Page 41 of A Little Kissing Between Friends

“Man,” I drawled, pulling out the other chair and sitting down. “Why you say it like that?”

“How did I say it?” His eyes were on me as he scooped a forkful of potatoes, cheese, chicken, and barbecue sauce into his mouth.

“Like I fucked up or something. Like you’re disappointed in me.”

“The way you let Juleesa come in here, bring you something to eat, and leave without saying one word to her? I am disappointed in you.”

His voice was in an even, practical tone, his words uttered matter-of-factly. And he might as well have punched me in the chest.

“Daddy...”

“I don’t often see y’all with your women—and I’m sure that’s by design—so I have no idea if this is how you act on a regular basis. What I will say is that I didn’t raise y’all to ignore your friends and the people who mean the most to you just because you got some new pussy—”

“Daddy!” My mouth fell open and then I busted out laughing.

He shrugged, as nonchalant as ever. “All’s I’m saying is that you don’t ditch your homies for a new relationship.”

Groaning, I sat back and dragged my hands down my face. While he was right, he had it all wrong.

“First of all, me and Jackie aren’t together.”

Huffing a laugh, he took another bite. “I hear you saying that, but does she know that?”

Brows furrowed, I stared at him. “Of course. We just met two weeks ago. If she thought we were together, I’d be seriously concerned.”

He nodded, head toward his food. “And what about Juleesa? Does she know you aren’t with Just Jackie?”

I gaped at him. “She knows better than anyone. She was there when I met the girl! Why would you even ask me that?”

Lifting his head, he turned his piercing gaze onto me.

“I ask because I saw the look on Juleesa’s face when she walked into this room.”

My nod was slow as I thought back. “Yeah...she was definitely annoyed.”

He just looked at me, those eyes boring into me as if he was searching for something. After a moment, he chuckled and shook his head.

“It’s funny because, to me, it looked like she felt betrayed. But I guess that’s crazy, right?”

He quirked an eyebrow and went back to his food as if he hadn’t just dropped a wildly inaccurate bomb on me.

“Daddy,” I whined, feeling a little embarrassed and a lot exposed. “You know me and Jucee are friends. Just friends. She’s one of my best friends.” It didn’t matter that those words suddenly felt foreign like cotton on my tongue. That had nothing to do with anything.

“Mm.”

With his eyebrows up, he gave me a look that said he clearly didn’t believe me, but thankfully, he didn’t say anything else. I wasn’t going to address his hum, because that would open the door for him to keep going, and that was the last thing I wanted.

Reaching across the table, I dragged the unopened container toward me and popped off the plastic lid. The aromas from inside smacked me in the face immediately. I groaned a lil bit. Just a little though.

Jumbo shrimp and strips of tender, medium steak sat atop a bed of fluffy potatoes that had been scraped out of their skin and stuffed into a rectangular container and drizzled with a garlic aioli. It was my favorite dish from the potato truck on the southeast side. Glancing at my daddy’s container, I recognized the Cajun chicken potato that Jucee loved. She must’ve already been on the south side of town to have picked these up and gotten here as quickly as she did.

Damn.

Finally seeing my friend after a week of no face time, only to miss the opportunity to speak to each other, was a sick sort of irony. Jackie’s presence only made it worse. And my daddy’s commentary didn’t help.

And maybe the worst of it all was the fact that none of this would be happening if I’d just kept my lips to myself.

Chapter Twelve