Steady Love

Three

Nehemiah looked through the peephole of his front door. He opened it once he realized it was his older sister Olivia and her boyfriend Ethan.

"Hey baby brother." Olivia said as walked into the townhouse and kissed Nehemiah's forehead.

"Hey Olivia and Ethan." Nehemiah said. "What y'all doin' here?"

"We were in the neighborhood and decided to stop by." Ethan replied. "We can't come see you, lil bro?"

"Y'all can. Y'all just a little irky though." Nehemiah teased.

Olivia scoffed. "Yeah, whatever. You love us." She said as they all sat in his living room. "Plus, we heard that you saw True at TJ's."

Nehemiah smiled. "Yeah, I did. She made my strawberry henny extra special."

"You should go ahead and pursue her, bruh." Ethan urged.

"Nah, I can't. She probably thinks I'm a weirdo." Nehemiah said as he resumed eating his brown sugar cinnamon almonds.

"She actually thinks you're cute." Olivia said, making Nehemiah choke a little bit.

"You for real?" Nehemiah asked.

Olivia laughed. "I might tell ya a joke, but I'll never tell ya a lie! She thinks you're cute, Nehemiah. Do what Ethan said and try to pursue her."

"I—I—I don't know where to s—start." Nehemiah stammered.

"Aww, my baby." Olivia pouted. "You just have to learn how to relax your nerves so you can start conversation and get to know her. You already know that she thinks you're cute and you find her attractive, so that should ease a few things in your mind, right?"

Nehemiah sighed. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"Have some confidence, man." Ethan told him.

"Yeah, that's something I gotta work on." Nehemiah replied as he continued to eat his almonds. "Fuck! I hate being awkward!"

-

"Hey cutie." Troy said to Nehemiah as he walked into the kitchen behind Rashad. "I see you're doing pop ups again."

"You know why he popping up." Rashad joked. "Too bad she ain't here."

"Both of you can hursh." Nehemiah told them. "I need to borrow some sugar. I'm making myself some spaghetti for dinner and I'm not eating acidic ass spaghetti."

"Or or or.... you can join us for dinner. My baby doll is cooking tonight." Troy suggested.

"N—no I can't do that." Nehemiah said nervously. "I haven't gained my confidence yet!"

"Well, you better gain it now because she's here." Rashad said while peeping through the blinds.

"Wait, what?!" Nehemiah exclaimed.

"Calm down!" Troy laughed.

True unlocked the front door and walked into the house. She walked into the kitchen with three grocery bags, which Rashad took from her.

"Hey baby doll." Troy said.

"Hey." True said. She looked over at Nehemiah and smiled. "Hey Nehemiah."

Nehemiah stood there frozen for a few seconds until Troy nudged him. "Oh—um—hi." He stammered. Rashad chuckled and shook his head as he took the groceries out of the bags.

True giggled. "Would you like to stay for dinner? I'm making baked chicken, sautéed green beans, and lobster mac and cheese."

"Oh—yeah, I'll stay." Nehemiah replied.