Page 61 of Risks

I snort. “Well, that’s great. I’mstill not giving you Kenya’s number.”

He clicks his tongue and throws hishands up. “Fine. I’ll figure out how to win her over on my own.”

Reaching the apartment, I rush toset my takeout on the kitchen island so I can Facetime Toya while eating.

“Hey, babe,” she answers happily,lying on her bed.

“Hey. How was your day?”

“So-so. How was yours?”

“Not bad. I saw Kenya on my way fromthe gym. Finn was with me.” I sniff. “Seems he’s interested in your friend.”

Toya scoffs. “Good luck to him.”

“So about Scotland, I—”

“Right,” she murmurs and sits up. “Varen…Listen…”

Detecting something’s off, I put myfork down. “What’s wrong?”

“Jesiah called yesterday. He wantsme to spend spring break in Baltimore so that we can spend time together.”

“Oh.”

“Maybe we could go to Scotland insummer instead?” she suggests in a soft tone.

“Uh, yeah. That’s fine.” It’sselfish to feel bummed out when Toya just met her father after a lie kept themapart. But I was looking forward to the trip. I had it planned out how I wasgoing to…

“Did you already get the tickets?”she asks.

“That’s what I was about to tell you.”I give her a relaxed smile when she frowns. “It’s okay. I’ll change the dates.Maybe we can even stay longer since it’s summer.”

Worry leaves her features. “Thanksfor understanding, babe. Does that mean you’ll continue working at the hardwarestore through spring?”

“Maybe. It depends on whether I hearback about the other job.” Picking up the fork, I push around the food in thecontainer. “So, your birthday is next week. Anything in particular you want?”

“Hmm…” She twists her mouth inthought. “Honestly, I can’t think of anything other than being with you on theday. But please don’t fly out again. Your boss will fire your ass for taking somany days off.”

I chuckle. “Probably. Don’t worry, Iwon’t. I’ll try to make it feel special, though. Promise.”

My heart leaps as her plump lips partinto the sweet smile I love. “I know you will.” She wraps a curl around herfinger in a slow and flirty way. “You mentioned you were at the gym. You’vebeen working out a lot.”

“Mmhm.” I moisten my lips. “Youhaven’t told me what you think about my gains.”

A sexy giggle leaves her. “I loveyour gains. I love when you’re on top of me, and I get to—” She stops abruptlyat the sound of her room door.

The interruption settles the both ofus.

“Hey,” Aya greets her soon after.

Toya straightens from the bed,regret filling her eyes. “I’ll call you back in a bit.”

“Okay. Talk to you then.”

“Love you.”

“Love you too.” I slump back on thestool after getting off the phone. It does suck we won’t fly to Scotland aroundthe time I planned. But at least waiting until summer will help me prepare morefor the main reason I want us to go.

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