Chapter 3
Chapter
Three
Zander
My soul was at peace. Twyla was happy, drunk as hell, but happy.
She, Ma, and Navy had fucked around and gotten wine drunk.
What started as them talking and sharing a few bottles of wine led to me and Pops grilling and sipping on some whiskey ourselves.
Old school music started to play, and the women danced.
As they sang, danced, and hugged, my heart warmed.
Nothing was better than this.
Well, having my brothers here would have made it better. I considered telling them to bring some meat for the grill and a few bottles and joining us. Life was pulling them in different directions, and we weren’t spending as much time together, but when we did get together, it was always a vibe.
Aye! Where y’all at? Pull up to my folks house.
Carson: Say less. What I need to bring?
Kaos: Pops on the grill? I’ll stop by the meat market.
You know he is. Y’all can bring some meat and bottles if y’all want. The women drinking wine and drunk already.
Tristan: I’ll get them some more. What they drinking?
After everything was finalized, I let Pops know they’d be arriving soon, and he grinned like a cheshire cat. “Let me go get the man cave ready. I’m ’bout to take they money in pool and spades. Make sho you tell them to stop by the ATM. Tell Luke to come through too.”
I chuckled and nodded my agreement before calling Luke and inviting him and Melanie to come over. Once I was done, I headed toward Navy to warn her that her parents were about to come over. They knew she smoked and drank from time to time, but I still liked to make sure she was aware.
“Your folks about to come through,” I whispered against her ear, pressing my back against her. “I invited the crew and Pops want them here too. You cool with that?”
“Yes,” she agreed, turning to face me.
I couldn’t help but smile. Navy was naturally beautiful.
Her petite frame was covered in cocoa brown skin.
Even with her being short and slim, she was curvy.
Her ass was small, but it was round and had enough jiggle to fit her shape.
Long jet black hair fell to her waist, and she most often wore it straight.
She had slanted dark eyes, medium sized lips, and a beautiful, innocent smile.
“Oh shit!” Her movements were frantic as she rushed over to the couch. “I was supposed to call Ian. What time is it?” Just the sound of his name had me gritting my teeth. “Oh Lord. I was not planning on being here this long. He’s called me five times.”
She seemed to sober up a bit as she plopped down on the couch.
We were in the great room since my parents had turned that into their entertaining space.
Pops had his man cave in the basement, and Mama used the bonus room upstairs as her private space.
I had no doubt the men would navigate outside once they arrived, so I wanted to get a little time in with Navy before they arrived, especially if she was about to leave.
I’d been letting her and Twyla do their thing since we were here to make sure she was straight, but I wouldn’t lie and say I wasn’t wanting more of my sweet girl’s time and attention.
“Hey.” The softness of her voice regained my focus.
“Yes, I’m still here, babe. I lost track of time.
How much longer will I be here? Um . . .
” Her eyes locked on Twyla who was in her own world humming and twirling in the center of the room.
“I guess I can leave now. Well, my parents are actually on their way here. Maybe I can stay a little while longer and go home with them and then you can just pick me up from—” She sighed and massaged the space between her eyebrows.
“Of course I want to spend time with you, Ian. I told you I lost track of time. We’ve been dancing and drinking and talking and shit.
It’s not like I’ve been intentionally—fine. Just come now.”
With a growl, she disconnected the call.
Sitting next to her, I asked, “You good?”
“Yeah. He’s mad because it’s later than he thought it would be. That’s on me though. I didn’t realize it was this late.”
“If you don’t want to leave . . . don’t.”
She looked at me and smiled. “I enjoy my time with you all, but I did tell him I’d spend the night with him, so I’m going to—” Her eyes rolled as we looked down at her vibrating phone.
It was him again. “Yes, Ian?” she answered.
“I didn’t hang up in your face. No, I don’t have an attitude, but if you’re trying to argue don’t even bother coming.
I’m not going to end my night in a bad mood, especially since I’m having a good time.
” Her eyes squeezed shut. “Ian, it’s not that big of a damn deal.
I lost track of time and I do apologize for that.
I would love to spend the night with you, but if you can’t get over me missing your calls, I’m not coming over.
” Her head bobbed as she listened to what he was saying before agreeing with, “Okay. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then. ”
After ending the call, she looked at me and smiled. “You keep me in trouble, mister. I’m starting to question if you’re more trouble than you’re worth.”
I laughed. “I’m worth all that and more. You know that. That’s why you deal with me.”
Navy laughed and sat back in her seat. “I’m going to have a lot of making up to do tomorrow. He swears I was ignoring his calls because you’re here.”
“I’m starting to think ya man is obsessed with me. He always got some shit to say. I’m tempted to pop ’im in his fucking mouth.”
As serious as I was, she laughed. People did that often. They always thought I was playing around when I was dead serious. I could admit I said the things a lot of people kept to themselves, but I felt that was fair since I knew what I was capable of.
“I’m not going to talk about this anymore. I’m already sobering up and I don’t like that.” She stood and extended her hand for me. “Come take a shot with me.”
I put my hand inside of hers and stood. As I followed her over to the bar, my eyes naturally lowered to her ass.
The sweats she had on molded around that lil’ thang perfectly.
Even without her trying to give it motion, it was fluid.
There was no way her ass had on panties underneath that shit.
That wouldn’t surprise me. Her ass didn’t really like wearing clothes anyway.
Pulling my mind out of the gutter, I grabbed the bottle of tequila from her hand and poured her a shot.
“This must be the last thing you drinking tonight. Mixing this with that wine about to have you fucked up,” I warned.
“Yeah, this is it for me. I’ll probably end up going to sleep after this until my parents are ready to go.”
“Nah. You know they gon’ wanna take a group shot.”
“Ugh. You’re right. Just give me a half shot then.”
Now that made me laugh. “The fuck is a half shot, Nae? Are you a woman or a wimp?”
“I’m a woman, but I’m also not trying to have a hangover in the morning.”
Sucking my teeth, I filled the glass up, then poured myself a shot of whiskey. “You’ll be aight. If you do have a hangover, I’ll take care of you.”
“Mhm. You better.”
Our glasses clinked against one another before we knocked the shots back.
A part of me wanted to question if she felt guilty over changing her plans to kick it with us, but the other part of me didn’t care.
I loved that our families got along so well.
That was rare and special. If her nigga wasn’t such a corn ball he could have joined us too.
While marriage wasn’t in the cards for me, I knew if I ever got serious with a woman, she’d have to get along with my family and friends.
My community was too important to me to be with someone who couldn’t blend in.
To me, that was another sign that Ian wasn’t the man for her, but I let her do her thang.
By the time the crew and her parents arrived, she and Twyla had pulled out the karaoke machine. A random Wednesday had turned into a party, and it wasn’t over until damn near three in the morning.