Chapter 7
SEVEN
“I want Hennessy and cranberry juice,” Lyric told me.
Though I’d heard her, it wasn’t her response that I was waiting for.
I could’ve guessed her drink of choice on my own.
It was Ever’s request that I was waiting on.
When she didn’t respond, I lifted a finger to press the button on the table that would alert our hostess.
Her service had been purchased with our reservation.
While we waited to be serviced, I removed the two cases from the empty seat between Laike and me I’d brought inside earlier and sat them on the table. I watched as Lyric’s eyes bulged and her hands went over her mouth. Seeing her happy never got old. I loved that shit.
“You really grabbed me something from Rico?”
“I told you I would.” I’d always been a man of my word. I wouldn’t stop being that, either.
I slid one of the black velvet cases in front of Lyric and the other in front of Ever.
Her eyes bloomed, never leaving mine. Lyric looked from Ever’s case to me to see if I’d meant to slide the case in her friend’s direction.
I had. If she was going to be in my presence, I wanted her to look the part.
“I can’t.” Ever finally spoke as she pushed it back in my direction.
“I insist,” I told her, pushing it back toward her.
“Really. I can’t.”
I witnessed the sadness in her eyes as she looked from the case to me and then back again. The shift in her mood made me cringe inwardly, but I didn’t falter.
“Let me ask you something,” I started, sitting up straight and fixing my posture.
“Um hm?” She gave me permission to continue.
“Why can’t you?”
“When you’re accustomed to being controlled by material possessions and monetary donations, you tend to stray away from them,” she explained.
Nodding, I noted her underlying message. Her ex was a pussy. I’d summed it up quite quickly and easily.
“You’re a grown ass, free ass woman, Ever. The only person here that will ever try to control you is you. I’m not that nigga, whoever the bitch may be. Laike ain’t that nigga, either. Anything that comes from us comes from here.” I pointed at my chest.
Reaching forward, I pulled the case closer to me, but was halted by long, trembling fingers.
My chest tightened at the realization that her trauma ran deeper than my eyes could see.
From the outside looking in, she appeared to be unblemished.
But as I looked into her glossy rounds, I knew it wasn’t her case.
“Thank you,” she pushed out as she slid the case toward her again.
Lyric had already popped hers open and was forcing Laike to wrap the two bracelets around her wrist. They complemented her AP so well. A bigger chain was all she needed to complete her set.
“Oh, wow.” Ever examined the two bracelets in her box. They were nearly identical to Lyric’s.
I waited for her to ask for my help, but she managed to get them on her wrist alone.
I watched in awe, feeling a sense of relief as her smile concealed the silent tears that baby girl was crying.
For the first time, she’d been gifted from the heart, a milestone that I felt like any and everybody should experience from the opposite sex.
“Take the watch off,” I instructed.
“Huh?”
“The watch you’re wearing. Take it off. It’s depreciating the value of your ice. Trash it,” I suggested.
“Let me see,” Lyric interrupted, demanding she see the new ice that was on Ever’s wrist.
The two pieces immediately amplified her entire appearance. She was easily the baddest in the room already. Now, she looked like she belonged with the steppers that she had come with. That was my goal.
“Didn’t think love would come so easily so soon but here we are,” Ever joked with Lyric as she held her arm out.
“How can I help you?” the waitress finally appeared and asked.
“A bottle of Hennessy and a tube of cranberry juice. Get us a round of shots, too. Hennessy.”
“Coming right up,” she responded before disappearing again.
Small talk began around the table, mostly involving Laike and Lyric as Ever and I played the background because we were too invested in the frequent gawking in one another’s direction.
Every so often, we’d lend a few choice words or include our honest opinions.
I witnessed the sadness disappear from her eyes with each second that she spent in my line of vision.
Admittedly, it was a beautiful sight. I wanted her comfortable. I wanted her open. I wanted her.
Our drinks were brought to the table shortly after they’d been ordered. With a shot of Hennessy in front of us all, we looked to each other to see who’d set it off. Laike took the initiative.
“To my motherfucking nigga. My right hand. My crutch. My brother from the same fucking Momma and Pops. Welcome home, nigga. Shit ain’t been the same without you out here. Happy to have you back.”
“Welcome home,” Lyric chanted.
“Nice meeting you,” Ever concluded, shrugging as her eyes left mine.
We all lifted our clear glasses in the air before hitting them against each other and then the table. Laike and I finished off ours first. Lyric was next. After Ever revealed her glass when she sat it back on the table, everyone burst into laughter.
“Na. Gone finish that shit off!” Laike commanded.
“OK. OK. Give me a chance, gee! I’m new to all of this. It’s been a while since I’ve been outside.”
“About seven years, to be exact,” Lyric blurted out.
“But who’s counting, right?” Ever asked before tossing the rest of the shot back.
I could see her soften and become undone as the contents flowed down her throat. The uptight, timid woman that I’d met hours prior was on her way out of the door, and I couldn’t wait to meet whoever was at the end of that shot glass.
“One more,” I suggested as I smashed the button again.
“One more.” Ever shrugged, surprisingly the first one to speak.
She was accepting the challenge, which meant more to me than getting her wasted.
Not only did I want her to enjoy herself, but I wanted her to unwind, too.
Tonight would be the last night she ever thought about that nigga willingly.
I wanted to swipe her memory with my words and reprogram it with my actions.
“One more,” Laike and Lyric followed up with.
“In the meantime, I’m about to pour me a drink,” Lyric announced as she picked up the bottle of Hennessy.
Two shots and a cup of Hen heavily diluted with cranberry juice, and the girls were on the floor grinding their hips on one another.
Laike and I stayed seated, choosing to watch from afar rather than join the action.
Prolonged glances from Ever kept me thoroughly entertained as I sipped from my cup.
“You ain’t been out twenty-four hours and you’re already tricking, fam,” Laike joked.
“I’m still waiting for you to make your point,” I responded, unbothered by his observation.
“That’s the fucking point, nigga.”
“Oh,” I replied, unamused and unmoved. With a shrug, I shifted in my seat.
“This nigga whipped and ain’t even got the pussy yet, only the print in that tight ass romper.”
“Sounds like you looking too fucking hard.”
“Have you seen her? Who the fuck wouldn’t look that hard?” Laike babbled, pushing out air as if I was on some bullshit.
Nodding, I agreed.
“I like that ice, though. She likes them motherfuckers, too.”
“She needs a watch,” I disclosed, staring across the table at the one she’d taken off after I’d asked. She’d put it in the back of her purse that she’d sat on the table. Taking it upon myself, I reached forward and slid it out.
When I laid eyes on Ever again, she was no longer dancing.
Instead, she was smiling in a nigga’s face while bouncing one foot on the floor as she nodded over and over.
My nostrils flared as I gnawed on the inside of my bottom lip, drawing blood.
My eyes never left her frame as she openly showed interest for the man who’d stopped her little innocent whine.
“Whew. My feet hurt. So Kates should really be discontinued. There’s nothing comfortable about these fucking shoes,” Lyric complained as she plopped down in her seat.
I’d heard every word she’d spoken, but I didn’t have the capacity to respond and keep my focus intact.
Ever was my main concern at the moment and if she didn’t return to the table soon enough, I’d usher her over myself.
I forced my limbs to relax for the second time in about a minute as I homed in on the subject at hand.
Ever’s alluring spirit was so rare and magnetic that I wasn’t surprised by the attention she was getting, neither did I blame the nigga.
She’d sucked me into her web, too. But the thing is, she was mine.
It didn’t matter if I hadn’t made it official yet.
I’d staked my claim the moment I saw her.
He was on my turf, and I needed him off before I began a riot in this bitch.
As if she felt me watching her, Ever looked up and then at me. My brows hiked in question as I circled my cup to move the ice around in my drink. Nervously, she smiled at me, but I didn’t see a damn thing to be happy about. In fact, I was the exact opposite.
When I saw her hand slide across her screen after her phone had appeared out of thin air, all the moisture drained from my mouth.
I sipped from my cup again to re-wet the dryness.
An impatient snort fell from my lips, pushing a massive breath from my nose as I turned my cup up again.
I hadn’t realized my fingers were gripping my jeans until I began smoothing my left hand down my leg – up and down to wean myself of the foreign feeling I was suffering from.
I watched as Ever ended the conversation with the bald, suited guy and headed toward our table.
The restraint I practiced could’ve won me an Oscar because I wanted nothing more than to demand her silence when it came to another nigga.
Besides, when it was me showing interest, I wanted her mute when a nigga approached her.