“Bet,” Rico said. “You coming back today, or you need to catch up on sleep?”
“I’ll be back.”
I paused, glancing toward the front of the house. “If she don’t come out of her room soon,… hit me. Matter of fact, just let me know when her sister comes.”
“Got you.” James nodded as I pulled my keys from my pocket and slipped into my car.
I pulled up behind my sister’s car and killed the engine. Her silver SUV sat crooked in the driveway, like always. I smirked. Jess never could park straight. I grabbed my keys, exited the car, and headed up the walkway. My mind was still on Noa. The way she had come undone for me last night was nothing short of fucking perfect. The way our unofficial outing had turned into an official date that led to her in my lap was perfection, and there was no way I wasn’t going to lock her down.
I unlocked the front door and made my way inside. I didn’t even make it all the way in before Jess was poking her head around the hallway wall being nosy.
“Well, look who finally decided to come home,” she announced.
“Good morning to you, too.”
“Don’t ‘good morning’ me,” she shot back. “I was worried sick last night. Thought I was going to have to file a missing persons’ report.”
“You so dramatic.” I laughed under my breath, kicking my shoes off at the front door.
“I’m serious!” She stepped fully into the front room. “Ron told me you had a date last night. I didn’t know if she’d kidnapped you or had you set up.”
“Course he did.” I shook my head and kept walking past her, heading for the basement. She followed me, arms folded.
“So… who is she? Are you just not gonna tell me who she is?”
I sighed, pausing at the basement door. “Not really.”
“Wow!” She gasped. “That’s how you treat your big sister?”
“Yeah, ’cause I’m sure your man done already told you.”
“But I want to hear it from you.” She nudged me with her elbow. “Can you at least tell me if you like the girl?”
“Yeah, I like her,” I said calmly.
“Ooh!” She clapped her hands together like she’d just won a bet or something. “I can see it all over your face.”
“Man, whatever.”
“So what’s her name?”
“It’s Noa.”
“Noa,” she repeated. “That’s cute. She’s not one of them flashy hood rat girls you could never get enough of, is she?”
“Nah, Noa’s an artist.”
“Ooh, an artist,” she said, eyebrows rising. I didn’t say anything, just pulled open the door, trying to get out of the conversation.
“Ron told me she’s disabled. In a wheelchair.”
I nodded slowly. “Yeah. She got lupus.”
“Oh, wow! That’s a lot.” Her hand flew up to her mouth. “It’s really bad if she depends on a wheelchair.”
“Yeah.”
She stared at me for a moment, like she didn’t know what to say.
