Page 6 of Right Side of Paradise
“Yeah.”
They both looked at me like I just told them Santa Claus was real.
“You staying here, right?” Rico closed the fridge and leaned against the counter beside me, grabbing another piece of fruit just to hold it up to Soul’s lips.
The intimacy in the gesture flooded me with a tender feeling and tugged my eyes away to a point out the window. “Just until Sunday when my mama gets back. Then I’ll be out of your way.”
“What you mean?”
“Stay with us.”
They spoke in unison, Rico sounding offended while Soul’s voice dripped with confusion. And just as quick, my rebuttal died a quick death on my tongue when I saw the earnestness in Soul’s eyes.
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah.” Rico nodded. “Christian’s staying here too until his condo is renovated. Spend the summer with us.”
Soul didn’t give me time to object. Instead, he leaned into me, toying with the gold hoop in his right nostril. “We gotta do something to celebrate you being back. Dinner at Salt and drinks at Chris’ bar after?”
“Sounds good to me.”
“Then it’s a date. I’ma call Zay to save a table for us outside.”
He disappeared around the corner, digging through his pockets for his phone. That left me and Rico in the kitchen, staring at each other.
“What you looking at?”
“Nothing.” He smirked. “I’m just happy you’re home.”
Something Like Paradise
Swatches of lavender, magenta and coral streaked the sky with the sun’s descent, contrasting with the languid blue waves breaking against the shore.
Citronella candles scented the air and muffled voices competed with the R&B spilling through the speakers.
The patio at Paradise was packed, like it always was on Friday nights. But I couldn’t help but feel like there were even more people than usual here because of the five-foot-four-inch ball of sunshine standing at the bar.
It didn’t take long for word to spread that Harlow was back in town, and it seemed like everybody on this island was simultaneously trying to get in some face time with her.
“Sometimes I miss when Harlow was too shy to talk to people,” I mumbled before trapping the cocktail straw between my teeth and sucking down the last of my drink.
Stare locked on her, I felt Soul shift beside me. His knee brushed mine as he moved deeper into my space.
“Why?” he wanted to know.
“Because.” I inclined my head in her direction just as she bumped her hip against Zay’s near the bar. After we ate at his restaurant earlier, he tagged along for the five-minute walk to the bar with us.
At the time, I didn’t think shit of it, but the longer I watched him latch onto Harlow, the more I wished we’d stayed home and ordered in. “We ain’t seen her since we walked in.”
Zay was looking at her like she hung the fucking moon and even though I couldn’t hear their conversation, the body language told me enough. She loved the attention and it was giving me heartburn.
I wasn’t overprotective. Harlow was grown. She could do whatever she wanted, but I wished she’d do it with someone else. Zay didn’t deserve her.
From the deep scowl on Christian’s face across the bar, he felt the same.
“She’s not leaving in a few days like before. We don’t have to be selfish with her time. She’s having fun,” Soul said calmly as his hand landed on my thigh. He squeezed once and left it there. The comforting heat of his touch made me drop my hand on top of his so he wouldn’t pull it away.
Soul had always been so damn affectionate. And now that we were…exploring things, his touches were more frequent and lingered even longer.
