“Alright.” He stepped around me to open the door. “I’m going to run downstairs to grab something to drink. Give me a minute.”
“Okay.” I walked onto the balcony, set the plates on the table, and then went inside to use the bathroom. After I finished, I walked out to see Amethyst sitting at the table waiting. He looked up at me and smiled, and my heart slammed against my chest. “You know you never answered my questions?”
Amethyst stood, pulled my chair out, then helped me into my seat. “What question was that?” he asked after he reclaimed his seat.
“Why were you on the floor in the room?” I blew on my fish before taking a bite, and I loved the flavor. It had just the right amount of spice and was crispy and still hot thanks to being put in the warmer. “You told me not to laugh at you, which I agreed to, but you never gave me the real answer.”
“How do you know it wasn’t the real answer?” he chuckled as he ate. I had to look away when his lips wrapped around his fork. He was sexy without trying, and since we’d crossed that line all those months ago, I wondered how I’d successfully kept him in the friend zone for so long.
“Because I know you.” I pointed my fork at him, and he smiled again. “Now spill it.”
Instead of answering me, he focused on his food. The shy part of Amethyst always pulled at my heartstrings. Usually, he was sosure of himself and, at times, overly cocky, which annoyed the shit out of me. But seeing him now, this way made me smile. Not because I felt like I had the upper hand, but because I loved the fact that he trusted me enough to show his vulnerability and knew I wouldn’t throw it in his face later.
“I missed you,” he said, then looked up at me. He gave me a shy smile, shook his head, then sat back in his seat with his hands in his lap. “I never came home after I sent you away because I knew I would be reminded of you at every turn. When I walked through the front door the other day, the first thing I did was breathe. I took a deep breath and let your smell fill my lungs, and that shit calmed me down. Well, partially. My dick has been hard since then, too.” He smirked when I kissed my teeth and rolled my eyes. “Nah, I mean yeah, it has been, but nah, that wasn’t the only thing that was on my mind. I walked around the house, and the stronger your scent was, the more I relaxed. When I got to the room, I was set. I didn’t want to lay in the bed without you, so for the last few nights, once you’re asleep, I come in here, settle on the floor, and get a few hours of sleep.” He shrugged. “I make sure I’m gone before you wake up, though. I don’t want you to think I’m a creep nigga.”
“You are a creep,” I laughed, shaking my head. “But I’ve known that since I met you.”
“You act like you’ve caught my ass sniffing your panties or something.” He sat forward, resting his elbows on the table, then licked his lips.
“Amethyst, you sniff my panties?” I narrowed my eyes at him.
“How the fuck I’ma sniff something you don’t wear, Sunshine?” he laughed and shook his head. “You buy ten pairs yearly, and I know that’s probably a stretch.”
“I buy twelve,” I replied, and he shrugged. “And how do you know that?”
“I pay attention to what’s important.” He picked up a piece of fish and bit into it. “And for the record, you bought thirteen last year because you thought you were trippin’ and couldn’t find a pair.”
“I wasn’t trippin,” I said, shaking my head. “I know I lost a pair.” There was no reason to deny how many I bought, because he obviously knew. I hated wearing panties and only wore them if I was on my period or if I wore a pair of jeans because I hated how denim felt.
“No, you didn’t,” he replied. “I took them.”
“Why?”
“To sniff them,” he answered, then went back to eating.
I laughed so hard that my nose started to run and tears filled my eyes.
Chapter forty-seven
Amethyst
Hearing her laugh did something to my heart. Yale wiped the tears from her eyes and shook her head. She thought I was joking, but I wasn’t. I stole a pair of her panties every damn year just to have them. I knew her period panties from her jean panties, and when she wasn’t paying attention, I’d snatch a pair from the stash of clothes she kept at my house.
“You really gotta grow up,” she said once she got herself together. I shrugged and kept eating. If she wanted to think it was a game, then so be it. “But seriously, I wouldn’t have given you shit for telling me the truth up front. I would’ve fussed, but not for the reason you think.”
“Yeah?” I asked, then took another bite of my fish. Yale nodded as she ate, and I smirked. “What would you have fussed about?”
“You’re not taking care of yourself,” she answered, and I nodded. “I can and will be upset with you throughout theremainder of our lives, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take care of yourself because of it. You need your sleep. I’ve told you that plenty of times before. Rest.”
“I know.” I nodded. “I’ma do better though, for real.”
“You better.”
We went back to eating, both of us lost in our own little world. When my phone rang, I took it out of my pocket to see it was a call from Pyrite. Immediately, I swiped the screen and put it on speaker.
“What’s wrong?” I asked. It was two in the morning. The only time people called this late was for bad news or sex, and I wasn’t fucking on my brother, so it could only be bad news.
“They took Uri back into surgery,” he said. “I don’t know the technical terms, but it’s something about post-secondary rupture.”
