Page 87 of Kissed By the Trillest Thug 2

“Yes, ma’am.”

Maliah came bouncing down the stairs with a little more excitement than she’d probably admit to. She glanced toward the front door before checking the time on her phone. I raised an eyebrow.

“Are you expecting somebody?”

She tried to play it off.

“No.”

I looked at Eternity.

“You believe that?”

She laughed.

“Not one bit.”

Maliah sucked her teeth.

“Y’all so nosy,” she whined.

I looked toward the clock hanging above the stove.

“Tahari supposed to be here soon, ain’t he?” I asked.

A smile spread across her face before she could stop it.

“Maybe...”

I chuckled and turned back toward the stove. Young love. There wasn’t anything quite like it.

The doorbell echoed through the house. Since giving him this second chance, I could see that he wasn’t playing with it. I had loosened the reins a little. Not all the way, but enough to where everyone could feel a bit more comfortable.

“I got it!” Maliah called out before anybody else had a chance to move.

When they both stepped back into the kitchen, Tahari smiled and spoke to everybody, but something about his energy felt off. He even thanked Eternity for letting him come over. To anybody else, it probably looked normal, but it didn’t to me. I watched him a little longer while turning another piece of fish over in the grease. Usually, the first thing that boy did was find Maliah with his eyes. Today, he barely looked at her.

“Tahari.”

He turned toward me.

“Yes, sir?”

I nodded toward the sliding glass door.

“Come sit outside with me for a minute.”

His eyes searched mine for a second before he nodded.

“Yes, sir.”

I set the tongs down on a plate.

“Ma?”

Eternity looked over.

“Watch my fish.”