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“Never said I did.”

“Then stop acting like you do.”

He went quiet for a second. “I know when you got some shit on your mind. You ain’t been right. You workin’ too hard.”

I closed my sketch pad before he could get another look. “And I know when you being nosey as hell.”

He chuckled, leaning back in the chair. “There she go. Slick ass mouth.”

I rolled my eyes. “You got some nerve.”

He threw his hands up and laughed. “I’m guilty. You gon’ come back outside? It’s a couple lil’ cheerleaders askin’ for you.”

“Yeah,” I said, stuffing my sketchbook in my purse. “They wanted to put on a cheer show for me.”

We stood at the same time, and he closed the space between us. He didn’t say anything; he just stood in front of me, his eyes moving over my face and landing on my lips. His hand fell on my waist, warm and too damn familiar. My breath caught, and for a second, we didn’t move. He licked his lips, then stepped back slowly. I reached for the door handle, and he knocked my hand away.

I huffed and stood aside while he opened the door. “Juvie, for real?”

“Cut that shit out, Juicy. You ain’t opened one door all day. Go ’head.”

I stomped through the door and down the hall. Juvie laughed loud as hell, teasing me. My irritation had nothing to do with him opening the door for me. It was knowing shit I thought I buried years ago was finding its way back to the surface.

He’s your client. You’re his agent.

That was easy in the beginning. But the more time I spent with Juvie, the harder it was for me to ignore what was happening. If I made it through the rest of this day, I needed to create real space between Juvie and me.

Once the event was over, I did everything I was required to do and hauled ass. Juvie and I kept our distance for the remainder of the event, but he kept staring at me like he could see through me. Any time he got near me, he didn’t miss a chance to touch me. I don’t even think he realized he was doing it, but it was driving me insane. My mind was clouded, and my heart beat out of my chest every time he got close. I hated how easily he could throw me off.

The sun was starting to set as I drove home. Usually, stupid ass drivers got on my nerves. I’d be laying on the horn, hollering and screaming, but today, I was completely silent. I didn’t even turn on any music. Calling one of my sisters would make everything they’d been saying right. If I told my mom, she’d pretend to listen, but in the back of her mind, she’d think of ways to make me leave Emery, and that was out of the question.

But one thing I couldn’t ignore was that Juvie knew me. There were things about me that he didn’t need a reminder about. That’s why he found me when I snuck off to draw. He knew I needed a quiet space. He knew that after too long in crowds, I had to recharge. Today wasn’t that, though… It was him. His presence made me run and hide like a scared ass little girl. The screen in my car lit up, and Juvie’s name flashed across it. I wanted to ignore it, but I had a job to do. I was his agent.

“Hey,” I answered, trying to keep my voice even.

“Damn, you left and didn’t say shit? You good?” he asked.

“My bad. I’m okay. Did you need something?”

“Nah… That ain’t good enough. Answer this FaceTime call.”

My throat went dry. “What? For what? I’m driving.”

“Ion care ’bout that shit. Answer.”

My screen lit up with the FaceTime call before I could argue again. I stared at it for a few seconds, then pressed accept and propped my phone against the dashboard. Juvie’s face filled the screen. He was still at the center, jacket unzipped, gold teeth flashing when he frowned at me.

“See. I knew yo’ ass was lyin’.”

“How am I lying? I’m literally fine.”

“Juicy, you don’t even drive quiet.”

I glanced at the screen. “What the fuck does that mean?”

“You always got music blastin’, fussin’ at somebody in traffic, and singin’ loud as hell. You sittin’ in that car, lookin’ like somebody stole your puppy.”

I sucked my teeth, gripping the steering wheel tighter. “You called me to analyze my driving habits?”