And…Breeze wasn’t so bad, neither. For the past month, we’d gotten pretty cool. We’d smoke a few trees together, talk about anything under the sun…and flirt. Nothing heavy, though.
At this point, I could admit that Breeze was a handsome guy. Smooth too. He would always say little slick shit, but knew how to keep it cordial. Never making me feel uncomfortable.
Personally, I enjoyed toying with him. He was fun to play with and it didn’t make the family time that our parents were now regularly forcing upon us seem so bad.
“I didn’t know that your mama was this playful,” Harlem mentioned, as he sat beside me on the sectional in the living room.
He’d unexpectedly stopped by in the middle of our impromptu family day. At this point, both my mama and Ricky had been drinking, and were now actively chasing each other around the house.
“Shit, they’re full of that liquor,” Breeze commented, as he was casually laying across the sectional, not too far from where we were seated.
Ever since Harlem had pulled up, Breeze had been camped out on the couch with us, never bothering to give us any semblance of space.
“Next time, you need to come over to my house. Cause this nigga is acting like he’s trying to babysit us,” Harlem spoke in my ear, before kissing my cheek. “I gotta go. It’s fifteen minutes til my curfew.”
“Okay,” I softly responded, before he leaned in, attempting to kiss my lips.
Feeling Breeze’s eyes on me, I turned my head, forcing his lips to land on my cheek again.
“Damn.” He paused. “It’s like that?”
I sighed. “Call me when you make it home.”
He shook his head, before easing off the couch. “Yeah, a’ight. See ya, Breeze.” He gave him the deuces, before sauntering over to the door.
Breeze sat up, smiling. “You aint shit, Summer. You couldn’t even walk that nigga to the door.”
I rolled my eyes, as he hopped off the couch, before jogging to the entryway to lock up behind Harlem.
“Whew, Harlem is finally gone, huh?” My mama asked, as she switched over, holding two cups in her hands.
“Yep, he’s gone,” I answered, as Breeze came strolling back into the room.
“Good. Now, y’all can have a cocktail with us. Without a muthafucka looking upside our heads.” She handed one clear plastic cup to me, then the other to Breeze.
I frowned in confusion. “Is this liquor?”
“Yep. Tequila, wine, with some mixers.”
“Oh, bet.” Breeze immediately sipped some of his drink.
Of course, I had to keep my good girl façade going for my mama’s benefit. “And you’re okay with me drinking?”
“Girl, please.” She waved me off. “No need to front for me. You might not be 21, but you’re an adult. And when I was your age, I was in those clubs bopping, drinking, and whatever else. And you’re my daughter. The apple didn’t fall too far from the tree. So, you aint fooling me. Now, drink up, daughter.”
“Okay,” I agreed, refusing to acknowledge what she was saying. Meanwhile, I had a whole stash of premium liquor in my room.
“Y’all just keep this between us.” My mama pointed at me and Breeze. “Now, come on. I got the cards and I wanna spank some asses in Spades.”
Me and Breeze glanced at each other, before following her to the kitchen, and sitting at the breakfast nook.
Being a true traitor, my mama decided to team up with Ricky, playing against me. Unluckily for her, Breeze was a pro, and we were spankingtheirasses.
Surprisingly, our parents allowed us to have all the drinks we wanted, after making it clear that we couldn’t leave the house with the alcohol in our systems.
By two in the morning, we were all drunk. I found myself standing near the main Christmas tree that was positioned next to the spiraling staircase and extended up to the 24-foot ceiling. With Ricky now living with us, there was an exceptional number of gifts under the tree, and they were mostly for my mama. There were also several gifts from him to me and Breeze. Now, what caught me off guard was when I saw that three presents were there from Breeze addressed to me.
“I know damn well his ass didn’t pay for nothing,” I mumbled, as I switched over to the sectional where Breeze was now seated. “So, your daddy got me some gifts and put your name on ‘em?” I presumptuously questioned.
