“I definitely did and she’s pretty as fuck,” he says with almost too much admiration.
Seeing Adora in person hit different. Listening to her voice messages connected me to her, but there was still a wall, a distance between us. I didn’t know her and she definitely didn’t know me.
Because I knew the chances of us ever meeting were slim, I convinced myself it was cool, somehow okay, for me to listen to her. However, the moment I saw her and was in her space, I knew I couldn’t listen anymore. I couldn’t listen to her private thoughts and vulnerable moments. She’s indeed real. A beautiful woman whose private thoughts I want to be part of. I want her and whatever I may have said was probably just the beginning. Tomorrow, I’m going to step to her and shoot my damn shot.
“I’m not worried about shit tomorrow,” I assure him and he shakes his head. He finishes his drink right as our server returns with mine. “After this drink, I’m out. I want to head back to the spot in the morning before my appointment.”
“When are you planning to open?”
“Shit, hopefully the first of June. That gives me almost four months. I can make that happen.”
“You gon’ let Kadean run this one?” Rick knows all about my brother and his fuckups I’m always cleaning up.
“If shit was like I wanted, I would and you know it. In the perfect world, he and I would be running Clean Ridez together,” I tell him.
Long before I became Kadean’s legal guardian, I was taking care of him. I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t. He just can’t get himself together long enough to handle or be responsible for anything.
“Miracles happen. Maybe seeing the second spot will motivate him,” Rick says.
I don’t say anything because I don’t have a response. All I want is something or someone to motivate him because it clearly isn’t me. In his eyes, I do for him because I owe him, not because I love and want the best for him. Reaching a middle ground over something that happened eleven years ago is the only miracle I even think about.
After gulping my drink down, I finally say something. “Maybe. You ready?”
“Yeah. We can bounce,” he says.
I look around the section and don’t spot our server. I stand to head to the closest bar. As soon as I do, our server appears and rushes toward me.
“Do you need anything else?” she asks.
“Just to close my tab,” I tell her. With a smile, she pulls her handheld out, pulls up my tab, then hands it to me. I tap it with my phone to pay the bill and tip her. When I hand it back, she glances down at the screen then smiles. “Thank you. Have a good night.”
Rick stands and we take the elevator down to the main floor. Although VIP includes valet, we both bypassed it. After dapping, we part and head to our rides. On the way to the crib, I take a little detour and ride past my new location.
I really did that shit.
Since I wantto stop by my new location before my appointment, I set my alarm for six-thirty. To my surprise, when I make it downstairs, I see Kadean isn’t in my guest room, the door is open, and he even made the bed.
His ass never gets up this early. Maybe he’s trying to make up for barely working last week.My thoughts make me smile,and as I walk down my hall and smell bacon, I smile even harder.He’s really up for work.
As soon as I enter the kitchen though, my smile drops. There’s no Kadean but some half-naked chick is in front of my damn stove cooking. A small shirt hangs off one shoulder and her ass is eating a pair of lace panties.The fuck.
“Ay. Where’s Kadean?” I ask and startle her. She drops the spatula in her hand on the floor.
“Shit!” she yelps, then laughs nervously. After picking up the spatula and placing it on the counter, she exhales and laughs again. “His brother, right?”
“The homeowner,” I clarify. “Where’s Kadean and who are you?”
“I’m Vontrice,” she says, smiling. She makes no attempts to cover herself either. “He left to get pork bacon and syrup. You don’t have any and he wanted pancakes,” she says matter of factly.
I don’t know this girl at all. Hell, I didn’t even know she was even in my damn house—let alone half-naked in my kitchen—but she’s acting as if we are old friends and she comes here all the damn time.
“You need to go put clothes on,” I tell her and she squints. Then her hands start to pull at her shirt.
“My bad,” she utters before rushing out of the kitchen. As soon as she’s out, I step to the stove and turn the two burners off. Then I hit Kadean. He doesn’t answer, so I open the door to my garage and walk inside. His motorcycle is gone.
“Fuck!” I utter as I shake my head.He’s not going to learn until they lock his dumb ass up.
I raise the garage door and there’s a white car in my driveway. Obviously, she has a car. A person trying to change would have let her go to the damn store, but unfortunately, that person isn’t my brother.
