Chapter 7 #2
That garnered a smile from me before I gushed. “I loved working with her. She’s so nice, Jayson. I—” my hand flew over my own mouth when I realized my mistake. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I called you that.”
His eyes stayed serious, even though his words were playful. “You must want a spanking when we get home.”
I skirted past his flirtation with a quick giggle.
“I don’t. I promise you I don’t.” I sighed.
“Anyway, I really like Lyric. She’s really friendly and super knowledgeable about fashion.
Iredia’s not a fashion hub, per se, but we do our thing.
” I bragged slightly on my homeland. “We follow fashion trends. Lyric knows her stuff.”
“I figured y’all would hit it off. I’m saying, I have a lot of cousins. Of all of them, Lyric is one of the most chill.”
“Is the guy who hit my friend over the head with the butt of his gun her brother?”
He chuckled. “You remember that, huh?”
“Yeah, I remember that.” I widened my eyes at him. “He hit Faylise for no reason.”
“No, Lucky and Lyric aren’t siblings. Actually, they aren’t even related by blood. Lyric is on my mother’s side of the family. My mother and her father are cousins. Their mothers were sisters.”
I nodded. “She told me.” I left off the fact that she told me their deep, dark family secrets.
“Lucky is from my father’s side. His mother and my father are siblings.” He took a beat. “And I agree with you. Lucky ain’t have to hit your girl.”
Thinking about Faylise caused an ache in my heart. “Is there any way we can make sure she’s . . . okay?”
“Yeah. We can do that when we get back to the house.”
“What about my aunt and uncle?”
“Yeah. I’ll have to see if Big Hill has contact info for them.”
I looked at him. “Thank you.”
“You’re good. I get it. You were unceremoniously uprooted from your life. Can’t be easy.”
“It’s hard,” I confessed. “But at the same time, Gretchen had already destroyed my life. You and your grandparents stepped in to help me save what was left of it. Oh,” I said, remembering one of the conversations Lyric and I had.
“Lyric told me that if I was more into fashion, she would love to have me as her assistant.”
“Word?”
I smiled. “Black American slang. It means, like, are you serious?” I reminded myself while Double laughed at me. I laughed, too. “Stop teasing me. I’m not American. I’m learning.”
“I know. I know.”
“Yes, word. I told her that I own, or maybe owned—who knows if Faylise has had my name removed from the business? Anyway, I told Lyric that I was an event designer at home. She said I should talk to you because you might know somebody who needs somebody.”
“Yeah.” His tone was thoughtful. “Let me holler at Just. He knows somebody.”
“And Just is your brother, right? The pretty-boy dude? The one who was trying to sell me on you?”
He laughed again.
“I have never been accused of being this funny.”
“You think I’m trying to gas you?”
“I don’t think that’s what you’re trying to do, but then again, I don’t even know what that means.”
“It means to like, blow up your ego, sometimes with lies.”
It was my turn to laugh. “Black American slang is very effective. I liked how you have one word that means an entire phrase.”
“You’re funny,” he assured me. “And very beautiful.”
I blushed.
The waiter returned with our appetizers, catfish sliders and spicy tuna bites.
“I’m off for the rest of this week, and I can take next week off, too. Tell me if you wanna take a honeymoon or if you feel like you need me to stay around the house with you.”
I scooped a few pieces of tuna onto the saucer in front of me, foregoing the catfish.
“You not into catfish?”
I bugged my eyes. “No. Lianna used to make it all the time. I’m not the biggest fan.”
“Noted. Anyway, about the next few days . . .”
“I don’t need a honeymoon.” I popped a tuna bite into my mouth and chewed. It was delicious. “I mean, I don’t even have a ring . . . Jayson. I want to call you Jayson so badly.” I rushed the words from my mouth. “Would it please be all right if I just called you Jayson?”
“It’s not my name, though.”
“It kind of is.”
“It kind of was, but it’s not anymore.”
“It suits you.”
He shook his head emphatically. “It never suited me.”
I nodded with conviction. “It suits you.”
At the house, Double dismantled the alarm with what I figured was a scan of his hand against a reader, unlocked the door, and then allowed me to step inside. Once we were inside, he took my hand in his and led me into the kitchen.
“Have a seat.”
I took a seat at the island while he rummaged around in one of the drawers, finally pulling out two boxes. He slid one across the countertop to me.
“I forgot to give that to you yesterday. It’s a new phone.
” He shrugged his shoulders. “It’s already programmed with a few numbers.
Mine. Lynne’s. Lyric’s. And my mom’s.” He held up his hand as I started to speak.
“I know you haven’t met her yet, but you will .
. . tomorrow. She’s throwing a fit about us coming through for dinner, so I told her we would. ”
I nodded, even though a nervous pit formed in my stomach at the thought of meeting his parents. I reminded myself that it was inevitable. I would have to meet them at some point. I just hoped they weren’t cold and unwelcoming like my family.
“And this,” he said as he slid an old-school-looking phone toward me, “is a burner phone. You can use it to call your girl, providing you know her number.”
I didn’t know it by heart. Instead, I called our business number, but she didn’t answer, and I didn’t leave a message. I cupped the burner phone in my hand. “She didn’t answer. I’m going to bed.” My emotions were all over the place, which left me feeling exhausted.
He took my hand in his again, and I couldn’t help but notice how natural it felt. We walked to the bedroom that I used. The door was closed, so we stood outside it.
“Thank you for accompanying me to dinner, Sweetheart. Your company was a pleasure.”
I liked that about him. I liked the way he code-switched with such ease, and neither his more professional self nor his more urban self seemed forced or awkward. “Thank you. I had a good time, and the food was delicious.”
He kissed the same cheek he’d kissed earlier, and my body basically had the same damn reaction. My heart went haywire, and my brain clouded with fog. He left me standing there, trying to pull myself together but failing.