Within forty-eight hours, they were on the road, headed to Pellum with Papa in tow.
"There she is,"his mother whispered as she stared at Starlah, who sat on the porch alone. "Oh my God, look at her. My heart's broken."
Swift sat up with furrowed brows. He couldn't believe the beauty with ginger-colored hair was the same Starlah that Gianna used to play with. Both were annoying as hell, especially Starlah, who wanted to do everything her brother and his friends did. He hadn't seen her in about three, maybe four years.
Swift pushed out a grunt, noting she wasn't little anymore when he eased from the back seat of the truck. He lifted his hands, shielding his eyes from the sun as she stood. He immediately gulped at the sight of Starlah's toned thighs andperky breasts that greeted him. Her caramel skin was smooth and flawless.
He wasn't sure, but there was something about a country girl that made city girls look fragile, plastic even. Not Starlah, though. She was thick in the right places yet still lean from her washboard stomach that met her round hips.
"Close your damn mouth, son," Cain whispered, gripping Swift's shoulder. "Remember, we are here to help, not to help ourselves to pussy."
His mother kissed her teeth, glaring at her husband.
"What?" His father lifted his shoulders. "Our son's handsome as fuck, and the girls seem to just open up their legs like he had a code to 'em."
"Not now. This isn't a laughing matter." London then looked at her son, more than a foot taller than her. "And you better not."
"Ma, that's Pops. I ain't have nothing to do with it."
When Swift turned his back, his dad grinned and nudged him before she whipped her head around, staring at both through slitted orbs.
"And you…" She pointed to her son. "Make yourself useful and bring in our bags while I go speak."
Cain grabbed her wrist before she could take off, gently pulling her toward him.
"What, Cain? He gets that cocky shit from you."
"Don't tell me your ass is jealous that your son sees a pretty girl. I thought this would be what you were looking for, Mrs. Brighton," he whispered in his wife's ear.
Cain was, too, but he was just teasing.That, and the ride was long and emotionally heavy, each in their own head, not knowing what to expect when they arrived. Then there was Papa, who had unexpectedly shown up with Swift. When he shared that Papa was a surprise gift for his mother, his father informed him there'd be only one dick under his roof, four-legged or not.It was then that he'd resigned himself to keeping Papa. Swift figured that when he returned to Cedar Spike, he'd just give him to his cousin Money.
"She's grieving," London reminded her husband with narrowed eyes.
"Chill. Let that shit go." He placed his hand on her lower back as they made their way up the porch. "Hmph, look at how she's looking at our boy," he whispered.
Sure enough, Starlah looked past them as Swift struggled to pull four suitcases out, two belonging to his mother.
"Well, hello, Starlah. My, have you grown." Starlah issued a weak grin, then stood when she filled up the space in between London's arms. "So glad we can be here."
"Thank you." She tucked her lips, fighting hard to keep her tears at bay.
"Family!" Logan greeted them, arms stretched.
Right on his heels was a beautiful, dark-gray puppy with gold eyes, yapping like he wanted to have them for lunch. Instantly, his barks were responded to when Papa tried to leap from inside his cage, growling in between barks. He couldn't wait to be released to devour the gray canine that dared bark at his family.
"Chevy," Starlah fussed, grabbing onto him. "These are our guests," she whispered.
"It's cool. He's doing his job," Logan replied as Starlah gently ran her hand down his back. She whispered in Chevy's ear as he sat, slight whimpers escaping his mouth.
"Chevy?" London repeated and glanced at Papa. "Oh, how cute. Whose dog, and who named him?"
"Mine." Starlah lifted her hand, a faint grin appearing. "As you can see, he likes to be on the go."
"Okay then, I guess Chevy has company since my son recently decided to purchase himself a dog. Might I add that wehad a very interesting road trip." She looked over her shoulder as Swift carried the largest suitcase to the porch.
"Chased cats, dogs, you name it at every stop or tried to."
"Not any dog, but an Anatolian Shepherd," Logan spoke, amazed, then looked at Starlah. "See that, Star? Imagine that. We have two of them now."
