Black Panther Shorts

Stalker

  A loud laugh left your lips while your best friend Key did their immaculate impression of Kevin Hart. You mimicked one of his classic hands on the knee squat together, and doubled over in laughter. You had been standing outside in the mall parking for an hour, the idea of finally separating looming over your heads.
As your laughter died down yo noticed Key's attention divert to a sleek black car. The Audi R8 was familiar to both of you, the windows were rolled down and you could hear the soft base of some Kendrick Lamar song. You rolled your eyes when the driver pulled up next to you.
"Wassup princess." He gives you a slow once over with a smile on his face. Your knees grow a bit weak when you see the new golds on his bottom canines. He licks his lips and unlocks his car doors.
"Hey Erik." Key says loudly. He glances over at her quickly and shoots her a friendly smile.
"Wassup Keysha, M'Baku said you had something for me." He looks at her expectantly, she reaches into her purse and pulls out a small bag of bud and hands it to him discreetly.
"You riding with me or nah babygirl?" His soft brown eyes find you again. You begin to shake your head, you planned on having Key take you home, since your car was still in the shop.
"Yes please take her home Erik, I gotta go check on M'Baku tonight." You roll your eyes. She was always trying to push you and Erik together. And he had always been trying to get with you. For the past year and a half he had been steadily working hard to get with you. Constantly spitting game and asking you out. You flirted back because you found the man very attractive but you never took him seriously because he had a reputation and you'd be damned if you get played.
"Nah, I can catch an uber Key. I'm not trying to be a bum and ride home with him like that. Plus he a stalker, I don't need him knowing where I live."
"2422 Glenwood Ridge Apt 83, now get your ass in the car." His deep voice grumbled out as he gave you a very serious look.
You stared back in surprise, he'd never been to your house before and you hadn't told him. You wouldn't even give him your phone number. Most of the time the two of you had hung out it had been in group settings.
The first time you met was at Key's annual barbeque.
*****
"Key!" You shouted at her.
"Whaat?!" She yelled back from the kitchen.
"You don't hear your doorbell ringing?!" You reply.
"Girl if you don't open that damn door, stop acting like you a guest when you practically live here." She yelled back at you.
You muttered under your breath as you stood up from the couch to open the door. Key knew you hated being social, and now you were forced to be.
You shooed some of the people that were standing around inside of her house outside as you went to open the door.
"Hey M'Baku, you welcome him in and give him a one arm hug. His hands full of extra food he brought with him.
"Hey, I have a friend behind me, his name is Erik, he is bring in food too." M'baku states as he walks into Key's kitchen.
You pull out your phone while you wait for the next guy to walk from his car. When he finally approaches the front door you notice him checking you out.
"Hey." You greet him shyly. "Are you M'Baku's friend?" You eye the aluminum foil covered containers in his hands.
"Yeah, You Key's friend right?" He stares intensely at you. You shift quietly in your yellow sundress and nod.
"Yes, I'm-" He cuts you off.
"I know who you are YN." He smiles at you. "I follow Key on Instagram, she be posting you all the time."
You smile back and turn to lead him into the house, though you can feel his eyes on your ass, and not the path that you took to the kitchen.
"Damn." You hear him mutter under his breath. "I like this dress you got on babygirl." Your stomach flutters at the pet name he gave you.
"Thanks." You through a small smile over your shoulder. When you reach the kitchen he gives Key a quick one arm hug and chats it up with M'Baku and the rest of the guys. His eyes continue to find you through the night. His eyes not afraid to wander your body, or admire your face. Towards the end of the night Erik finds you as you are cleaning up one of the tables.
"So you are done staring for the night." You acknowledge him with an attitude.
"I was just trying to figure out what I need to do to get your number." He spoke softly.
"Why so you can add me to your roster? You finally look up at the handsome man next to you and give him a soft smile. You meant it as a joke about how attractive he was, but a part of you knew not to get involved with him.
"I'm not trying to play you." He smiles back.
"Okay cool." You reply.
"Sooo..." He says.
"So what?" You look at him expectantly.
"Can I have your number?" He looked calm and excited at the same time.
"Oh." You laughed quietly. "Nah. I'm good. I'll see you around though." You ran your hand down the side of his arm in a comforting way and then left grabbing trash off the ground to throw away. You heard a groan come from behind you, you forgot that his eyes would still be on your ass.
"Chill out Erik." You laughed and walked away.
******
"How you know where I live?" You asked him.
"First of all I have my ways. And second of all I've had a crush on you for the past year and half, I've done my research." Erik replied.
"So we admitting crushes now Erik?" Key began to instigate.
"Shut up Keysha. And if I have to get out of this car to take you home...." He left the threat hanging in the air. You stared at him with squinted eyes. When you see he's not joking you walk around to the passenger door and get in after waving to Key.
"Why you gotta be like this? Why can't you just give into the vibe we got going?" He asked once he pulled off.
"Why? So I can get pregnant and you can leave. Cause the only vibe we got is sexual tension, you don't even know me." You retorted.
"I been trying to get to know you for a year now." He stated quietly.
"Well you stalked me for all my other information, I'm surprised you don't know my favorite color by now."
"That's easy. It's blue, just like mine."
You looked at him in shock.
"Stop doing that. Knowing shit about me before I tell you." You scolded him. He held the hand that you put in his face, interlocking your fingers and kissing the back of it gently.
"Tell me about yourself so I can stop stalking you. By the way, I'm not actually stalking you. I knew your favorite color because I pay attention to you. It's the color you wear most. Next to yellow, but I think that is because it looks good on your skin, not because it is your favorite. And your address, Key let it slip a few days ago." He chucked.
"What do you want to know?" You asked while looking at your joined fingers.
"What's your favorite anime?" He held a smirk on his face. You couldn't tell if he was joking.
"How you know I watch anime?" You responded hesitantly. He looked at you shocked.
"I didn't. I was just joking. You watch Guilty Crown?" He asked incredulously.
"Yeah. But shoujo anime and manga is my favorite. Fruit Basket is one of my favorites." You respond. The car pulls up to a red light and Erik continues to stare at you.
"What nigga? You asked." You blushed and looked away from him.
"Marry me." He stared at you seriously. No trace of joking lingered anywhere.
"I'm not doing this with you Erik. Take my ass home since you wanna play games." You tried to play off the good feeling tension in the car.
"One day you gonna give me a chance." He says as he pulls into your apartment complex. He rolls down the window so he can input your code. He looks at you expectantly, waiting for you to tell him the numbers to put in.
You laughed in his face and sat up in your chair and put a hand down on his thigh brace yourself in his lap then leaned over his legs to reach out the window and put in your code. You sat back in your seat and waited for the gate to open. Erik's eyes were on you the whole time.
When the gate finally opened he rolled through muttering under his breath about how you tease him too much.
He pulled up to your apartment and came around to open your door. You smiled and gave him a hug wrapping your arms around his neck.
"If I give you a chance, I'm not tryna get played like those other girls you mess with." You look him in the eye.
"If you give me a chance, there are no other girls." He replied seriously. You smiled and nodded then pressed your lips to his softly. You were surprised at how soft his lips felt against yours. When you tried to add tongue Erik pulled away slightly.
"Let me take you out tonight?" He asked quietly against your lips. He sounded a bit nervous.
You smiled and put more pressure on his lips. "Okay. After that we can watch Bleach from the beginning."
He grinned in response. "Snacks better be included. I know yo ass love hot fries."
"Shut up you like them too." You grabbed his hand and led him inside so you could get ready.
"I swear you be stalking me." He replied.