Page 128 of Hold Me Down
“Yes…”
“Whichboy?” I ask through gritted teeth. Ashia then holds my water bottle in front of my face, and I take the hint and grab it, taking a few harsh drinks without tearing my gaze away.
“Just a friend…”
“Friend, my ass,” Henry cuts in angrily. “He’s practically stalking you.”
I fucking choke. My lungs burn when I draw water in and I turn to lean over the counter, hoping that either I spit it back out or fucking die from it. Ashia giggles softly beside me but stops the moment I cut my watery glare to her. I knowexactlywhat stalking entails, and I’ll be damned if my daughter has a stalker of her own.
“Henry! Language!” Ashia scolds him again, but it’s through repressed chuckles.
“What’s funny about that, Mom?” Henry asks in a worried tone.
“Nothing, sweetie. Don’t worry about it,” Ashia replies and chews on her bottom lip, trying not to continue laughing at my demise.
“You know what, forget I even asked.” Emma’s tone is innocent, like she had no idea this would give mea fucking heart attack. “I can just go with the girls like I did last year. No big deal.”
No big deal?
NO BIG DEAL?
“I’ll talk with him about it, honey. Go play with your cousins and your siblings. We’ll be in there for the movie in a bit,” Ashia tells her as she rubs my back, trying to force the water out. Emma scurries away and Henry gives me a look that says ‘it’s not fucking happening’ as I turn back around—and I couldn’t agree more. “You okay, baby?” She looks up at me, and it takes everything in me to sputter out a response.
“Yes, my love. I’m alright.”
She nods and walks over to the closet to grab the broom, and I lean against the kitchen island next, already pulling out my phone to check for this possibleboy, when Henry grabs my attention.
“Don’t worry, Dad. I’ve got it covered. Check your inbox.”
I raise a brow, wondering how fucking long this kid has been interested in Emma. Whoever the poor soul is has no idea what kind of family he’s fucking with.
“I see our hacking lessons have been put to good use,” I say back to Henry, and the pride I feel for him explodes at the sight of his shit-eating grin. A new email notification sits at the top of my screen, containing files on a boy named Elijah Torres…
Torres…as in Grease’s legal name, Torres?!
Mybaby girl wants to go on a date with Grease’s fucking son?!
“Is this who I think it is?” I’m sure the face I give Henry scares him a little, because his eyes widen the moment we make contact.
“Yes, sir.”
“He graduatedlastyear…” I seethe.
“Yes, sir,” Henry confirms. I turn my head to watch Ashia walk back in with the broom and feel something inside me snap.
“Go hang out with your cousins. We’ll talk about this more later.” He just nods once and makes his way to the living room. Once Ashia gets close enough, I gently take the broom from her and clean up my own fucking mess. This whole thing is a fucking disaster. How could I have missed that Elijah fucking Torres is interested in Emma? They’ve been friends since they were little, but we don’t see them all that often. Grease and I still chat for work purposes, but it’s not like we’refriends. “Does Grease know about this?” I ask my wife. She sets the broom and dustpan aside for me and wraps her arms around my neck.
“Just relax, baby. It was only a question.”
“Stalking isnota question.”
“And we would know all about that, wouldn’t we?” She cocks her head to the side, looking up at me so lovingly that I melt. I pull her in close and rest my forehead against hers, needing to breathe her in and feel her warmth. “Emma’s a smart girl, baby. We have to trust her.”
“Idotrust her. It’s that little fucker that I don’t trust.”
“Henry was friends with him, and we know Grease. Elijah is a good kid.”
“Right,was, and this finally explains what’s been going on with him. Plus,kidmy ass. Elijah’s nineteen,” I argue back.
