Page 41 of 1001 Dark Nights: Bundle Forty-Two

“If my granny was here, you’d be eating goat tonight. Youdon’t turn that woman down.” I laugh and lift the lid on the soup. “How aboutfish soup and a few vegetables and coconut bread. Sound good?”

“Perfect. I don’t wanna bedifficult.”

“Difficult?” I scoff. “Cliff makes me crack his crab legsand dig out all the meat. He’s the resident diva.”

Naz laughs and raises his brows but doesn’t reply. I takehis plate and start loading it with the dishes I know only contain vegetablesand seafood.

“I’ve never had food from Trinidad,” he says, consideringthe abundance of dishes spread across the stove and counters.

“Then you been missing out. We may live in Houston, but weTrini through and through.”

“I see.” He nods to the scroll hanging on the wall by thefridge. “What’s that about?”

“Oh, you gonna find one of thosein just about every Trinidad-American household.”

“Trinidad and Tobago, Land of Calypso,” he reads, steppingcloser to inspect the souvenir scroll depicting our islands, population,exports. Even the limbo dance and national bird are pictured there.

“We never forget where we come from,” I say, repeatingsomething my father has said all our lives.

His eyes shift from the wall scroll to study my face. “Ireally appreciate your family sharing your food and culture with us like this.”

“It’s nothing,” I say with a shrug, though it’s everythingto us. There’s no greater pride than Trini pride.

“So why haven’t we seen you around this season?” he asks,eyes following my hands drifting between dishes and heaping food on his plate.“Your mom’s been at just about every game.”

“I have a job after school, so I don’t have many freenights.”

“What do you do?”

“I work at a hair salon,” I say, facing the stove to serveup some of the fish soup. “I want to be a stylist.”

“You’re what? A junior?”

“Actually, a senior.” I turn andhand him the plate. “Cliff had a late birthday and I had an early one, so weended up starting school together. We’re really closein age. Mama and Daddy didn’t waste no time having us kids.”

His chuckle is a deep, husky thing that makes me shiver. Ifix my eyes to the tile floor, afraid that if I look, I’ll stare. There is justsomething about this guy. It’s deeper than his good looks and gorgeous body. Heseems to be around the same height as Cliff, but broader and leaner. It feelslike his arms and legs are still trying to catch up with how his body grew sobig so fast. It lends him a ranginess, an almost physical uncertainty Cliffshed years ago.

Silence stretches between us to the point of awkwardness, soI hazard a glance up at him only to find him staring at me. Uncomfortable, Islide my eyes to the side, away from the intensity of that look. Of the way itheats me up inside until it feels like my heart may melt and puddle at my feet.

He clears his throat. “Sorry.”

My eyes snap to his. “For what?”

“For staring.” A rueful grin crooks his full lips. “Nowonder Fletcher warned us to stay away from his sister.”

I suck my teeth, huffing out an irritated breath. “That boyworks my nerves.”

“He was just looking out for you. He knows how guys are andwanted us to know the shit some of them try with othergirls, they better not try with you. Protective big brother. I have threesisters. I get it.”

A roar of laughter from the living room cuts into ourconversation. He turns his head toward the sound almost reluctantly. “I guess Ibetter get in there.”

“Right.” I grab one of the red cupson the counter already filled with ice. “Lemme get you something to drink.Soda? Tea? Lemonade?”

“Water?”

I grab a bottle of water and handit to him. Our fingers brush, and that shiver returns, shimmying down my spine.A slow smile inches onto his mouth, and he looks from where our fingers touchto my face.

“You should go,” I say in a rush. “You’re missingeverything.”