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His eyebrows lifted slightly as I looked away. I was the outcast of my city because Chicago was not my favorite team. Dallas was. That was long before he had even joined the roster. “I know you ain’t a Dallas fan.”
“I am. I have been for as long as I can remember. Don’t tell Michael Jordan.”
“Girl, I ain’t got access to that nigga!”
I walked away and laughed loudly, nearly bursting from holding it in. I didn’t want to disturb Raqui and Sheila with my outburst. He chuckled too. “That’s what’s up. I’m glad I chose Dallas then so I can be a part of your favorite things.”
“No you didn’t reference Oprah when I just disrespected Chicago,” I said, trying to keep the moment light.
He chuckled. “You catch on quick. I like that. Well, I know your favorite rapper ain’t from Chicago either. At least your favorite singer is.”
I smiled and nodded. As I attempted to walk away from him, he gently grabbed my hand. When I turned to him, he quickly released it. “My bad. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be disrespectful.”
I nodded and quickly got away from him. I was feeling him too, but I hadn’t closed the door on my relationship with Arik. There was no way I would entertain him before doing so. Taking a deep breath, I found Taryn staring right at me.Great.Noah was welcoming more guests inside, so I went to the kitchen to be sure all the food was ready. When Taryn joined me, I said, “I don’t want to hear it. That’s why I got away from his ass.”
She chuckled. “I wasn’t going to say a word, but a brother has definitely made his interest known.”
I rolled my eyes. “That man is six or seven years younger than me.”
“And? Did you know Sonya is fifteen years older than Noah, nearly the same age as his mother? That didn’t seem to stop her.”
“I’m not Sonya, and Nate isn’t Noah. Besides, they had a working relationship for at least ten years before they went there.”
“Again, and? Why do you care about age? He’s in his thirties. Grown as hell.”
I brought my hands to my face and took a deep breath. “I’m in my feelings right now. Arik isn’t coming.”
I felt her arms wrap around my waist, and she kissed my cheek. When she began humming, the soft cries left me. I knew what needed to be done. Arik needed to be in my past. Clearly, I wasn’t a priority in his life, and I refused to keep making him a priority in mine.
CHAPTER 3
NATE
“Nigga, I know you turning up with me tonight. It ain’t often you carry yo’ ass to Baldamore,” RJ said loudly.
“Man, I’on know. My flight leave out at six. That mean I need to have my ass to the airport no later than four thirty.”
“If you would take advantage of me and Noah’s private jet, you wouldn’t have that shit to worry about.”
Noah frowned as I chuckled. “When did you get a jet, RJ?”
“Nigga, the same day you did! All my fucking pain and suffering, I part own that shit,” RJ said, causing me to laugh.
I swore it was the same shit every time I came here. It was obvious they were brothers. They gave each other a hard time at every turn. RJ hadn’t gotten totally comfortable with me to give me a hard time just yet, although he said any brother of Noah’s was a brother of his.
“Ryan, watch your mouth. Nate’s mother is here. You wouldn’t want her to think you’re as ignorant as you sound,” their dad, Rev. Charles said.
I chuckled as my mama said, “It’s okay, Ryan. I love the carrying on these two do… language and all.”
“See, Senior, everybody wit’ it except you. I had forgotten you were here, Ms. Sheila. I apologize.”
Mama nodded with a dismissive wave of her hand as RJ continued. He glanced at his dad, then said, “As I was saying, you owe me, nigga.”
Noah rolled his eyes. “I don’t have a problem with you using the jet, Nate. Real shit. RJ don’t even ask. I look at the manifest and see the nigga name on the shit.”
We all laughed as TAZ joined us with a clean Brooklyn. She’d torn that damn cake up and expressed just how rich it was in her diaper. We’d all laughed as TAZ had fake gagged when she sniffed her. “Now that the princess is clean, we can open gifts!”
RJ huffed as he stood to follow her back to the main area. “Why we gotta do this? Brooklyn ain’t gon’ even be paying attention.”
