“A crush on someone else?” Cashmere’s brows rose and her interest piqued.
Ivoree’s brows pulled in. “Hey, we were talking about you and Sav. Not me and my nonexistent love life.”
“Mine is pretty nonexistent too,” Cashmere argued.
“You sure about that? The tension between you two is wild,” Ivoree said as she tossed two more sets of scrubs into her basket.
Chancing a glance behind her, Cashmere caught sight of Savio, who followed them at a respectful distance with his eyes scanning the store. When their gazes caught, she couldn’t help the smile that formed on her face. Savio licked his lips and grinned back at her. Cashmere blushed and focused back on Ivoree.
“He’s cool. A friend.” Cashmere tried to play it cool and mimic Ivoree’s response about Twizz, but she knew she had failed miserably.
“Yeah, okay. Have you guys had sex yet?”
Cashmere almost choked on her spit at the same time she stumbled over her feet. Savio was there in an instant with his hand on her waist to steady her. “You good?”
Embarrassed, Cashmere nodded as she straightened herself out. “Just clumsy.”
“Gotta keep an extra heavy eye on you,” Savio said before he pinched her cheek and fell back away from them again.
Cashmere watched him with a silly grin, but Ivoree’s hum of nosiness pulled her gaze away from the fine ass man and back to her baby sister.
“What?” Cashmere asked. By now, she was positive her cheeks glowed a deep red.
“Friend my ass.”
Cashmere giggled. “Girl, focus on buying your damn scrubs and leave me alone.”
“I’m just sayin’, if you got a crush on that man, just say that. It’s clear he’s feelin’ you.”
Cashmere watched as Ivoree threw three more sets into the basket. Baby girl was about to put a dent in her pockets, but Cashmere didn’t mind. Literally anything for Ivoree.
“I got a crush, okay? But that’s as far as it’s gotten,” Cashmere finally admitted.
To her relief, Ivoree didn’t ask any more questions. She made quick work of buying what seemed like one of each set in the store. When Cashmere pulled out her card to pay for her sister’s items, her eyes ballooned. How someone could spend four thousand dollars in a damn scrubs store was beyond her, but she happily paid it.
When they walked out of the store, a deep voice called out. It was to nobody in particular, so Cashmere kept walking, but when she heard him say, “Aye, shorty!” she glanced over at him again.
He jogged toward them, and Savio immediately got in front of them as several more guards came from out of nowhere to stop the man from getting to them.
“Who the fuck is that?” Cashmere asked as she tried to see around Savio, who ushered them toward the car.
“Aye, shorty in the purple! You owe me ten grand, bitch! You know who the fuck I am. Don’t try to play dumb,” the man shouted.
Cashmere stopped dead in her tracks and glanced at Ivoree, who wore a purple T-shirt. She looked back at the man and opened her mouth to snap on him, but Savio grabbed her by the waist. “In the car. Now.”
The last thing Cashmere wanted to do was get in the car, but the look on Savio’s face told her he wasn’t playing, so she listened to him and got in. As soon as she was in the front seat and Ivoree was behind her, Cashmere turned in her seat and glared at Ivoree. “What the fuck? Who was that?”
Ivoree had tears in her eyes, but before she could speak, Savio hopped into the driver’s seat and started the car. As he rushed out of the parking lot, he looked into the rearview mirror and asked, “How the fuck you know Harold?”
“Harold? Who is Harold?” Cashmere asked as she twisted in her seat so she could look between Ivoree and Savio. Ivoree cried into her hands. Cashmere looked thoroughly confused. “Sav? Who is Harold? Why is my sister crying?”
“What I’m tryna figure out. Aye, Ivoree, you gotta answer me, ma.”
“H-he was at that party we went to the other night,” Ivoree finally said.
Savio cursed under his breath. Cashmere felt more lost than before.
“Party? What party? What night? What the fuck is going on?” Her irritation at not understanding what just happened was about to boil over. Someone needed to start talking.
