Page 27 of Always There Bayou (The BR Bayou #3)

“I think that sounds perfect,” she assures me before kissing me once more. She takes my hand in hers and leads me out of the bathroom, turning off the light on the way. “Get your bag and let’s head out before I get tempted to drop to my knees again.”

“You’re so damn silly,” I laugh, grabbing my crossbody bag and phone.

Once we’re both ready, we exit the apartment, locking it behind us before heading down to her car. She insisted on driving since she was the one taking me out, but I didn’t mind. I loved being driven around. Driving always gave me anxiety, so whenever I could avoid doing that, I did.

It didn’t take us long to make it to the theater, and after giving her name to one of the workers, they escorted us to our private theater and left us with menus to order whatever we wanted.

Over the next few hours, we enjoyed a variety of snacks and watched movie after movie.

As expected, she hated the musicals but sat through the songs with minimal grumbling.

I decided that one musical film was enough for the day, so we switched over to watching a few animated movies we used to have on repeat when we were younger.

You would’ve thought that we were two kids with the way we were cracking up at all of Oscar’s antics in Shark Tale.

Then, of course, we had to watch the classic that was The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, followed by Toy Story 2, arguably the best one in the franchise.

The last movie we watched was You Got Served.

The acting was still as terrible as I remembered, but the dance battles were unmatched.

At one point during the movie, we were up out of our seats dancing along to the familiar soundtrack that had both of us feeling nostalgic… okay, and kinda old as hell.

“That was so fun,” I squeal as we exit the theater hand in hand. She smiles up at me, probably feeling accomplished. “Thank you so much for doing this for me.”

“I keep telling you, Bunny. I’ll do anything for you,” she says as we stop. She takes my hands in hers and looks up at me, honey dripping from her eyes. “Even if I have to move the world with my bare hands, I’ll do it if it means that you’ll forever feel happy and loved.”

“Has anyone ever told you how romantic you are?” I ask, swooning. She smirks.

“Eh, a few times, but it means so much more coming from you,” she admits. “You hungry, baby?”

“A little. I’m still digesting the snacks we had, but I could go for dessert,” I tell her.

“ How about I get you one of your favorites?” she asks, nodding past me. I turn and squeal in excitement as my eyes land on the Boba shop. I turn back to her and nod excitedly. She chuckles, leading me towards the shop. “Let’s go get you a little something sweet then, Bunny.”

I nod and let go of her hand so I can link my arms with hers.

She pats my hand, and we make our way into the shop.

It’s not as packed as I thought it would be, and I’m glad for that.

I notice that a few people are paying attention to Cory, but she ignores them.

This wasn’t new. She wasn’t the type to care about the fame part of being a pro basketball player.

She preferred to keep to herself and focus on the game instead of being in the spotlight.

However, thanks to Christie, she’d been a trending topic for a while now.

Even though she stayed off social media, I didn’t.

I had to block so many people because they kept tagging me in stuff related to them.

I eventually made my page private and removed all the followers that I didn’t know.

It annoyed me that they were talking badly about Cory, calling her dumb and naive for “continuously ending up in relationships that went nowhere.” They even dragged Simone and Harley into it, claiming that they were friends for a reason since none of them seemed to know how to avoid dating the same woman over and over.

“Bunny,” Cory called, and I glanced over at her, shaking the thoughts away. “It’s your turn to order.”

“Oh, uh, sorry!” I said before turning towards the cashier.

She looks slightly annoyed, but I don’t let that get to me.

I flash her my best smile even though she doesn’t return it.

“Hi, uh, may I please have the spiked Thai Milk Tea with brown sugar boba, please? Oh, and can you only make it 75% sweet?”

“Got it,” she says before turning towards Cory. Suddenly, there’s a smile on her face, and I have to stop myself from rolling my eyes. “And what would you like, Cory?”

“Uh, just a water, please,” she nods before pointing to a dessert in the case. “Oh, and one of these chocolate bread things.” She turns to me. “You want one, Bunny?”

“No, I’m okay,” I assure her, my eyes still on the cashier. She scoffs, rolling her eyes. Cory catches the exchange, and her eyebrows lift in confusion. “Just the drink is good.”

“That’ll be $15.37,” the cashier says, smiling at Cory once again. “You can tap or slide when you’re ready.”

When the payment goes through, she hands Cory the receipt and tells her that she’ll bring the order over once it’s ready.

Cory thanks her, and she takes my hand, leading me away from the counter and back to a secluded area of the small cafe.

She pulls out a seat for me and then takes the one next to me.

As soon as we’re comfortable, she leans in to place a kiss on my lips.

I catch a glimpse of the cashier looking at us, and I can’t help but smirk.

She rolls her eyes and turns away. Good…

“So, after this, what’s the plan?” Cory asks, pulling my attention back to her. “You still wanna go get that Switch?”

“Nah, I’ll just order it,” I shrug, knowing it was a lie. I didn’t need a new one, but I wasn’t gonna tell her that. “I’m kind of ready to go back home.”

“Why? Are you not having fun?” she asks, her smile dropping.

“ I am, baby,” I chuckle, shaking my head. “I’ve been having the best time. I know how hectic it could get once word got out that you were out and about. I don’t want people to crowd your space.”

“Bunny, fuck that and them,” she says, her face suddenly serious.

“I don’t care about any of that shit. All I care about is spending time with you.

” She turned towards me, placing her hands on my hips as she pulled me closer.

Her lips connect with my neck, and it takes all my willpower not to moan out loud. “You understand?”

“Yes, I understand,” I nod, my breath hitching as my eyes close.

Damn, she had to have put a spell on me to have me able to fold for her with just a kiss.

I notice a few people, including the cashier, looking at us with shocked expressions.

Some people had even snapped pictures. “Cory, people are staring at us.”

“Let them stare,” she says, but pulls back. She kisses me tenderly before backing up out of my space right as the cashier delivers our order. She thanks her, but before she can walk away, she stops her. “I know I already left you a tip, but I need to give you one more.”

“Okay?” the cashier says, confused.

Cory motions towards me, and my eyebrows furrow. “I don’t play about this one, you understand?” she says, and the girl blinks. “You were being rude as hell to them when we were ordering, and I don’t appreciate that. Please apologize to my partner.”

“What?” the girl says, genuinely shocked.

“I’m serious,” Cory says, not a smile in sight.

The girl looks from me to her and then back before sighing and lowering her head. “I’m sorry. I-I didn’t mean it,” she stuttered.

“ You did, but that's okay,” Cory says. She turns to me. “You accept her apology, Bunny?”

“Ye-Yeah,” I nod.

She smiles before leaning in to kiss me once more.

She then stands and picks up the tray with one hand before holding her other hand out to me.

I stand, taking hold of her hand. She takes one last look at the girl and flashes her a smile before pulling me around her and towards the exit.

On the way out, she tosses the drink but takes the packaged pastry and bottle of water.

I gasp, and I can hear people behind us do the same, but she doesn’t bother to address any of it.

We walk in silence back to the car. It isn’t until we buckle up that she says anything.

“I’m not saying she did anything to your drink, but I wasn’t about to chance it,” she says, and I nod. “The pastry and water were packaged, so they’re fine. I’m sorry about that.”

“It’s okay,” I nod. “You just caught me off guard, is all. Why’d you make her apologize? I was fine.”

“Maybe, but people need to know that I don’t tolerate that kind of disrespect when it comes to the people I love. I don’t give a damn if they’re a fan or not. I don’t care if they’re 18 or 81,” she states. “I don’t play that shit. You know that.”

“I do,” I nod, because it was true.

I mean, it was the first time she’d made someone apologize to me, but it wasn’t the first time she’d put someone in check behind me. I should be used to it, but it still always caught me off guard every time. Damn…this woman really loved me, huh?

“ So, since you couldn’t have your drink, how about we stop by the store and get the ingredients to make my world-famous strawberry milkshakes?” she asks, and my face lights up.

“Ah, yes, yes, a thousand times yes!” I exclaimed, throwing my arms around her neck. I peppered her face with kisses, and she chuckled, enjoying the treatment. “Oooh, I’ve been craving one for months.”

“Well, my love, let’s go get you what you want, shall we?”

“We shall,” I smile, and she shakes her head at my comment, but the smile is still on her face.

We found a nearby grocery store and collected all of the ingredients we needed, as well as a dinner that I had planned to make for us later that night.

I felt like I was on top of the world as I sipped on my second milkshake.

She wasn’t the best cook in the world, but she had the desserts thing down pat.

Of course, she could make a killer milkshake, but she was also skilled at making fudge brownies and ooey-gooey cake.

I mean, she didn’t make it as often as she used to, but she could keep up with the best pastry chefs if it ever came to it.

Later that night, as we were cuddling in her bed, we talked about what our plans would be for the next couple of weeks.

I told her that I wanted to visit my dad soon, and she agreed to come with me, something she always did when she could.

My dad loved her as if she were his own, and he always thanked her for looking out for me while he was away.

I hadn’t told him that she and I were dating yet, but I knew that he was gonna be over the moon once he heard.

I couldn’t wait until he was home. He’d been in jail since I was six, so I didn’t get the whole father experience like most people did.

D on’t get me wrong, my uncle was there for me from the very beginning, and he was the perfect father figure, but at the end of the day, I wish my dad had been around to help raise me.

Now, I’ll never be mad at him for doing what he did, but I did feel sad that I’d pretty much lost two parents in two days.

That’s okay, though. He only had less than eight months left on his sentence, and I was counting down the days until he was back home. Even though I visited him at least once a month, I couldn’t wait until I was able to see him every day. Then we could make up for all the lost time.

“Just thinking about it makes me happy,” I admit to Cory, and she nods, pulling me into her arms.

“I know it does, and I’m excited for you,” she admits. “We’ll be able to celebrate next Christmas with him.”

“Ahh, I know, right?” I squeal, cuddling up in her arms. I let out a yawn as my eyelids grew heavy. “Goodnight, Corduroy. I love you.”

“Goodnight, Bunny,” she whispers, kissing me softly on the nose. “I love you, too. Sweet dreams, gorgeous.”

I allow my eyes to close as I slowly drift off to Dreamland, accompanied by the sleep sounds playlist that’s playing softly in the background and the warmth of my girlfriend. Everything was perfect.