Page 12 of Buy Back My Love

That was JB. If something was wrong, he bought something, fixed something, or paid for something. Before prison, I loved that about him, but now I wasn’t so sure.

He turned into an apartment complex, but it didn’t look like any apartments I was used to seeing. The units looked like little luxury cottages lined up along quiet streets, with small porches, attached garages, trimmed grass, and trees planted along the sidewalks. Everything looked brand-new and expensive as hell.

I leaned forward and looked through the windshield. “Who stay out here?”

JB didn’t answer. He slowed in front of one of the cottages and pulled into the driveway.

A gold-and-white balloon arrangement was tied near the porch, and through the front windows, I could see people moving around inside.

I looked at him. “What is this?”

He cut the engine. “Something I want you to see.”

That didn’t answer a damn thing, but JB climbed out before I could ask anything else. I stayed where I was for a second, staring at the balloons moving in the breeze, until the front door opened and Anika stepped onto the porch.

The second I saw my little sister, every question in my head disappeared. Anika’s long dark hair fell past her shoulders, framing her soft cheeks and big brown eyes that were already filling with tears. She covered her mouth with both hands before taking off down the walkway.

“Lee-Lee!”

I barely got my door open before she reached me. Anika threw her arms around me so hard I stumbled back against the truck, and I held on just as tight while she cried into my shoulder.

“Look at you,” she said when she finally pulled back, grabbing my face between both hands. “You’re really home.”

“I’m really home.”

She hugged me again before I could finish saying it.

“You’re so little,” Anika murmured, rubbing both hands up and down my back. “I know you lost weight, but seeing you out here...” She shook her head. “It hit different.”

I smiled through my tears. “I’m okay.”

She stepped back and looked me over from head to toe. “We gone put some meat back on your bones.”

“You act like I’m starving.”

“You damn near is.”

I laughed and shook my head. “I missed you too.”

Behind her, Trevon came down the walkway with his hands in his pockets. I knew him from pictures and a couple video visits, but this was the first time I’d ever seen Anika’s fiancé standing in front of me for real. He was taller than he looked on a screen, lean but broad through his shoulders, with smooth brown skin, a fresh low cut, and neatly trimmed hair along his chin. He had one of those young-looking faces that probably got him mistaken for being younger than he was until he opened his mouth.

He smiled as he reached us. “Welcome home.”

“Thank you.”

I opened my arms, and Trevon gave me one of those careful little hugs people gave when they weren’t sure if they were allowed to touch you like family yet.

Anika smacked his shoulder. “You can hug her better than that. She family.”

Trevon looked at her. “It must be a cold day in hell if you actually giving me permission to hug another woman.”

I laughed, and before Anika could come back with something smart to say, the front door flew open again.

“Move out the way!”

Nina came rushing down the porch in heels too damn high for the middle of the day, her long curls bouncing around her shoulders.

“My bitch is back!”