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Maliki’s arm tightens around her, and he brushes his thumb against her cheek with his free hand. “Yep, and what a waste. Imagine all the extra time we could’ve had if we had stopped pussyfooting around.”
Sierra lifts her head while they look at me with expectation.
I switch my attention to the laptop, hitting keys. “No pussyfooting around. I don’t get what no one understands about us being only friends.”
Fuck. Why is this all I’ve been hearing about lately?
Maliki chuckles, shaking his head. “Quit giving him shit, babe. He’ll figure it out eventually.”
Sierra groans. “Hopefully, it doesn’t take him too long. Remember what happened when you didn’t step up?”
He frowns. “Don’t remind me.”
“I gotmarried.” She stresses every syllable as the words leave her mouth before focusing on me. “Do you want Carolina to marry someone else, Rex?”
I rub at the sudden tension in my neck, the thought hitting me like a headache. “Carolina isn’t getting married.”
I fucking hope not.
“How do you know?” Sierra continues, as if her mission tonight is to piss me off. “Igot married.”
“She won’t,” I grind out, contemplating whether to change her password and the language to Chinese in revenge for her taunting.
I love my sister, and I know she means well. We’ve always been the closest, but she’s a pain in the ass.
“Are you saying that because you don’t want her to get married?”
“Jesus, babe,” Maliki cuts in, shooting me a sympathetic stare while giving her a gentle squeeze. “You’re going to make his head explode.”
She sighs. “I want to see my baby bro happy, and he needs to stop being dumb.”
I hold up her computer, arching a brow. “The one who can’t figure out her computer is calling me dumb?”
“Learn from my mistakes, little bro.” She skims her fingers along Maliki’s arm. “Don’t you think they’d be cute, babe?”
“So cute,” Maliki says, mocking her voice. “Fucking adorable.”
“Funny,” she deadpans. “Remember who you sleep next to at night.”
Their relationship story is pretty damn entertaining. Maliki used to kick my sister out of his bar whenever she was underage and tried to sneak in. It became a thing to them. They’re so opposite—my sister being the rebellious sorority princess and Maliki being the bartending bad boy who hated commitment. I admire their relationship so damn much.
Maliki smacks a kiss against the top of her head. “The best damn woman in the world is who I sleep next to at night.”
I gag. “Gross. You two save your flirtfest for later.” I drop the laptop onto the couch and stand. “Computer is fixed.”
* * *
“Oh, sweet Carolina, ba, ba, ba!”Josh sings when Carolina walks into our apartment.
He does it every damn time.
“Shut up and leave her alone,” I grumble in annoyance, pausing my game.
Josh is cool. We shared a few classes together at Iowa State and were partners on a project. He’s a few years older than me, clean, notthat muchof a pain in the ass, and he pays rent on time. The only times I consider kicking him out is when it comes to Carolina. He—along with every-fucking-body else—gives me shit about our relationship and has threatened to ask her out one too many times. He won’t. There would be an eviction notice on his bedroom door as soon as the words left his mouth.
He’s your typical hipster who wears beanies over his shoulder-length hair that he pulls into a man bun most of the time, he sports a scruffy beard, and his closet is packed with flannels in every color.
“Damn,” he grumbles, attempting to fight back a smug smile. “Can’t a man say hi?”
