in a kind of pain that most people never have to navigate. London felt like she was constantly competing with a memory she couldn’t beat, and Eli struggled with the guilt of moving on with the woman who hadgrieved right alongside him. It was heavy and imperfect, but they managed to build something real out of the wreckage.
"That's real," I muttered, thinking about the work they’d put in.
"It is," Eli said, taking his cheesecake from the waitress. "But you gotta do the work, Dex. You can't just hope it gets better."
I nodded, grabbing my bag and turning toward the exit. "I'm trying, man. I'm trying."
"I’ll text you the number to my therapist," Eli said, pulling his phone out.
I let out a dry, frustrated breath. "Man, she’s so stubborn. I don’t even know if she’d go for something like that. Nique likes to handle everything on her own."
Eli stopped what he was doing and looked me dead in the eyes, giving me that 'big cousin' look. "If she’s anything like her cousin, you just gotta cater to her, Dex. Stop talking about it and start showing it. Plan out a nice date for her tomorrow night. No drama, no distractions. Just show her you care."
I gripped the paper bag of food in my hand, the heat from the containers warming my palm through the paper, but my mind was already somewhere else entirely. "A date night? Between the wedding events and everything else going on?"
"Especially with everything else going on," Eli countered. "She needs to see that she’s the priority, not just an option you're fitting in between urgent care runs and family dinners. If you want her to stop taking it slow, give her a reason to run toward you."
I nodded, feeling the weight of his advice. He was right. I had spent so much time reacting to the fires Amina was starting that I hadn't spent enough time actually building the foundation Nique needed to feel safe.
"I hear you," I said, finally moving toward the door. "I'll see what I can put together."
"Do that," Eli called out as he turned back to the counter. "And check your messages. The number is in your inbox."
I walked out into the night with Eli’s words still turning over in my head. I had spent so much time reacting to everything around me that I hadn’t stopped long enough to actually build something worth running toward. Tomorrow that was going to change. It was time to show Nique exactly where she stood.
Chapter twenty-seven
Drowning
Chambao was beautiful. On a normal night I would have been scouting the best lighting for a photo op, but pictures were the last thing on my mind as I sat across from Stella. Even angry I had to admit how beautiful she was. We looked a lot alike, but she was shorter, which had me wondering for the thousandth time if I got my height from my father.
Whoever he was.