Page 40 of Kove and Xiah
I glared at him for a minute longer then nodded.
“We working or you leaving?” Rowe asked, lifting another ball from the rack.
“We can work.”
“Let’s go then. Three point line. We’re gonna focus on shooting off the dribble.” He pushed a bounce pass my way, delivering the ball, which I dribbled to the three point line and set up, waiting for his instructions.
Whether I liked it or not, he was right about one thing, I’d signed the gotdamn contract, and if this was what it was going to take to put me in a starting position, then I was gonna man up.
Game muthafucking on…
Chapter 10
Xiah
“These are so good, sweetheart.”
“Thank you.”
I spiraled my fork into the one-pan tomato spinach pasta my mother prepared for lunch and grinned before I enjoyed it. Tomatoes, red onions, spinach, garlic, and heavy cream for the sauce. I had no idea what seasoning she used, but it was so damn good, I was on my second bowl.
“It’s like… creamy but fluffy and the orange flavor adds to it. You’ve got something with this, Xi.”
My mother lifted another of my cheesecake cookies that I’d brought over for her to try since she invited me for lunch. My parents and I were close. At least twice a month we did family dinners. I spent holidays with them and we did an annual family trip. I also dropped by often just to enjoy homemade lunch, like the pasta I was overdosing on while chatting up with the parental units.
“I think so too. I’m going to try them again, maybe with a caramel drizzle. That would add a little something.”
“Oh, yes, definitely caramel. Make sure you bring me the first batch.”
“I will.”
“Bring you what?” my father chimed in after he entered the kitchen, reached around my mother, and lifted one of my cookies. He kissed her cheek and took a bite while I watched, waiting for his reaction.
“What do you think?” my mother asked and he nodded, taking another bite, this one larger than the first.
“I approve. You’re really good at this, Xiah. I don’t know why you won’t do something with this.”
“That’s what I said, and to answer your question, she wants to add a caramel drizzle to these.”
“Okay, okay.” He nodded, finishing the one he was working on and lifting another. “I’m heading out. You want me to pick up dinner on my way home?”
“Where you going?” I asked, finishing the last of my pasta. I leaned back and rubbed my stomach, hating that I had one last viewing today because a nap would be lovely. I could already envision myself curled up on my parents’ sofa for a few hours before heading home.
“Golf with Ronald.”
“Golf?” I questioned with a raised brow and smug grin. My father retired from the city a few months ago and had been driving my mother crazy. She kept encouraging him to try new things to get him out of her hair for a few hours. I assumed golf was the latest. My father’s only interest was sports, which he watched year round.
Didn’t matter what kind, he loved the competition. So when his favorites, basketball and football, ended their seasons, he moved on to whatever he could find: bowling, tennis, cornhole, hell, even pickleball. As long as he could pick a side and yell at the TV, he was down.
That meant him being around the house all day and in my mother’s space. As much as they loved each other, she neededher sanctuary back, which meant sending my father out into the world with his other retired friends to give their wives a break.
“Your mother gifted me a set of clubs with my credit card and signed me up for lessons. If I didn’t know how much she loved me, I’d swear she was having an affair by the way she’s trying to keep me out the house.”
He winked at her and she rolled her eyes. I grinned when he hugged her from behind and kissed her cheek. “I’ll be home before six.”
“Burgers,” she said, turning to peck his lips before he pulled away.
“Got it.” He turned to me. “You hanging around?”
