I stifled a moan before I swatted his hand. “You keep the house dirty. I have to clean.”
“I’d rather make you dirty.” His lips parted as his eyes scanned me from head to toe.
I pursed my lips. “Later, I promise.”
“Okay.” He chuckled and put his hands up in defeat. He took a step closer and rested his hand on my shoulder. “Why don’t you just stay here indefinitely?”
“Seriously?”
“Why not? We’re dating. You’d move in eventually, anyway.”
My mouth hung open. I loved the idea of living with him, forever. He made a good point. We were dating, and this would happen, eventually. “It would be nice.”
“Why do you act surprised? You know how I feel about you.” He pulled me into his chest, and wrapped his arms around me.
I wrapped mine around him. “It’s settled then. Until you say otherwise, I’ll stay here.”
He pulled away. “I won’t say otherwise, so you’re stuck here.”
I laughed. “I need to finish a few more things. Why don’t you order some wings?”
After another half an hour of wiping, sweeping, and vacuuming, Mags knocked on the door.
I invited her in and she started laughing. “I see you took over cleaning here too?”
I scowled. “Nothing wrong with that!”
“Is cleaning her thing or something?” Asher asked.
She nodded. “This woman cleans like nobody else I’ve ever seen.”
I huffed. “At least we have a clean home.”
“We?” Her eyebrows raised. “Are you not looking for a new place anymore?”
“It’s a new decision, but we decided this is my home too.” I smiled at Asher, who winked back.
“Good for you guys.” She walked into the living room and collapsed on the sofa. “So, you mentioned Luca was coming?”
I eyed her. “Still into my cousin?”
She blushed and picked at her nail polish. “No way, but speaking of feelings, Kenneth and I just did not mesh. Like at all.”
“How’d you come to that conclusion? Did you sleep with him?” Asher snorted.
She laughed. “Well, yeah. How else could I measure our compatibility?”
Asher chuckled. “Thankfully for me, Faith and I have great compatibility.”
“Glad to hear that.” She rolled her eyes. “So, about Luca?”
“He’ll be here any minute,” I replied.
A few minutes later, I was true to my word. Luca let himself in and Mags was more than pleased. That woman was not shy by any means, but whenever Luca came around, she turned into a mouse.
She had her knees curled into her chest as she sat in the sofa's corner, staring at Luca. Luca, on the other hand, was not shy and immediately sat down next to her, giving her one-liners.
“Luca, be more original,” I said before leaving to answer the knock at the door.
“That better be Evelyn!” Mags called.
I opened the door and it was not Eve. It was the delivery guy. I gave him a sheepish smile before grabbing the boxes of wings. “Thank you.”
Asher jogged over to me with cash to pay him as I went to set the wings on the kitchen island.
“The wings are here! And I have wine!” I called out. Mags and Luca came in, followed by Asher.
“Eve’s not picking up her phone.” Mags pouted as she grabbed a plate and helped herself to some wings.
“Yeah, I texted her, but no reply. I’m sure she’s just running late or something.” I shrugged, doing the same as her.
Once we all had our plates, we poured some wine and sat around the island talking. Luca and Mags were sitting close, and he kept whispering stuff in her ear. I’d never seen Mags so giggly before. Asher and I talked about other things, giving them a chance to bond.
About an hour later, there was a small knock on the door. Mags bolted up. “About damn time!” She answered the door.
“Sorry we’re late,” Eve kept her head down as she scurried into the kitchen to us, Gerald dragging his feet behind her.
Gerald was not what I expected. He sported thick-rimmed glasses that made his brown eyes small. He was tall and lanky, not much meat to him, with a black mop of curly hair on top of his head.
“Glad you two made it.” I grinned. “Nice to finally meet you, Gerald.”
He averted his eyes to the wall and nodded in response.
The air seemed tense, and Mags had her fists clenched. “Gerald, stop stealing our best friend.”
He rolled his eyes. “She’s my girlfriend. That goes above friends, Magnolia.”
Luca put a hand on her shoulder. “Nah, man. You should still give your girl time with her friends.”
Gerald shrugged, not adding any more to the conversation.
“Want some wings?”
Gerald shook his head while Eve nodded. “Yes, please.” She grabbed a plate and helped herself.
Luca got up, went to the fridge, and grabbed a beer before taking a swig. Mags followed him, stole his beer and took a drink. He smirked at her.
“Shit,” Mags said as she turned to me. “Did Preston get ahold of you a couple of days ago?”
I nodded. “Unfortunately, yes.”
“Fucker called her like six times.” Asher wrapped a protective arm around my waist.
“Get this.” She hands the bottle back to Luca. “He called me trying to reach you. He knows how much I hate him!”
Luca shook his head. “That man is a piece of shit.”
“He’s also powerful. Watch what you say about someone like that,” Gerald spoke up.
“Excuse me, but do you even know Preston?” Mags crossed her arms.
He shrugged. “I talked to him once at a cafe. Dude seemed nice enough.”
“Yeah, well, dude cheated on me through our whole relationship.” I scrunched up my nose.
He gave me a blank stare, almost as if he didn’t believe me.
Eve swatted his arm. “Preston is not a nice guy.”
He turned to her. “So, even my girlfriend isn’t seeing things from a different perspective. I’m disappointed.”
She walked away, grabbed a glass and poured herself some wine before she downed the contents of the glass completely. The room fell silent. Not even Luca made a stray remark.
Evelyn was never a drinker, for as long as I’d known her. Mags and I made eye contact. She was as
