I take a step back. And I brought food.” I wiggle the large paper bag in my hand.
“Okay.”
I kiss her forehead before ascending the stairs. Is it presumptuous of me to go to her bedroom and not her office? Yeah, but we’ve been doing this song and dance for so long I know the playbook by heart.
“I thought you stopped fucking him,” Pera says.
“I did,” Serenity whispers.
“I swear that man gets finer every day,” Laneesha says.
I hear them chuckling and slapping hands.
“He and I really need to stay away from each other. I’m kicking it with another guy who seems nice. Hopefully, it will work out.”
“Not a chance, princess. He’s got cold feet,” I mutter under my breath as I continue on.
I won’t let another man get close to her again.
It’s time to up my game with Serenity.
She knows how I feel about her and still refuses to totally trust me again. I thought confronting Chris together in New York and stringing up Fefe at my graduation party brought us closer together. As we get older, it feels like she’s trying to cut me out of her life permanently. I can’t have that.
The night she showed up at my house and we got drunk was another memorable night. I didn’t want to let her go, but then she admitted to fucking Rod. I push that thought out of my mind as I stroll into her bedroom, turn on the lights, and close the door behind me. I place the paper bag on the dresser and hit my earpiece.
“I’m here,” I announce.
“Okay, well get to work,” he chuckles.
I step into the bathroom, flick on the light, turn on the faucet, and shut the door behind me. The water will hopefully muffle the noise. I rummage through a few drawers until I locate what I need. Pulling out the small package, I open it and set it on thecounter. Then I reach into my inner jacket pocket and retrieve a new package identical to the first.
“I’m removing the pills she took to match the original package,” I whisper.
“Exactly,” he confirms.
I pour the tiny pills into a plastic baggie, then tuck the old package and the bag into the inside pocket of my caramel blazer and zip it closed.
“Done.”
“You secured the old pills, right?” Catch asks.
“Yeah, all set,” I say with a smile, disconnecting the earpiece.
Sometimes you have to take matters into your own hands. I slide the new fake package back into the drawer and close it.
Stepping out of the bathroom, I meet a pair of gray eyes.
“Who were you talking to?”
My heart pounds in my throat. If she’d walked in, it would’ve been over for us.
“My cousin.”
She raises an eyebrow. “Which cousin, Ritchie or Catch?”
“Catch,” I answer.
“Catch’s a hot mess. Tell him I said hi.”
