CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Ezekiel
Ezekiel stood at her front door, his fist hovered in the air before he dropped it to his side.
Looking down at himself, he wondered again if he should’ve dressed up more or dressed down more.
He wore a fitted short sleeved beige Henley and light brown linen pants.
His outfit ultimately came down to what made him look good while also giving him the freedom to play his drum with the abandonment he knew was to come.
Because he’d be playing for her.
For her.
He’d never cared about how he looked, but he wanted to look good for Sierra tonight, he wanted her to look at him like he was the only man she cared about in this world.
Fuck Montel, he thought savagely.
Raising his hand, he knocked three times and the door swung open.
Hell, he could’ve come dressed in fucking rags and no one would’ve noticed. Sierra was radiant, blinding him to everything but his need.
Her eyebrow and the side of her mouth quirked up at the same time.
She took a bold step forward.
“What, no rifle aimed at me this time?”
He closed the distance between them, breathing in her citrusy sweet breath.
“Maybe no rifle, but know that I’m locked and loaded. You have the power to pull the trigger any time you want.”
She lifted onto her toes and kissed him. “Hey, EZ,” she whispered.
“You’re talking to me again, huh?” he said, pulling her into his arms.
He kissed her so deeply he bent her over backward.
Her arms wrapped around his neck and she held on, as desperate for him as he was for her.
Slowly, he straightened; watched her lids flutter open.
“Hey, Wildflower,” he finally said in greeting, butting his nose against hers, not ready to let her go. Not yet.
She reached up and caressed his jaw. “You’re so beautiful.”
“And rugged. And sexy.”
She laughed. “That goes without saying.”
“Am I yours, Sierra?”
“Do you want to be?”
He shrugged. “My heart says I always have been.”
“I think your heart is very accurate, very astute.” She butted her nose against his and stepped away from him, her eyes searched the box littered room, then landed on a leather bound journal.
She picked it up and placed it in a small cream purse with dangly fringy things at the bottom.
“Just in case I wimp out,” she said, and slung the strap over her shoulder in the cross body style she seemed to prefer before walking to the door. “Ready?”
He nodded, moving toward her. “Where’s Chupa?”
“In her room sleeping. She just ate dinner and took her evening medications so she’ll be out for a few hours.”
“Her room?” he said, pausing by the door. “Were you always planning to keep her?”
“No, at least not at first, but then she’s so sweet and she doesn’t have a mother, and she and Odin found us in the woods, and they weren’t fighting, and we all felt like we were supposed to be together, and it freaked me the hell out and...now she has her own room.”
He shook his head, placing his hand on the small of her back as he guided her out the door.
Zeek wanted to tell her that Chupa’s room was as temporary as her own, wanted to tell her she shouldn’t bother unpacking the rest of her boxes, that her house was too small for the four of them. But he didn’t. Not before he played for her. Offered her his soul, hoping she’d bury it deep inside her.
During the twenty minute drive into town, they talked again about the plans for tomorrow, about his plans for the land, about sports, books, her YouTube channel Black Geek and Science Meet.
It wasn’t until he pulled up to Destiny’s that he remembered.
“My sister and her husband are going to meet us here tonight. I tried to talk her out of it but she said I didn’t get to dictate their date night. It could be a good thing or it could be a bad thing. Either way, Anna’s a busybody.”
“Oh come on man!” She threw up her hands as if he’d missed a game winning soccer goal. He hopped out of the truck. “How am I gonna seduce you and make a good impression on your family at the same time?”
He hid his smile in the darkness as he pulled his djembe from behind the driver’s seat. He circled around to open the passenger door and helped her step out of the truck.
“You can’t not make a good impression, Si. You have this gravitational pull that makes people want to be around you. Focus on the seducing me part. Anna will love you for giving her something to run and tell our parents about.”
She groaned, head falling back as he placed his hand at the small of her back and guided her down the sidewalk as if he were walking her to her doom.