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wanting to admit his true feelings.
* * * *
"How long are you planning on hiding here at my place?"
"As long as it takes to make her realize I'm not a child,"
Taymar complained, reaching for another slice of bacon and
two pieces of toast.
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"You aren't acting like an adult, and you know this is the
first place she'll call."
"Aren't big sisters supposed to protect their baby
brothers?" Taymar took a bite of his cinnamon toast.
"Virginia is your big sister, too, and her house is bigger
than mine," Shea lectured, pouring her spoiled little brother
some more orange juice.
"Are you crazy? She's worse than Mom," he choked out
over the toast in his mouth. "You're the cool one. Can I stay?"
"Only on two conditions," Shea answered, getting up from
the table with her empty plate in hand. She stuck the plate
into the soapy dishwater, then faced Taymar.
"What are they?" Taymar asked, getting up with his empty
plate. Reaching around her, he shoved it into the dishwater.
"First condition, you have to call Mama and let her know
that you're here. Second condition, you have to leave by the
middle of next month. I'm not going to baby sit you while you
figure out your life."
Taymar gave her his typical baby brother groan. "Sis, can't
I stay at least still the first of the year? Monica is driving me
crazy about the baby. I can't handle all the pressure."
"No, you made your little boy and you need to be a father
to him," she said. "Plus you have school. I'm not going to let
you get kicked out for missing too many days."
"I'll be a father to my son. I'm only asking for a break for a
little bit." Taymar sighed. "Anyways I'm smart. I can transfer
here and finish out my senior year."
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"I'm giving you a break by letting you stay here in the first
place, and didn't I send you the money to help with the
hospital bills?"
"Thanks for that. I didn't know how I was going to pay for
them," Taymar replied. "I'll agree to your conditions. Why
don't you go upstairs and get dressed? I can finish these
dishes, and when you come back down you can tell me about
your boyfriend."
Shea froze at the sink and shook off the memory of Craig
outside her window last night. Keep him in the past. "I don't
have a boyfriend," she corrected, brushing past her baby
brother. She hated when he acted like he was older than her.
"Yes, you do. I heard Mom telling one of her bingo friends
about him the other night. When are you going to bring him
home to meet the family? You know Dad is ready to meet
him."
"I told you I don't have a boyfriend. Stop drilling me about
him and finish those dishes," she tossed back as she hurried
from the kitchen. The sound of her brother's laughter followed
her all the way upstairs.
* * * *
He stood on Shea's porch for almost two minutes before
finally deciding to ring the doorbell. Craig didn't know why he
came back here, but he just knew he had to see his
replacement up close.
Keep your cool. No matter what happens don't let him get
the best of you. Say your peace and walk away. There are
other women out there waiting for you. Craig repeated that
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several times in his mind as he waited for someone to answer
the door.
"Yeah, can I help you?" the guy that Shea hugged asked
the second the front door opened.
He's younger than me. Craig stared at the young man
blocking the entranceway into Shea's house. If he was to
guess, the guy couldn't be older than twenty-one years old.
He never thought of Shea as a cradle-robber. How long had
she been seeing this guy?
"I need to speak to Shea," Craig responded once he got his
voice back.
Jet black eyes narrowed on his face. "She's upstairs in the
shower. Can I ask who you are?"
Gut wrenching pain raced through his body, almost making
it hard for him to stand up, Shea had slept with this college
jock, and now was upstairs taking a shower. How could she
do this to them?
Disgust laced his words. "No, you can't ask who I am. But
I'll give you a piece of advice. Shea is a damn good lay, but
once you cross her she'll jump into bed with the next
available guy. So, I'll be careful if I were you. You're young,
don't let her play you. Dump her and find a girl closer to your
own age."
Out of nowhere a hard punch hit him right below the eye,
staggering him back from the door. "You son of a bitch. Who
in the hell do you think you are to talk about Shea like that?
She isn't a slut!" the guy yelled, then took another menacing
step towards him.
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He shook off the ringing his ear and stormed back up to
the younger guy. "You may have surprised me once, but I
won't let you sucker punch me again. I'll give as good as I
get. Are you sure Shea is worth fighting over?"
"Hell, yes!" came the heated reply.
Craig was ready to go another around with the mystery
guy when a flash of burgundy stepped between the two of
them, "What in the hell is going on out there? I can hear the
two of you upstairs in my bedroom," Shea yelled, shoving him
away from her new lover.
"I was just telling your new boy toy here what a great lay
you were and he got all pissed off," he snapped, brushing
Shea's hand off his chest.
"Stop talking about Shea like that or I'll punch the hell out
of you again," the younger man screamed, lunging for him.
Spinning away from him, Shea pushed his replacement
back toward the front door. "Go inside the house and make
that phone call. I'll deal with this."
"I'm not leaving you out here with him!"
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