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IMANI
When I pulled into the driveway with Landon in my passenger seat, the front light turned on. I cursed under my breath, knowing Mom had been waiting for me to come home. She couldn’t berate me last night, so she had to now.
“I’ll let you in through the back door in, like, twenty minutes, okay?” I told Landon.
“All right.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Promise me you won’t go anywhere.”
“I promise, Imani.”
After arching my brow, I grabbed my backpack and things from the backseat and ran through the rain and to the house, taking a deep breath before I stepped through the door.
“How was the game?” Mom asked as soon as I stepped into the house, my hair frizzy beyond belief and matted to my forehead.
I hated getting my hair wet in the rain, but I would one thousand percent do it again for Kai.
Mom arched a brow. “And why are you soaking wet?”
“Redwood won,” I said, keeping my response short and sweet.
These past few days had taught me one thing. I didn’t want to talk to Mom because talking led to an argument and an argument led to me being grounded or me crying or me feeling like shit because of her. So, I put up a wall.
She closed the door behind me and pulled together her comfy housecoat. “And you’re wet because?”
“Because it’s raining.”
Mom pressed her lips together in a tight line. “I made you dinner.”
“I already ate with Allie.” I slid off my shoes and started toward the stairs, hoping that she wouldn’t continue to talk to me. All I wanted to do was dry off and sink into my mattress with Landon beside me, my head in the crook of his arm and his soft breathing in my ear.
“How’s Allie doing?”
I balled my hands into fists behind my back and gave Mom a pleasant smile. “Good.”
What was with all the questions?
Before she could get any words out, I hopped onto the steps, then turned around. “Hey, Mom … do you deal with many patients with HIV or AIDS?” I asked, my heart racing. I knew that she’d ask me why I wanted to know, but I couldn’t help myself. “You probably don’t, but …”
“It’s not my area of expertise, Imani. Why?”
“If a child has it, what are her chances of survival?”
Mom furrowed her brows. “Don’t tell me that you have—”
“No,” I clarified, annoyed that she would assume that. “I don’t. We’re learning about it in class, and I was wondering about how it affects children.” I gnawed on the inside of my cheek, knowing that she probably didn’t know anything about it, anyway. “Never mind. Anyway, I’m tired. I’ll see you in the morning. Good night.”
Taking the stairs two at a time, I made it to the second flood with lightning speed and continued down the hallway toward my bedroom. I had to make it to the back door without Mom noticing in less than fifteen minutes now. I had to be quick.
Opening my bedroom door, I flicked on the light and jumped in surprise when I saw Landon lying on my bed and the window ajar. “How the hell did you get up here so quickly?” I asked, placing a hand against my heart.
“You leave your windows unlocked.”
I shut the door behind me, and despite Mom’s orders not to lock it, I did. “I told you that I was going to unlock the back for you, so you didn’t have to climb up the side of the—”
Landon grabbed my hand and pulled me down onto the bed with him, placing his hot mouth on mine and kissing me softly. “I’m here now. You don’t have to worry about it, but you should be locking your windows.”
After playfully shoving him, I smiled into our kiss and peeled off my wet shirt and bra, grabbing the pajamas that I had left on the bed from the other night. Low-key, I was surprised Mom hadn’t scolded me for leaving my clothes all over the room. She had to have been in here last night; I didn’t doubt it.
