Page 104 of Perfect Rhythm

“Whatever. Bye.”

The line went dead.

I almost called her ass back just to let her know how for real I was. The last few times I’d hung out at her crib, she was washing clothes, which meant she didn’t have anything to wear that didn’t show off her thighs and ass.

Jassi raced into the living room to answer the door, but I put my arm out to stop her. “I got this.”

“Please don’t embarrass me.”

“Relax.” I walked to the door and opened it.

I tilted my head slightly, taking in the young man standing on the other side of the door. Fresh cut, crisp outfit, and a bouquet of red roses in his hand. “Hello, is Jassi home?”

“Yeah, she might be. Who are you?”

“I’m Nathaniel, but most people call me Nate.” He held out his hand and waited for me to shake it. “You’re her brother, right? Shade?”

“Mmhmm.”

Jassi shoved me to the side. “I told you not to embarrass me. Sorry about that, Nate. I’m ready to go.”

“Where y’all going?”

She cut her eyes at me. “Seriously? I already told you all of that.”

“Yeah, I just want to hear it from him.”

He smiled. “We’re going to a movie and we’re grabbing a bite to eat after.”

“Hmm...okay. Well, you make sure you keep your hands to yourself. If I hear you did anything different, I’ll break your fucking nose, understood?”

Mortified, Jassi’s eyes widened, and she shoved Nate further outside. “Goodbye. I’ll call you in the morning.”

“No, call me when you make it back home.”

“Okay, fine. Bye!”

Like a proud father, I watched as my little sister walked to Nate’s car, and he opened the door for her. Surprisingly, he seemed exactly like she’d described, which made me feel at ease.

41

NYX

I set my phone up on the breakfast bar and hit play before rushing back to my spot to start my dance. But just as the music started, Shade popped up behind me, mimicking my moves like he was my backup dancer.

“Would you stop?” I scolded. “You’re supposed to be putting the shelf together. Not all in my videos.”

Laughing, he gave my hip a playful tug. “Aw damn, I thought I heard you say you wanted me to make a cameo.”

“No, you didn’t. See, this is exactly why I can’t go live when you’re here. You don’t know how to act.”

“That’s because you be trying to hide a nigga. Shit, I’m pretty sure the world knows we hang out by now.”

“Yeah, they do, and whenever they see us together they’re convinced we’re fucking. Oh, and every time our pics hit the blogs, I get a random text from some anonymous number asking me a bunch of dumb ass questions.”

He headed back to the shelf he hadn’t even touched. “Damn, Eli still sending you messages from different numbers?”

“Yes, and when we cross paths in the streets, he tries to act like he’s not doing the shit.”