Autumn Chic Lit: Cafe Con Leche, Chapter 2

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I can't believe that Matt is in my dorm room--and that he brought ice cream!

“I thought we could do better than cruddy cafeteria ice cream.” Matt says as he leans over my counter, watching me pull out bowls and spoons for us. His bright green eyes seem to twinkle as they hover over me from head to toe.

“Ummhhm.” I say elusively, trying not stare at him too much. It’s so hard because he’s so cute.

“It’s not too much, is it? I wasn’t trying to freak you out…I just thought…” He was looking down at the tan tiles on my kitchenette floor, seeming to search for words.

“Oh, Matt. It’s fine. I know I give you a lot of crap, but it’s cool.” I grab his hand reassuringly. “Okay?” I ask, making sure he’ll squash the post-surprise regret for the rest of the night. Or for what I hope is the rest of the night.

“Okay.” He smiles, putting his free hand on top of mine.

He’s so handsome, I think, biting my lower lip and breathing through my nose. He smells amazing. The scent sends butterflies shooting through my body and blood rushing to my face. My brown skin hides my blushing, but I instinctively take away my hand and turn away from him to pick out more dishes. I bite my lip harder trying to keep a smile at bay.

Why does he have to be so cute?

“What’s going on in here?” I hear a voice coming from the entrance to my kitchenette. My roommates, Denise and Shawnie are standing in the doorway, both combing their hair and glowing with club-worthy makeup.

“Oh, I didn’t know you had company, Jo” Denise says, giving Matt a once over while smiling in her usually bitchy way.

Shawnie looks at me with an apologetic expression that says “I’m sorry girl, I couldn’t keep her away.”

“Denise, this is Matt. Matt, this is my other roommate, Denise. You already know Shawnie from class.”

Matt stands up to his full 6 foot 4 potential, shakes Denise’s hand and gives Shawnie a “What’s up?”

“You play basketball right?” Denise says quickly to Matt.

“A little. I’m not that good though, right Jo?” He leans back against the counter again and winks at me. My heart flutters but I manage to smile back and shake my head.

“Nahh, not too good.”

“Hmmm.” Denise says, observing out flirtation. “So how do you two know each other?” she asks Matt as she leans against the opposite wall. I hear Shawnie blow a sigh of frustration and say “Oh Lord,” as she retreats back to her room.

“We have a class together, and she couldn’t keep her eyes off me.” I'm glad that Matt does not seem to be phased by her condescending attitude.

“Puhh-leez!” I interject.

He’s totally right though. I can’t keep my eyes off him, but I don’t want Miss Know-It-All Denise to know that. Why didn’t Shawnie and I ask that weird goth girl to be our roommate, rather than going with someone random for the third wheel?

I start gathering our bowls so we can head back to my room for our snack as a sign for Denise to go back to her bat cave.

“Oh really. I didn’t picture Jo dating your type of guy," Denise starts, smiling slyly.

“And what type of guy is that?" Matt asks, his smile still holding steady but seeming to mask a little frustration.

“Oh, I’m sorry I didn’t mean to offend you, Matt. You seem like a nice guy. Cute, athletic, funny…” Denise says dramatically putting her hand on my chest apologetically. “I just didn’t think Jo dated white guys.”

“Wait a minute!” I put the dishes down on the counter loudly. Denise is wearing an odd grin of satisfaction while Matt’s calm face is looking oddly serious. “Matt…is white?!” I say pretending to brace myself with a cabinet handle.

Matt begins to laugh, and I join in to squash Denise’s dreams of keeping everyone as lame as she is.

I look back at Denise as Matt and I gather our stuff to go into my room for ice cream, her evil smile has faded she walks back to her room narrowing her eyes at me.

“Hey ladies, don’t disturb us when you leave, Matt and I are gonna have some wild sex tonight while listening to Michael Jackson’s Black or White.” I yell to their side of the suite before I close the door to my bedroom.

“Ok, Jo. I’ll see you in the morning.” Shawnie calls from her bedroom, with a hint of amusement in her voice. Denise responds by slamming her door.

“What a bitch!” I say as I lock my door. “I apologize for that, Matt. Shawnie and I inherited Denise by luck of roommate lottery and now we’re stuck with her close-minded ass,” I say, placing the bowls on my desk.

“It’s cool. I’ve had a few people like that in my life,” he shrugs his shoulders as he sits down at my desk.

“Yeah. Denise is one of those girls that believes in ‘equality and diversity,’” I throw in air quotes, “But doesn’t think ‘races should mix,’” I say, quoting one of Denise’s many self-righteous speeches.

“People like that are the reason for all the problems in the world…”

“Yeah, she’s an oxymoron.”

“Or just a moron,” he says, beginning to scoop out ice cream into our bowls. We laugh and exhale together.

“Let me help you with that.” I grab the bag of toppings.

“No.” He gently smacks at my hand. “You sit down, relax. I’m here to serve you.”

Why protest?

I smile, sit down on my bed and slide backwards so my back is against the wall.

“What do you want on your sundae?” he asks.

“Everything,” I say, leaning on my pillow.

“You sure you can handle everything?” Matt looks at me with flirty eyes.

“Of course.” I laugh, and mirror his expression. He looks away, shakes his head and says “Girl…” under his breath.

Later that night once we both are finished with our delicious sundaes, and had a long conversation about everything from Matt’s impression of Polk University to our childhoods. We end up laying on my bed after watching re-runs of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air on Nickelodeon late into the night. I told Matt he could stay the night, so somehow we both pile into my twin bed. We’re so close I can smell his cologne with every breath.

I could get used to this.

“Will Smith is so funny,” I say after Matt turns the TV off.

“Yeah, and Jada Pinkett-Smith is so fine.” He says with a weird grunt.

I raise my head off my pillow to look at him.

“What?” He says widening his eyes. “She is.”

“Yeah, Will is too.” I say, thinking about him in Hitch.

“Better-looking than me?” Matt turns to face me.

“Huh?” I clearly hear what he said, but I just don't believe he actually said it.

“Do you find Will Smith more attractive than me?” He was looking me squarely in the eyes.

No. Not here, not now…Not when I’m close enough to kiss you. I run my eyes over his face and stop on his lips. I let my eyes wander back to meet his. I grab his hand softly.

“Who said I found you attractive?” I say, furrowing my brow with an inquisitive expression. He snatches his hand away, quickly pretending to be upset.

We yawn in unison.

I roll away from him to look at my alarm clock.“I guess we better get to sleep. It’s after three.”

“Yeah” Matt turns and kisses my forehead gently. “Goodnight, Jolisa.” He says, pulling back to look into my eyes.

“Goodnight, Matt.” I say , looking through the darkness into his. He puts his arm around me and scoops my head onto his chest while resting his arm around my back. I place one hand on his stomach.

I really could get used to this.

I fall asleep in his arms breathing his scent.

“Jo…Jo…Jo, wake up,” I hear a voice saying.

My neck burns. I can still hearing people yelling. I can still feel kicks and punches.

“Jo, wake up. It’s okay, wake up.” The voice is louder now, more urgent.

I open my eyes. The voices have gone. Everything is fine.

I can smell Matt again.

I look through the dark and see his face.

“Are you okay?” He asks wiping my brow. I’m sweating. I was breathing deeply, still in shock from the horrible dream.

“I had a nightmare. I’m sorry.” I look away from him. I’m embarrassed he saw me like this, frightened out of my mind.

“Hey,” he grabs my chin and pulls my face back towards him. “Don’t be sorry. I just want to make sure you’re ok. Do you want to talk about it?”

I pause and think about the horrible dream: everyone was against Matt and I being together. And I was mobbed because I was a black girl and dating a white guy. The pain felt so real.

My eyes begin to water. I shake my head.

“Okay. Well, I’m here for you, whenever you need me. I’m here for you.” He pulls me close, kisses my cheek and rubs my head gently.

Despite the horrible dream, I smile. And fall asleep in his arms, this time to dreams of only us, Matt and I, together.

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