Page 70 of The Need to Know

Ezekiel’s phone rang loudly, illustrating the sound a FaceTime call made.

He dug into his pocket. “My fault, I’ll make this quick.” He went and swiped across the screen. “What up, Cease?”

On screen, Cesar appeared in some kitchen. “Not much. What you doing?”

“I’m chopping it up with Nas,” Ezekiel said.

“Word? Let me holler,” I heard Cesar demand.

Ezekiel chuckled and handed his phone over to me.

Cesar was at home, and judging by the glittery pink curtains above the kitchen sink, I assumed he was at a woman’s home. “Hey!”

“Hey, Cesar.” I greeted him with a little wave.

“Why was you being lame last night? We missed you at the club. It was a movie,” Cesar said.

“It’s nice to know I was missed,” I joked. “We’ve been busy at the shop. Otherwise, I definitely would’ve came through. I like BLVCKJVCK.”

“Next time. We’re doing a Bonnie & Clyde night next Thursday.”

Of what I knew of that duo, I wasn’t exactly sure I got the theme. “What’s that mean?”

Cesar grinned on his end at my hesitation. “Hip-hop and R&B collabs. Nas and Lauryn, Jay and Bey, Meth and Mary—you know the vibes.”

“Yass.” I wiggled in my seat, loving the idea. “I’m down for that. Make sure you play Mariah.”

“With Jay-Z or Ol’ Dirty Bastard?”

“Both!”

Cesar laughed. “Say less.”

“All right, I’m going to hand you back to Ezekiel, but I’ll see you next week,” I said.

Ezekiel took his phone and got back to his friend. “I’m going to be a little late tonight, but you can handle it, right?”

“Got you. Got you,” Cesar said. “Luke should be there, right?”

“I’ma text him to have him open up and you can hold it down until I get there.” Ezekiel tapped the screen and chanced a look my way. “I shouldn’t be that late.”

It was going on eight thirty p.m. I wasn’t sure of BLVCKJVCK’s opening hours, but I did remember seeing they closed at three in the morning. Ezekiel was in for a long night.

He ended his FaceTime call with Cesar and quickly typed a text to who I was guessing was his father.

“I don’t want you to be late,” I said. “We can always reschedule.”

Ezekiel shook his head and kept his eyes on his screen as a swoosh sound let me know he’d gotten a response. In seconds he was texting back and then placing his phone on the coffee table in front of him. “Can I be honest?”

“Yeah,” I said.

A small smile hung in the corner of his mouth. “I wish you came out last night. It would’ve been nice. I take my work seriously. I’m never late, and Pops knows that, so I can afford to slide this once. Besides, I’d love to watch you try to eat all that food you just ordered by yourself.”

My cheeks burned to let loose a big goofy smile, but I held it back as best as I could. “Okay.”

Because things felt somewhat safe with Ezekiel, I turned, pulled my knees to my chest, and faced him head on. “Can I ask you something?”

He was in his phone, but he didn’t hesitate to look my way and give me his full attention. “What’s up?”