Chapter 3 #2
Nico made a move to turn around again, but the woman grabbed his arm. “So that’s it? I won’t suck your dick in the middle of a house party, so you move on to the next bitch?”
Remedie looked around, wondering who this ragamuffin was talking about. Isla was at Remedie’s side before she could blink, with her arms crossed over her chest. She leaned into Remedie and whispered, “We need to handle this Furby lookin’ ho?”
Remedie didn’t respond. She inched her way in front of Nico and looked up at the woman.
She had no fear in her heart, so the fact that the woman towered over her didn’t even compute.
Remedie never liked fighting. She hated it, actually, but she would in a heartbeat if she had to.
Allowing another person to talk to her any kind of way just wasn’t in her character.
“You wanna rephrase what you just said?”
The woman mugged her. “Which part? The part about me not wanting to suck his dick, or . . . oh, I know. The part where I called you a bitch—”
Remedie’s fist flew before she could even think. The nice thing about being almost a foot shorter than the woman was that she was able to deliver a clean uppercut.
Her fist connected under the woman’s chin, which caused her head to snap back.
Remedie geared up to throw another punch before the woman could recover.
The frustration that had been simmering inside her from Zayden had officially boiled over, and this woman was the unfortunate one to be on the other end of that.
“Hol’ up, killa,” Nico said. He lifted her and turned around so the woman couldn’t retaliate. It didn’t matter because Remedie caught a glimpse of Isla jumping on the woman.
“Let me go,” Remedie demanded as she squirmed in Nico’s strong arms.
“Not a chance.” His gaze landed on another man who walked into the kitchen. “Aye, get her friend off the gremlin for me and follow me outside.”
The man shrugged and then nodded. He had a bulky build, too, but his muscles weren’t as defined as Nico’s. Remedie noticed they had the same almond shaped dark eyes and full lips. She wondered if they were related as Nico carried her through the house.
A permanent pout formed on her lips. She didn’t even get a drink before some bullshit popped off. This was why she should have stayed her ass at home. Next time, she was definitely listening to her gut. She didn’t care what Isla had to say.
When they were outside, Nico spoke. “You calm?”
Remedie tried twisting in his arms so she could look at him crazy, but she failed. “Nigga, if you don’t put me the hell down.”
He chuckled, but a moment later, she was on her feet. She whirled around on him with her face screwed up, but before she could put him in his place for manhandling her like that, she heard Isla.
“Do I know you? Unhand me!”
Remedie turned around, ready to jump on a nigga for her best friend, but the man was smart because he let Isla down.
“Y’all wild, chile. Let me find out I can make some money off you in the ring,” the man said before smacking his lips.
Remedie looked at him with her head cocked to the side. His voice was deep. He dressed nicely, and his hair was freshly lined, . . . but there was something about him that set her gaydar off.
“Make money off us in the ring? Nigga, we ain’t poppin’ pussy in a prostitution ring for you! What the fuck do we look like—”
“Hol’ up,” the man said as he raised his hands in mock surrender. “I ain’t say nothin’ about poppin’ no cootie cat. I meant the boxing ring, chile. I’m a feminist, I’ll have you know.”
If Remedie wasn’t so irritated, she would have laughed at Isla’s face. Homegirl looked so confused and like she didn’t know whether or not to punch the man in the throat or give him a dap for giving her props on her fighting.
“You good, love?” a deep voice asked from behind her.
Remedie had almost forgotten about Nico. Now that she knew her friend was okay, she turned slowly to give him her attention. “Yeah, but keep your hos in check. The next woman you get crossed up in some bullshit like that might not be so nice.”
A grin appeared on his face again, and damn if it didn’t make her middle buzz with excitement. He was the type of man who was fine as hell and knew it. Those types of men were dangerous as hell and had heartache written all over them.
“You called that bein’ nice?” he asked, one of his thick brows raised in amusement.
Remedie nodded curtly. “I did.”
“I would love to see what mean is then,” he replied. He was too smooth with his words. “What’s yo’ name, sweetheart?”
Her eyes turned into slits as she tried to get a read on him. “Remedie,” she finally snapped.
His eyebrows rose slightly. “Remedie. I like that. You seem like the type that could remedy some shit.”
Her brows furrowed as she opened her mouth to respond, but she clamped it shut when she heard her name called to the right of her.
“Remedie, the hell you doin’ here?” Zayden made his way through the crowd.
Remedie’s stomach dropped. She knew like hell she should have stayed her ass home. All she wanted to do was get out of there at this point. Zayden was the last person on the planet she wanted to deal with at the moment.
“Uh uh. You don’t get to talk to her. Not after the stunt you pulled,” Isla said. She marched up to Zayden, whose face turned up at the sight of her. “What? You thought she ain’t tell me about you getting rough with her?”
“Man, gone somewhere.” Zayden moved his attention back to Remedie. “Why yo’ fast ass here? You need to be back home where you belong.”
Remedie studied him. She could tell he was doing his best to come off like a big dog, but all she saw was a sad ass little puppy. She couldn’t believe it took her so long to see him for who he truly was.
“Zayden, leave me alone,” Remedie said. All the fight she had in her moments ago had left. She felt drained. “Come on, Isla. Let’s just go.”
“Y’all ain’t gotta leave,” Nico said.
Remedie turned to him with her brows pulled in. “Sir, I don’t even know you, and I damn sure am not about to give you head, just like lil ugly back there, so I doubt you really want to hang with me.”
He took a step toward her. “You really think I put you in the same category as lil ugly?” His lips quirked up into a smirk, and she couldn’t help but smile. She could tell he played all day, and she wasn’t sure if she loved that or hated it.
“You might as well kick it with my brother. At least it’ll keep the homeless out of your face.”
Remedie looked behind her to see the man who had carried Isla outside looking Zayden up and down in disgust.
So they’re brothers, she thought as she glanced between them.
“Tyree, we don’t talk about the less fortunate.” The way Nico egged his brother on told Remedie those two were trouble. Their poor mama definitely had her work cut out for her with them.
Zayden’s jaw clenched, but she noticed he didn’t have the same energy for them as he did for her.
“Bring yo’ ass on.” Zayden growled the words through clenched teeth as he reached for her. He caught her wrist and snatched it closer to him.
“Let me go,” she snapped. She used her free fist to beat on his chest. Isla quickly jumped in, but they were both pulled away from him before they could do any real damage.
Remedie blinked, and Nico was in Zayden’s face. “Go on about your business, my guy. Play with somethin’ safe.”
The playful spirit he’d had seconds ago had evaporated. Something dark lurked within him. Remedie couldn’t understand why that turned her on so much.
She shook her head to clear her thoughts just as she caught a glimpse of Zayden. Fear flashed across his face before he glanced at her. When he spoke, it was directly to her. “I’ll be seeing you.”
“Long as you know I won’t be too far behind,” Nico warned, forcing Zayden to look back at him.
Zayden simply scoffed before he walked through the crowd of people that had gathered.
As soon as he was out of sight, Nico turned back to her. The playfulness was back as he asked, “Aye, you want to grab some Waffle House?”
Remedie looked at him incredulously. She wondered if she had stumbled upon another crazy nigga. Nonetheless, she couldn’t help the curiosity building within her as she stared up at him.