Page 32 of All She Ever Wanted Was a Real One
“Yo,” a familiar baritone voice replied from the guest bedroom down the hall from the kitchen.
I spun on my heels to see Oak walking toward me, and my heart nearly fell out of my ass. Suddenly, my gaze wouldn’t settle, pinging from the gold chain around his neck and the crisp white T-shirt effortlessly hugging his tatted, chocolate biceps, down to the slim fit beige joggers that hugged his waist. I clutched my chest, feeling my heart thumping rapidly through my clothes. “Shit! You scared the fuck out of me. What the hell are you doing here?”
“It’s my parents’ cabin, Lex,” he replied, stating the obvious.
“I know that,” I acknowledged with my hand still covering my racing heart while the other sifted nervously through myhair. “I just meant I didn’t see any cars here, so I thought I was the first to get here. Where’s Liv?”
“She ran to the store to get some stuff for dinner. She’s making my dad’s favorite.”
“Let me guess, chili?”
“Exactly. You need help with your bag?” he quizzed, acknowledging the overnight bag slung over my shoulder.
I quickly shook my head. “No. I’m good. I take it we’ll do our traditional sleeping arrangements, right? Your parents in the master bedroom on the first floor, you in the guest bedroom, and Liv and I in the bunk beds in the loft upstairs.”
He bobbed his head in agreement. “Yeah. That works.”
“Okay then,” I said, hurrying away before his presence knocked me even further off my square.
We hadn’t talked about the kissing, licking, sucking, . . . nothing. ?It was a small mistake, right? I wouldn’t let it go down like that again. Between the liquor, my jaded heart, and the feeling of nostalgia, we got wrapped up in the heat of the moment. So why did my spine tingle when I knew he was watching me walk away?
“Lex?” he called out to me.
I twisted my neck to look at him over my shoulder. “Yeah?”
“We good?”
“Mm-hmm,” I replied quicker than I should’ve. “Why wouldn’t we be?”
“Just checking.”
I continued up the stairs when I heard a knock at the door. I put my bag down and came back down to see Oak opening the door for Liv, who was carrying four reusable grocery bags—two on her shoulders and one in each hand.
“You gon’ stare, or you gon’ help me with this heavy ass shit?” she barked at her brother, but still flashed a bright smile when she saw me coming down the stairs.
I couldn’t do anything but laugh. “Hey, girl.”
I grabbed one of her bags while Oak took the other three. We all walked into the kitchen to put the bags on the counter.
“Yo, bighead, are there any snacks in these bags? A nigga is starvin’,” Oak stated.
Liv screwed up her face. “Nigga, Mama and Daddy will be here in two hours. You think I’ve got time to tend to you? You got a car. Take yo’ ass to McDonald’s. I saw one about ten miles down the road on my way back here.”
“Yo, go brush your teeth again with all that shit you talkin’. You drove us here, dummy. Remember?”
She rolled her eyes while washing her hands at the sink. “Oops, too bad, so sad then.”
“Oh, so that’s how you treat your family, bighead? I come all the way here, and you send me packing to McDonald’s as soon as you come through the door?”
Her eyebrows furrowed. “You’re the only brother I got, and I don’t even know if I like you forreal. Besides, ain’t nobody tell yo’ black ass to show up hungry. We could’ve stopped on the way up here. But closed mouths don’t get fed, negro.”
Listening to their banter made me chuckle. It was like old times again.
“I’m always hungry,” he replied to her, but his eyes were stationed on me.
I clenched my thighs and tried to hurry up and busy myself by putting away the groceries.
“Really?” she asked sarcastically. “Fine. Take my car then. Since yo’ hungry ass can’t wait until dinner in a couple more hours.”
