“Ten o’clock, chief,” Rob announced.
That’s when I saw her. Zoey’s big ass afro bounced as she neared me. I’d never seen her hair like that before, but it was cute. She was so fucking cute, even with the bags underneath her eyes.
When she approached me, her arms went directly to my waist and wrapped around me. That’s when I was afforded a waft her hair. Vanilla. Mmmmm. My left arm instinctively went around her shoulder.
“You know you look crazy suspect as tall as you are with that hood on,” she joked.
“I just came from work. What the hell do you expect me to wear? A damn suit? I know this is Princeton and all, but you didn’t give me enough notification,” I complained.
Truth was, she did coax me into coming. The only thing is what Zoey did likely wouldn’t classify as coaxing. She simply asked or suggested and I came running. That’s how I felt about her since losing her for those few weeks. Whatever she wanted I would give. She honestly didn’t ask for much at all.
“Come on!” she teased with animated eyes. “Let’s go before my colleagues mob you.”
I always found it funny how Zoey provided a caricature of my already heightened career. She was that clever, and I enjoyed it.
Once off the elevators, we walked past a lounge area.
“You guys can park it here,” I called over to Rob and Barry. “I’ll only be a minute.”
The guys stepped into the room as Zoey and I continued down a hall and finally to her door. As she faced it, she pulled me in to her, wrapping my arms around her tiny waist.
She whispered, “Ready?”
Thinking it was weird, I nodded. Zoey unlocked the door and pulled me in behind her. My long strides were sloppy as I tried to avoid running her little body over in the dark. Once inside, she closed the door and walked me to what I’d soon learn was her bed. She turned around and pushed me until the back of my legs hit the side of the small mattress. When she nudged me back, I fell cautiously onto the bed, hearing the small squeak. Zo sat next to me, snuggling underneath my arm, her big hair tickling my chin.
“I’ve missed you.”
It was natural for me to respond, “Same here.” And that was because I did.
Zoey and I spoke daily. I made sure of that. I regularly called at night, around this same time, after a game to hear her voice. My schedule was a bitch and not conducive to a relationship, but I found myself needing to hear her voice. Feeling her near me was much better, though. I couldn’t, for the life of me, understand why the damn lights were off if we were supposed to be studying.
“Did you guys win?”
I nodded, forgetting she couldn’t see me. “Yeah. Funny thing about prayer. I guess it actually works sometimes.”
“All the time,” Zoey corrected. “Prayers and requests are mutually exclusive. We may not always get what we request, but we’re always heard and covered,” she whispered.
“I see.” There was a bit of a pause and then I couldn’t take it anymore. “Zo?”
“Hmmm?” she replied, rubbing her face in my side, almost sniffing me.
Is she inhaling me?
“How can we study in the dark?”
I could feel Zoey’s head pop up from underneath me. I felt like a * for posing that question. But really, what is a man of my age and profession doing on a college campus at this hour? And then with the intent of tutoring? That sounded suspect, even to me—and that was my honest to God intent! I’d even Googled a few statistical formulas to start jogging my memory on the way here.
This fucking frustrating girl! She made me do crazy shit.
“Oh, that,” she whispered. “I was able to figure it out. All done and ready for my exam tomorrow.”
Her soft hand reached for my cheek and she pulled herself up as she urged my neck down to meet her. Zoey smelled good. Freshly showered.