Page 24 of Love & Streetball

“Hungry?” he asked. “I guess we could have stopped for some food first. I can have something delivered.”

Eating something besides noodles or grilled cheese sounded good. Those tacos had been on my mind real bad.

“Can you get those tacos delivered?” I quizzed, trailing him into a living room that was about six times my bedroom.

A smirk was on his lips instantly. “You been thinking about those tacos, huh? They do sound good. I think they are on the delivery apps. Let me check.” Kane plopped down on the tan, plush sectional. When I didn’t sit and remained standing, his eyes darted from his phone to me.

“Don’t start that shit, Slim. You can sit and get comfortable,” he fussed.

I nervously laughed. “Your mom isn’t gon’ get on an intercom and yell at me to get off her expensive Italian furniture, is she?”

Kane burst out laughing, but I was serious. I just knew there were hidden cameras in every room except the bathrooms.

“Intercom?” Kane repeated, wiping tears from his eyes. “Slim, ain’t no intercoms. My mama is probably three glasses of wine deep at the gala right now, and my dad is probably up the senator and president’s ass. Trust me, the furniture will be fine, and it didn’t come from no damn Italy.”

I sat down, slowly, and on the edge. Kane chuckled and shook his head while scrolling on his phone.

“How many do you want?” he asked. “Get however many you want.”

“Five,” I answered.

“Bet. I want five too.”

Kane smiled, and lately, it’s been somewhat contagious. My right cheek hiked slightly. Just a little bit. Not enough for him to see it. I didn’t want my guard down…yet.

8

Iplaced my phone on silent after Kayla’s tenth text message and fifth call that went unanswered. Kayla was a cheerleader whom I dated off and on since my sophomore year, and right now we were off, and I planned on keeping it that way. I didn’t like the clingy shit. I didn’t care for the always wanting to post me because I made her look good on social media. Everything Kayla posted was some off-guard shit. She whined and did the most. It was actually our mom’s idea for Kayla and me to date. Her and Kayla’s mom were friends in high school, and the thought of their children together was a dream for her.

I ain’t want that shit.

Kayla didn’t even like basketball. When we did hang out, all she did was scroll on her phone, talking shit about people. That wasn’t my type of vibe. I’d be playing the game and tuning her ass out. When Mama asks if I'm inviting Kayla over soon, I keep telling her I’m not on that with Kayla.

I tossed the phone onto the couch cushion next to me. Kayla must’ve found out that I was home alone this weekend and wanted to come over on some freaky shit. We were each other’s first. I mean, she was practically thrown at me. I wasn’t thinking about Kayla right now.

We’d eaten our tacos while watching Space Jam. Now Scottie was sitting on the floor where she preferred with her knees pulled up to her chest. Seeing her guarded and uncomfortable at times made me realize just how different our worlds were.

Sliding down, I sat beside her with plenty of distance between us. Scottie didn’t even look up from the movie.

“Hol’ up, is this your first time watching this?” I asked with stretched eyes.

“Yeah. We don’t have cable at home,” she answered.

“Ahhh. I can grab you anytime and bring you here to watch some shit. Especially on weekends and when summer time hits…”

“Wait. Who said I would be spending all that time with you?” Slim laughed. “Slow your roll.”

“We have extra rooms too…” I added, wiggling my brows. “We’ll have a blast.”

Scottie laughed, covering her mouth. That made me smile wider.

I heard niggas talking down on Scottie, calling her a boy and masculine…she wasn’t masculine at all. She was lean and fit from exercise and basketball. She was pretty, too. Her smile made her cheeks rise, and her eyes crinkle. When her hair wasn’t braided, it was curly and right now it was slicked up into a messy, curly high bun, which showed off her heart-shaped face more.

“Can you stop looking at me like that. It’s giving weird.”

Rubbing my eyes, I laughed. “My fault, I zoned out for a moment.”

Slim cut her eyes to me. “Well, don’t do that again.”