Chapter 9 #2
“Aight but you know what it is. You move, we’re moving right beside you.”
Niles nodded, knowing for sure he had his boys on his left and right. “It isn’t that type of issue but I appreciate that.”
After his boy left, Asao decided to get his ass out of the house too. The destination was set but he needed a location, so he grabbed his phone and sent a text.
Asao: What you into today?
By the time he made it to his bedroom there hadn’t been a response, so he tossed the device on his bed, picked out his fit for the day, and headed to the bathroom to shower.
Thirty minutes later, he was dressed in a charcoal gray sweatsuit with gray socks and slides on his feet.
He brushed his waves into place and doused his body with the blend of black pepper, ginger, cedarwood, and anise he’d paid a grip to have personally curated to blend with his natural pheromones.
When Blends launched their line, he was first to promote.
Asao loved homegrown shit because essentially that was what he was.
Homegrown. The world appreciated Asao’s talent, but the citizens of Crescent Falls claimed him.
Their streets had nurtured him and their hearts forgave him for the sins of his past, knowing his soul was tainted but his heart was pure.
After securing his wallet and keys, Asao walked to the bed and lifted his phone.
With no response from Samari. his mood was fucked up, so he made a stop in the living room to roll something he planned on blazing in the car.
One of the many things Niles understood was acquiring businesses with a high return and low investment.
When a company called Wrapped, who offered natural rolling papers, reached out about Asao doing a line with them, the decision was simple.
They burned trees on the regular, why not put his boy’s name on a brand that would be effortless to promote?
They smoked in real-time. So in every video and photo captured, the product had visibility.
Asao didn’t have to change a damn thing to promote the brand.
With a blend from Kush Krazy skillfully filling the tightly rolled papers he’d assembled, Asao was ready to head out.
If he didn’t hear from Samari in the next ten minutes, his first stop would be to fill his stomach.
He’d prefer to do that with her but the alternative would be for the task to keep him busy until he could get her in his space.
He left his apartment, and by the time he was settled into the driver’s seat of his Jeep, a text came through from Samari which had a lazy smile on his face.
Samari: I’m chilling, what’s up?
Instead of texting his response, he started his vehicle while swiping through his contacts to locate her name for a call. When her voice flowed through the line, he backed out of the spot and navigated down the ramp toward the lower deck to exit the parking garage.
“Hey…” The softness of her voice settled in his chest.
“You eat?”
“Yeah, I had breakfast a few hours ago.”
“How long you been up?” he asked, considering he had just been with her a few hours prior.
“Since a little after six. I couldn’t sleep.”
“You good?” His brows pinched as he pulled out of the parking garage into traffic.
“Yeah, just inspired and I hate feeling like this because I don’t want to be disappointed.” He heard the conflict in her voice and didn’t like that shit.
“You don’t have to worry about that. Let that shit flow. What I tell you?”
“To let you handle it.”
“Aight then, put that on my shoulders and let me carry it. Send me your address so I can pull up. I’m hungry and don’t like eating alone.”
With no argument, Samari agreed to his request. Right after they ended the call, her address appeared in a text.
He was familiar with Blue Pointe and was only about ten minutes away since that was the direction he’d chosen when leaving his building.
He was craving Redmond’s and her proximity made the decision for him.
Asao lifted his lemonade and watched as Samari’s dainty fingers made their way to his plate again. They both had greens, yams, and buttered corn but she’d chosen oxtails while Asao settled on a double order of fried wings. Samari had been tearing them shits down.
“You just gonna smash my wings?” A sexy smile eased onto Asao’s face when she froze mid bite with the wing she’d confiscated hovering near her mouth. The way her glossed lips curved into a smile seconds before she nodded and began the process of cleaning the bone had Asao shaking his head.
“I told you to get some.” He reminded Samari of her decision when she moved back and forth between the oxtails and the wings.
“Yeah but you have two orders so…”
“The fuck is that supposed to mean? I can eat three,” he joked, knowing she was hinting at the idea that he had enough to share.
Her eyes moved toward the plate before they lifted to him. “You don’t want to share with me?”
He laughed at the cute ass smile she delivered but wasn’t falling for it. “So you just gonna try and play me, smiling and shit, knowing I can’t do a damn thing with that.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” She lifted her lemonade and his eyes followed the motion of her lips on the straw.
“That smile has the power to empty my bank account and drag my ass all over the city doing whatever you want, whenever you want.”
She rolled her eyes but gave him the exact thing he was speaking on. Her smile. “I doubt that.”
“Never disrespect me by doubting my word. If I say it, you can trust it. Damn near bet your life on it.” His eyes narrowed to the point where the seriousness of his expression had Samari shifting in her seat.
When he didn’t drop his gaze, she reached across the table and lifted another of his wings.
He chuckled to himself, watching as her mouth wrapped around it, but he didn’t speak, so she did.
“Why you looking at me like you want to square up?”
“’Cause you keep trying me by downplaying what I’m trying to be in your life.”
Her brows pinched slightly while she sucked the wing between her lips then dropped the bone onto her plate. “And what is that?”
“Everything you need.”
Samari took him in, studying his face, posture, and lastly, his eyes. They held a confidence that backed up the words he’d just delivered and that was more than she had the capacity to process at the moment. Believing in him meant toying with the idea of possibility.
Each and every time she had done that in the past, she was let down. Men let her down. Her father for not being present, her ex for playing with her heart and mind, and Cobra for stealing her dream. Although she truly believed Asao was built different, she couldn’t risk another disappointment.
“Well, all I need is free access to your wings.”
Asao laughed to himself because he peeped her game. She chose to shift their conversation to a less intense area. He would allow that for now.
“Tell me about your ex?”
“Why?” Her eyes snapped up to his and Samari immediately felt the desire to look away because the intensity in his gaze was heavy.
“Because you’re putting his fuck ups on me. I’ll carry them shits though, for you. Damn sure not for that muthafucker. But only long enough to give you time to trust that we aren’t the same.”
He felt her hesitancy. Their chemistry wasn’t in question. He’d felt that shit from the first time they locked in on each other. But as strong as Samari’s attraction was to him, her resistance to give into it was just as strong.
She frowned. “You and I aren’t the same?”
“Nah, not us. Me and the muthafucker who let you down. I’m a real man, Samari.
My job is to lift you, care about your wellbeing, and protect your heart.
If I’m stepping to you, I don’t take that shit lightly.
You’ll never catch me slipping on the job and let me be clear, I’m on the muthafuckin’ job where you’re concerned.
Now tell me what he broke that I’m gonna have to repair. ”
Samari let her head dip to hide her smile. There wasn’t a fiber of her being that didn’t believe Asao wouldn’t stand on every promise he made. Once she pulled herself together, she sighed and granted him her eyes again.
“He destroyed my trust. Promised me safety and peace only to be destruction and chaos.”
What he’d taken from her, no one could ever get back. She shoved the memories deeper into the place that allowed her to put one foot in front of the other and keep her head up when she wanted to curl into a ball and retreat into herself.
“Aight.” Asao tossed his chin and lifted one of his wings. “He in the industry?”
He could have easily searched to see who she had been attached to in the past but didn’t want the details associated with whoever the fuck the guy was. Samari had a following, which meant there was always a story.
A quick search of her name on Trendz or Skroll would undoubtedly lay out any relationship history that existed before now but that shit didn’t matter nor did he need the assumptions or lies about who the world thought she was.
Only the name of the person who’d dimmed her light.
That was all he required because that shit would be filed away to ensure dude never had access to Samari again.
“No, he was a ball player.”
“Name?”
“Mase Davidson.”
“You still give him access?”
“No, why?”
“'Cause neither am I, and if you aren’t willing to give him access, that makes my job a lot less complicated.”
Samari softly rolled her eyes. “You’re not giving my ex access to me?”
“Nah, that bridge was burned when he mishandled you. Now finish your food so we can hit our next spot. I’ve got the day with you and I’m about to take full advantage.” He winked and she smiled, feeling flutters in her stomach.