Her shoulders relaxed completely now, though suspicion still danced in her eyes. Finally, she sighed. “Fine. Thank you. Didn't mean to come off ungrateful, I just…”
“No need to explain.” I moved back to my chair, ending it. “Happy to help.”
She nodded once, then turned to walk out, pausing at the door, looking back over her shoulder.
“For what it's worth,” she said quietly, “I'm impressed by you too. Not many people would've ripped up that check.”
Then she was gone.
The second the door shut behind her, Zion leaned against the frame, arms folded, grinning wide. “Wanna tell me why I just lied to Raschad's sister?”
“You didn't lie. We do lease housing.”
“She's not an artist, partner, or employee. You obviously paid it yourself.”
“What difference does it make? Drop in the bucket either way.”
Zion tilted his head, studying me like a hawk. I felt the sudden need to explain. “Raschad asked me to look out for her. She’s… family now, I guess. We take care of family. That's all I’m doing.”
“I didn’t ask all that,” he grinned.
I turned back to my desk, signaling the conversation was over.
A few hoursafter Alyssa left my office, I was still staring at the torn check pieces on my desk. It was bothering me more than it should have. I handled problems. I solved them, filed them away, and moved on. Loose ends didn't exist in my world because I didn't allow them to exist.
But despite the fact that she’d seemed to accept what I’d done, this felt different. Unresolved.
Three times now she'd thrown me off, and I don't get caught off guard. I controlled situations, anticipated outcomes, and stayed steps ahead. First the football field, then the wedding, now storming into my office like she owned the place. Most people either kissed my ass or steered clear. Not her.
That should have annoyed me. Instead, I found myself more curious about her.
“Fuck it,” I muttered, grabbing my keys.
7/
keeping the pace
alyssa
I was helpingSimone prep dinner, taking my frustration out on innocent vegetables, when Julian walked through her door.
“Julian!” Simone called from beside me. “Perfect timing. Stay for dinner?”
I looked up from the cutting board, knife paused mid-chop. Of course he was here. Probably couldn't let our argument end without getting the last word.
I sucked my teeth at him as he walked into the kitchen. “Come to make sure I didn't badmouth you to your sister?”
“If complaining that I helped get you into a beautiful condo counts as badmouthing, have at it.” he deadpanned.
I glared at him. He grinned and settled against the counter, “Actually, I came because our conversation got cut short.”
“I assumed we were finished when you ripped up my check.” I rolled my eyes.
“You’re gonna give yourself a headache with all that eye rolling.” He grinned again. “That was you trying to pay me back. This is me trying to figure you out.”
Figure me out? What was I, some puzzle for him to solve? I could feel Simone watching us like we were her personal entertainment. She grabbed her drink, probably sensing the tension. “I'm gonna go check on the kids.”
Once we were alone, I set down my knife and faced him fully.Here we go.“Figure me out how?”
