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I felt an arm slide around my shoulder as a warm voice spoke close to my ear.
"I was just about to ask if our date was still on for tomorrow," Heath McKinley said.
He squeezed me gently and I gave him an automatic smile. Heath was nice and... pleasant, but my heart wasn't skipping out of my chest at seeing him.
"You ladies out shopping for—” his question trailed off as he caught sight of the single item in my cart.
His eyes darted from the cardboard box to me then back to the box. A twinge of guilt bothered me, but I didn't owe him any explanations. Anyway, he wasn't that upset, if the slow smile easing across his pleasant face was a sign. Heath squeezed me again.Ahh, damn, I thought as realization dawned. Lawd, he thought he was going to get to sample the goodies after the event tomorrow night, and raw at that. Sighing, I rubbed my head, trying to think of a way to correct him.
"Nah, nigga. Don't get yo' hopes up," fucking Montréal Idris Hamilton said, sliding up on the other side of my cart.
He smiled at me and then dropped an industrial-sized box of Magnums beside the Plan B. "No more slip-ups, Love."
Pip giggled, traitor ass. Heath made some garbled sound, his light face suddenly blazing red. Why? Why hadn't I taken Poppy when Aunt Cynt tried to give her to me earlier? Why was this man like this? I glared at him before reaching out to grab Heath's wrist.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I whisper-spat at Real, then turned back to Heath. “Don't pay attention to his mess. Real likes drama. This isn't what it looks like. I'll explain it all to you later,” I promised, making my voice as soothing as possible.
Heath nodded silently before looking at Real. He smirked. I knew that that couldn’t be good. “I’ll be waiting for your explanation. I’m sure somebody this…vulgarcouldn’t possibly get your attention,” he drawled.
My eyes widened then flew to Real, remembering how he handled Aaqil and Naaman. He chuckled softly, his stance slightly changing.
“Real—” I began.
“Calm down. This nigga would fall out if I blew on him. I’ma let his mama leave her black dress hanging up today. Must be the McKinleyboy, though?”
He was talking to me, but his hard eyes were on Heath, who shifted uncomfortably. “I’m not a boy?—”
“Yo’ weak ass is whatever the fuck I say. Now, Love probably intended to let you down easy, but make no mistake, nigga, I definitely got her attention. The contents of this basket oughta show you that I’m getting more than th?—”
“Montréal!” I hissed.
He held up both hands apologetically. “He waiting on explanations. You betta make shit clear to him before I do.”
I wanted to ask how I could make shit clear when I wasn’t even sure what was happening. Real was being territorial and possessive and… and just damn confusing! I grilled him again before saying some calm shit to help Heath save face. He turned to leave, and I guess that was too easy for Real.
“McKinley boy, don’t try me again. I’ll have to give you to my youngin’,” he said, inclining his head toward Juvie. “He needs targets for practice.”
Juvie made finger guns and mimicked shooting before all four of their crazy asses fell out laughing. Heath stormed off.
“Now, y’all, was that really necessary?” Pip asked, but there was no judgment in her tone.
Aggravated, I pushed Real in the chest. It didn’t have any physical effect, but he looked at me, shocked. The version of me he was used to would’ve never done that. But he had followed me to the country, so he was about to getallthis country girl. I opened my mouth to tell his ass off and closed it right back when Emory and our other cousins walked up. She stared at me for a moment before speaking.
“You all right?" my sister asked.
She looked at Real and turned up her nose. I had been emotional when I came home to Emancipation, and she clearly blamed him. I could try to correct her, but I was going to return his pettiness with my own for a while.
"I'm fine," I reassured her.
Real eased around the cart and behind me. He grabbed the handle on each side of me, trapping me in.
"She good, huh, Love?" he teased.
I rolled my eyes. "Move, Montréal!"
I hated how I wanted to lean back against him and let his intoxicating scent wrap around me. Ugh, he made me sick!
"What? I'm just tryna direct our cart so I can pay for our birth control choices, shorty."