Page 19 of Kisses Behind The Spotlight 2: Finale

“There you go. Go ahead and switch legs.”

Noah switched and completed the eight squats on the other leg. He repeated it on both legs, then we moved on to strength training. By the end of the workout, he was sweating and ready to pass the hell out.

“You trying to kill me,” Noah groaned, walking over to the side of the gym.

He flopped to the ground, and his shirt slipped up, exposing a purple-and-blue bruise on his lower side.

“What the fuck is that? A bite mark?” I squinted, staring down at the bruise.

Noah quickly pulled his shirt down and sat back up. “You can’t tell my sister.”

“Well, what happened?” I inquired, sitting on the ground against the wall with him.

Noah opened his water bottle and took a long swig, still trying to catch his breath.

“I only told Khaleesi half of the story because I know how she can get, and I handled it so I’m not stressing it,” Noah insisted.

“You handled what?”

“My mom’s boyfriend. When I said something to him about the groceries, it didn’t end at words. We actually started scrapping, and I was whooping his ass, had him in a headlock until his hungry ass bit me like I was dinner. You can’t tell Khaleesi, though. She can be crazy sometimes,” Noah expressed.

“Don’t I know it,” I commented, fighting to keep my own rage from boiling over in front of him. “I’m glad you felt comfortable enough to share that with me.” I forced a smile because I really wanted to explode on the grown-ass man who couldn’t feed himself. “Growing up, my mom would do shit like that too. Moving her boyfriends, who didn’t want to do shit but take from us, into our studio apartment as if we had space for that. I promise you never have to worry about that again as long as I’m breathing. If you have a problem, you come tell me. My doors will always be open too.”

“Thanks, I appreciate that,” Noah uttered.

“You ready to get out of here?”

“Yeah, we can slide,” Noah agreed.

We peeled ourselves off the floor and sauntered out of the gym. The drive back to Khalessi’s building was silent. Rage was still coursing through me after seeing that bite mark. Thankfully, Noah was too busy texting away on his phone to notice.

“I gotta go to the lobby to grab the food Khaleesi ordered for dinner,” Noah informed me as we parked in the garage.

“Alright. I’mma head upstairs,” I notified him. A few minutes alone with Khaleesi was much needed.

“Don’t be up there telling Khaleesi what I told you, man,” he pleaded.

“I’m not. I haven’t seen her in a few days because we’ve both been working. That’s all. I told you I wouldn’t tell her,” I assured him.

We went our separate ways, and I found my way up to Khaleesi’s place. My code still worked, and I let myself in. Khaleesi’s door was locked, and I heard the shower water running. A brief knock at the door made me do an about-face and answer it.

I assumed Noah left his keys, but when I looked through the peephole, a tall, light-skinned nigga stood at the door holding flowers. Swinging the door open, I saw the Cheshire grin fall off his face.

“Is this Khaleesi’s place?” He inquired.

“Yeah, you her brother?” I questioned before reacting. They were about the same complexion, and there wasn’t no telling how many kids Stanley’s irresponsible ass had. Plus, he looked a little familiar, so I didn’t want this to be a repeat of my first encounter with Noah.

“Oh, I remember you.” He wagged his finger and let out a low chuckle. “You were a part of the security team at Q’s birthday party. I ain’t know Khaleesi had it like that to have her own security detail at the crib.”

“So you’re not her brother?”

“No. I’m Andy, we met⁠—”

His words were snatched from his throat as I yanked him inside and kicked the door shut. We were across the common areas and at Khaleesi’s sliding glass door within seconds. I was already agitated, and his presence sent me over the edge.

“Hey! What are you doing?” Andy screamed. “Help! Hellllllppppppppp!”

I yanked him across the balcony with a firm grip on his neck.