Page 27 of Taming a Menace

Key was so attentive he barely let me lift a finger. He pulled a TV tray from beside the couch and set it up in front of me, then put my plate on top of it. Once my plate was in place, he removed my bottle of water from the side table and put it on the tray too.

“As you can see, I eat in front of the TV a lot.” He chuckled.

“Yeah, I see you just have the whole set up.”

“I brought real silverware. I don’t like eating with plastic if I don’t have to.”

“I’m good either way.”

“If I’m using real shit so is my baby,” he said, placing a silver fork on top of my plate. “You good?”

“Yes, now can you sit down and eat before your food gets cold? I’m fine, Key.”

“Look at my baby all concerned about me and shit,” he joked.

“Whatever,” I said, shaking my head and biting back a smile.

Finally, with that brown beer bottle clutched in his hand, he plopped down next to me and pulled his plate into his lap.

“You didn’t have to give me the tray. I eat in my lap all the time.”

“Baby, just eat. I’m trying to watch Thirsty Housewives ,” he fussed.

“One of your mama’s shows, huh? How do you know the name?”

“Good guess.” He shrugged, but the corner of his mouth lifted into a smile.

“Bad liar.” I laughed.

“That’s a good thing. Ain’t it? You don’t want me to be a good liar.”

“You’re right actually.” I nodded.

“Eat, baby. I don’t want your food getting cold either. I’m not going back in there and warming it up again.”

Without further ado, Keywan doused his food in sauce then dug into his chicken hibachi.

That was my cue to stop watching him and eat my own food.

The shrimp and chicken teriyaki I ordered was as good as I remembered.

The combination of the sweet sauce and honeyed carrots contrasted perfectly with the salty chicken and dry rice.

I just loved food. In a perfect world it would make sense for me to date a chef. It was funny how life worked sometimes.

“How is the food?” I asked, looking up from my food at Key who was over halfway through with his own.

“It’s good. I’ve been to that place a few times since you mentioned it to me.”

“Oh really?” I quizzed, suddenly remembering how he’d asked me about my favorite restaurant. That was years ago.

“Yeah. I had to try it. I only went because it was your favorite spot at first. Then I realized how good it was. It’s only ten minutes from my house. I think this was my third visit. The food is good, but mostly I was hoping that I would run into you there eventually.”

“Hm, then eventually came.”

“It did,” he noted, placing his plate on the table and sitting back.

When he reached over, picked up one of my crab Rangoon, and popped it in his mouth, I shot him a look. No he did not just take food off my plate.

“You don’t share, Moon?” he asked with lifted brows and that handsome grin plastered on his face as he waited for my response.

“Aren’t you allergic to shellfish? They put crab in those,” I cautioned.

“It’s imitation.” He reminded me.

“Oh, I wasn’t sure if that mattered.”

“Somehow it does. They have like zero real crab in those things,” he said as he repositioned his long body until his legs draped over the arm of the couch.

I watched curiously as he stretched out and put his head in my lap as if I weren’t still eating.

“Comfortable?” I asked looking down at him.

“I will be when you finish eating.”

“I guess I’m done.”

“Good,” he said, closing his eyes.

I didn’t want to take the chance of knocking anything over, so I closed my plates and put them on the side table before sliding the TV tray to the side and sitting back. Key’s eyes were open again and focused on the TV.

“So is that her husband, or is the Cuban guy her husband?”

“The Cuban guy is her ex-husband. That’s her boyfriend,” I explained.

“And she’s having sex with both of them already? The show just started. They came out of the gate swinging.”

“I guess they wanted to hook viewers early on.”

“Well they got me.”

“I see.” I laughed.

When it changed scenes, he lifted his head and scowled.

“What the hell do these people do for a living to afford that house?”

“Both of them work in real estate,” I explained.

“I’m in the wrong business,” he said, resting his head back on my lap.

“You and me both.”

“I’m working on finding something else. I was about to buy a house when I got locked up.”

“You’ve made this place nice.”

“It didn’t take much. I’m not going to stay here long though. Well maybe not. I own this duplex. I bought it when I finished culinary school. I lived here for about a year and rented the other side. I used the money from the tenants to finish paying for it after a couple of years.”

“Oh wow.”

“Yeah, one of the units just happened to be vacant when I got approved to change addresses.”

“I need to look into doing something like that,” I noted.

“I can put you in touch with the right people, if you want me to. The market is shitty right now though.”

“Yeah, I’m aware. I just bought the house I was renting that night you cooked for me. Most of the houses that were on my list were out of my price range in the first place. All of them have gone up like 25 percent in cost over the past few years. Some have increased by even more.”

“I still remember the kitchen. Did you get a good deal on the house?” he asked.

“I mean, it could have been better. I had a really good team working on my behalf, plus I was in a rush. I moved in with my sister the same night I found out my ex had a baby on me. She’s married though.

Her and her husband welcomed me with open arms, but I didn’t like feeling like an intruder, if that makes sense.

I missed having my own space. I found out my dream house was available, and they had actually lowered the price a little.

The seller was extremely motivated, and so was I.

I jumped on the deal, and the rest is history. ”

“Cool,” he said, tuning back into the show. “Oh hell naw, I know she didn’t say what I think she said.”

“You’re getting into my little soap opera I see,” I teased.

“It ain’t that bad. Plus, as long as I get to lay in your warm ass lap on these soft thighs, I’ll watch anything.”

“See,” I said as I shoved his head playfully.

“Stop trying to deprive me, woman. I’m behaving. I just want to be as close as possible to my two favorite girls; you, and this tight little heater down here.”

I scoffed. “I can’t with you.”

Just in case I still wanted to remove him from my lap, Key held onto my thighs as he got back comfortable.

I didn’t want to move him. I enjoyed spending time with him and the barrage of questions he asked as if we weren’t sitting here watching the show at the same time.

He was funny and insightful. I usually hated it when people talked through a TV show, but Key’s commentary made the show seem even better than I remembered it being.

“Oh hell naw!” he yelled out, startling me as I began to doze off.

“What?”

“That little bad ass slapped his mama. They need to beat his ass. She sees that time out shit ain’t working for him.”

“She needs to do something.”

“I never thought I wanted kids until the last couple of years. Seeing my brother with my niece only makes it worse. She’s so pretty and sweet, the opposite of his mean, ugly ass.

She probably takes after her mom. I know a little girl would make all my hair fall out, but I want at least one.

If I can help it, I want to have two sons and a daughter, or maybe one of each.

I think I would be a good daddy. My dad was the best,” Key rambled. “You want kids?”

Damn, where was all this coming from?

“Um, yeah. I figured once I got married I would have them. I didn’t expect to be in my thirties still waiting for the right time to start my family though.”

“Thirty is still young. I’m thirty-four, and I don’t have kids.”

“That’s actually a rarity for a man to not have kids after thirty.”

“I think that’s true for both sexes. I’ve never minded my women having kids, especially since I didn’t want any of my own. Somebody else did the heavy lifting and I just came through to serve my purpose.”

“Well damn.” I laughed.

“If you want kids, why did you have an IUD?”

“What?” I frowned at his question. Not that it was so crazy, but it actually caught me off guard.

“If you want to have a baby, then why did you have an IUD? Do you still have it?”

“I never told you I had an IUD.”

“I could feel it, Moon.” He chuckled as if I was crazy to assume he didn’t realize it was there.

“I got it after my last relationship. We were together for most of our twenties. I thought we would get married and start a family. After we ended things, I didn’t want to get pregnant from a one-night stand after having been with someone for six years and never conceiving.

It was almost a knee jerk reaction. At the same time, I’m glad I got it. ”

“You were throwing this pussy around like that? Hell, I thought I lucked up and got a taste.”

“No, I’m just saying it gave me more of a chance to decide when I want to have a baby.

I’m grateful to have left my last situation without having to drag a child into our mess.

I mentioned having it removed a couple of times, and he was totally against it saying that I had the right idea about waiting until I was married.

I would have never guessed he had another woman pregnant at the time. ”

“Cold blooded.” He shook his head.

“Tell me about it.”

“What they call that shit when parents raise the kids in different homes?”

“Coparenting?” I suggested.

“Yeah, yeah, I don’t think I would be a good coparent. I don’t want my children growing up in a home that I’m barely welcomed in. I want to be with them full time. Children need love and protection at all times.”

“Agreed.”

I stroked the top of Key’s head absentmindedly as I watched TV.

Somewhere in the back of my head, his promise to take me to my car played.

I wasn’t interested in going anywhere though.

As wrong as it felt to be there, it felt even more right.

There was no way I was supposed to be anywhere else other than right here enjoying my time with this hilarious, handsome man.

After a moment of silence, I realized that Key was no longer narrating and questioning everything on the show.

He was dozing off. His eyes were closed, and my lids were heavy as hell too.

If I weren’t so sleepy myself, I would have reminded him to take me back to my car. I could barely keep my eyes open.

“Have you ever buried something so deep that you forgot about it?” he asked groggily.

“Like a body?” I asked him. There was no telling with him.

“Like a memory. I guess I didn’t forget. I just pushed it down if that makes sense.”

“It does.”