Page 14 of Kisses Behind The Spotlight 2: Finale

“Xain, I’m sorry to kick you out, but I need to figure some things out with my brother,” I announced.

“Nah, Xain is good. Ion care about your boyfriend knowing. We are a package deal,” Noah waved me off.

“He’s not my boyfriend,” I refuted.

“Dang, she got you walking up three flights of stairs like a bag lady, and she ain’t even claiming you. I expected more from you.” Noah shook his head and peered at Xain like a disappointed father.

“Noah!” I scolded him.

“What? I’m just saying,” he cackled obnoxiously, standing up from the couch with a Nike duffle bag in hand. I clearly missed Noah’s luggage earlier. “I’m going to get settled in the guest bedroom while y’all decide if Xain is leaving or staying.”

Noah trekked down the hallway and closed the door behind him once he was inside.

“Why the fuck you so quick to shout that I ain’t shit to you?” Xain inquired as I walked back into the living room. He was up on his feet and walking toward me. “That shit is about to piss me off.”

“I’m just being honest.”

“No, the fuck you not,” Xain declared, gripping my neck to pull me closer. His tall frame towered over me, and he leaned down to kiss my lips. I was suddenly putty, melting into his chest and deepening the kiss until I was breathless.

“You fucked me as if you belonged to me all weekend. That’s all that matters,” he whispered in my ear. “I told you not to wear that mask with me. That also means that your problems are my problems. Just like they have been my problems for the last few days, that doesn’t change just because we are back.”

“A lot changes now that we are back home. First, you’re fucking crazy. We had a beautiful weekend in Morocco, then we got back to Florida, and you were headbutting officers and tackling them like a fucking maniac. It’s only luck that you’re still alive; you would be dead right now if that officer had been able to handle the kickback,” I grumbled, happy to expel the daunting thoughts that had been swirling around in my head since we were arrested.

“I’ll do it all again too. That motha fucka didn’t have to handle you like that,” Xain fumed. “I warned him before I reacted. That’s growth for me. If I wasn’t already cuffed, they would be dead, and you’d really be upset.”

“See, Xain,” I whined, closing my eyes to massage my temples.

Clearly, I had been beefing with a psychopath for years, and now I fucked him. At that moment, I couldn’t decide which side of the aisle was safer. Then, his delectable lips brushed against mine while my eyes were still closed. Xain’s hand gripped my back, and he pulled me into his solid chest. Apprehensions dissipated the more his tongue explored my mouth. I moaned into his mouth, and Xain broke the kiss.

“You kiss me as if you belong to me,” Xain grinned, pulling away from me. “Handle shit with your brother. I need to wash the jail off of me anyways. I’mma call you when I get my shit straight at home, and you better answer.”

“I will,” I bubbled.

Xain pecked my lips again, and I walked him to the door.

“I will,” Noah mocked as soon as the door shut, breaking the trance Xain had me in.

“Noah,” I stomped my feet as I walked to the couch. We plopped down at the same time and looked at each other. “If you don’t want to stay with your mom, why didn’t you go stay with your dad?”

His eyes grew so wide at my question that they damn near bulged out of his head. “Would you go stay with Dad?”

MCHT!

I sucked my teeth and emitted a low chuckle. He had me there. I never lived with our dad, and I’m forever grateful for my mama making sure that was never an issue.

“What is going on between you and your mom now? You were just fine, babysitting Maurice at the house the last time I talked to you.”

“My mom came home with her boyfriend and all of his stuff yesterday morning, talking about he’s moving in. I don’t even know that nigga. Never met him before he moved mountains of boxes into our already cramped spot. Nah, I’m not comfortable with that. Plus, I heard them having sex last night and this morning. The walls are thin as fuck in that two-bedroom duplex,” he gritted that last part and fake-gagged.

“He already ate half of the groceries you bought for me before you left for Morocco. When he first got there, I took the time to mark all of my sh– I mean, stuff with my name in permanent marker, and I explained to him that my sister bought the food for me. I wouldn’t even be mad if he cooked food for the house, but this nigga only cooked for himself. That is disrespectful, so I said something to him. I didn’t even go at him sideways. I simply said, if he’s going to touch my food, can he at least make enough for everybody so it’s not wasteful. I be trying to make shit last, so I’m not always bothering you. This Skeletor-looking nigga hollin’ ‘bout my mama said he’s welcome to anything in the house, and he’s not cooking for another grown man. If she’s going to bring a nigga home, she should at least bring one home who can put some food in the house instead of eating up what I bring to the table by way of you and Aunty Anila.”

“This is crazy.” I shook my head.

“Oh, I’m not done. It gets crazier,” Noah continued. “When I got out of school today, my homeboy dropped me off at home since we don’t have practice this week. Tell me why this fool was on the back porch with the JBL speaker you bought me for Christmas, listening to music and smoking weed. I didn’t say anything; I let it rock. Then this fool gets a text from some other woman he’s dealing with, and the speaker automatically reads the notification because he’s too dumb to change his settings. Let’s just say he’s already fucking around on my mama. The whole block heard the sexting because the speaker was turned up to the max.

“My mama went out back to confront him, and they were still arguing when I requested an Uber to your house. They’re probably still over there arguing. I can’t do this with my mama. Look at it like this, the school year is almost over, and I only have two more years after this before I graduate, and I promise I’ll be out of your way. Please just take me in,” Noah pleaded, his hands lifted in the prayer position.

“You don’t have to do all of that. You can stay here,” I confirmed. The last thing I was going to do was feed his mama’s new boyfriend with my groceries.