They slapped hands, and he glanced at me. I didn’t say a word. I didn’t think Noni and I were ready for that sort of thing yet. We were still trying to figure out our dynamic.
“I’m glad they got tired of being at each other’s throats. When I saw Karima’s car here, I knew it was for one reason and one reason only, because she don’t fuck around with their rowdy asses.”
I chuckled. One thing we could all agree on was that Bali and Noni weren’t liked by a lot of people, but they were loved by their family, even if they couldn’t stand being around them for long periods of time.
“So, whenever you and Noni figure shit out, let me know. Now that she and Bali have come to an understanding, that should make it a lil easier.”
I only nodded. I never really said much to him. It wasn’t that I was intimidated, though. I was afraid of saying the wrong thing or my words being misconstrued if I allowed myself to be too comfortable. It seemed that was a new problem I needed to get a handle on. Noni had been the only woman I’d been interested in for the last six years. We definitely should have been further along in our relationship.
Her putting us on hold, like we were homie lover friends had worn me thin as fuck. We were doing all the things couples did. She was afraid that I would have tried to monopolize all her time while she was in school. It took Asad and Carter to help me understand where she was coming from. I liked titles, though. I wanted her to claim me as hers, even though I already knew I was.
When Noni appeared with a bowl of ice cream and brownies with pecans, chocolate syrup, and caramel on top of it, I sat straight up. When she lowered it more, I saw the cherries in it. Bali had done the same for Carter, except he had strawberries instead of cherries. This shit looked so good.
“Thank you, Noni.”
“You’re welcome.”
She was about to walk away, but I grabbed her hand, pulling her back to me and kissed her lips. She smiled as her skin reddened some.
“You ought to sit next to me and eat with me, baby.”
“I would, except I already fixed mine. I’m going back to get it.”
“Give it to me, Noni,” Mr. Storm said.
She smiled at him and went back to the kitchen. When I looked over at him, I nodded, silently thanking him. Noni wasn’t really affectionate. I had to initiate it. Sometimes she turned it down, like now. She could have easily combined her bowl with mine. While looking at him, I noticed Bali had never left. She was sitting on Carter’s lap, eating with him.
I tried not to envy what they had, but it was hard not to. It was what I craved. Thankfully, Noni was trying. Carter had been working on Bali’s ass for a long time. I didn’t have that much patience. When he’d told me that they had sex, I didn’t believe him. He’d been dedicated to her for a long time. What Noni and I had didn’t compare to what they had. We lacked experience. That was okay, though. We would get there if we kept working on ourselves.
When she came back, she handed the bowl to her dad and hesitantly sat on my lap. Immediately grabbing the spoon, she fed me some of it. Mr. Storm stood and went to the kitchen with Karima. Noni stared into my eyes as I chewed what was in my mouth.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t even think you would want this type of affection in front of my dad.”
“I love you, girl. I don’t care who’s around. I’m gonna always want to show you how much I love you. Okay?”
She nodded and took the bowl so I could feed her. My other arm was wrapped around her. Hopefully, she would begin to understand how this love thing was supposed to work. I wastrying hard to adjust, and I knew she was, too. I just hoped our efforts wouldn’t be in vain.
CHAPTER 5
BALI
“You full of shit, nigga! Iesha is sick of yo’ ass!” I said to Seven as we waited for our food at the diner.
“Hell yeah, she is,” Ace cosigned.
Seven glanced at him with a frown on his face . . . like anybody in this family was intimidated by his ass. “She just got family shit going on. That’s why she hadn’t been coming around. We still on path to me locking her thick ass down.”
I rolled my eyes. I felt sorry for the girl. Seven didn’t have the sense God gave him. He was worse than Red Squared. I looked over at him and Noni, sitting close. Her face was red, because he was being affectionate with her in front of everybody. It was sweet. However, I knew how she felt. I wasn’t all that affectionate either. Carter just pulled that shit out of me.
“Let me find out. I can get her number from Maui as soon as she get here,” I said.
Right on cue, Maui walked in with Ashanni. As she headed our way, Seven said, “Fine! I cussed out her brother.”
“I knew that shit was on you! Why you cussed out her brother?”
“He was all in our business. I was tryna get some alone time, and he was in there like he couldn’t take a hint.”
“What are y’all talking about?” Maui asked as she sat.
