pairing: michael b. jordan (langston) x oc (keana) x megan thee stallion (teagan)
word count: 1374
Eight hours of Keana’s day was given to her job as a tech data analyst. When those eight hours were up, she would go home and prepare to do the same exact thing the following day. The excitement of having a new job and adopting a new routine had fizzled out for her. Life’s newfound predictability wasn’t fulfilling to Keana’s capricious spirit and change was mandatory.
At exactly 5:30pm, Keana clocked out and said goodbye to her cubicle for the week. She left the building where numbers were the focus to travel to a place where words were the focal point. The comforting scent of printed pages that had held stories greeted Keana first before Angeline, one of her favorite employees spotted her and welcomed her in.
“Let me know if you need help finding anything.”
“You know I will.”
Keana hadn’t sat with a piece of literature for quite some time despite it being one of her favorite hobbies. Her tried and true were romance books. Specifically, black romance books. It didn’t matter if it was contemporary romance, romantasy, or urban romance. If the author was Black and had two Black main characters falling in love, Keana was here for it.
Her black loafer covered feet took its usual route to the romance section where Keana took her time perusing the fully-stocked shelves. She picked up anything that was written by a Black author and piqued her interest. She would pull it out of the row of books and flip it over to read the synopsis on the back to determine whether she would add it to her basket or not. She was in her own world, completely engrossed in picking out books to add to her TBR.
She made it to the “S” portion of the shelf. This book caught her attention with its thick spine that was a deep red color. It was probably the thickest she had seen since she started looking. Her index finger reached out to find the top of the book. Being that it was a larger book, simply sliding it out of its place wasn’t sufficient.
A tiny amount of force was successful in getting the book out of its place but instead of landing in her hands, it landed on the carpet, right beside her feet. Keana bent down and reached out for the fallen book. She almost had it until another hand scooped it up.
Keana stood to her full height to accept the book back from the stranger but when her eyes focused on who had picked it up before she did, she took a pause then took in all of the attractive man that stood before her.
“Here you go.”
Keana accepted the book he handed toward her and the way her body reacted to hearing his voice. It was velvety and soothing, something that she would gladly listen to all day.
“Thank you.”
The moment that he was supposed to leave her alone came and went. He was still in her presence and couldn’t find a reason to leave it.
“That’s one of my favorites,” He said, breaking the stiff silence that surrounded them. To the confused dip in her brows, he continued, “Romance is one of my favorite genres.”
“Your favorite, huh.”
“Yeah. I was here one day and I told one of the employees that I wanted to try reading different genres. I’m a historical fiction and manga type of guy,” he held up the stack of books he was carrying that proved his statement true, “they recommended that book and a few others and I’ve been hooked ever since.”
Never in her lifetime did Keana think that she would be having a productive conversation about romance books with a fine-ass man. She wanted to stop talking to look out of the window and see if there were fat, pink pigs flying in the sky but her gaze stayed trained on the man whom she came to know as Langston.
Time kept going as Keana and Langston stayed in a space that denied the existence of the outside world and accentuated their newfound attraction to each other. Beyond the walls of the bookstore, the Sun crept down for the night sky to make its daily appearance. The number of patrons in the store dwindled down to just them two.
Angeline found them still in the romance section and interrupted their conversation to tell them, “Hey guys, we’re about to close up in ten minutes.”
Keana and Langston gave their apologies and followed Angeline to the register to check out. Langston put his books up first and then implored Keana to put her up as well. She was about to insist on paying for her own books but she gave her thanks and allowed him to pay for her. Angeline rang up both of their piles and split them into two separate bags before wishing them both a good evening.
Back outside, the spring weather had cooled down from the mild and pleasant temperatures from the day. Having Langston on her left side, walking with her to her car oddly felt natural.
“This is me right here,” Keana said as they approached her black 2023 Genesis G80, “I really enjoyed our time together and thank you, again, for buying my books.”
“No worries. I enjoyed you too.”
That moment where they were supposed to part came and went again. They both kept ignoring it.
“Maybe I could get your number? I wanna know how you like the book when you finish it.”
He truly meant what he said but Keana couldn’t help the knowing smirk that curved her lips at his intentions that surely lied underneath. Nevertheless, she couldn’t front like she didn’t want a way to contact him again.
“Sure.”
They both took out their phones, put in each other’s numbers and information and finally left each other behind.
Keana returned to her apartment, ready to spend the weekend catering to herself. Her body soaked in rose scented water with a matching candle burning on the sink and some old DVSN playing in the background. She got out, dried her skin off and replenished it with her favorite body oil. An old, oversized band tee was her choice of attire for her night in. The curly half-wig she wore for the week went back into her wig drawer and her bonnet took its place. She cleansed her face before applying a sheet mask that stayed on while she scrolled on Door Dash for something to eat. Sushi sounded the most appealing at the moment.
The rest of her skincare routine was done, a bottle of wine was cracked open and poured into a glass, and the new episode of “Abbott Elemenatary” was put on while she waited for her dinner to arrive. Ten minutes later, she was stuffing her face with dragon and Philadelphia rolls and washing it all down with her wine. Her episode ended and her time with one of her new books began.
Keana retired to her bedroom, turned on the lamp near her nightstand then climbed into bed to jump into “Restore Me” by J.L. Seegars. Keana stayed immersed in the story of Sloane and Dominic for the entire weekend. Her annotations and reactions weren’t written in the book or on a sticky note that would reside in between the pages but instead, they lived in the text message thread she had with Langston. Sunday arrived and the last chapters of the book were finished. She had no idea how she was supposed to read another of her other pickups after that.
Keana: i don’t know what to do with myself now.
Langston: 😂😂😂
Langston: you could get ready to read the rest of the series. chris and mal’s story is an interesting ride
Keana: are you serious?! that just made my entire day
Keana: i need to go get the rest of them
Langston: how about i take you to go get them and then we can go get something to eat after? 👀
She paused after reading Langston’s recent message. Her thumbs went to typing out her answer before her mind could catch up.
Keana: i would love that ❤️
a/n: thank you for reading! likes, reblogs, and replies of any kind are appreciated! part two is here!
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