"Mama," Kash whined over the phone. "I don't know what I want done to my hair tomorrow, help," she said, while leaning on her father's shoulder.

"What's tomorrow, mommy?" Bianca wondered, moving around the salon.

"Tomorrow is Kasiah's birthday dinner and his party is the next day. You know I have to look good," she said and her mom laughed while her father gagged. "Daddy, please," she chuckled.

"Yes, Donovan please," Bianca said. 

"My baby don't need to look good for no man except Jesus in church," Donovan fussed making Kash and her mother laugh. "I can't believe you like that boy, Kash,"

"Me either," she giggled.

It had been about a week and a half, just about two weeks, and Kasiah's birthday was almost here. Kash was excited, she wanted to dress up and look pretty both nights, but she wasn't sure what to do with her hair. She hadn't stress this much over her hair in a long time, which just added to the list of reasons why she knew she likes Siah for real and this wasn't some temporary crush.

"Oh gosh, I never told Khy," she gasped, randomly realizing. She remembered what her mother said about not needing his permission, and she knew she didn't. She just wanted to make him aware—in case she was flirting or even acting weird, he wouldn't ask her right then what was going on. He was very liable to do so.

After she and her mom discussed how she was getting her hair done and she showed Kash some ultrasound pictures from her last appointment, she got off the phone and went to go get ready to see Khy, which just consisted of her taking her bonnet off.

"You goin' to your brother's house like that?" Donovan snickered, seeing Kash in a pair of fuzzy pajama pants and a t-shirt complete with her ugg slides. "Can you even drive in them things?"

"Yes, father," she chuckled. "It's just Khy, we not going nowhere—and if we do I'm staying in the car,"

"What if your lil friend there?" he smirked, knowing exactly how Kash got.

"Not my lil friend," she laughed. "I'm sure he is at his own house with his dad. I'll see you later, okay? Text me if you need anything while I'm gone," she smiled.

"Alright, babygirl. Love you,"

"Love you too!" she called as she walked downstairs to the garage to get her car.

"Hey Ava," Kash smiled as she opened the door with a yawn. "Did I wake y'all up, I'm sorry, Khy told me to come at 4," she said.

"You're fine, pooh," Ava moved to the side, welcoming Kash in.  "We just fell asleep watching a movie like some old folks," she giggled. "Khy went to go change, you want something to drink?"

"If y'all still have my bottle of cran apple juice I'll take that," she said and Ava laughed.  "He drank it didn't he?" she huffed. "He doesn't even like cran apple!"

"It wasn't Khy, it was Siah. He literally drank it last night," she giggled when Kash's jaw dropped. "I tried to stop him! But by the time I came in the kitchen the bottle was empty,"

"Ooh I can't stand his ass," she rolled his eyes, grabbing her phone to send a very strongly worded text message to him.

: when i see you im gon beat yo skinny black  ass and i want you to have my juice 😐
siah😤: what the hell you talking about
siah😤: better yet who tf you talking to
: YOU! stealing my shit. thief.
siah😤: aint nobody steal yo' shit

She sucked her teeth. "He tryna lie, ugly ass boy," she curled her lip up and Ava laughed, coming back from the kitchen with a bottle of water.

After a few minutes, Khy came from his room and plopped down on his couch by Kash. "Wassup, Fat fat? How are you?"

"Hi Khyren, I'm good, how are you?" she turned to look at him. She hadn't seen him in a little while, so she was happy he invited her over.

"I'm straight, but we gotta pick Siah's cousins up from the airport tomorrow morning, I only met them niggas one time—done forgot what they ass look like, so I'm a lil confused," he shook his head.

"Aw! Y'all are surprising him with his family from Texas?" she pouted. "That's so sweet, Khy. I know he's gonna be excited," she smiled.

As she said that, she remembered the random conversation she had with her father about where to find good men—and Siah was indeed from Texas. It made her blush inadvertently, and she shook it off, before he completely took over her brain like he usually did.

"So Bubs ," Kash smiled, tucking her legs under her body.

"Whatchu broke, Sadé?" he squinted his eyes, making her jaw drop again. "You always breakin' shit, don't blame me for askin',"

"Well I mean I need my brakes done—but I didn't break those, your father be driving my car like he has no damn sense" she chuckled. "But that's not what I wanted to tell you, Bubba,"

"Oh, what happened then? You straight?" he raised his eyebrows as Ava went back into the kitchen for something.

"I'm fine, Bubs. I-I um, I have a crush on somebody! Isn't that crazy," she prefaced, suddenly getting nervous.

"Oh yeah? Who?" he raised his brows again.

"Um, well...Siah," she quickly said.

Khy was immediately caught off guard. The information he already knew, plus this new information had him shocked. He tried not to make a face, since he knew Kasiah liked Kash already. He saw it all playing in his mind now and he couldn't believe his best friend was about to date his sister. Because when Kash liked someone—she made it known.

"K-Kasiah? Parker?" he tried to act completely confused.

"I know right! It's crazy but—I really do like him," she nodded with a smile.

Even if Khyren was the type to police who his sister dated—he couldn't even do it now. She looked genuinely happy at the moment, happier than he'd seen her in a long time, especially since her breakup. So if it was Siah who was gonna make her happy like that and keep that smile on her face, he couldn't care less. He didn't care that he liked her in the first place as long as he treated her right, and it was the same for Kash. Khy cared about Kasiah and he wanted his best friend to be happy too.

"It is crazy," he chuckled. "But that's cool man, you look happy about it. You gon snatch him up now?" he asked and Kash laughed.

"We'll see, I don't even know if he likes me yet," she said.

"Oh please," he scoffed. "Who wouldn't like you?" he smirked and she laughed.

"You're just saying that because you're my brother," she waved him off and took the remote so she could find something for them to watch.

He simply shook his head, knowing what he knew, he would just sit back and watch it all play out.

"You think he likes straight hair?" she asked, he could tell she was a little nervous. "I'm wearing it straight with a side part for tomorrow and the party—you think he'll like it?"

"Aw shit na', lil Kash money all nervous behind a boy!" he teased, mushing her head and she sucked her teeth. "Aight aight my bad," he chuckled. "I'm sure he will, Fat fat. Don't be nervous, it's still just Siah,"

"Yeah, just the juice thief," she curled her lip up and he laughed at her face.

"How I look, dad?" Siah said, coming downstairs. His birthday dinner was in half an hour, and he had just finished getting dressed. His father wanted everyone to dress up, unlike tomorrow night where everyone would be in club clothes. 

"Look like its yo' birthday, my boy," Tatum  smirked. "You look good!"

"Thank you, old man," he chuckled. He was excited for his dinner, it would be his closest friends there, along with his dad, so it wasn't a huge reservation. He was also getting most of his birthday presents tonight—which he was looking forward to. His friends always gave great gifts, especially this year with the party they were throwing.

Today was his actual twenty second birthday—he had to tell his grandparents he was twenty two all year so on his birthday, they would remember how old he was turning, especially his grandfather. But today, November 21st,  he was officially twenty two. Having a late birthday was weird, because he was the youngest of all his friends, he barely made it into he and Khy's graduating class because of how late it was.

"Yo' girl comin'?" his dad asked as they drove to the restaurant.

"Yes, Sadé is coming," he chuckled. Ever since he told his dad he liked Sadé, he had been referring to her as 'his girl'. "You know she not my girlfriend right?"

"Yeah not yet," he teased and Siah laughed. "Once she see you with them braces off it's gon be a different story," Tatum nudged Siah's shoulder.

It was true, two days ago, Kasiah had finally gotten his braces removed after years of having them on. He still wasn't used to the way his face looked with them off since he'd had them for so long, but everyone he showed so far—especially his grandmother assured him he looked fine and his teeth looked great.

"Man whatever," he laughed. He couldn't lie and say he hadn't been thinking about it, though. He was trying to figure out how he wanted to approach her, should he just ask her on a date? Just come right out and say he had feelings for her? What would she even say? He also wasn't too big on the whole 'talking phase' thing, he felt like people got stuck there and complacent, if he wanted a girl, he wanted her to be his girlfriend, and if it didn't work out he'd let it be that.

That's if Kash was with that, of course. A part of him felt kind of weird for planning all this out, especially when she hadn't shown any signs of liking him back, she just acted like her normal self—just yesterday she threatened to beat him up.

But whatever the outcome, he was going to make sure she knew how he felt.

Once they got to the restaurant, Tatum asked the hostess for their party and she led them to where everyone was sitting in their little private section, and wished Siah a happy birthday.

"Aw shit," he heard Donny start to gas him, and he he immediately bursted into laughter. "Look at this nigga! All dressed up," he continued.

"Look at em," Khy continued. "He posin', look,"

"Man quit," he waved them off as they stood up to greet him.

"Happy birthday, bro," Donny gave him a hug and Khy did the same, dapper him up after.

"Happy birthday, my boy," Khy smirked, and he thanked them.

Ava was next in line, giving him a tight hug. She loved birthdays and celebrating them. "Happy birthday, Siah," she said, handing him a bag. "I hope you like it.

He said hello to his two other friends that were there and looked around for Sadé until Khy nudged him. "She got caught in some traffic, she gon' be here, big dawg," he teased and Siah sucked his teeth. "But! We got a surprise for you,"

"A surprise?" he furrowed his eyebrows and he saw three of his cousins round the corner, and a grin instantly broke on his face. "Oh shit! How y'all get here?!" he immediately walked up to them and tightly hugged each of them.

His cousins, two from his dad's side and one from his mom's, had truly been his best friends from birth. They were the sons of his parents favorite siblings, so they were always together as kids. Even though they came from two different sides of his family either side treated the boys like family, especially since they saw each other so often.

Phoenix, Landon and Samuel were the last three people he was expecting to see, but he was happy. Then he saw Ishmael and wasn't as happy, but grateful he took the trip anyway. Ishamel was Sam's brother, and he knew his aunt Kassidy—their mom always had them go everywhere together. Ishmael wasn't a bad person per say, but he and Siah were always arguing about stupid things, and when they were younger, those arguments usually ended in fights. He loved his cousin of course, but he was annoying.

"Y'all did this for me man? Thank y'all," he looked to his friends.

"Ain't nun' bro," Khy waved him off and Donny nodded in agreement.

He turned back to his cousins and in an instant they all just bursted into laughter.

"Look at this man! He look bout grown as hell," Landon said.

"Man, Siah been lookin' grown since we was bout seven, nigga stayed lookin' stressed as hell," Sammy joked.

"Nigga been paying bills since we was eight," Phoenix added and Siah just shook his head with a laugh. They always did this when they saw him, every time he came back to Texas, he was joked on, and he always had only one thing to reply with.

"Y'all ass just mad cuz you fuckin ugly," he shrugged  and they smacked their lips.

"Boy fuck you," Sam laughed and they all took their seats and started looking over the menu. He had almost forgot Sadé wasn't there until he saw the empty seat next to Ava, directly across from his, and he shook his head because he knew hid friends made sure this seat was empty for her.

A few minutes later, everyone heard heels quickly clicking toward the back, catching everyone's attention, since it was pretty quiet with everyone looking through their menus. Siah looked up as they  reached and was greeted with Sade coming through the door, honestly taking his breath away.

She looked gorgeous, he always thought she did but he hadn't seen her dressed up in a very long time. He now understood why she bought something new for every occasion because she made everything look unforgettable.

"Who is that?" he heard literally all his cousins mumble at once, and he fought the urge to roll his eyes at them.

"Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry I'm late," she rushed over to Siah with a pout on her face. "I-I left on time and I was doing so good and then I got caught in traffic! It was literally stopped! I'm sorry, hi everybody," she waved, and they all waved back. "Did I miss anything I—"

"You straight, calm down. We ain't even get no drinks. You fine," he assured her, standing up to greet her. "Thank you for coming, Sadé,"

"Wow he ain't thank us for coming," he heard Donny mumbled and his dad start snickering. Luckily, Kash couldn't hear, he only knew because Kash could barely hear someone calling her name from two feet away.

"Of course!" she grinned. "I wouldn't miss it. Happy birthday, Siah,"  she said, handing him a bag.

"Thank you," he smiled. "Here I thought all you had for me was an ass whopping," he joked and she laughed.

"You'll get that tomorrow, I can't embarrass you in front of your daddy," she giggled, finally going to her seat. She gave her brother a hug, and Donny, whom she sat in between. Her hair looked really pretty, she usually wore it curly, but he liked it straight, it was different.

They sat making small talk for a little while, till Siah realized she didn't know his cousins.

"Oh, Sadé," he called her and she looked up from her phone. "Lemme introduce you to my cousins. This Landon, Samuel, Phoenix and Ishmael," he pointed at each of them. "Y'all this Sadé, she Khy lil sister,"

"Nice to meet y'all," she smiled sweetly. They all replied accordingly, thankfully nobody tried to flirt. He couldn't say Kash was spoken for, but he also couldn't say he wouldn't knock one of them out if they tried it—it was a thin line, really. A very thin one.

As dinner progressed, he was enjoying his time. His cousins were having fun, his friends were having fun—even his dad was having fun and that was the goal.

"Kasiah!" Sadé gasped.

"What?" he raised his eyebrows and looked over at her with her jaw dropped. "What I do?!"

"Your braces! They're gone!" she cooed and he completely forgot they were off—again.

"You so dramatic," he laughed. "Yeah, I got em off the other day,

"Well lemme see! Say cheese" she insisted, and he blandly showed his teeth like he did a million times since he first got his braces. "Kasiah. Smile," she deadpanned and he groaned before giving her a genuine picture worthy smile. "Awww look at you stink!" she cheesed.

"Sadé please. Why you calling me that shit?" he chuckled, shaking his head.

His father coughed and Siah looked at him briefly and noticed the smirk on his face, and he tried to roll his eyes as subtly as possible, knowing he was grinning on the inside.

The next night, Siah was in an uber with his cousins on his way to the club for his birthday party. It was just about 9:30, and of course there was stop and go traffic.

"Sooo," Ishmael said, and Kasiah knew he was about to say something dumb. "About shawty from last night," he smirked.

"Sadé?" Siah raised his eyebrow, and he nodded. "What about her?"

"She got a nigga or what?" he wondered.

Yeah, me. "Nah, but I wouldn't," he chuckled. His cousin raised his eyebrows in a questioning manner and Siah tried not to say he'd beat his ass like he used to. "I like her,"

"Aw shit na'!" Landon immediately hyped him up. "I knew you was flirting wit' her ass! She bad, bro," he nodded.

"He finna say he wasn't flirting, ol' lyin' ass," Sammy replied before he could and Siah smacked his teeth. "See! He was,"

"Nigga you was flirting yo' ass off. You don't threaten to fight girls you'on wanna actually fu—" Phoenix started to say.

"Okay, nigga! Relax, shit," Siah immediately shut him up. "I was flirting wit' her because I like her," he repeated. "So don't try no shit," he eyed them, and they raised their hands in surrender.

Once they finally got to the club, they made their way up to the