“I do,” I snapped, unsure why I cared so much about what Lennox thought of me. Sagging against the wall, I said, “I just don’t want him to see me. Stop asking so many damn questions.”
“It’s not like you to hide. If this guy makes you want to hide, what the hell are you doing with him?”
I let out a heavy sigh. “It’s not like that.”
“Tell me what it’s like.” Duke’s eyes softened, and a slow smile spread over his face. “Wow.”
“What?”
“You like him.”
I groaned. “Shut the hell up. You get on my nerves.”
“Blake Young is actually infatuated with someone.” He peered into the window and frowned. “Wait, are you jealous of the woman he’s with or something? Because she looks old enough to be his momma.”
I shoved him. “Thatishis mother, fool.”
Duke laughed. “I’m just playin’ with you.” He folded his arms across his chest. “Seriously, what’s the problem? You obviously like hanging out with him—you spent nights with him at his place. Go talk to him.”
“I’ll see him later.”
“Stop acting like a lil’ punk.”
“I will if you stop acting like Ayanla, trying to fix my life.” Lennox walked out of the store at that moment, holding the door open until his mother emerged. “Let’s go.”
“Blake!” Duke shouted, pushing me toward Lennox and his mother.
Mrs. Cole waved at me and they headed our way. I glared at my brother. “I’m going to fuck you up when we get home.” Turning to them, I plastered a smile on my face. “Hi!” I hugged his mother. “Fancy meeting you here.” I peered at Lennox. “Hi.”
He smiled. “Hi.” Leaning down, he kissed me.
And I didn’t flinch, wince, or spin away from it. I simply kissed him back.Go figure. Duke shot me a knowing glance because he’d caught that shit too. I introduced my brother. “He’s in town on business,” I told them.
Lennox gave Duke dap, and Mrs. Cole shook his hand. “Good to meet you,” my brother said.
“So you’re one of the triplets?” Mrs. Cole asked. During my stint at the church food pantry, she’d given me the third degree about my family. And since Duke and Dexter were practically the spitting image of each other, it wasn’t hard to put it together.
“Yes,” Duke replied. “Have you met Dallas yet?”
“No, but I met Dexter,” Mrs. Cole explained, a proud grin on her face. “He helped us at the church food pantry. Lovely young man.”
“I may have to check the food pantry out on my next visit.” Duke glanced at Lennox. “Blake was just telling me about you.”
Raising a brow, Lennox said, “Really?” He grinned. “That’s good to know.”
Earlier, Duke had correctly surmised that I was falling for Lennox, and now my brother had just confirmed I’d been talking about him. I was in trouble. “Yeah, I was just…” I stammered. “We were looking at that ottoman, and, um…”
Duke cut in, “She’d already told me you two had been spending a lot of time together and then she spotted you in the window.”
“We have,” Lennox said, not taking his eyes off me.
“Good, good.” Duke nodded, his gaze moving from me to Lennox, then back to me. “I’m piloting a cooking class for couples next month. You two should come.”
Mrs. Cole clapped. “Great idea. Yes, you two should go.”
“Fun,” I said through clenched teeth, because I had no intention of going to that damn class, and my brother had essentially locked me in without permission.
Lennox chuckled, as if he knew exactly what I was thinking. “Yeah. Keep me posted on the date.”
