Soft.

s e v e n t e e n

Seattle

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Eating lunch on a boat with Zeke Ingram wasn't really how Naomi planned to spend her afternoon. But, here she was. Laughing loudly and freely at his corny jokes, throwing French fries into his mouth, and lying on the deck sparking random conversations. She was really having the time of her life. Surprisingly, this was an overwhelmingly better date than the one she'd had last night.

Or ever.

"I'm kinda glad it wasn't too chilly out today. Perfect weather for lunch on a boat." Zeke said out loud, mostly to himself. Naomi nodded in agreement.

"The lunch is perfect, too. I can't tell you the last time I had a simple lunch like a greasy burger and some French fries." She said picking up a fry, and dipping it into some ketchup before eating it. "Between conferences and business meetings, everyone loves caviar and stuff like that."

"I never really cared for all the fancy food." Zeke shrugged. "I still wake up in the middle of the night to fix a turkey sandwich."

Naomi's eyes widened. "Me too! Well, Nia and I both wake up at the same time. She loves a good ham sandwich, though." Zeke's eyes sparkled, and he leaned in a little with a permanent smile etched on his face. "What?"

Zeke shook his head. "Nothing, it's just seeing how your world lights up whenever you mention Nia. It's cute and I totally get why because she is really adorable. I hadn't been around her two hours, but she made sure I'd remember her forever."

Naomi looked out at the water, sighing contently. "Nia is the best thing that's ever happened to me." Her eyes floated back to his. Zeke could tell that she took motherhood very seriously and that honestly made his attraction towards her much stronger. He hadn't been around that before. It was refreshing to see.

"So, you know I do my research..." Zeke wiggled his eyebrows causing her to chuckle lowly and motion for him to continue. "You attended Spelman and all of that, but where did you go afterwards?"

"Well," She started. "I skipped my Masters and went on to Harvard to get my Doctorate in Business Management. When people ask me what school I went to, though, I say Spelman. I'm a Spelman girl at heart."

"I heard about those Spelman girls when I was in college." Zeke shook his head.

Naomi kissed her teeth. "And what did you hear, Mr. Ingram?"

They were fine. Obviously.

Zeke tapped his chin with his finger, pretending as if he was in deep thought. "I heard that they will ruin your life. I got some Morehouse friends who gives me the tea, as the kids say nowadays."

Naomi smirked, and laughed a little. "I don't think that's true. But, it's something that you have to find out for yourself."

Oh, I plan to.

"More wine?" Zeke offered.

No, bitch. You just had like three glasses. Say no, now.

"Please." Naomi went against her sub conscious, deciding to enjoy herself. Maybe it would come back to haunt her, but she didn't care right now. Zeke excused himself, leaving her to enjoy the gentle wind. The deck warmed in the afternoon light. The Mayflower skipped across the white crested waves like a merry child in a field of daisies. For the first time in a long time, she felt a sense of solace.

It was weird especially in someone else's presence.

A male presence.

Zeke returned to the deck, reclaiming his spot next to Naomi and cracking open another bottle of wine. He looked at her, and without breaking contact, he poured some of the alluring alcoholic liquid into her near empty glass. Like a skill that he'd acquired, he did repeated the same action with his empty glass.