I was lounging around the house in a dark pair of gray sweatpants, a white crop top, and my hair in a messy bun when I heard a knock on my door. I furrowed my brows as I picked up my remote and muted the TV, throwing the blanket settled over my legs off of me as well. I made my way to the door and opened it up, surprised to find my little brother standing on the doorstep.

"Darius? What are you doing here?" I hooked my hand around the back of his head and pulled him inside, shutting the door behind him. "Did Mama and Pops drop you off?"

"Nah, I walked here," he responded. He kicked his shoes off and laid them in the middle of the hallway before walking further into my place. I picked up his shoes as I followed after him.

"And why'd you do that?" I asked. I dropped his shoes next to the couch and retook my spot. Darius came and sat next to me. I took the blanket I was previously using and draped it over him.

"Because Jevon was being an annoying little bitch, so I left."

"Jevon's fifteen years old and you're his younger brother. Of course he's gonna be annoying."

"Yeah, but he kept jumping in front of the screen and turning off the Xbox and hitting me on my head," he elaborated.

"Of course it's 'cause of that damn game," I muttered to myself. I told Darius to hold on a second as I went into the kitchen and rummaged through the cabinet before finding a sleek yellow bag. I re-entered the living room and tossed the bag onto his lap, glee overwhelming his face as he realized what I hurled at him.

"You bought me Funyuns?" He ripped the clip off the bag and stuck his hand in, a handful of the onion-flavored O's following his arm out.

"You not special enough to warrant your own bag of Funyuns," I told him with a snort. "That's my emergency bag whenever one of you come over crying about how y'all annoying each other."

If there's one thing my brothers have in common, it's their love of Funyuns. They always used to ask Mama for a bag whenever they would have huge gaming tournaments. So, when they all got to the age where they wanted to walk their asses over here and complain to me about how Trayvion did this or Donte did that, I invested in a Funyun stash to keep them quiet until I could convince them to go home.

I love my brothers to death, but my home is my sanctuary. I finally escaped the arguments of prepubescent boys, where I could focus on my work and pig out whenever I felt I needed to.

Darius munched on his Funyuns with a close-lipped smile on his face as I grabbed clothes from the dryer and transferred them to a basket. As I made my way back towards Darius to ask him when, exactly, he planned on going back home, a knock rang through the apartment.

"That might be Jevon coming to beat me up," Darius announced as he heard me making my way to the door.

"Darius, what did you say?" I moved the basket full of clothes onto my hip.

"I texted him saying that he's a bitch." I heard the munch of one of the O's crunching against his teeth.

"Why y'all always gotta provoke each other?" I asked no one in particular as I raised my free arm up, letting it slap back down to my side. "Jevon, if you came over here to beat your brother's ass..." I trailed off as I opened the door, surprised to find Jeremiah at my door rather than my kid brother. "Well, you're not Jevon."

"I don't know who Jevon is, so no, I am not," Jeremiah responded.

"He's my kid brother." I waved a hand nonchalantly in front of my face before gesturing for him to enter. "What brings you around?" I asked as I lead him to the living room.

"I'm here to pick you up. We're going on a date."

"Didn't even text me first? Being bold, I see." I placed my basket full of clean clothes by the couch, where Darius still resided. "Oh, this is my even younger kid brother, Darius."

"Do Ma and Pops know you're going on a date?" Darius noisily asked, not even bothering to introduce himself.

"It's none of your business, now is it, D?" He heavily shrugged as he continued munching on his Funyuns. "But, since I am going out as soon as I get ready, you have to start walking your ass home."

"Jevon is gonna beat me up when I get home," he pouted.

"You're the one who decided to text him calling him a bitch," I pointed out. "You reap what you sow." I walked over to the couch and ripped the Funyuns from Darius's lap, him crying out briefly. I shrugged as I walked the bag back to its rightful spot in the cabinet.

"Can't I at least take the Funyuns with me?" Darius stood up from the couch and followed me into the kitchen, disappointment filling his face when he realized he wasn't quite tall enough to reach his favorite snack.

"Why? So Jevon can beat you up and take your food?" I moved back to the living room and gave an amused Jeremiah an apologetic smile. "And you didn't introduce yourself. I know Mama taught you not to be rude." I headed into my room and left the two boys alone to get to know each other.

After changing into my baby blue, velvet bodysuit and my favorite pair of gray, lace-up shorts, I stepped back into the living room. "Where'd Darius go?" I asked as I moved to my shoe rack and grabbed a simple pair of black flip flops.

"He introduced himself and left," Jeremiah answered, pocketing his phone. "He did exactly what you asked him to."

"He didn't get away with the Funyuns, did he?" I asked. I did not want to have to go out and buy a new bag of chips for my brothers because one of them couldn't listen to me.

"No, he didn't."

"Good," I huffed. I slipped into my flip-flops before asking, "Where are we going on this date?" I walked past Jeremiah and into the kitchen, grabbing my keys and bag off the counter.

"We are going to Popeye's," he informed

I lead Jeremiah to the door. I opened it up and allowed him to step out first. I closed the door behind me and locked it with my key, settling the keyring on my finger. "How'd you know I was in the mood for Popeye's?" I asked, a curious glint to my eye.

"I didn't," he chuckled. "But I'm in the mood for Popeye's, and I didn't want to go alone."

"You couldn't just call King up and ask him to go with you?" I was flattered that Jeremiah thought of me to take on his fast-food trip, but I had to have been his second choice next to his best friend.

"King is a scrub," he told me. "And you're more fun to hang out with."

"Good answer," I complimented. We walked down the steps and neared the curb, me surprised to not find the usual car waiting to cart us around. "Where's your driver?"

"You're looking at him." Jeremiah held up a hidden car key and pressed a button, the sleek black car sitting at the curb flashing its white lights.

"Somehow, I'm not surprised you drive a car this nice," I noted as I drunk in the car. It was easily over seventy-five thousand bucks, based on the fact that it was the newest Jaguar car model out right now.

"Somehow?" Jeremiah opened the door for me and I nodded in thanks. The interior was black leather, the steering wheel matching the interior.

I waited until Jeremiah was seated and the door was closed to say, "Yes, somehow. Even though you're unemployed, you manage to have someone drive your ass around everywhere." He opened his mouth to protest. "Not to mention you whip out these expensive, five thousand dollar suits every time we go out."

"Not today," Jeremiah informed as the car turned on.

The car was so damn fancy it had a keyless ignition.

"You're right. You're really living like a peasant today," I joked in reference to him driving himself in his luxury car. He, however, was dressed like any other man I would see on the street. He wore a plain white t-shirt under his faded blue denim jacket, a pair of loose-fitting black joggers dressing his bottom half. His feet were covered in a clunky pair of Timberlands.

"This is my everyday look," he defended. His eyes glanced over to me quickly before they checked the side mirrors, him pulling away from the curb after a moment.

"Your everyday outfit includes a one hundred fifty pair of boots and an almost four hundred dollar watch?" I cocked an eyebrow at him, waiting for him to speak.

"Sometimes you gotta treat yourself, you feel?" he questioned, his eyes darting from the road for a quick second.

"I don't treat myself to shit that's that expensive," I explained. "The most money I'm gonna spend to treat myself in two hundred dollars. I don't need anything more expensive than that."

"If that was true - which you know damn well it isn't - your last two date outfits wouldn't have cost over ten thousand bucks." I leaned back in my seat, my eyebrows showing that I was impressed. "You think you're the only one who knows the monetary value of things?" he questioned, a smug look on his face.

"I was born rich. What's your excuse?" Although I was joking, I was also partially curious about how he knew that. Almost everything I had worn on my person for our dates was designer, so he'd have to have a keen eye to spot those sorts of things.

"I'm a man who likes to flex like he's rich," he answered, the same smug expression held on his face. I rolled my eyes and changed the subject, tired of talking about money.

We pulled into the Popeye's parking lot and a giant smile inadvertently crossed my face. Popeye's was my favorite fast food place to eat, not to mention it was where Michael and I would have secret meetups to talk away from our parents.

Jeremiah told me to wait in the car as he unbuckled his seatbelt and pushed open the door. He rounded the hood of the vehicle and pulled mine open for me. I smiled as I unbuckled my seatbelt and secured my keys in my hand, the other grabbing the hand Jeremiah was holding out for me. 

"You really are a gentleman, huh?"

"My mama raised me with manners," he responded, the car door shutting gently behind me.

As we walked closer to the orange structure, I noticed a few people sitting by the window gaping at the car we arrived in, pointing at it through the windows. Their eyes widened in awe. I guess that's the reaction you get when you roll up to a Popeye's in a flashy car.

We ordered our food, and Jeremiah pulled his wallet from his back pocket at the same time I plucked mine from my bag. He pulled out a twenty-dollar bill at the same time I placed my credit card on the counter. The cashier looked between the two forms of payment, unsure of which to take.

"Jeremiah, put that money back in your wallet." He looked at his bill before glancing up at me. He stuck his hand further over the counter, the bill now almost touching the cashier's hand.

"Kiara, take your card off the counter and let me pay," he responded.

"You paid last time," I informed him, my hand finding my card and sliding it further down the counter. "My mama raised me with manners, too." Jeremiah cocked an eyebrow at me, his arm falling back to his side, money still in hand. I smiled at the cashier as he rang up our order and handed my card back to me.

"You should have let me pay," Jeremiah said as we stood off to the side, waiting for our order to be called.

"Like I said, you paid last time." I securely tucked my wallet into my bag and slung it over my shoulder. "It's only fair that I paid this time."

Before Jeremiah could respond, our order was called. "I'll get that. You choose a table." 

I nodded and headed to one of the last tables open by the window, placing my keys on the table while placing my bag on the floor next to me. I pulled my phone from my pocket and responded to a few texts, pocketing it when Jeremiah reappeared.

"Are you the type to be on your phone during a date?" he asked.

"I'm not," I assured. I grabbed my tray from Jeremiah's hand and thanked him as I opened my dipping sauce. "You saw me put it away as soon as I saw you. Are you the type to be on your phone during a date?"

"No, ma'am." He opened his dipping sauce as well, dipping the tip of his drumstick into his dipping sauce, the same one as I got. "If I'm on a date with you, I'm clearly taking the time of day to get to know you. I think it's rude if you're going to prefer looking at a tiny phone screen over actual human interaction." He took a bite of his chicken, eyes closing in content for a brief moment.

"Exactly!" I agreed, waving the piece of chicken tender I had ripped off. "This generation is in the age of technology, and we've all become slaves to it. Some of my friends would rather text me than go out and grab a drink or come over to my house. We aren't aware that technology has become some sort of addiction." I dipped my chicken into my Sweet Heat dipping sauce and threw it into my mouth.

"I'm glad you could agree." He smiled at me. "King is always texting whoever twenty-four-seven, and that shit gets irritating because I'm right in front of his face. Yet he's more captivated by some attractive female on Instagram."

"I think we could all use some type of social media cleanse to get back in touch with the real world and enjoy the natural beauty of it." I grabbed one of my fries and pinched it between my fingers. "You know, there are studies showing that our phones are actually changing the way that our brains are functioning?"

"They're also worried that the next generations could be born with a deformity on their pinky fingers from the way we hold our phones now."

"That's a joke," I expressed with disbelief.

"It's called 'smartphone pinky.' Look it up some time," he explained as he grabbed the drink we decided to share. "These phones are no joke."

"I know," I agreed with a nod of my head. I held out my hand and waited for Jeremiah to finish sipping on the drink. He placed it in my hand, and I thanked him and took a sip from the straw. "It makes me want to just go outside and hang out in nature for a minute." I placed the cup down on the table, a few drops of condensation falling onto the table.

"We should go to Green Lake sometime then," he suggested. He pulled off a piece from his biscuit, a few stray crumbs falling to the paper on his tray. "You've been, right?"

"No, actually," I admitted. "My brother says it's nice there, though. He goes all the time."

"Now we have to go. You can't be born and raised in Seattle and never have gone to Green Lake. It just doesn't make sense."

"I just ain't had the time to get down there. My focus has been on work this past year, and before that, it was school. I barely got any free time to myself." My focus has been on my career since I grabbed that college diploma. Adrienne and my family have been trying to get me to slow down for months now, but that promotion is so close I can almost taste it.

"You're making room in your schedule next weekend because we're going," he basically ordered.

"Oh, are we?" I asked a single eyebrow cocking. "I don't think I ever agreed to that."

"I'll roll up to your place again and make you come with me. If I can't convince you with my charm, that is."

"Three dates and you're this bold." A smile spread across my face as I shook my head. I dropped my fry back onto my tray and said, "What have I gotten myself into?"

Jeremiah and I finished up our meal, yet stayed in the restaurant and continued talking. We stayed for maybe half an hour after we finished eating. The only reason we left was because both our butts were getting uncomfortable in the chairs, and the seats in Jeremiah's car were extremely comfortable.

"Oh, I forgot to ask," Jeremiah began as he pulled up to the curb outside my apartment. He placed the car in park, his hand lingering on the gear shift. "There's an event tomorrow, and I was wondering if you wanted to come."

"I know, I was such a good time at the last one," I responded, tucking back a curl I felt tickling my ear. "But yeah, I'm down to come. Just let me know when you're picking me up, and I'll be ready."

"Dope. I'll text you."

"You're always texting me." Which was true. Unless I was at work or he was busy with a job interview or something, we were always texting each other.

"You right," he admitted, a white smile appearing on his face, a small chuckle accompanying it. I shook my head at him and said my goodbye, grabbing my keys from the spare opening in the cupholder, the other occupied by the drink we'd shared earlier.

Before I left, Jeremiah leaned over the center console and pressed his lips to mine tenderly, his big lips dominating mine. He pulled away ever-so-slightly before his lips captivated mine again in the same gentle fashion as before. I felt my arm brush up against the cold water droplets on the drink sat in the cupholder, a shiver running up my spine.

I grabbed my bag and opened the door, but not before placing another kiss on Jeremiah's lips, a smile on both our faces as I exited the car. I strolled up to my door and put my key in the keyhole, surprised to find the door to swing open by itself. I furrowed my eyebrows, as I was sure I locked the door when I left. I took a few skeptical steps into the apartment, closing the door gently behind me.

"How was your date?" Adrienne yelled as she came zooming around the corner. She skidded to a stop in front of me.

"Damn, Adrienne! You can't just be coming into my house unannounced when I'm not home and then give me a damn heart attack when I come back." I held a hand to my heart as I shook my head, my flip flops being kicked off my feet. "Wait, how'd you even know I was on a date?" I picked my flip flops up from the floor and dropped them in my room.

"I didn't," she stated. "I was just chilling here because I was bored, and I saw a car I didn't recognize and figured it was Jameson's." She followed me as I ventured to my couch. "Are you sure this man is really unemployed? Because that is a hot and expensive car."

"It's Jeremiah. And, yeah," I assured her with a nod. "We were just texting the other day about how he has a job interview on Monday." Adrienne nodded slowly as she sat on the couch next to me, grabbing the remote and clicking on a random show. "Oh, I have an event to go to tomorrow, so do you want-"

"I don't even know why you're bothering to ask that question," Adrienne interrupted, her lips pursed. "Just give me a time you're leaving, and I'll be here three hours early."

"Of course you will," I mumbled under my breath. "I never get any time to relax when you're around." A scowl formed on her face. I smiled at her sweetly, blowing a kiss for her to catch and stick in her pocket.

Adrienne was at my house at two on the dot the next day. "You ready to get all prettied up?" she asked. She walked in, clad in a pair of athletic shorts and a simple tank top.

"It's not fair that you get to look like a bum while I've gotta torture myself," I whined, standing up from the couch and heading to my bathroom where I would strip off my comfy shorts and tee.

"Kiki, do you know how many people wish they could be dressing up in expensive gowns on the regular? Quiero tener para lucir bien en ocasiones."

"You wanna be the one going on this date tonight? Cause I ain't get attached yet," I joked with her. She rolled her eyes and I laughed as she shooed me into the bathroom so I could get going and start getting ready.

"Why have I never seen this gorgeous dress before?" Adrienne asked as I entered my room, a towel wrapped firmly around my body and shower cap still on my head. I looked over at the dress, my eyes scanning over it carefully.

"I bought that the