Can't Let Go - A Contemporary BWWM Romance by Shayla Harris Read Free Book Online Page B

about LaLa’s little fib.

 
    “We
ordered a big boat, so you can just share with us,” LaLa said, winking at me. I
shot her a glare as soon as Demarius looked away. Next time we cooked, I was
going to force her to eat a mushroom. A whole one. I
promised myself that.

 
    The
boat soon arrived and I sat back as the two of them dug in and dished up their
plates of colorful little sushi bites. I had to admit I appreciated the
aesthetics of sushi, just not the slippery texture or the bland taste.

 
    “Want
some?” Demarius said to me as he nodded towards the boat.

 
    I
paused before looking at LaLa and trying my best to act excited.

 
    “Sure,
thank you.” I reached out and took two pieces.

 
    “Don’t
you want more?” LaLa asked as she stifled a laugh. She loved torturing me. That
bitch.

 
    “I
think I filled up on too much soup and salad,” I said with a smile. “This will
be fine for now.”

 
    I
placed a sushi roll on my chopsticks and stared at it before gathering enough
courage to shove it in my mouth. I washed it down as fast as I could with a few
gulps of my Asian pear mojito and all was well.

 
    “Will
you two excuse me for a moment?” LaLa said as she slid out of the booth. “I’ll
be right back.”

 
    She
ran off to the restroom as Demarius and I sat there in silence, chewing our
dinner. Demarius was going to town and had devoured about half the boat all on
his own. I hoped that he’d keep eating and eventually nothing would be left. I
was pretty sure two was going to be my sushi limit for the night.

 
    “So,
LaLa seems to think pretty highly of you,” I said to him as I attempted to fill
the silence between us.

 
    He
raised his eyebrows. “I feel the same about her.”

 
    “She
usually doesn’t spend this much time with guys,” I said. “You two are together,
like, every day it seems.”

 
    “We’re
just having fun,” he said with a wink. “Taking it one day at a time.”

 
    I
smiled at him. He did seem like a pretty laid back, genuine kind of guy. LaLa
deserved that after the string of asshole losers she’d dated over the last
couple years.

 
    I
took a sip of my mojito and glanced around the room. I admired the gorgeous
fish tank behind the bar, but not for long. My eyes landed on the back of a
very familiar looking head of hair.

 
    “Kevin?”
I said out loud to myself.

 
    “Huh?”
Demarius asked, clueless.

 
    I
stared hard, probably so hard he could feel it, and within seconds he spun
around, take out order in hand. He locked eyes with me, but he was with someone
else. Another guy. Probably a fellow detective from the
department.

 
    From
across the room I saw him glance at me and then Demarius, and then back to me. From far away, it probably looked like we were on a date.
My heart sunk. I didn’t want Kevin to think of me that way. I wasn’t someone
who dated a lot of people. I’d never dated more than one guy at the same time.

 
    I
still had yet to hear from him since our date the weekend before, and the fact
that it now looked like I was on a date with another guy was definitely not
helping my case.

 
    My
mouth went dry as I watched him walk out of the restaurant. He seemed to be in
a hurry and he didn’t look back. Not even once.

 
    “What’s
going on?” LaLa asked as she came back to the table. Talk about shitty timing.

 
    “Nothing,”
I said. “Thought I saw someone I knew.”

 
    The
urge to run after him and explain that it wasn’t what it looked like flushed
over me. My legs began to jump a little, and I scooted a good couple of inches
out of the booth before changing my mind.

 
    We
weren’t dating. I didn’t owe him an explanation. If I did chase after him and
tell him what the deal was, he’d probably think I was crazy for assuming we
were exclusive. We’d just met a couple weeks ago. We had one date. I knew
better than to jump the gun with someone as dashing as him.

 
    LaLa
stared