Page 2 of Right Side of Paradise

Second Nature

Half an hour later, I was sitting on the kitchen counter beside a bowl of clementine slices, going to work .

I didn’t remember how many I’d already eaten, I just knew I planned to eat at least ten more.

Flavor burst in my mouth at the same time Rico appeared at the bottom of the steps leading into the kitchen.

And when he saw me, he allowed the smirk flirting with his lips to turn into a full grin.

The open-face platinum grill covering his bottom teeth caught the sunlight and winked at me as smile lines appeared around his eyes.

“Hey, Harlow,” he breathed against my hair once I was wrapped in his embrace. Then his lips brushed my temple.

“I shouldn’t have gone in your room. I’m sorry for?—”

“It’s nothing,” he cut me off before my embarrassment could make a comeback. “Don’t even worry about it.”

Backing away from me, he split his gaze between me and the bowl of clementines by my hip and his smile broadened.

While he looked me up and down, I ran my eyes over what I could see of his face, pausing as always at the letters inked above his left brow.

Harlow .

When he came home with it when we were eighteen, my mom told him he’d be paying someone to remove it for him by the time we were twenty-five. According to her, he’d outgrow his love for his spoiled “baby” sister.

But here we were, almost twelve years later and he’d just gotten it retouched over Christmas break.

“Soul peeled and put those in the fridge for you this morning,” he said, head cocked.

I paused with a slice halfway to my lips, face falling. “Wait, Soul was here? Why didn’t he wait for me to get here? I miss him.”

A flicker of mischief entered his eyes. “He’s still here. He’s upstairs.” Rico plucked the fruit from my fingers and bit into it while I stared at him, eyes squinted and mouth twisted.

“That’s back on?”

“Was never really off.” He shrugged, leaving the spot beside me to open the fridge, “I told you, we doing what feels good.”

“You said that six months ago and it’s still going. Must feel more than good.”

Rico glanced over his shoulder with a lazy smile that bordered on cocky as footsteps sounded on the stairs he’d just descended.

“Harley baby.” Soul’s voice cut through my thoughts as he cleared the last step.

He entered the kitchen, brushing the tight coils on his head with a sponge brush.

Slumberous brown eyes lit up when they collided with mine and he filled the space between my legs to hug me.

His arms were so tight around me it felt like he was squeezing half a year of affection into the embrace.

“Missed you. You gotta stop disappearing for months at a time and doing these drive-by visits. We ain’t shit to you or something, Harley? ”

The nickname put a smile on my lips as much as the question did as he turned to face Rico, his back to my front while he camped out between my legs.

Rico met his gaze, then mine, and the mischief in his eyes softened into a pool of warmth before he looked away.

Damn.

From the glow of Rico’s deep, chocolatey skin to the slight flush of Soul’s golden-brown skin, they both looked satisfied .

And there was only a smidge of envy rushing through my veins the longer I sat with it.

I wasn’t jealous, per se.

Okay, yes the fuck I was.

But I was happy for them.

I loved their freedom. Their fluidity. The way they sustained their friendship and didn’t let that stop them from taking it deeper.

At least somebody was getting their needs met around here.

I’d had plenty of sex in my life. But the ‘good’ in that sentence was silent for a reason. It was sad when the night I lost my virginity still hadn’t been topped.

Shaking the thought away, I said, “Not a drive-by visit this time.” I picked up another clementine slice. “I’m here all summer.”

Rico’s head snapped in my direction and Soul turned back around to face me.

“For real?”

“Yeah.”

They both looked at me like I just told them Santa Claus was real.

“You staying here, right?” Rico closed the fridge and leaned against the counter beside me, grabbing another piece of fruit just to hold it up to Soul’s lips.

The intimacy in the gesture flooded me with a tender feeling and tugged my eyes away to a point out the window. “Just until Sunday when my mama gets back. Then I’ll be out of your way.”

“What you mean?”

“Stay with us.”

They spoke in unison, Rico sounding offended while Soul’s voice dripped with confusion. And just as quick, my rebuttal died a quick death on my tongue when I saw the earnestness in Soul’s eyes.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.” Rico nodded. “Christian’s staying here too until his condo is renovated. Spend the summer with us.”

Soul didn’t give me time to object. Instead, he leaned into me, toying with the gold hoop in his right nostril. “We gotta do something to celebrate you being back. Dinner at Salt and drinks at Chris’ bar after?”

“Sounds good to me.”

“Then it’s a date. I’ma call Zay to save a table for us outside.”

He disappeared around the corner, digging through his pockets for his phone. That left me and Rico in the kitchen, staring at each other.

“What you looking at?”

“Nothing.” He smirked. “I’m just happy you’re home.”