18. Reese
Reese
“So, what you got a taste for?” I looked back and forth between the road and Ronnie. I drove my Range Rover today because my driver was out sick.
Ronnie shrugged, her hands moving against her thigh nervously.
“Anywhere. It may not look like it, but I eat alot. I get my appetite from my daddy,” she confessed with a smile, and I glanced at her once the light changed.
“For real?” I licked my lips, watching her take a deep breath. “Well, what you got from yo’ mama?”
Her face dropped and something told me I hit a nerve.
“Her smile,” she croaked out. “People used to say we looked just alike.”
I licked my lips. “That’s wassup. You miss her, don’t you?”
I had my elbow on the console, my hand up, cupping my chin between my thumb and index finger.
“Yeah, I do. What about you?” Ronnie asked shyly.
“What about me?” My eyebrows knitted together.
“Your family? Your parents? You got siblings?” she listed off, her eyes focused on my lips, but I made it seem like I didn’t notice.
“Three sisters,” I answered, hearing my phone ring. I glanced to see it was Raine, and I knew she wanted me to get her something to eat. Her fat ass.
“Speaking of sisters, here one goes calling me now.” Ronnie threw her hand up, indicating for me to answer.
“Sup, Raine?” I greeted.
“I’m hungry. Can you bring me some chicken nuggets?” she whined.
This girl was gone run me crazy.
“Ask the driver. He should be there.” I stopped at a red light, and Ronnie was scrolling on her phone when I looked in her direction. She must’ve felt my gaze on her because she glanced over, giving me a small smile.
“He is, but I want you to get it. His ass is always messing up my orders. You should fire him!” Raine spat.
“Aye, I ain’t firing nobody because of no damn order mess up, Raine,” I shot back.
She makes me sick. Her ass better be lucky I love her. The light changed to green and instead of going the way I was gonna go, I made a U-turn to go to McDonald’s.
“Alright. What do you want?”
“A ten-piece meal with a vanilla shake, please!” she said cheerfully.
“A’ight.” I hung up.
“You don’t mind making a stop, do you? My aggravating ass sister says she’s hungry,” I relayed, and Ronnie giggled.
“No, not at all,” she admitted, sitting her phone in her lap. “I wish I had a sister.”
“You on your own?” I quizzed, pulling into the parking lot. Three cars were ahead of me, so I got behind the last one and waited.
“Yup. I have my best friend, Monae, but I’m the only one.” I threw my arm around the back of the seat.
“You lucky as fuck.”
She exhaled softly, sadness written on her face. “Don’t say that. It was lonely most of the time, and my dad had high expectations for me early in life.”
“I bet. It paid off, though. Look at you now.” I wanted to reach out and touch her until I realized we were just on some friend shit.
“I do okay.” She blushed.
“Shit! You’re one of the best, and I ain’t just saying that because you got dude to drop the case.” Sin let me in on what was up. Apparently, the nigga just wanted a few hundred thousand to settle the lawsuit.
“That wasn’t nothing. All he wanted was money anyway,” she downplayed it and this time I couldn’t help myself when I touched Ronnie’s cheek.
“You gotta learn how to take compliments, Ms. Lady,” I said, noticing the way she relaxed the minute she felt my hand.
“I’m not used to getting them, I guess,” she explained, biting the inside of her cheek. “Everybody says I’m stuck up.”
“You are, to a degree. Ain’t shit wrong with that though.” The line moved, so I took my arm from her seat to drive up a bit.
She stared at me with a blank expression, so I continued, “What? You be cooped up in that office 24/7, Ronnie. I only saw you at a few events in the last few years. What you think they were gone say about you?”
Ronnie shrugged, playing with her thumbs. “So, I’m antisocial. I never had control over my life. The only time I’ve gone against my dad is now, being with Sincere.”
The line moved again and before I could respond to that, it was my turn to order. As I was doing that, Ronnie glanced out the window, deep in thought.
“Can I get nuggets too?” She turned in her seat.
“What? I was gone take you somewhere nice,” I explained.
“This right here is nice.” She smiled at me shyly. “Now, can I have nuggets?”
I chuckled, adding her food to my order. I liked that she ain’t tryna splurge just because I got money in my pocket. My phone vibrated while I waited at the second window. Jasmine was calling me again for the sixth time. Ronnie cut her eyes down to the phone and saw her name.
“Is she your girlfriend?” she questioned me, and I rubbed my hand down my jawline.
“Nah, the shit is complicated,” I admitted.
“Complicated how?” The window opened, and someone handed me a bag of food. I checked to make sure everything was there, before I passed it to Ronnie and pulled off.
“You all in my business, ma,” I joked, her head rearing back.
“Ohhh, okay. Mr. I’ll stand behind you. I know you’re not talking,” she rolled her neck, throwing my words back at me, and I laughed out loud. She got me.
“Alright. Jasmine’s a nice girl, but something she said rubbed me wrong, and I haven’t talked to her since.”
“What did she say?” Ronnie put a fry in her mouth.
“She had a fashion show she wanted me to go to, but I told her I got family business. She said something about me putting her first.”
“Mhmm.” Ronnie hummed.
“What’s mhmm, ma?” I mimicked her, making a left to get to the crib.
“Nothing.” She shrugged her shoulder, taking her nuggets from the bag.
“You really like her?” I shrugged that time, rubbing my chin.
“I don’t know. Maybe. Why?” My eyes moved between her and the road.
Ronnie dipped a nugget into the barbecue sauce. “Tell her what happened, why you couldn’t do what she wanted.” After she said that, she put it in her mouth.
“Ma, it ain’t that easy.”
“Why?” she countered.
A frown made its way on my face. “What you mean?”
“Why isn’t it that easy?” Our heads turned toward each other at the same time before we both started laughing. That’s some déjà vu shit.
“Because she won’t get it.” I replied, still smiling hard.
“Maybe you don’t want her to.” Was Ronnie’s ass the love expert now?
“Huh?”
“Huh?” she mimicked. “Maybe you don’t want her to get it. Maybe you don’t like her as much as you thought you did.”
I thought about what she said. I could’ve just told Jasmine from the jump what the situation was, but I chose to keep it to myself.
“You’re probably right, Ms. Lady.” She grinned.
We stayed silent the rest of the way to the crib. It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence, though. It was peaceful. Being with her made sense to me. Everything felt right, and nothing between us was forced.
When we pulled into the driveway, I immediately noticed a small crowd outside and wondered why. That’s when I saw it. Danielle and Rayna were out in the yard, fighting.
Aw shit!