Page 13 of Buy Back My Love

I barely had time to brace myself before she wrapped me in a hug.

“Nina, you still loud as hell.”

“Cause you ain’t been here to tell me to keep it down.” She squeezed me tighter. “I missed you telling me to shut up.”

Wren came behind her at a much calmer pace, though tears were already running down her face. She’d cut her hair into a short bob since the last picture she’d sent me, and something about seeing her in person made me realize just how much time had passed.

“Hey, boss lady.”

That one got me, and I opened my arms for her. Wren folded into them before I could get myself together.

“Don’t call me that,” I whispered.

“You always gone be my boss lady.”

I held her a little tighter before letting go.

JB stayed back near the truck while everybody got their turn with me. For once, he didn’t interrupt or try to run the moment. He just stood there and let me have it.

Anika wiped her tears and grabbed my hand. “Come on. We been waiting all day.”

“For what?”

“You’ll see.”

I looked back at JB. He smiled but didn’t say anything.

The second Anika opened the front door, music spilled out onto the porch. A welcome banner stretched across the living room wall with more gold-and-white balloons around it, and a cake sat on the kitchen counter with WELCOME HOME LEE written across the top in gold icing. Wings, sliders, fruit, and finger sandwiches covered the island, and near the sink, a margarita machine hummed beside a stack of plastic cups.

I stopped in the doorway and looked around. The place wasn’t furnished yet, just a few folding chairs, two card tables, and all the decorations they’d brought in. Beyond the living room was a clean kitchen with white cabinets, dark fixtures, and shiny new appliances that looked like nobody had touched them yet.

Anika squeezed my hand. “Surprise.”

I looked at her, then over at JB. “Whose place is this?”

JB stepped inside and closed the door behind him. “Yours.”

For a second, I thought I’d heard him wrong. “What?”

“This yours, Lee,” JB repeated.

I turned back toward the living room and looked around again, this time actually seeing the place for what it was. The empty living room, the brand-new kitchen, the little porch I’d passed on the way inside, all of it belonged to me. “You got me an apartment?”

“It’s brand new too,” Nina called from the kitchen, already helping herself to the margarita machine. “You the first person to ever live in here.”

JB ignored her and kept his attention on me. “I paid the rent up for the year.”

My head snapped back toward him. “A year?”

He nodded like paying twelve months of somebody’s rent at once was regular shit. “Utilities too. Power, water, internet. All that handled.”

I didn’t even know what I was supposed to say to that. JB walked farther into the living room and motioned around the empty space. “I ain’t furnish it because I knew you’d want to pick your own stuff. Whatever you want, get it. Make it yours.”

“JB...”

“I’m serious.”

That almost got me crying again, and I turned my face before the tears could start, but Anika had already caught me and moved closer to rub my back.