Byron stared at her single serving curiously. “Just one?”
“Unlike all my siblings who eat very large servings per three square meals a day, I eat small portions all day long.” She peered at him curiously as she bit into her forkful of food but waited until she was done chewing before going on. To his surprise, it had nothing to do with her eating habits. “Juice boxes?” She chuckled suddenly. “Big guy like you is into juice boxes?”
Byron started to laugh as he bit into his food but then had to stop as the explosion of flavors went off in his mouth. “Damn this is good,” he said covering his mouth as he finished chewing.
Before he could answer her question about the juice boxes, he inhaled several more bites then took a quick swig of his soda and wiped his mouth. “No wonder your brothers eat the whole damn thing by themselves. I ain’t sharing shit with those guys down there.”
Hearing her amusement this up close did even more to him than all the other times he’d heard that sweet laughter. But he shook it off answering her question instead. “My nieces and nephews.”
He explained about Beast’s daughters and Nine and Orlando’s kids coming by the shop often. How for safety reasons they usually ended up in his apartment, instead of hanging out in the shop.
“They raid my fridge and take over my TV and tablet. It’s why I stay stocked up on that kind of stuff. Cereal, rice crispy treats, ice cream you name it. And when they spend the night, I don’t cook so I’m all over Grubhub and Uber eats.”
For a moment he was caught in those sweet eyes as she smiled at him, chewing her food slowly. “So, you’re that uncle, uh? The favorite fun uncle, that lets you eat junk food and stay up past your bedtime?”
“Shh.” He lifted a finger to his lips. “Pretty sure I’d get my ass handed to me if my brothers knew just what a pushover I am when it comes to their kids.”
“Brothers?” She tilted her head as her brows furrowed. “I thought you only had the one.”
“I always refer to Orlando, and Nine as my brothers as well. Their kids all call each other cousins and call me uncle.” He shrugged. “I figured mine will do the same to them someday too. So, it feels like I have three instead of one.” He paused when his phone rang. “Speaking of, I gotta take this. It’s Nine.”
“Go ahead,” she said taking a swig of her coffee.
Byron stood up as Vannah motioned to ask if he wanted more enchiladas on his now empty plate. Nodding, Byron gave her a thumbs up. “What’s up? Anything good?”
Nine filled him in on what they’d found at the auction. Byron tried in vain to pay attention, but he kept getting distracted by Vannah. First, she’d taken a swig of her coffee that dribbled down her neck and chest, and it’d been all he could do to keep his eyes off her as she worked her ample cleavage with a napkin.
Then after she plated his enchiladas and was done with her wet cleavage, she’d started tapping her phone screen. At the moment, he was once again pulled away from his thoughts on what Nine was saying when he noticed her cover her mouth stifling a laugh as she tapped away on her phone. He turned away so he could try and keep up with everything Nine was telling him but then just seconds later, his eyes were back on her as she took a photo of the enchilada tray. She tapped away at the screen again, all the while she wore that big, beautiful smile he’d been so drawn to since day one.
“Did you get them?”
Nine’s question pulled him out of his stupor. “What?”
“The pictures. I just sent two more.”
“Uh, no ho-hold on. Let me check.”
Fumbling with his phone, Byron checked his texts. He scrolled through the pictures Nine sent him of the cars they narrowed it down to, but still hadn’t decided which they’d be bidding the most on. Hearing Vannah laugh softly under her breath had Byron glancing up at her again. She was reading something on her phone screen covering the huge smile with her hand.
“I don’t know, man.” Byron lied, because he’d barely paid any mind to the texts from Nine. “I like them all too, but the truck is pretty damn sweet.” Since clearly, it was going to be impossible to give Nine his undivided attention while Vannah sat in his kitchen, he cut the call short, lowering his voice. “Listen, I have customers asking to speak with me. I’ll give you a call a little later.”
Taking a deep breath before walking back to the kitchen table, Byron reminded himself not to say anything stupid. He was entitled to nothing when it came to this girl. Not even an explanation of who was responsible for her silly smile.
“I think they’re still warm enough.” Vannah motioned to the enchiladas on his plate with her phone. “But you might want to check and see if you need to nuke them.”
“Nah, they should still be good.” He took the seat next to her again, breathing in that familiar scent of her skin and whatever fruity perfume she wore, and dug into the delicious enchilada.
“All good?” she asked motioning to his phone on the table now as she put hers down too.
Glad she asked, he nodded as he finished chewing. “You?” he motioned his chin at her phone. “I saw you taking pictures of my enchilada tray.”
He smirked making light of his comment as she smiled big again. “I tease my friends all the time with photos of my latest cooking creations.”
Caught in her eyes for a moment as he struggled from refraining to ask what friends. He breathed in deeply instead as he continued to chew. Did she mean her girlfriends? Or any of the dudes he’d seen her with so far. Did she cook for them too—did she also deliver her creations to them—or was Byron special?
“What else do you know about me, Vannah?”
Just like all the times he’d been caught in her eyes from afar, that beautiful smile of hers flattened slowly as she stared at him looking a bit bewildered. Swallowing hard, not even her suddenly flushed again face made him smile this time. The question had slipped out without thought or consent. But it was something he’d been wondering about all weekend. Seeing the way those bright eyes gazed back at him with the same unease she made him feel, gave him hope. As young and innocent as Vannah obviously was, was she really that naïve to believe she had any control when it came to matters of the heart?
“I know you’re Beast’s brother,” she said softly.
Nodding without comment, Byron waited for her to go on, but she didn’t. “Is that it?”
“Yes,” she whispered but glanced down at her phone again.
Byron knew that couldn’t be true. The articles online about his and Beast’s mother’s death were endless. He still couldn’t bring himself to google his own name for fear of coming across one of them. But he wouldn’t push. It’s the last thing he wanted to discuss at that moment anyway.
Biting into the enchilada again, he nearly groaned because it was that good. “So, does this mean we’re friends now? Because I know I’m gonna want more of these in my life.”
And you.
Despite the slight tinge of color in her cheeks, Vannah smiled playfully. “You really wanna be my friend, Byron? Or will you just be using me for my food?”
Searching her eyes for a moment, Byron bit down on his food a little harder this time, trying desperately to keep his cool. What the fuck was it with this girl anyway? How could such a harmless and lighthearted comment get him so worked up? If this were any other girl, he would’ve already been all over it, showing her all the ways he’d be using her. But he had an idea of what she meant by friends since she’d been so honest about not doing the boyfriend thing. Seeing the humor in her eyes begin to wane, Byron’s head raced to come up with something to say to cut the undeniable, and no doubt, confusing as shit growing tension.