Chapter 7 #3
“Yeah, I did.” His expression changed just enough to take some of the playfulness out of the moment before he leaned down and kissed me again.
This kiss was slower. Smoke’s hand slid from my waist to my ass and squeezed while my arms went around his neck. I kissed him until the oil started popping behind us again and something in the oven timer began beeping. Neither one of us moved right away.
“Something is burning,” I mumbled against his mouth.
“Ain’t shit burnin’.”
The timer beeped again, and I laughed against his lips. “Smoke.”
He groaned and finally let me go. I pulled the cornbread from the oven while he checked the chicken, and we went right back to cooking with swollen lips and stupid smiles on our faces.
There was flour on his shirt, cornmeal on my dress, sauce splattered across the stove, dirty bowls filling the sink, and music still playing while we moved around each other.
Every few minutes, one of us stole something from the other’s pan.
Smoke found another excuse to put his hands on me, or I caught myself dancing while he watched my ass instead of whatever he was supposed to be doing.
It was messy, loud, and fun, and I couldn’t remember the last time cooking dinner had felt like this.
Smoke fried the last of the chicken while I finished the spaghetti, and somewhere between talking shit, stirring pots, and stealing kisses, neither one of us noticed Keyana entering the kitchen looking like she had just rolled out of bed.
Her bonnet was still on, her face was puffy from sleep, and she had on an oversized T-shirt with a pair of baggy shorts. Her whole face lit up. “Solace! I didn’t know you was already here.”
I smiled as she came straight toward me. “Hey, sleepyhead.”
Keyana wrapped her arms around me, and I hugged her back. “I’m glad you came. Smoke ain’t tell me nothin’ ‘til this mornin’.”
“‘Cause it wasn’t yo’ business,” Smoke said from behind me.
She pulled away and rolled her eyes at him. “Whatever. I’m still glad she’s here.” She immediately reached around me for a piece of chicken, and Smoke slapped her hand away.
“Go wash yo’ hands.”
“I just woke back up.”
“That don’t mean yo’ hands clean.”
I just laughed and shook my head at them right when the front door opened. “Yurrr,” a deep voice called out, and footsteps grew louder as they headed toward the kitchen.
A few seconds later, a man walked into the kitchen smelling like weed before I even got a good look at him. His eyes were low, his hoodie was pulled over his head, and he was halfway through putting his phone into his pocket when he looked up and saw me.
It took a moment to click, and my mouth dropped.
All I could see was the thirteen-year-old boy I remembered running through this house behind Smoke, eating everything he could find, and getting on my nerves just because he knew he could.
Then I really looked at him. Anthony was grown as hell now.
He was tall, broad through the shoulders, and had enough hair on his face that I almost couldn’t believe I was looking at the same kid.
“Damn,” I said, staring at him. “Ant?”
A slow smile spread across his face. “What’s up, sis?”
“Oh, my God.” I crossed the kitchen and wrapped my arms around him before I could even think about it. He laughed and hugged me back, and I pulled away just enough to look at him again. “You are grown as hell.”
“Been grown. A nigga twenty-one now.”
“You were thirteen the last time I saw you. Give me a minute.”
“Shit, you the one disappeared for all them years.” The words could have hit harder than they did, but Anthony was smiling when he said them. I still felt them anyway.
Smoke looked over from the stove. “And you high as fuck walkin’ in my house talkin’ shit.”
Anthony looked at him like he had no idea what he was talking about. “I’m cool.”
Keyana started laughing. “Yo’ eyes damn near closed.”
Anthony ignored her and looked past me at the stove instead. “What’s for dinner?”
“The spaghetti and fried chicken,” Keyana added, already reaching for the chicken again.
“Oh, hell yeah.” Anthony rubbed his hands together. “Y’all made the cornbread, too? Word.”
I looked at Smoke, then at the two grown versions of the kids who used to crowd the kitchen every Sunday waiting for us to finish cooking.
The kitchen got louder almost immediately.
Keyana connected her phone to the speaker and changed our music without asking, which started an argument between her and Smoke because he wanted his playlist back.
Anthony kept stealing pieces of sausage out of the spaghetti sauce every time I turned around, and Smoke finally smacked his hand with the wooden spoon hard enough to make him curse.
Somewhere in the middle of all of it, Smoke came up behind me and slid his arm around my waist while I was cutting the cornbread.
His mouth brushed my cheek before he reached past me for a piece.
I slapped his hand. “Wait!”
“I’m fuckin’ starvin’. Plus, I paid for the shit.”
“And I made it.”
Smoke grabbed my ass with his other hand. “You made all this too?”
I turned around laughing and shoved him away. “Get off me.”
Keyana groaned from the island. “Can y’all please stop touchin’ each other for five minutes?”
“No,” Smoke said without missing a beat.
Dinner was a whole vibe, and everything came out delicious.
We stayed at the table long after everybody had finished eating, talking and laughing while music played from the kitchen.
Anthony and Keyana argued over memories neither one of them remembered correctly, and Smoke kept cutting in to tell them what actually happened, which only started another argument because they swore he was wrong too.
At one point, Anthony had me laughing so hard I had to put my fork down, and Smoke just sat there shaking his head at all three of us.
Nobody was in a hurry to get up when we finished.
Keyana went back for more cornbread, Anthony picked at what was left on his plate even though he claimed he was full, and Smoke kept reaching under the table to squeeze my thigh whenever nobody was paying attention.
I found myself laughing so much my face hurt, and for a little while, I didn’t think about work, the promotion, or anything waiting for me outside of that house. I just enjoyed being there with them. I was still smiling when Anthony leaned back in his chair and looked at me.
“So you plannin’ on stickin’ ‘round this time or what?”
“Damn, Anthony. Shut up!” Keyana rolled her eyes.
The question caught me off guard, and my smile faded as I looked at him.
Anthony wasn’t smiling anymore, and neither was Keyana.
Even Smoke’s hand went still against my thigh.
I opened my mouth, but before I could figure out what the hell I was supposed to say, Anthony’s phone rang loudly against the table.
He glanced at the screen, and a smirk immediately replaced the serious look on his face. “One of my hoes callin’. I gotta go.”
Keyana looked at Smoke before Anthony could even get out of his chair. “Can I sleep at Kayla’s house? We gotta practice this step for the pep rally.”
Smoke looked at her, reaching for his Corona. “Her mama home?”
“Yeah.”
“You gon’ make sure yo’ ass is up on time for school? Don’t play wit’ me, Key.”
“I know, I know.”
Anthony grabbed the Tupperware he had already packed full of food along with my mother’s and tucked his phone into his pocket. “If you want a ride over there, bring yo’ ass on. I gotta stop by Loretta’s.”
Keyana immediately pushed her chair back. “I’m comin’.”
Smoke yelled after her, “And keep yo’ phone on loud!”
“I will!” She hollered, rushing up the stairs.
Smoke looked at Anthony as he came around the table. “You good to drive?”
“I ain’t even high no more.”
“Nigga, that ain’t what I asked you.”
Anthony laughed and dapped him up. “I’m good, bro.”
“Aight. Make sure she get in the house before you pull off.”
“I got her.”
Smoke pulled him in for a quick hug before letting him go. “Love you, lil’ nigga.”
“Love you too, bro.”
Anthony hugged me next, still holding the containers of food in one hand. “Good seein’ you, sis.”
“You too.” I squeezed him before letting him go, and his question was still sitting heavy in the back of my mind when Keyana rushed back into the kitchen with a pink duffle bag and matching bookbag.
“Bye, Sol.” She kissed my cheek and grabbed her phone off the dining room table before following behind Anthony out of the house.
After they left, Smoke and I stayed in the kitchen cleaning up and talking while the music played. I caught him watching me a few times, and every time I looked over, he didn’t even bother pretending he wasn’t. When we finished, Smoke shut the dishwasher and leaned back against the counter.
His eyes dragged over me slowly before he licked his lips and held his hand out. “Come here.”
I should have known better, but I walked over anyway. Smoke caught me around the waist and pulled me against him. My hands landed on his chest while his settled low on my back. “Dinner was good,” I said.
“Yeah, it was, but now my mind’s on somethin’ else.
” Smoke lowered his head and kissed me. The kiss started slow enough that I relaxed into him, but his hand slid down and grabbed my ass before long.
I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him harder.
When his mouth moved to my neck, I closed my eyes as he whispered, “Spend the night wit’ me. ”
My pussy was already getting wet. “Are you asking?”
“Nah, I’m tellin’ you.”
The confidence in his voice should have irritated me. Instead, my stomach tightened. “What if I say no?”
Smoke sucked on my bottom lip, keeping his eyes on mine. “You ain’t.”
I hated how much that turned me on. He kissed me again before I could say anything, and this time he didn’t take his time. I grabbed his shirt as his hands moved over me, and when he grabbed my ass through my dress, I pressed myself against him.