“At five a.m.? Absolutely not.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” he informed me through his chuckle. “Need coffee or tea? Will that make it better?”
My shoulders relaxed and so did my pout as I considered his offer. “A latte. Uh, I have a very specific order fromBrewed. You might want to write this down.”
“Aight, bet. I’ma put it in my notes app and make sure I have it every time I pop up on you in the morning.”
“Wait. You plan on making this a recurring thing?”
His expression turned serious as he looked from his phone to me. “Of course. With my schedule, we’ll have to get quality time in whenever we can. That will include mornings, Smiley.” While I tried to convince myself he meant to say fake dates insteadof quality time, Falcon asked me, “Now what’s the very specific latte order?”
“Brown sugar oatmilk latte with a splash of vanilla sweet cream. Add two pumps of cinnamon syrup. I like it with brown sugar whipped cream, not regular. And make sure you tell them to put cinnamon on the topandthe bottom.”
“Got it. Now get up and get dressed. We have to be at the spot by six. No exceptions.”
Before I could ask for details, Falcon was already walking out of my room. Excitement filled me as I hopped out of bed. Regardless of this being a fake date, I was excited to spend some alone time with him.
I handled my hygiene and dressed as quickly as I could. Even with me not knowing what we were doing or where we were going, I dressed comfortably in a loose-fitting, long-sleeved, two-piece matching set. It was too early for this to be anything remotely romantic. I tossed my hair around since it was holding my curls nicely and put on a quick dusting of blush and matching lipstick before heading out.
Not to my surprise, Isaac was shuffling around the kitchen shirtless with a frown like a grumpy old man. Neither of us were morning people, but I was happy and looking forward to whatever Falcon had planned for us.
“I’m tryna figure out why you taking my sister out on a date now when y’all first event ain’t until Wednesday,” Isaac said, carelessly tossing a pack of turkey bacon onto the island. During off seasons, he prepared his own breakfast and lunch, and his private chef only came to make dinner.
“I’ma answer because you my partna, but you know how I feel about anyone questioning me.”
My eyes rolled as I walked over to the island. They were so alike, which was why they got along so well. Neither of them liked to be questioned or controlled. I felt like Isaac was morestubborn than Falcon, but I wasn’t sure since I didn’t know him as well.
Falcon seemed to logically yield more or, at least, choose his battles wisely. He tended to opt for peace and agreement more, while my brother gave it up to whoever, whenever, and didn’t care. I realized just how crazy Isaac was when he got to fighting at church. He told Marco it was on sight, and he meant that . . . literally. That was the day I for sure thought the Lord was going to strike him down.
“For this to work, we need to look comfortable with each other. It has to look real. We’ve been talking, but I want us to get used to spending time around each other so it won’t look awkward.”
“Smart,” Isaac said. “Just make sure you remember this shit is fake.”
“Thank you for the latte,” I said, wanting to change the subject as I wrapped my hand around the cup.
“You’re welcome. When I ordered, the lady asked me was it for you.”
That made me laugh. “Yeah. Apparently, not everyone asks for cinnamon at the top and bottom. I love it.”
“Yeah, that, and the brown sugar and cinnamon combination. She said all of your modifications are uniquely you and that they are considering adding a brown sugar cinnamon latte to the menu because of you.”
“Ooh, that would be dope.” After taking a sip and moaning in pleasure, I told Isaac, “I’ll see you later, big brother.”
“See you later, baby love.” His finger pointed toward Falcon as he said, “Take care of my sister, nigga. I’m trusting you with the person that means the most in this world to me.”
“I know she’s a priceless treasure, and she will be treated as such,” Falcon assured him as he stood, and for some reason, his declaration made me smile.
We made our way outside in silence. He was in his Maserati Ghibli today, and of his five cars, this was my favorite. I noticed two SUVs parked as well.
“Since this is my first time going to this place and I have you with me, I’m bringing security. I don’t have them with me all the time while I’m not playing, but I likely will when I’m with you. When us dating breaks on social media, paparazzi will be out.”
“Sounds good to me. I wondered if you had issues with fans while you were home. I know Isaac takes security with him when he’s going out to parties or doing appearances, but that’s it.”
“Yeah, I’m kind of the same,” he shared, opening the door for me. “Now when we’re playing, I have security at all times.”
He closed the door and made his way around the car. One of the SUVs pulled out, and Falcon followed, then the other got behind us. The ride to wherever we were going was silent, and I would have been okay with that, but I could tell by the way he would grip and squeeze the wheel and nibble his bottom lip that something was bothering him.
“You okay?” I asked, rubbing the back of his neck.
