Page 42 of Cause When You Love Someone
“About time you answered the door. I was two seconds from climbing through your window.” She shoved me to the side and stepped down the hallway. “I’ve been holding my pee for almost an hour!”
I breathed a sigh of relief seeing it was my sister, but the squeal that echoed through my house after she arrived put me back on alert.
“Why the hell are y’all yelling?” I quizzed, busting into the room. “What are you doing in here? I thought you needed to use the bathroom.”
“It went away!” She bounced on her tippy toes. “Oh my God! I can’t believe the tea pages were right!”
“What did they say?” Clarke asked in a low voice.
“That you two ran off and got married.”
Isabella’s response made heat touch my cheeks. “And you think that’s true?”
“At first, I didn’t.” She pointed to Clarke in my bed. “Now, I do.”
As if boundaries didn’t exist, Isabella leaped on the mattress next to Clarke. She studied the brown beauty like she was an artifact while she stroked her hair. “I can’t believe you’re here. I need you to help me find a dress for a dance I’m attending soon. Can I go to set with you one day? Can we take a selfie?”
“All right. That’s enough, Izzy.”
Clarke gave me a sweet smile. “She’s fine.”
“Not acting like a groupie, she isn’t. Izzy, go wait for me in the living room.”
She slammed her palms into the bed and sprang to her feet. “Whatever. Clarke, don’t leave before we get our picture.”
I stepped to the side and let the spoiled brat pass me before I walked in Clarke’s direction. The need to inhale her scent triggered me to place one hand at each of her sides and lean down until we exchanged the same breath.
“I’ll be right back.”
“I’ll be right here until you come for me. After what you started this morning, I don’t want to be anywhere else unless it’s with you.”
I kissed her nose, then dropped one foot back. “That’s good to know since I was hoping you would come with me to the brunch Blaze is having for Church.”
“Oh. She’s a girl that likes to celebrate her man’s birthday all month. I love that for them.” Her brows leaped up her forehead.“Wait. I don’t have anything to wear. I don’t want to call any of my people.”
“I’ll take care of it.”
“You’ll take care of it,” she repeated with a hint of doubt packing her tone.
“I’m going to teach you to stop doubting me.”
She leaned back and crossed her legs. “I don’t mind being a student when my teacher knows what he’s talking about.”
I swiped my phone from the nightstand on my way out of the room. Although I would have to deal with questions about Clarke, I knew O’Cyrus’s wife, Stony, could have a rack of designer pieces delivered in an hour. Though the retired paparazzi was now a sports photographer, she owned a photography studio used by some of the biggest designers in the world.
The sound of TikTok music led me to the kitchen, where Isabella sat with a bowl of cereal.
“Why were you playing at the door instead of using your key?”
“I forgot it at home.”
Her lack of eye contact made me sit in the chair bedside her. “How did you get over here?”
“I took the train. I started to Uber, but it was too expensive.”
“It would’ve been free had you called me to pick you up.”
She shook her head. “If Mama would’ve seen you pick me up, she would’ve started begging.” She rolled her eyes. “That’s why I left. The landlord came over complaining about unpaid rent. When I refused to give her my stash, she started swinging.”
