Dallas nudged Tristan. “Do something.”
Tristan glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. “I’m not saying shit. Ma and Dad got this.”
“They’re not moving,” Sasha whispered.
Raven winced when Blake kicked a pillow. “Maybe we should call Lennox?”
Finally, Blake stopped in the middle of the floor and whirled around to face us. “Stop! I hear you. No one is calling Lennox. I’m not crazy. I’m pregnant.”
Ma bumped Dad with her elbow. “Told you,” she grumbled.
My father shook his head and pulled out a fifty-dollar bill. “Damn.” He smacked the money into her waiting hand. “That was my haircut money. And no more bets on these kids.”
She kissed his cheek. “Love you.” After she stuffed the money into her pocket, she rushed over to Blake with the cussing jar. “Aw, my cantankerous baby is having ahopefullysweet baby.” She hugged Blake. “But pregnancy doesn’t exempt me from getting paid. I take Zelle now, but I prefer cash. Asa, Duke . . . Hell, all of you need to pay up. But babe!” She hugged my sister. “I’m so happy for you and Lennox.”
Dad approached Blake with a wide smile. “Baby girl, that mouth.” He chuckled. “You cuss worse than your mama did before she gave her life to the Lord.”
Mama planted a hand on her hip. “Stew, don’t do that.”
Winking at her, Dad kissed her before he embraced Blake. “You went through all of that when you could’ve led with the good news.”
I looked at Gemma and motioned toward the door with my head. “Let’s get out of here,” I mouthed.
Without saying goodbye, I pulled Gemma out of the room. As we made our way outside, I asked, “Where’s your shit?”
She pointed at the door. “Right there.”
“Good.” I wheeled the bags out of the house and set them in the trunk. Once we were in the safety of my truck, I blew out a deep breath. I felt Gemma’s eyes on me and knew I wouldn’t be able to get away with not telling her more about my sperm bank experience. But I didn’t want to talk about it now. Maybe not ever again. I looked at her warily. “Don’t ask.”
Gemma shrugged. “Can I just say that I missed your family?”
“I don’t miss them muthafuckas.”
She barked out a laugh. “And I reserve the right to bring this up later.”
“Whatever.” I sped out of the circular driveway. “You hungry?”
“Always.”
dick infatuation
ANOTHER ASA YOUNG ORIGINAL
ASA
There were a thousand useful things I could be doing right now. My brother was officially married. I could be on the dance floor, swag surfing with my siblings and the rest of the lit wedding guests. I could be tryin’ to holla at any of the single women in attendance. I could be drinking from the open bar.
But… nah.
Instead of spending the rest of the night celebrating Duke and Demi, instead of enjoying the fact that everyone I love was currently in the same room, instead of taking shots with Gemma, I was transfixed by the woman I once thought hung the moon and the stars.
Larissa Reid.
Back in the day, we lived in the Brentwood neighborhood of Los Angeles after my father took a teaching position at UCLA. Those were good times. My godfather, Jax Starks, lived down the street. Next door to him were the Reids. Rissa, Zara, and Ezekial fit right into the family.
Even at a young age, I felt lonely. I was Baby Boy, too young to play with and too much of a burden to my older siblings who wanted to play with their friends. But Rissa… she never made me feel like a little kid, and she always snuck me candy. Sour Patch Kids. She spent a lot of time at our house because she was Paityn’s best friend and she always paid attention to me.
I remembered the first day I realized she wasn’t my sister.
