Keep Me In Mind (The Sullivan Family #2)

Chapter 1

Waiting Up For Me

ENZO

Today marked a month since I’d hired her as my nanny, and we’d been doing the thing.

It was quiet for now, both of us clear on our intentions and considerate of where we were in life.

She was adamant about taking things slow and getting to know me.

I was cool with that. We’d gone on a few dates, some planned, some last minute with EJ accompanying us.

Thyri never seemed to mind him being the third wheel.

I thought it was her way of dodging the sexual tension between us.

I was upfront and made it clear that once she gave me the pussy, taking it back wasn’t an option. And I meant that shit. I pulled up to my duck off apartment to change, and my phone rang.

“You must’ve sensed a nigga was thinkin’ ‘bout you,” I said to Thyri as I answered the phone on speaker.

“You know I’m telepathic,” she replied, giggling. “I was calling to check on you. You know once it gets past midnight, I start to worry.”

I smiled. “That or you checking to see when I’m coming to get my rambunctious son.”

“Oh, please. You know just as well as EJ that he can pack his bags and move in here if he wanted to at this point.”

I thought about EJ attempting to pack his own bags and chuckled. “I’m sure he would. I’m ‘bout to head your way in a minute though. You good?”

“Yep,” she spoke through a yawn. “I just wanna be up when you get here.”

“Aight. You wanna stay on the phone?”

“Ummm, no. I need to hop in the shower. I’ll see you when you get here.”

I closed my eyes, envisioning her in the shower with soap suds sliding down the crack of her perfect ass.

“Get your mind out the gutter, Enzo.”

I snickered. “Damn. I forgot you was telepathic and shit.”

“Exactly. See you soon.”

“Cool.”

She hung up, and I stared at the phone a few seconds before getting out and heading into the building. After changing clothes, cleaning, and breaking down the gun I’d used for the hit, I was back in the car and headed to Thyri’s.

As her block came into view, that familiar feeling of peace crept up on me.

I’d become accustomed to it whenever I was in Thyri’s presence.

Parking at the curb behind her truck, I turned my car off and sat there for a few seconds.

I always made sure to shake Ezzy after a job.

Thyri only knew Enzo, and I intended to keep it that way…

for now. Once we decided that we were locked in for the long haul, she’d need to know every part of me.

Stepping out into the cold and onto the sidewalk, I pulled my hoodie over my head. With my phone in hand, I called her once I was at the door.

She answered on the first ring. “You here?”

“Yeah. At the door.”

The door opened, and she stood on the other side of it, dressed in silk pajamas with her hair tied in a matching scarf and a wide grin on her face.

“What got you smiling like that this late in the morning?” I asked, leaning against the doorframe.

“What if it’s a person and not a thing?” she countered.

My brows narrowed. “Then that person betta be me, or we have us a problem, Mama.”

“Good thing I don’t want no problems.” She pulled me inside by my sweater and closed the door behind me. Still smiling, she pressed her nose against mine. “In case you needed verbal confirmation, the answer is yes.” She kissed my lips. “It’s you that’s been making me smile.”

I wrapped my arms around her waist and deepened the kiss. Using my tongue to part her lips, I tongued her ass down at the door.

“Mmmm,” she moaned into my mouth before slowly pulling away. “KJ’s here.”

“Oh, my bad.” I pecked her lips once more before stepping back. “EJ still up?”

She blushed and shook her head no. “He’s been knocked out for about an hour. He called himself trying to hang with KJ on the game, but he couldn’t fight his sleep long enough. Fell asleep with the controller in his hand.”

I pictured EJ fighting to stay up, convincing himself that he could do anything a teenager could do. “So, no bedtime routine at your crib but there’s one at mine? You out here tryna be his favorite or something?” I joked.

“I’ll never try to be who I already am, boo.” She winked. “Come on.”

I followed her down the hallway, and we stopped at KJ’s room. She pushed the cracked door open, and I could see KJ knocked out on the couch he had set up in the room, while EJ lay asleep, sprawled out in his bed. He looked small on the queen-sized bed with a pillow on each side of him.

“KJ set the pillows up, so he wouldn’t roll out the bed in his sleep,” she whispered.

I nodded my appreciation, noticing that his bed was high up off the ground.

“He wanna be a big dude so bad,” I said, shaking my head.

“He does. Let me get him.” I watched as she walked quietly into the room and picked him up from the bed. Tiptoeing back to me, she placed him in my arms.

“Hit the light, Ma.” I heard KJ say as we turned to leave the room. “Wassup, Enzo?”

“What’s good, boy?” I spoke back.

I’d seen a lot of KJ lately since he was always with Cortez. Lil’ nigga was cool. Had a presence about him just like his mama.

“His shoes and stuff are in the living room,” Thyri said.

We walked back out front, and I laid EJ down on the couch to put his sneakers and coat on.

“I appreciate you waiting up for me. Thank you. And I’m gonna work on not being so late going forward.”

She sat on the arm of the couch. “You don’t have to thank me. This being something I have to do has turned into something that I look forward to doing. I don’t mind waiting up for you, Enzo,” she said softly.

“Good to know.” I put EJ’s hat on and scooped him up gently. He stirred a little, but his eyes stayed closed.

She handed me his bag before walking me back toward the front door, keeping her voice low. “Text me when y’all make it in.”

Stopping at the door, I turned to her. “You sound like me.”

“I know, huh? I’ve become just as protective of y’all as you are of me.”

“That’s a good thing.” Opening the door, I stepped out into the night and paused before moving forward. Shifting EJ slightly, I turned back to her again.

“You forgot something?”

“Nah. I’ve been thinking about something.”

Her brow lifted. “Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”

I snickered. “Anything that has to do with me is good. That I can guarantee.”

There was that smile again – the smile that did something to a nigga soul.

“Okay. Tell me what you’ve been thinkin’ ‘bout then. And make it quick. It’s cold, and you got my baby out here a little too long.”

“I know you said you wanted to take things slow, and I said I was cool with that, but I just want to put out there what taking things slow mean to me.”

“Okay. What’s that?”

“Taking things slow for me means forsaking all others. Meaning you only wait up for me.” My words were slow for her to get it. Careful to make sure my message was conveyed clearly. And honest for her to know how serious I was.

“Like I said, I don’t want no problems. All of that is a yes for me so long as I get the same commitment in return.”

I stepped forward and kissed her forehead. “All of that and then some. Good night.”

“Good night, Enzo.”

I left feeling confident that we’d turned a new page but with the same level of understanding.

Slow didn’t mean unsure. Intentional didn’t mean timid. For me, I was choosing Thyri without hesitation. And she was choosing to wait up no matter how late I was.