Heat crept up my neck. “Maybe I just like clean copper.”
He chuckled. “Ain’t nothing wrong with liking the work. Just don’t let it like you back.”
The guys snorted. One muttered, “She glowing.” Another, “Must be payday early.”
I rolled my eyes and forced a grin. “If I get lit up, it’ll be because y’all won’t shut up.”
They laughed, but under it sat the truth—one wrong line, one live wire you thought was dead, and you’re done.
And here I was, distracted.
Because it wasn’t just sex I was replaying—though his mouth on my nipple and my hips riding him until my thighs ached would not leave me alone. No, it was Sunday dinner. The way Grandma Ruth’s eyes pinned me like she was reading blueprints I didn’t know I had. The prayer that rolled off her tongue like a commandment. Jada’s grin honest and curious. The house itself, warm and layered, like walking into a place that had been loving him long before I knew his name.
It stuck with me. The way his grandma said,You pass light down. We don’t always get to pick the timing.
That line wouldn’t leave me. It made something catch in my throat—like she wasn’t just seeing me, but warning me. Part of me wanted to laugh it off, call it church talk. But another part… the part that tightened when Quentin’s hand brushed mine under the table… that part knew she meant more.
Everything was moving—fast—and for the first time it felt like it might be moving without me if I didn’t keep up. I wanted it,and I was afraid of it. Those two truths sat next to each other like rivals sharing a bench.
Darren dropped by for lunch, pulling up to the curb beside the building, hoping to catch Daddy, but had just missed him. He unwrapped his sandwich and sighed like the bread offended him somehow. My brother speaks fluent side-eye. Always had, always will. And Keisha, my sister-in-law, loved him for it because she was the sunshine that balanced him. I knew his cynicism was a lot like my stubbornness and… singleness. It all came from Denise and Marcus breaking up.
“You good?” he asked around a bite, his eyes watchful. HE really did look and sound just like Daddy.
“Fine.”
“You don’t look fine.”
“I don’t look not fine either.”
He stared, then smirked. “So it’s like that.”
I kept my eyes on my chips, crushed one between my fingers. “Like what?”
“You seeing somebody.”
I groaned. “Why is everybody in my business?”
“Because you acting different,” he said, plain. “Phone lighting up. Smiling at air. Keisha ran into Shawna at the grocery store asking about you, and Shawna told her you had good reason to be busy lately.”
I groaned louder. I was gonna kick my best friend’s ass.
“Everyone needs to mind their business.”
“I’m your brother. It is my business.” He leaned back against the wall, ankles crossed. “So who is he?”
I stayed quiet. That was an answer. His smirk faded;something older moved into his face. “He better treat you right.”
“He does.”
I meant it.
I thought about Quentin’s hand on my thigh when he drove. The way he brushed my hair back when it fell in my face. The way he sucked my nipple like he planned to live there while I rode him hard enough to make the bed complain. The way he whisperedRaynalike a prayer he wasn’t ashamed to say out loud.
Heat slid up my neck.
Darren squinted. “You sure?”
“Yeah,” I said, softer. “I’m sure.”
