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One thing was already decided, though.

Before Yonas left my house, I was going to make sure that little speech about not being scared became the dumbest shit he’d said all year.

I wanted fear buried so deep in him that the next time he even thought about lying to Lakelyn, scheming his way back into her life, or getting comfortable under my roof, his own damn body reminded him why that was a bad idea. He thought he was stubborn enough to hang around until he won my woman back.

Cool.

I could be patient too, and I had nothing but fucking time.

By the time I was finished, every shadow was going to make him look twice, every unexplained sound was going to put him on edge, and being alone in a room was going to feel a whole lot different than it did tonight. I needed him scared enough to leave on his own, too embarrassed to tell anybody what ran him out, and smart enough not to come back trying the same shit twice.

Because apparently, the nigga had forgotten one very important detail: Lakelyn might not have known I was still there, but I knew exactly who the fuck he was. And some ghosts took lying to their woman, plotting their way back into her life, and talking tough inside their house very fucking personally.

***

Yonas sat at my table eating my woman’s cooking and talking to my son like they were old friends. The nigga had been around, and apparently never made him feel like he was some extra responsibility that came along with his mama, so I understood why Kaidence liked him. I wasn’t about to act like none of that mattered because it did.

Yonas had stepped into a space I had left empty, whether I meant to leave it empty or not, and he hadn’t mistreated either one of them. That still didn’t mean I had to enjoy watching another man sitting across from my son at my dinner table, especially when Kaidence started talking about his bedroom.

After dinner, Yonas helped clear the table and even complimented Lakelyn’s cooking. I respected that. What I didn’t respect was the way his attention kept following her around the kitchen. The nigga was supposedly here to clear his head, but apparently he was also clearing his schedule to watch my woman’s ass.

Yonas leaned against the island while Lakelyn put leftovers away. “You know I missed your cooking.”

She smiled. “Thank you.”

“You still got it.”

“I would hope so.”

He laughed, and then his eyes drifted lower.

I folded my arms.

Nigga, look at the mothafuckin’ refrigerator.

He didn’t, so I helped him.

The refrigerator door suddenly swung wide open, and Yonas jumped backward hard enough to nearly knock into the island.

“Shit!”

Lakelyn quickly turned around. “What happened?!”

He stared at the open door. “Nothing. That shit just opened.”

She frowned. “By itself?”

“Yeah.”

Willow looked up from the table. “Oh… that?”

Yonas turned toward her. “What?”

She waved a dismissive hand. “That refrigerator be doing its own thing sometimes.”

Lakelyn immediately cut her eyes toward her. “Willow.”

“What? I’m just saying.”