Ace drops his head, his eyes shimmering and cheeks flushed.
Nai Nai sighs, shaking her head as she packs a sweet potato wrapped in aluminum foil.
I pull him toward me and give him a strong hug.
“I care, okay? I’m sorry I get distracted sometimes, but I care.”
He nods. “Yeah, I know.”
“Okay, get your stuff,” I say, giving him a playful shove.
Nai Nai stuffs a boiled egg into the brown sack in her hands. I tsk as I come into the kitchen and reach for the bag.
“He can’t take a sack lunch to the first day of school. I’ll give him a few bucks.”
“This is for me,” she says, holding the bag close to her chest.
“Where areyougoing?” I ask.
“The library,” she says. “I want to use the computer to email our neighbors and let them know we’re doing well.”
“You know you can use my computer, right?”
“I want to go to the library,” she says, putting a package of seaweed chips in her bag.
I arch an eyebrow. “I thought you wanted to paint?”
She sighs dramatically. “Could you paint? I’m tired today.”
This damn old bat knows things; I can feel it.
“Yes, I can paint,” I say, grabbing one of the freshly boiled eggs.
I crack it along the center and each snap of the shell reminds me of the percussive force of Rhazan’s hand. My skin remembers the prickle of his palm and the heat of his possession. My mouth remembers the hot breaths taken over his leg.
“Did you forget how to open an egg?” Nai Nai asks.
“No!”
I pull off the shell and shove it all in my mouth. Nai Nai just smiles knowingly. She’s not tired. She’s orchestrating something. Rhazan said he would be coming to help me craft wards today, but she wasn’t there for that agreement.
Hell, I hope she wasn’t there for that agreement.
“I’m going to be late!” Ace yells as he runs down the stairs.
I grab my wallet and my keys, then usher Nai Nai toward the door. “Do you have what you need?”
“Lunch, notebook,” she says, holding each up.
“Phone?” I ask.
She pats down her pockets. “Somewhere.”
“Jade!” Ace calls from the bottom.
Shit.
“Okay, well, if you don’t have it, I’ll write my number down for you,” I say, helping her toward the stairs.
