“It’s not too soon for me to send you to hell. If you know mydaddylike you said, you should know his daughter isn’t to be fucked with. I will break into your house and shoot you with a drug that will make youfeel like you’re burning from the inside out. Leave me, my man, and my kid the fuck alone.”
I smelled Neptune before I sawhim,which caused me to put on a smile. He walked over to where we stood, then looked between the loser duo and me.
“Everything coo’, Kannon?”
“Everything’s cool.”
“You sure? Don’t protect thesebastards.”
“I would never. I’m protecting you. They want to see you off your square. I’m creating balance, baby.” I showed him the end of my gun. “I got us too, Mr. Sinner.”
We shared a goofy laugh that birthed mumbles and groans from his family.
Neptune expressed how his brother was a stickler for time, so we hurried from the casino and arrived at the bowling alley ten minutes before Easy and his girlfriendwere scheduledto arrive. While we waited, Neptune paid for a lane and bowling shoes for everyone, then guided me to the food court.
“Are you hungry?” he asked me.
“Not really.”
Hiscurly lashes started flapping rapidly. “So, if I order food, you don’t want any?”
“Nope. I said I’m not hungry.”
“Yeah, okay. We’ll see.”
With everything ordered and paid for, I sat near our lane. Neptune insisted on putting on my bowling shoes, and I let him. Any time I thought to complain about his chivalry, I took heedtoMs. Mosby’s warning.
“Hello, Kannon. Are you feeling better?” Easy asked as he walked over with Stephanie at his side.
“It’s nice to see you again, Easy.” I gazed at his girlfriend. “It’s nice to see you again too, Stephanie. Are you ready to bowl?”
“I’m ready,” she replied with a toothless smile.
Neptune playfully smacked his brother in the center of his chest. “Don’t worry about the shoes. I already took care of that, baby boy.”
Easy adjusted his glasses, obviously annoyed. “You didn’t have to pay for me and my girlfriend. I have money.”
Neptune’s head jerked. “Don’t get it twisted. You have more money than me. I expect you to pay me back.”
“Okay. Request the money on Apple Pay. I don’t send tips either.”
As the pair went back and forth, I sat back and admired how Neptune treated his brother. Regardless of Easy being different,Neptune spoke and pestered him like any big brother would. In Easy’s presence, an innocence melted over a man I knew to be a mean ass. The layers to Neptune only made me want to dig deeper and love him more.
Once everyone was ready to bowl, we all picked a ball, and our server brought our food out. My mouth watered as soon as the trays of finger food touched the table. It looked like Neptune ordered two of everything on themenu, which could feed a party oftwenty.
While the Sinner brothers added our information to the monitor, I fixed Neptune and myself a plate.
“Stephanie, do you need any help?” I asked when she grabbed plates from the table.
“No, I know how to take care of me and Easy. We eat fine every day. I got it.”
On the inside I giggled, but on the surface, I nodded. I couldn’t blame Stephanie for checking me. Had someone I barely knew made me feel incapable of day-to-day tasks, I would’ve been sassy too.
“I thought you said you weren’t hungry,” Neptune whispered when he flopped down beside me.
“Shut up.” I snickered. “Here. I made you one too.”
Though we were stuffing our faces, Easy was ready for the game. He walkedup,swinging his bowling ball like he was practicing his moves.
