Chapter 9
T onight was such a great night.
No matter how simple the date was, I truly enjoyed myself. Dinner was great. Conversation was plentiful. The spark was there. Then there was the kiss. That kiss, . . . my God. The sinful thoughts that ran through my mind! Kissing him was so much better than kissing Shar.
Our walk in the park turned into a carriage ride through the city. It was like a scene from one of the many romance books and movies I devoured. I’d lived in this city my entire life, and it had never looked as beautiful as it did when I was with him tonight.
Was it too soon to say that I was smitten? Maybe it was the newness of it all. Maybe it was the fact that Quaid and I had so much in common. He literally felt like my twin flame. It was fucking crazy.
We pulled up in front of my house, and he turned off the car. We unbuckled our seat belts, but neither of us made a move to get out. Our eyes locked, and smiles passed between us.
“Thank you for a beautiful night,” I said softly.
“I hope this means we get date number three.”
I giggled. “Absolutely.”
“What about dinner Friday night? You could come over. I’ll cook, and we can watch a movie or something.”
“I’d like that.”
Silence fell between us. Once again, our gazes locked, and there was nothing but smiles.
“I should probably get you inside,” he finally said. “It’s getting late.”
He got out and came around to open my door. Hand in hand, we walked up my front steps. Pulling out my keys, I turned to face him.
“Again, thank you for a wonderful night,” I said, rocking back and forth on my toes.
“Thank you for letting me take you out.”
He stepped closer to me and cupped my face. Leaning in, he pressed his lips to mine. My lips parted, welcoming his tongue. I had to admit that I was nervous about kissing this man at first. I mean, my experience was limited to a peck on the lips with my brother’s wife.
Granted, Shar had offered to give me lessons on multiple occasions, but I declined. Knowing how she and my brother got down, I couldn’t take any chances. Quaid didn’t make it awkward, though. He took charge, and I followed his lead.
Just as I was getting into it good, my front door opened, and there stood Deuce in a beater, joggers, tube socks, and slides with his gun in his hand.
“Stanley!” I yelled, shoving him. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
“Obviously stopping a good time,” he said, glaring at Quaid.
I looked around him to see the rest of my brothers sitting in my living room, watching us at the door.
“Are y’all serious right now?” I asked, crossing my arms. “You’ve got to be smoking crack. Just what do you think you’re doing?”
“What do you think you’re doing? Out here with your tongue down this nigga’s throat. Who you been kissing to know how to kiss like that?”
Quaid laughed and shook his head. “You can’t make this shit up,” he muttered. His laughter stopped, and he stood straight as he looked my brother square in the eye. “Look, bruh. I don’t know what it’s gonna take for y’all to see I’m not scared of you. Let it go.”
“How about I let a bullet go in your smart-ass mouth?” Deuce shot back.
“I got bullets too.” Quaid stooped and pulled up his pants leg, revealing a gun holstered to his ankle. “What’s up?”
The way he wasn’t afraid to hold his ground, even against my brother, did something to me. Now wasn’t the time to be horny, however.
“The nigga has heart,” Maceo said with a chuckle. “Leave the man alone, Deuce. But for real though, Quaid. I don’t like you kissing on my sister like she’s a piece of meat.”
Again, Quaid chuckled. “Two things. One, I have nothing but respect for your sister, and two, I don’t owe any of y’all shit. Let’s make sure that’s abundantly clear. If I want to kiss her, guess what? I’m gonna kiss her, and there ain’t shit you can do about it.”
“Nigga, who the fu?—”
Quaid cut him off by pulling me into his space and kissing me yet again. I knew the moan that fell from my lips had my brothers shitting a brick and popping a blood vessel. When he pulled away from me, he cupped my chin.
“I’ll see you on Friday,” he said, ignoring the glaring eyes on us.
“See—see you F—Friday,” I stammered.
“Good night, beautiful.”
“Good night.”
He tossed a look at my brothers before descending the steps and heading back to his car. I bit my lip as I watched him climb in and drive off without a scratch on him. Most people that spoke recklessly to my brothers weren’t that lucky.
“Whew!” I said, fanning myself.
“Oh, you eating this shit up,” Deuce said, frowning.
“Like a fat muthafucka at a buffet. Excuse you.” I brushed past him and went into my house. “Y’all can leave now.”
“Nah, we’re gonna talk about this shit,” Deuce said, closing the door.
“Why!” I yelled, raising my hands. “Y’all are acting like I’m a child!”
Smoke kissed his teeth. “You ain’t a child, but you’re our little sister?—”
“Deja is your little sister. You get on her about dating Kilow?”
“You damn right I do.”
I sighed. “I don’t understand why y’all are acting like this. Y’all don’t do this with Mia.”
“Because it’s you, Jaeda,” Steel said, coming over to me. “We know Mia can handle herself?—”
“And I can’t?”
“I’m not saying that. I know you can handle yourself.
Mia is our sister, and we love her crazy ass, but we didn’t grow up with her.
You’ve always been our baby, man. You’ve always had this innocence about you, Jae.
You had that nigga snatched up with all intent to kill him, and now you’re going on dates and kissing him and shit. ”
“That nigga is part of the reason your brother is still here,” I said, pointing to Maceo. “I like him, y’all. Damn! It’s not like I had niggas lined up to really get to know me. You think I wanna be alone my whole life? All of you have somebody, . . . aside from you, Kerrion.
“I want my person too. I wanna get married and have little visually impaired versions of myself running around here. I want the love all of our mothers have found outside of Daddy. And, dammit, I have needs!”
They all started speaking in protest at that.
“Shut the hell up!” I snapped. “It wasn’t too long ago that you three .
. .” I pointed to Deuce, Smoke, and Maceo.
“Were out here letting anybody fuck and suck on you. I saved myself for a man that was worthy of me, and if that man happens to be Quaid, I’m gonna fuck the shit outta him every chance I get.
You have your happiness, and I’m gonna have mine too.
Now, it’s late. I want to shower, have me a glass of wine, and build my Legos until I get ready to go to bed. Get the fuck out.”
They all stared at me, speechless.
I loved my brothers, I swear I did. But they could do the absolute most. I completely understood being protective of me because I was protective of them. There was a limit, though. For too long, I held myself back. This family took up so much of my time that I neglected my heart’s desires.
I wasn’t doing that anymore.
In the words of Cookie Lyon, “I gotta put me first.”
Maceo and Smoke stood from their seats to join Deuce at the door. My eyes locked on Steel. We had the closest relationship, and I thought he would be the most understanding, given the fact that the woman he loved left him years ago. I would have thought he wanted me to be happy.
He didn’t say anything, just pulled me into a hug that I didn’t return. When he pulled away, he kissed my forehead.
“I love you, Jae.”
“I love you too.”
“We’re gonna talk. Just you and me.”
I nodded as he turned and walked to the front door.
“We’re gonna talk about this smart-ass mouth,” Deuce said, pointing at me.
I rolled my eyes. “Good night, Stanley.”
He shot me a middle finger before opening the door. As the last of them stepped out, I quickly closed and locked the door, ensuring that every lock was on. Turning off the light, I headed to my bedroom.
If this was a precursor to what dating with brothers looked like, I was in for a shit show.
The sound of my doorbell broke me from my thoughts.
I was in the middle of working on a case. Everybody knew not to bother me when I was working, but there were a few who didn’t get the memo, . . . the few being my sisters. They faithfully came over here to make sure I took a break.
I sighed and locked my computer before standing and leaving my office.
As I rounded the corner, Mia opened the door and stepped in.
Unlike my brothers, at least they had enough couth to knock or ring the doorbell before they barged in.
I rarely locked my doors during the day because, for some reason or another, somebody was always at my house.
Behind Mia were Shar, Salima, Kaylynn, Renay, and Romi.
“I know y’all came to do the most,” I said, flopping down on the couch.
They all laughed as they claimed a seat.
“Where are the kids?” I asked, noting all of them were childless.
Salima waved me off. “Girl, you know your daddy just comes and grabs them whenever he wants. He made his rounds early this morning. I’m glad for the break because this little one is feisty today. I’m trying my hardest to walk him down.”
She rubbed her belly and blew a breath. She was due any day now, and Romi was right behind her at eight months with the twins.
“I know Deuce is getting on your last nerves,” Mia said with a laugh.
“If I don’t kill him before this baby comes, it will be a miracle. I thought he was bad with Darlyn, but he’s even worse with Liam. I had to sneak out of the house just to come over here.”
Romi rolled her eyes. “Me too. Devin’s telling me to stay off my feet, but I feel good right now, even though these two are playing soccer in my uterus.”
Kaylynn cringed. “More power to y’all. I’m glad I have a choice in getting pregnant.”
Shar snickered. “Because that lambskin is safe.”
Kaylynn shot her the middle finger. “Bite me. That lambskin gets the job done. None of my girls ever complain because I know what I’m doing.”
Mia playfully nudged me. “You know all about that lambskin.”