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“Juvie—”
“Juicy. Open the damn box.”
Juvie buying me jewelry already had me on edge. Making this shit a surprise made my hands shake as I slowly opened the box. A delicate gold necklace sparkled under the warm lights. The pendant, though. That’s what had me lifting the necklace and holding it up to the light to catch every damn detail. I glanced at Juvie, and the way he smiled should have made me get up and leave, but I smiled back instead.
The petals were a muted pink, uneven in size, with small diamonds outlining each one. The stem was a rich green, with tiny emeralds nestled along its sides. The flower looked too familiar, and then it hit me. I recognized it because it was my flower.
My eyes shot to him. “Is this… Is this my flower?”
“Yeah.”
My brows furrowed. “Juvie, how did you know about this?”
He chuckled. “Seen it on yo’ IG. You like it?”
My words were stuck in my throat. Because I did like it, but Juvie really had no shame. Lurking on my page. But I should have known from how much he’d been watching my stories.
“Yes,” I finally answered. “It’s beautiful. What the hell, Juvie? Why?”
He shrugged and leaned back in his chair. “Why not? I seen it and thought it would look good on you. Wildflowers your favorite, right? Pink still your favorite color? You drew that same flower you posted at my granny’s.”
I looked down at the necklace again. “You really remembered all that?”
“Juicy, I didn’t forget nothin’ about you.”
My eyes burned as I ran my fingers over the pendant. I couldn’t look at him, and I definitely didn’t need to be crying. I forced my tears back and cleared my throat.
“You know you’re a creep, right?”
He threw his head back and laughed. “What I do now?”
“You know what you did! Lurking on my damn page.”
“Aye. I had to do my research.”
“Still a damn creep,” I sassed. “But thank you… for real. It’s beautiful, Juvie.”
“You welcome. You gon’ eat your dessert now?”
I looked down at the plate and shook my head. “I’m not eating this, Juvie. I told you, I’m full. Can we take it to go?”
“You ain’t even tasted it. But aight, let’s go.”
After we grabbed our coats, we went through the private entrance, where our driver waited. The cold Tokyo air hit me the second we stepped outside, and I hurried toward the car. Once we settled into the backseat, I leaned back against the heated leather and exhaled. I rolled my ankles and slid my feet forward, taking the pressure off the balls of my feet.
“Jesus, my feet are killing me.”
Juvie looked over at me. “Gimme your feet.”
I snapped my head toward him. “What?”
“You heard me, Juicy.”
“I’m fine, Juvie.”
He tilted his head and frowned. “Stop playin’ wit’ me. C’mere.”
I looked at him, then at his big ass hands. This nigga was way too comfortable, but I turned toward him and slowly lowered my legs into his lap. He carefully removed my heels, then dropped them on the floor. As soon as he pressed his thumb into the arch of my left foot, I could have died and gone to heaven. It almost made me want to snatch my feet from his lap, but it felt too good for me to move.
