She shrugged, and Savio shook his head.
“Check it. Twizz ain’t here to run errands for you. Y’all gotta come up out of whatever comfortability you’ve formed between y’all. He has a job to do, and it ain’t fetching you coffee whenever you want it.”
Hurt flashed across Ivoree’s eyes. Savio realized he sounded harsh, but the way Cashmere acted earlier had him on edge, and he wasn’t about to apologize for being hard on these two knuckleheads.
“You and Cash are comfortable with each other,” Ivoree challenged. She sounded defensive and hurt when she spoke, and Savio felt bad but also thought it was a bit funny. It was clear Cashmere was the tough one because if he had come at her like that, she wouldn’t have folded. She would have cursed him out, and then he would have had to remind her who the boss really was. She thought she was the boss, but Savio knew better. Deep down, Cashmere knew too. He let her live for the most part though.
Ivoree was clearly too sensitive for his cool demeanor, so he tried to soften his approach a bit. He pressed his elbows onto the table and leaned forward.
“Right, but the difference is I still do my job.”
Understanding flashed in Ivoree’s eyes, and she softened a bit toward him. “I guess you’re right. Not everyone can have a you as security though.”
Savio grinned to break the tension. “Right about that.”
She giggled and then looked back at her laptop as she nonchalantly said, “I wish my sister would stop doing whatever it is that she does so we didn’t need all this extra security. I swear, I’m happy as hell I’m going to be a doctor. I want to lead a soft life. Too much of it has already been hard.”
Savio nodded. He respected that Ivoree knew what she wanted, but he felt the need to take up for Cashmere. “Not everyone has the luxury to choose your kind of path though.”
Ivoree glanced at him and looked mortified. “I know that. I didn’t mean it like that.”
Savio nodded, but before he could respond, Twizz’s deep voice interrupted them. “Aye, what’s good, Sav?”
Savio looked up and saw Twizz approaching them with a cup in each hand. He placed one on the table and took a sip out of the other one. Savio shook his head and stood up.
“Come over here for a minute.” Savio walked off to the side of the library next to the autobiographies where they could still see Ivoree.
“What—”
“You an errand boy now?”
“What?”
“You heard me,” Savio said as he glanced down at the cup in Twizz’s hand.
Twizz glanced down at his drink and shrugged. “Nah. She wanted some coffee, so I offered to get her some.”
Savio shook his head. “Get ya head on, boy.”
“I ain’t no boy,” Twizz warned.
Savio looked him dead in his eyes. “You actin’ like it. What is you here to do?”
“Security, but?—”
“But nothin’. Where’s the coffee shop?” Savio asked. He had a point to make and wasn’t about to let up until he did.
“Across the building,” Twizz mumbled.
“Say that shit wit’ ya chest.”
“Across the building, man. I already know what you gonna say. Ain’t shit poppin’ off at a damn library, though, G. She good.”
Savio shook his head. “Let me make this clear . . . No more running errands for her. Ivoree’s sister is strapped enough to hire her a damn errand boy if that’s what she wants, but your job is to be her bodyguard. That’s it. Tighten the fuck up.”
“Aight, man. Damn. This shit is boring as hell, though. All shorty does is talk my damn ear off, study, and go to class. Ain’t no action.”
“Ain’t supposed to be action.”
