Session 33

Chapter twenty six

I was ducked off in the shadows, watching Angel from the second floor of the club. I’d been watching her for the last fifteen minutes, dancing up on some random guy—or at least, who I thought was some random guy. The dress she had on was riding up her thighs.

I guess the look on my face alerted Jonas to the fact I was no longer focused. He looked at me, then walked over to the balcony and peered down at the dance floor. He cursed, then glanced back at me. Then I watched him look around, probably for his wife. Her and Angel were thick as thieves these days, so it was rare that one went somewhere without the other.

“She ain’t here,” I shouted loud enough for him to hear.

He nodded, then walked off, pulling out his cell phone. I stood there, watching my girl let some motherfucker grind all up on her ass, his hand on her waist, and I felt enraged, disrespected, and agitated—to the point of wanting to lay hands on both their asses. But I stayed put because to expose her would expose me.

Keisha was behind me, sitting on the sofa ten feet away. Her girl messing with Silas caused us to end up in the same places sometimes. I hadn’t told Angel about being in proximity to her so often because I didn’t want to hear her mouth. It wasn’t like I was fucking her. But it wasn’t like she hadn’t tried. She practically begged for the dick every time I saw her.

My eyes wandered from Angel back to Jonas, and he was smiling into the phone. I assumed it was because Naomi was at home where she was supposed to be.

Silas had disappeared off somewhere.

Jonas walked over and stood next to me. “You gonna say something to her?” he asked, shoving my shoulder.

I ran my tongue across my teeth, then gritted them. “No.”

I wasn’t about to say shit to her and give her the chance to turn everything around on me. But then I glanced back—and that’s when I saw it. Angel’s dress was hiked up, her panties on full display.

That was it. I saw red.

Before I could stop myself or remember why I shouldn’t, my feet were already moving. I rushed toward the stairs, taking them two at a time, the pounding in my chest matching my pace.

Behind me, I could hear Jonas calling after me, but I didn’t stop.

By the time I pushed through the crowd, I no longer saw her in the spot she had been dancing in, but I thought I caught a glimpse of her head bobbing toward the exit. My heart pounded as I tried to catch up with her, but I kept getting blocked by people—bodies bumping into me, drinks sloshing everywhere.

"Move, man," I muttered under my breath, shoving past a couple making out in the middle of the floor. My jaw tightened with every second I lost.

Finally, I made it out of the club, the cold air slapping me in the face. That’s when I saw it—the bouncer cradling Angel like a baby, her arms lazily draped around his neck. Her head lolled to the side, a goofy, drunken smile plastered on her face.

“What the fuck is going on, Angel?” I barked.

She looked up at me, her eyes glassy and unfocused, but her smile only grew wider.

“Oh, baby,” she slurred, reaching out toward me like I was her savior. “You came for me.” She giggled, the sound high and bubbly. She held her hands out like a toddler wanting me to take her from the bouncer.

I stiffened, stepping back as if her touch might burn me. My fists clenched at my sides, and I could feel the muscles in my jaw flex.

A loud screech snapped my attention to the curb. A black G-Wagon came to a halt, its headlights bright as hell. The door swung open, and Naomi hopped out, her hair tied up in scarf. She wore a long-sleeve pajama set, a coatthrown over it, and Timbs on her feet. Her round belly led the way as she marched toward us, her face tight with confusion and annoyance.

She looked me up and down like I was the one drunk and acting stupid. “Why is she calling me to pick her up when you’re right here to take her home? You drunk too?”

Her voice was sharp, and her eyes narrowed as she shifted her gaze between me and Angel.

Angel, meanwhile, was giggling again, her fingers now running along the bouncer’s bald head like she was petting a dog.

I didn’t answer Naomi immediately. My lips pressed into a hard line as my gaze flicked back to Angel. My chest felt tight, my hands itching to do something—anything—but I stayed rooted in place, staring at Angel in the bouncer’s arms, trying to piece together what the hell I was looking at.

“I thought you were going to give me a ride, Cassius? Why did you run out without telling me you were leaving?” Keisha’s nasally voice whined behind me.

I turned to see Silas and Jonas walk out right behind Keisha. Jonas’s face dropped, and Silas snickered, ready for the drama he already knew was about to pop off.

Naomi’s eyes suddenly went wide. “What the fuck, Jonas? I thought you were at the sports bar, not the fucking club. You lying again?” Naomi yelled.

I dropped my head. When the door opened again, and the friend of the stripper Jonas cheated on Naomi with stepped out, I wished I had stayed my ass in the club.

Naomi’s mouth fell open. “Oh, and this bitch? You really playing with me right now, Jonas?”

Angel was suddenly standing next to Naomi, somehow looking a lot more sober, both of them scowling in our direction. If looks could kill, all our asses would’ve been dead and buried.

Jonas walked around me, grabbing his pregnant wife and damn near dragging her mean ass off to the side of the building.

Angel stared at me, waiting for an explanation. I didn’t feel like giving her one after what I saw on the dance floor, so I turned to walk back towards the club.

Tell me why this silly bitch Keisha had to lose her damn mind at that very second.

“Yeah, this the fat bitch I told you ‘bout, Imanni. She broke me and Cassius up,” Keisha mock-whispered to her friend, knowing damn well Angel would hear her.

Angel sobered all the way up after being called out of her name.

“What the fuck you call me, bitch? You must want that cheap-ass lace front you got on snatched off your bald-ass head tonight,” Angel shot back.

I turned just in time to see her wrapping her long hair into a ponytail and throwing her cell into the passenger window of Naomi’s car. Stepping out of her shoes, she charged toward us.

I grabbed her halfway.

“Come on, Angel. You’re above this,” I said, keeping her and Keisha separated.

“You motherfucking right I’m above it, but that don’t mean I won’t sink to a bitch’s level before I let her embarrass me in public. Especially since the bitch been texting me, and I’ve been ignoring it.”

I spun on Keisha. “What the fuck does she mean you been texting her?”

Angel tried to push past me. “Move the fuck out of my way, Cassius.”