“Is everything good? When we got to Dawn’s crib, she said she saw Ava’s ex dude’s truck out front, so I made my way down here to see what was up.”
“You know I can handle myself, especially against a feminine ass nigga. We straight. Dude was on some dumb shit, but I sent his ass on. I thought you were him coming back when you rang the doorbell, which was why I snatched the door open like that.”
“What did dude want?”
“Not a damn thing. He said some shit about one of Dawn’s neighbors told him Ava moved here so he came down here to talk to her.”
“At this time of the night? Dude was on some dumb shit.”
“Exactly!”
“Dawn was trying to come down here, but I told her ass to stay put and to stay out it. With you being here I knew that Ava was straight, so Dawn didn’t need to get herself involved in shit.”
“I agree, cuz,” I said, shaking my head. “Dude fucked up what he and Ava had. He missed his chance at making things right. Shit, there’s a new sheriff in town now, and I ain’t about to sit back and let him nor anyone else fuck with her joy. You feel me?”
“Straight facts! You ready to go? I gotta get up early for work. If you not, I can go ask Dawn for a ride to the crib.”
“Nah, man, I can take you home. Let me just make sure Ava is straight. Give me a few minutes. I’ll meet you in the car.”
“Okay, bet. You sure though, cuz? I sensed that y’all was up to something,” Troy said, looking at me all weird. “Don’t have me sitting out here waiting all damn night while y’all up in here doing the most.”
“Dude, chill! Just give me a few minutes,” I replied, closing the door behind Troy then going to look for Ava. Finding her in the kitchen starting the dishwasher and talking to Dawn on the phone, I walked up behind her and touched her shoulder.
“Hold on for a second, Dawn,” Ava said then turned to looked at me.
“Hey, I’ma head out. I gotta take my cousin home. You gon’ be good or do you want me to come back when I’m done?”
“I should be fine. I know you must be tired. I don’t want to take up anymore of your time then I already have today.”
“You didn’t make me do anything I didn’t want to do,” I responded, causing Ava to blush. “Do you think dude will come back over once I leave?”
“I sure hope not, but if he does, I’ll just call the police and not open the door.”
“Okay, beautiful,” I responded then held her chin. “I’ll call you when I get home.” I gave her a quick kiss on the lips, then licked my lips as I stared into her eyes before heading toward the front door. “Come lock the door. Talk to you in a lil’ bit.”
Leaving out, I headed to my truck with a winning grin on my face.
DAWN
“Thank you for walking with me. That was really sweet of you,” I said to Troy as he walked up to my front door.
“Of course, no thanks needed. A pretty lady such as yourself shouldn’t be out walking the streets late at night alone.”
“As you can see, I just live a few houses away from Ava. It’s not like I have to walk far.”
“It doesn’t matter, lil’ mama. What kind of man would I be if I let you walk home alone in the middle of the night?” Troy smiled as I unlocked the door. “Plus, it looked like your sister, and my cousin wanted a little alone time.”
“Didn’t it though? Those two are something else and they aren’t fooling anybody,” I said as I turned to face Troy while I stood in the doorway. “It’s so obvious that they like each other,” I continued as I tried to ignore the strong vibe between us. He was standing under the light on my porch looking like a whole meal.
Troy was good looking with a sex appeal that was something serious. Just from the time we spent together today and the small talk that he and I had made, I could tell that he had the potential to get to me in ways that I had avoided ever since Zoe. As much as I tried, I couldn’t find one thing wrong with Troy,but today was the first time that we ever met. Usually, I was able to size a person up upon first meeting them and find at least one thing that I didn’t like about them, but not with Troy and that had me feeling a little concerned.
“Kind of like us, huh?” he asked, catching me off guard.
“That was a little direct.” I giggled as I noticed the headlights of a truck that looked very similar to Justin’s out front of Ava’s house. It was pretty dark out, but I could clearly see the truck. I just couldn’t see who was in it.
“Do you like me, Dawn? ‘Cause I’m liking what I see in you,” Troy continued as I continued to look down the street. Noticing that something had my attention, he turned to look in the direction that I was looking in.
“I mean, Ion know you like that to say whether I like you or not.”
