Chapter 4

4

D ali

Later that Evening

When Siri asked Kennessy to take Kassadee a plate to the bar, I decided to tag along. At this point, I was willing to take advantage of any chance I could to see her… even if we didn’t talk. Ever’s Pub was one of the more chill bars in Jasper Lane, which was a small town between Memphis and Rose Valley Hills. It had an eclectic mix of customers and played music of all genres. If a person was from Jasper Lane, we could tell when others weren’t.

Take tonight for instance. There were two groups of people that I’d been keeping my eye on more closely than I usually would. One was a table of four men who were drinking quicker than I was sure they could handle. Our moonshine was stronger than anywhere else I’d ever had some and I was sure they’d create a scene before the night was over. As the minutes passed, they became louder and more obnoxious.

The other group was a younger set of women that looked out of place. They were dressed like they were going to a club, and I didn’t want anyone to take advantage of them. Jasper Lane was a safe place for the most part, but still. You could never be too sure. Between those two groups, I continued to survey the rest of my surroundings, and somehow, my eyes would still land on Kassadee.

She’d changed into a pair of jean shorts that didn’t leave much to the imagination and a crop top that exposed her pierced belly button and flat stomach. As soon as Kennessy saw the way she was dressed he started yelling but his sister didn’t pay him any mind. I was sure the exposed skin had been increasing her tips throughout the night.

As she walked over to our table with two shots, I forced myself to look away from her. She set the brown liquor on the table and asked, “Are y’all coming through tomorrow for the live band?”

“I want to,” Kennessy answered first. “How did the line dancing go last night?”

She shrugged and crossed her arms over her chest. Because of the low cut of her shirt, her titties were sitting up even nicer, making my mouth water.

“It was cool. I think it’ll pick up with time. A lot of Black people are used to going to the country to line dance, so it was a mostly white and older crowd.”

“I’m sure it’ll pick up.”

“I hope so. It was hard enough for me to convince Andy to let me host events every other night. If he thinks they are keeping the regulars away and not bringing in as much or more profit he’s going to cancel them.”

“What are you doing to market the events?” I asked.

“Just posting about them on social media.”

My head shook as I sat up in my seat. “Nah, if you want to get a younger crowd in, you’re going to have to meet them where they are. Get some flyers printed and go down to the country when they do the trail riding and shit. Hand out the flyers and let them know about the line dancing night y’all have here.”

“That’s a good idea,” Kennessy said. “And it’ll probably be easier to bring people in for the live band tomorrow if you go downtown where the clubgoers are. If you want, I’ll go with you and pass them out.”

Her smile was wide as she leaned forward and kissed his cheek. “That would be great, Ken. Thank you.”

“Where my kiss at? It was my idea.”

I wasn’t expecting her to actually kiss me, so I was surprised when she licked her lips and placed a soft, quick kiss to my lips. With her face just a couple of inches from mine, she looked into my eyes and said, “Thank you, Dali.”

I was so caught off guard by the kiss I couldn’t even respond. All I could do was stare at her. My heart raced and dick grew uncomfortably hard. Sweat started pouring from everywhere, making me feel like the little boy who’d had his first kiss with her all over again. Her giggle went into one ear and came out of the other as she walked away.

“You going out bad, brother, and I’m tryna figure out why,” Kennessy said, gaining my attention.

“Fuck you even talking about?” I couldn’t hide my irritation as I snatched the shot off the table.

“I’on know what you getting an attitude with me for.”

Honestly, I didn’t know either. I was mad at myself for freezing and not taking advantage of the moment.

“Your sister just kissed me, right? I didn’t just imagine that?”

Kennessy chuckled. “Yeah. Surprisingly… she did.” He took his shot. “I was expecting you to say something or do something. You don’t want her no more?”

My head snapped in his direction. “I want her more than anything else in this world. The love I have for her… that shit is deeper than my heart. It’s in my marrow.”

Running his fingers down the sides of his mouth, Kennessy sat up in his seat. “Then what exactly are you waiting for? You asked for my permission to pursue her, and I finally gave it. What’s the hold up?”

Sighing, I slumped down further in my seat. It hadn’t been a secret that I was in love with my best friend’s sister. His feelings about it changed like the season. Sometimes he was cool with it and others he wanted us to stay away from each other. I could respect how he felt either way since most times he only wanted us apart when things were toxic or tricky between us. More than anything, Kennessy didn’t want our relationship to come between the friendship he and I shared.

“I’m being careful,” was what I decided on saying. “I know I said I would go after her when I retired, but things are different now. The vibe ain’t the same.”

“And whose fault is that?”

Sucking my teeth, I shook my head. “That’s neither here nor there.”

He laughed, and as much as I didn’t want to, I chuckled. “Nah, nigga. I don’t even want to hear that shit.”

“It hasn’t been just me. Kas be on that bullshit too.”

“I won’t deny that, but at the same time, you’re the man. It’s your job to lead her into whatever it is y’all gonna do.”

I couldn’t deny that.

“All I keep thinking about is what if it’s too late? What if the bond is broken because the chemistry is off? What if it doesn’t work out and it makes things even weirder between us?”

“And what if she meets someone and falls in love?” Just the thought of that had my heart twisting in my chest. “What if you waste so much time she convinces herself you don’t want her and she releases you from her heart? I haven’t always wanted y’all together, but I know you love my sister. If you want her, now’s the time.”

My eyes found Kassadee again. She set three drinks on the table for the rowdy crew that I was sure was from out of town. When she turned to walk away, one of the men smacked her ass and tried to pull her down onto his lap. I’m not sure which one of us jumped up from our seats first, but we charged over to the table and had him out of his chair within seconds.

Kennessy delivered a right hook to his jaw that had the man swiveling in my direction and my uppercut had him flying into the table. I allowed Kennessy to finish him off because he’d do less damage but still fuck him up well. When I felt like the man had enough, I grabbed Kennessy and shoved him over to the bar. Once I made sure he was calm enough not to go back over to the table, I searched the space for Kassadee. She hated violence and fighting, which was probably the biggest reason why we’d never gotten together.

When I didn’t see her, I headed toward the bathrooms. Not caring about who was inside, I stepped into the women’s bathroom and called her name. She wasn’t in a stall. Instead, she was pacing in front of the sinks as she bit her thumb nail.

“You good?” I asked, walking over to her since she hadn’t acknowledged me calling her name. Gripping her shoulders, I had to force her to stop pacing.

“Hmm?” She looked up at me as if she didn’t even know I was in there with her.

“Are you okay, Kas?”

She swallowed hard and nodded. “Y-Yeah, I’m good.” Kassadee released a shaky breath. “I’m used to men getting handsy when they get that liquid courage. Y’all didn’t have to do that, Dali.”

“Do you really think either of us would stand by and watch a person violate or disrespect you? I don’t give a damn who it is.”

Her eyes rolled to the side as she released a hard exhale. “You know how I feel about violence.”

“And you know how I feel about you.”

“Actually, I don’t. You hitting someone doesn’t prove anything, Dali. You literally do that for a living.”

She pushed my hands from her shoulders and headed out of the bathroom.

“Not anymore.” I gripped her hand and turned her to face me. “And how can you say you don’t know how I feel about you?”

“Kas, are you okay?” Andy asked, meeting us in the hallway. “Linda came and told me what happened.”

“Yeah, I’m fine.”

“Are you sure? Do you need to take the rest of the night off? Those guys are out of here, and you don’t have to worry about them coming back.”

“I’ll be fine.” Her eyes shifted in my direction briefly. “I need to get back behind the bar.”

Without waiting for him to respond, she quickly walked away.

This was the first time I considered how not actively pursuing Kassadee made her feel.

Was Kennessy right?

Had I taken too long and ruined my chance?

I thought because of how organic our chemistry was that Kassadee would always trust my feelings for her. Now… I wasn’t so sure.