“Do you really need to ask?” I growled into the phone. “I’m at work.” I glowered down at the plans in front of me, trying to look like I was working. I tried to keep my expression serious and not pissed. I didn’t have the time for Shay’s shit right now.
“Clearly, I do,” she sassed back to me. “Any kind of conversation I’ve tried to have with you, you either give me this one-word shit or you just leave me on read.” She took a breath and lowered her voice. “If you don’t talk to me, I’m gonna get Mama involved, and you won’t like it.”
“What do you want?” I snapped, getting the attention of my drywall guy. His brows raised, and I waved him away. When it looked like he was still interested, I tried to cover the receiver. “My sister likes to call me at the wrong time of day.”
He chuckled, nodded, and went back to smoothing mud over the seams. His focus was back on the job at hand. The last thing I needed was the people I worked with assuming things.
Shay didn’t care. She talked like she hadn’t heard me. “I want to know where my big brother is. What is he doing? Why is he ignoring me? Why do I have to repeat myself like I’m talking to someone that’s not paying attention to me?”
“I’m at work,” I repeated. “I’m busy. I have a lot of work ahead of me and you are distracting me from that.”
She hummed, and I could practically see her eyes narrowing. “So I’m right then. You are going to hold me not wanting you to have anything with Grace against me,” she said with a sigh. “You didn’t even want to have a discussion. You didn’t want to argue the fact that you wanted more from her. You just nodded your head and left.”
“I wasn’t expecting you to be there when I got up,” I admitted. “I was ashamed that you were. It isn’t a conversation I want to have. So if we could just ignore that you know what I did, that would be great.” I knew she wouldn’t let me have my way. I’d known that this would come back to bite me in the ass as soon as I stepped out of Grace’s room and saw her.
I’d known it. And I still couldn’t make myself regret it. Shay hadn’t given me problems, aside from needling me. The only issue had been Kyle.
After he’d left the apartment, I had tried to meet him out in the parking lot, but I didn’t even get the opportunity to talk him down. He sped off. I didn’t have a clue what I could’ve said to him to get him to not be angry. I just knew how he had to be feeling on some level.
I’d be pissed if I had caught him the morning after with my sister.
“I didn’t actually catch you doing anything,” she said flippantly. “I don’t want to catch you doing anything.” She huffed into the phone. “So you suddenly respect my opinion and you’re not gonna see Grace again?”
“Shay,” I started, then stopped, rubbing my brow. Sweat had gathered there, and it was a reminder that I didn’t have time to entertain her. “I’ve got to get back to work. If you need something from me, then call me.”
“Look,” she relented. “Come over. I’ll buy you dinner. I’ll make up for being an asshole.”
That made me pause. Shay was bossy. She was bratty. She had a knack for getting into my business when she didn’t have any right to be. But there were a handful of times I could count where she had a way of picking me up.
“If you need something fixed, you can call your landlord,” I pointed out.
“Just shut up and come over,” she said, giving me no room for argument. “If you don’t, I’ll definitely get Mama involved.”
I ended the call, aggravated beyond no end.
The really frustrating part was that I was going to go to her apartment and let her buy me dinner. There wouldn’t be a way for me to avoid her longer than I already had. The moment she’d mentioned bringing our mother into this, I didn’t have an option.
I was just going to drag my feet about it. I wouldn’t shower before I came over. She was going to have to deal with my after-work, sweaty-ass self. I knocked on her door, not bothering to let myself in.
The door opened and Grace started with a greeting, counting out cash in her hand. Then she looked up and stalled out. She was beautiful. Her hair was a mess of brown curls around her face. It looked soft—it was soft. I knew what it felt like to have my hands tangled in it. She was wearing a shirt that was tight enough that I could easily tell she wasn’t wearing a bra.
Was this why Shay had demanded I come over? She wanted to tempt me? Did she not realize how painful it would be to stand in front of Grace?
I closed my eyes and covered my face with a hand, trying to summon strength that I was too tired to have. I knew what this woman looked like naked. I knew what she tasted like. Grace just standing there was like dangling a steak in front of me.
“Darius?” she asked in a tone that suggested it wasn’t the first time she had said it.
I blinked rapidly and shook my head. “She didn’t say you were home.” I immediately felt dumb when I said it. I waved a hand. “Sorry. When Shay insisted I come over for dinner, I thought it was because she wanted to have a conversation about what we did.” I eyed her, not sure what else to say. “I didn’t expect you to be here.”
Grace’s expression turned grim, and she nodded. “If it’s an issue, I can go.”
“No, no,” I said. I didn’t want her to leave. Even if she was a temptation, she was something I shouldn’t want. “It’s fine. I’m not gonna kick you out of your apartment because Shay wants to be an asshole.”
“Hey,” Shay snapped, appearing at Grace’s shoulder. “I’mthe asshole? Boy, get your ass in here and I’ll show you how much of an asshole I can be.” That was a red flag—a bigger red flag than Grace.
Shay didn’t give me the chance to turn around and run. She shouldered her way around Grace and pushed me into the apartment. I protested, but I didn’t resist. Curiosity made me want to see what my sister had up her sleeve. A baser need had me wanting to stay just because of her friend.
I tried to harden myself, because I wouldn’t pine for Grace. I stayed by the door, watching as the two women moved to get comfortable in their own space. I glared at Shay and folded my arms over my chest, trying to prepare myself for the issues she had with me. “What did you want?”