If he could get away with knocking that shit-eating grin off Von’s face he would do it in a heartbeat.
“Because I want to be the only one looking at her ass, okay?” Thad confessed. “Shut up,” he said before Von could respond.
Von held up both hands. “That’s all you had to say, man. I do have one question for you, though.”
“What?”
“Did you consider what it’s going to be like to be up therein New York with her when all you want to do is look at her ass?”
Thad ran a hand down his face. Of course he had considered it. He just hadn’t taken the time to fully process it. This was why he hated making important decisions on the fly. He needed time to consider all angles, weigh the cost and benefit, and ponder the consequences.
He already saw one consequence he would be forced to wrestle with in New York: a persistent case of blue balls. It wasn’t as if he didn’t have to deal with that in New Orleans, but at least he wasn’t constantly around Ashanti when he was here. That wouldn’t be the case in New York.
“This had better be worth it,” Thad muttered.
19
Ashanti spotted Thad’s pickup parked at the curb in front of Chateau Esplanade Senior Living Facility. She glanced at the time on her dashboard.
7:53 a.m.
She wasn’t surprised. He struck her as one of thoseyou’re on time if you’re five minutes earlytypes.
She crept around the block, searching for a parking spot. She didn’t like her chances. Between the seniors’ facility, a middle school, and several restaurants, finding a place to park in this area would be like winning the lottery. When she turned the corner at Esplanade and Burgundy, she found Thad standing in an open spot behind his truck, waving her to come his way. Had he been sitting behind the wheel when she passed by the first time?
There was another pickup truck—this one white with rusty ladder racks mounted on the truck bed—idling parallel to Thad’s. A tattooed arm waved out of the driver’s side window, its owner gesturing irately.
“Find another spot,” Thad called out to the guy.
The driver had apparently laid claim to this one and didn’t seem inclined to continue his search. The door to the white pickup truck opened and a man big enough to play The Rock’s stunt double climbed out.
“Oh, good Lord,” Ashanti said. She could find another parking spot. She pulled up closer to tell Thad just that, but it was too late.
Ashanti’s breath caught as the man marched over to Thad and pointed a finger in his face. Thad didn’t respond. He braced his feet apart, crossed his arms over his chest, and smirked.
If there was bloodshed over a parking spot, she would kill them both.
The man yelled a half-dozen four-letter words in Thad’s face, then stomped back to his truck and took off. Thad simply turned as if nothing had happened and continued to direct her into the parking spot.
It took her four tries before she was finally able to maneuver into the spot. She blamed nerves. And a lifetime of bad driving. She’d had Evie teach the twins before enrolling them both in driver’s ed.
Ashanti jumped out of her SUV and rounded the front where Thad was standing, that smirk now directed at her.
“Are you insane?” she yelled at him.
“Good morning to you too,” he said. “Not the best at parallel parking, are you?”
“That man could have murdered you over a parking spot,” Ashanti said, ignoring his warranted dig at her driving skills.
“A random stranger can murder me at the grocery store, doesn’t mean I’ll stop shopping for grapes.”
She threw her hands up. “That makes no sense.”
He shrugged. “You’re right, it doesn’t. Guess I’m lucky that guy wasn’t in the mood for murder. Probably because he didn’t want to lose his job.”
Thad gestured to something over her shoulder and Ashanti turned to find the guy from the white truck walking up the sidewalk, balancing a ladder over one shoulder. His truck was now parked on the other side of the street.
“Asshole,” the guy called, giving Thad the finger.
