“If you secure me a spot on the team, that would be a dream job, Boog. A career. I can’t even fathom that. I would do more than just quit stripping,” she said suggestively.
“Oh yeah? What else you gon’ do?”
“I’ll let you put a baby in me.”
“Twins?”
“Triplets.”
His brows rose. “Aight. Say less.”
His father knew the owner of the Desmore Bay basketball team. He was sure all he would need to do was make a phone call to get her a spot on that team.
Sweetie giggled and then sat up. He could tell her mind pulled in every direction. His goal for the day was to keep her mind occupied, figure out a way to get her to see her granny, and get her a damn job as a cheerleader for The Riptides. He had a full ass schedule.
“I’m hungry,” she finally said.
“Come on. Let’s go make some breakfast.”
“You can cook?” she asked with her brows hiked.
“My mama taught me a lil somethin’.”
She looked impressed as they got out of bed. “Okay, show me somethin’ then.”
After they freshened up in the bathroom, they made their way downstairs. She wore nothing but one of his T-shirts that drooped down to her knees. He wasn’t sure he would be able to keep his dick to himself for much longer. Last night, she got a pass, but today, he couldn’t make any promises.
He had just grabbed a handful of her ass when his front door opened.
“Boogie—” His mom’s sentence got cut short when her eyes landed on him and Sweetie coming down the stairs. His father was right behind her.
Boogie’s hand was still on Sweetie’s ass as he looked at his parents like he had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
Sweetie nudged him away and cleared her throat. The four of them seemed to be stuck in some kind of stare off as Boogie made a mental note to change his damn locks.
“Ma, y’all are supposed to only use that key in the case of an emergency,” Boogie said as he made his way down the rest of the stairs and greeted his parents.
Sweetie watched as he kissed his mother’s cheek and patted his father on the back. She stayed put. Her heart pounded as she recalled the last time she had seen his parents.
They eyed her, despite Boogie trying to distract them with his words. She eyed them wearily right back. This right here was what she had been afraid of. Sweetie could tell by the way both his mother and father looked at her that they knew exactly who she was.
“Son, care to introduce us to your guest?” Tandy finally asked as she smiled knowingly at her son.
Boogie looked back at Sweetie with apologetic eyes and held his hand out for her. Sweetie forced her feet to move down the last few steps as she fidgeted with the hem of Boogie’s T-shirt. She felt exposed and highly embarrassed.
When she reached him, his arm circled her waist. “Ma, Pops, I’ sure you remember Sweetie Bishop.”
“How could we forget? Vernon’s daughter,” Zander said as he eyed Sweetie.
There had been many times Sweetie wished she wasn’t her father’s daughter. This moment moved straight to the top of the list. Still, she wasn’t a liar, so she nodded her head and uttered, “Yes, sir.”
“How long has this been goin’ on?” Zander asked.
“We just reconnected. I was gon’ tell you once we figured things out,” Boogie admitted.
Sweetie watched how he interacted with his father, and a sting of jealousy hit her. Boogie spoke with his shoulders back and his eyes on his father. He was confident. He wasn’t afraid of the consequences of his actions. Sweetie had never been able to speak to her father in such a way. She always feared the outcome of any interaction she had with him because there was most definitely always an outcome—mostly bad.
“You sure y’all just connected again? Last time this happened, I recall it had been several years that you kept your . . . relationship from us.” Zander glanced at Sweetie before his eyes landed back on Boogie.
