Page 81 of The Prodigy

“These burritos bussin’, Mama,” Eris said.

“Thank you, baby. Malika helped.”

“And Jaz,” I added. Gab rolled her eyes.

“I’ma miss this food, for real,” Jakari said out of nowhere. I turned my head to the right to look at him, my eyebrows creased in confusion.

“Why would you miss it?” Gab said, her own eyebrows raised.

Jakari shrugged. “Me and Mal probably gon’ be moving soon.”

You could have heard a pin drop.

I smiled at my plate. Jakari stuffed another bite of food in his mouth. Gab’s fork clinked as she set it on her plate.

“You’re moving out?” she said. Her voice had an edge to it that made me uneasy, but I wasn’t as shook as I usually was. Having Jakari near me made me feel safe.

“Yeah,” he answered. “It’s kinda crowded around here.”

“Well, listen, if this is about y’all having loud sex the other night, don’t worry about it. We’re all grown.”

Eris and Nay snickered. My cheeks heated, but I kept my face neutral. She wanted to get a rise out of me, and I wasn’t about to give her the satisfaction.

Jakari didn’t seem fazed. “We’ll talk about it later.”

That was that. But that was always that with him. He wasn’t the kind of man you questioned, especially openly and in front of other people. He commanded respect, even from the woman who birthed and raised him.

It was a turn-on.

I would show him how much later on tonight.

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