The Realest Ever - By Keith Thomas Walker Page 0,25
away. When did Donovan’s eyes become so damned piercing? When did his lips get so freaking suckable? Donovan moistened his puckers while she watched, as if he could read her mind.
“You did a lot of growing yourself,” she said. “You had some little muscles back in the day, but they’re all full-sized now. I see you.”
Donovan grinned. “Thanks, but my most important muscle will always be the one between my ears. The rest are superficial.”
Kyra heard him perfectly, but she still thought he said the one between my legs. Her eyes even swam in that directly. She caught herself.
Dammit woman, get a grip!
“I worked out to get bigger for football,” Donovan explained. “Especially when I got to college. Those guys are NFL-size. You gotta be strong to compete. But I’m a lot slimmer now.”
“I saw your college pictures,” Kyra said. “Your body does look better now. I mean you look better. Not your body. You know what? Let me shut up.”
Donovan chuckled. “Well, as a friend, I can say that your body looks better now, too. As a friend, I noticed that you got it going on.”
“Thanks,” Kyra said, blushing again. The AC was blowing perfectly, but it still felt warm in the truck. She fanned herself. “I don’t know why I’m so nervous around you.”
“Please don’t be,” Donovan said. “You used to be able to talk to me about anything. I hope we can still be like that, even though it’s been a long time since we talked.”
“Me too,” Kyra said. “I miss that. I miss you. Thanks for picking me up.”
“I said I’d fly to Arkansas to see you,” Donovan stated. “I meant that.”
“Thank you,” Kyra said. Her heart was filled with happiness.
“So tell me about your kids,” Donovan said.
“Okay. My son is eight years old. His name is Quinell. My daughter Katavia is two. Everyone calls her Kat.”
“They’re beautiful,” Donovan said. “You said you’ve never been married?”
“No.” Kyra thought she’d feel self-conscious about that, but she didn’t, not with Donovan.
“Are you still with their father?”
Kyra shook her head. “Quinell’s dad died before he was born. He got stabbed.” Her eyes glazed over as the bloody memory filled her mind.
“That’s terrible,” Donovan said. “I’m, I’m sorry that happened to you.”
“A lot of bad stuff happened,” Kyra said with a shrug.
Donovan thought that was a dreadful and cryptic comment, but he let it go for now.
“What about Kat’s father?” he asked instead.
Kyra sighed. “His name is Leonard. He’s still alive. He’s a hustler, and he does drugs, too. I didn’t know how bad he was at first. He’s in jail now. We’re not together anymore.”
Donovan didn’t know what to make of what he was hearing. He thought Kyra’s life was bad before she left Overbrook Meadows. He always assumed things got better for her in Arkansas.
“What about you, Mr. Mitchell?” Kyra asked. “I know you’re not married, but there’s got to be some woman trying to get her hooks in you.”
Donovan chuckled. “Yeah, there is someone. I’ve been with my girlfriend for almost eight months.”
Kyra couldn’t explain why her heart grew heavy at that moment. She already knew Donovan had a girlfriend. Even if he didn’t, it wasn’t like she and he could ever be more than friends. The one time they tried, all hell broke loose. That ill-advised shot at love literally ruined Kyra’s life.
“Is she pretty?” Kyra felt foolish for asking, but Donovan didn’t notice her inner turmoil.
“She is. Her name’s Brianna.”
“Is she in any of your Facebook pictures?” Kyra tried to sound like she was barely interested. “I think I might’ve seen her.”
“She has long, curly hair,” Donovan said. “She looks like a model. She actually could be a model. If you saw her pictures, you’d know because she kinda takes center stage, no matter who she’s posing with.”
“Yeah, I think I saw her,” Kyra said. Ha! Who was she kidding? She had practically memorized Brianna’s facial features. Kyra was pretty sure she could give a perfect description if someone wanted to do a composite drawing. “Eight months is pretty serious,” she said.
“It can be,” Donovan agreed.
Kyra didn’t know how to respond to that, so she changed the subject. “I see you took Regina Bryant to the prom.”
Donovan laughed. “You saw my prom pictures?”
Kyra giggled, too. “Is that stalking? I promise I wasn’t stalking you!”
“No, it’s all good,” Donovan said. “I forgot I had those pictures up.”
“I didn’t know you liked Regina.”
“I didn’t,” Donovan said. “Not like that. I know you didn’t like her.”