Page 132 of Steel

“You look . . . Damn, baby. You look good as hell.”

“Thank you, baby.”

“Bring your pretty ass here.”

He yanked me into his chest and wrapped his arms around me. His lips fell to mine with a nasty and sensual kiss. I got lost in him until his hand migrated to my ass.

“Kerrion! The kids!”

He pulled back and turned to look at the kids and Dinah staring at us. She and Nayelli were both grinning, while KJ was just looking at us.

“My bad,” he said, grinning. “Dinah, thank you for watching him tonight.”

“Of course,” she said, kissing KJ’s cheek. “Kay is coming over, and we’re gonna have a ball, right, Yelli?”

“Right.”

“I’m still not over you and my cousin.”

“What can I say? I like her. She treats me like a queen.”

I smiled because I was happy for my sister. Finding out that Kaylynn was the reason for this bright ass smile on her face made my heart swell. I wasn’t a person who judged the way others loved. As long as my sister was loved, respected, and cherished, that was all that mattered.

“Yeah, well, she is smitten. Y’all have started picking the cousins off, one by one.”

She laughed. “Well, the siblings can’t be the only ones getting happy endings. Now, you two, have fun, and don’t bring any babies back here. Have my sister in at a decent hour, sir. Come on, kiddies! Auntie Dinah has a whole night of fun planned!”

She walked off to the kitchen. Nayelli quickly hugged us both before following behind her.

Kerrion chuckled as he turned to me. “You ready?”

“Yes.”

He grabbed my hand and led me outside. I shook my head as he made me walk in front of him, instantly slapping my ass. Just to tease him, I added a little extra umph to my walk. Behind me, he whistled and barked, causing me to break into a fit of giggles.

“Please, sir!”

“Doesn’t that song say bark like you want it?”

I rolled my eyes as he opened the door. “You don’t have to bark. It’s yours.”

I cupped his face and kissed him before climbing into the car. He closed the door as I settled into the seat with a smile on my face. Once he was settled in the driver’s seat, he cranked up, put on some music, and pulled onto the street.

The drive downtown didn’t take more than fifteen minutes. We spent that time singing and rapping along to the playlist he had going. It took me a second to realize that it was a playlist I’d made him in college. Whenever we were together, we stayed jamming.

“I can’t believe you still have this,” I said as we pulled into the parking lot.

“I couldn’t find the CD, but I remembered every song, in order, when I made the playlist on my phone.”

“That’s how you know we ran this shit into the ground.”

“That was you. It was always,‘Baby, play our mixtape,’” he mocked me.

“You complaining, but who put the mixtape on? Oh, okay.”

He chuckled as he shut off the car. Climbing out, he came around to retrieve me. Hand in hand, we walked into the building that looked like a little hole-in-the-wall spot. I wouldn’t complain because I loved these. Back in college, we spent a lot of time chilling with old heads when we didn’t hit up a campus party. When we walked in, there was already a small crowd.

Kerrion slapped hands with more than a few people. As he introduced me, he told me they were friends of his father and uncle, and this was a place they frequented quite often. We headed to the bar to order some drinks before claiming a table. A server immediately came over with menus. We took a minute to look over it before placing an order.