Chapter 1
NAOMI LONDON
Fourteen Months Later. Late April.
Mystikal blasted through my earbuds as I attacked the punching bag. Sweat poured down my back and trickled between my breasts, but I paid it no mind. The only thing I was focused on was letting go of some aggression.
Sometimes, I wished I could go back to the days hoes would try me.
Then, I could actually feel like I was doing something productive with my hands besides punching on this bag, but the bag would have to do.
I couldn't afford to get into any trouble.
Number one, I was too old for that shit.
Number two, I was too old for that shit.
Faith London harped on my ass daily about acting like a lady. There was only so much sway I could put in my hips to make her believe that I did act like a lady. My mother swore it was an issue just because I dressed how I wanted to dress.
Ever since I was a child, I'd been tall.
I was taller than every child in my class, including some of the boys.
By ninth grade, I stood at five-nine. The fuck boys and jealous bitches used to tease me, calling me a light-skinned nigga.
Mind you, even at fourteen, my body had been far from boyish. I developed early and carried it well.
Still, I got in so many fights that I was expelled from two separate high schools.
My parents put me in private school to see if I would do a little better.
I was still subjected to teasing, but it never resorted to fighting.
Most of my teachers liked me because I was an exceptional academic student.
One teacher, Mr. Boutwell, encouraged me to go out for the girls' basketball team.
I was skeptical at first because I couldn't deal with females on that level.
Besides my sister, PJ, I didn't fuck with any females.
Still, I gave it a shot at Mr. Boutwell's urging.
Discovering that I enjoyed playing basketball, I used it to help guide me through high school.
Playing helped keep me focused on staying out of trouble.
Trouble still found me sometimes, though.
Whether at the skating ring, or the mall, bitches always found a way to come for me.
Finally, I made it through high school and had done so well on the court that I received several athletic scholarships.
PJ was a year behind me and already committed to going to UCF and playing basketball herself, so that's where I ended up.
It was only a couple of hours from our hometown, Lake Worth, which worked perfectly for us.
Four years later, I graduated summa cum laude with a degree in biology. Somewhere in my mind, I thought I'd pursue a doctorate and maybe go into medicine. Currently, I was the starting point guard for the WNBA team Pensacola Pelicans, formerly known as the New Orleans Gators.
The team was forced to relocate after ownership was changed to some wealthy Floridian, who refused to allow the team to stay in Louisiana.
Fans were upset about the move. However, management swore it would be for the best. Either way, I was going into my third pro year and loving it.
Well, the basketball side of it. All that other shit these muthafuckas could’ve kept.
A call interrupted Mystikal but didn't throw me off as I jabbed the bag.
"Mimi, your meetiinngg," PJ sang into my ear.
Chuckling, I hit the bag once more before I called it quits, breathing hard as I rested my fists on my hips. "Peeg, I'm well aware that I have to be downtown soon. While you're talking, have you finished your paper so you can accompany me?"
She groaned.
"Yeah, I didn't think so." I chuckled. Removing my gloves, I rubbed at my hands to ease off the soreness I felt from going at the bag too long.
"Why did you talk me into going for my master’s? Playing pro basketball and dealing with classes is not the look, sis. You should be going through this shit with me," she complained.
Scoffing, I replied, "Shit, I am!" I wiped my bag down with a dry towel and some spray so that our home gym wouldn't be funky as fuck the next time I came in here. "How often do I stay up with you to help you with your shit?"
She grumbled.
"Mm, hm. We're gonna get you through this, sis," I promised. "Now, if you can, please get off my line so that I can get ready to go handle business. You know I hate meetings, which is why I need you, baby girl."
"I know, I know." She sighed. "Ten minutes. That's all you got! After the meeting, we have to meet Brianna at her house, so we can help her put her bed together," she stated and hung up the phone.
My face balled up. Brianna was my very best friend, aside from PJ. Brianna had a whole ass man but needed us to come help her put a bed together. These niggas were just trifling nowadays.
Shaking my head, I finished up sanitizing the bag, then closed the curtains to keep some of the Florida sun from spilling into the room.
It was fine while I worked out, but that heat was unnecessary for just any reason.
The aggression I spoke of a little earlier stemmed from the fact that my agent called himself parting ways with me just weeks before the season was to start.
I thought Brett and I had a wonderful working relationship.
According to him, he wanted to 'venture into other territories', meaning he wanted to take on a bigger name. .. or should I say bigger pockets.
It wasn't a secret that WNBA players made less than NBA players. Things were getting better for us, but the struggle was real. If I didn't come from money, I'd be struggling just like most of my teammates were prior to the salary increase.
Brett could've been straight up, though. I was a pretty straight-up woman and hated for people to be fake, especially niggas. To come across as weak was a turnoff. Not speaking the fuck up and sugar-coating shit was weak as fuck.
Sighing, I made my way to my room, bypassing the boxes lining the hallway. PJ stood at her bedroom door, eyeing me up and down.
"Eight minutes, Mimi," she warned.
Rolling my eyes, I continued into my room. Aside from my bed, dresser, and nightstands, the room was pretty bland. PJ and I had only moved in this past weekend. I'd get my shit unpacked at some point.
Although she wasn't totally moved yet, PJ's room was laid like fuck because she didn't like clutter and seldomly procrastinated. We were complete opposites, but I loved my sister to no end.
Going into the bathroom, I started my shower and hopped in before PJ came in here tripping. Lord knows I didn't want to hear her educated mouth.
JAMISON 'SIN' SMITH
"This muhfucka on that bullshit!" I growled, snatching my phone off the nightstand. Sunlight peaked through the curtains, a complete contrast to how I felt. A nigga was dead-ass tired after the night I had.
"Aye!" I barked. "Stay the fuck off my line 'fore I body slam yo' ass!" I threatened.
Laughing sounded on the other end.
"Get yo' ass the fuck up!" Zoo barked back. "I know you hear this fuckin' doorbell, nigga."
Grumbling, I threw the phone back on the nightstand and climbed out of bed. This nigga knew damn well not to fuck with my sleep, especially when I barely had any. Snatching on some sweats, I angrily made my way downstairs and to the front door.
"Give me my key back, and you won't have this problem," Zoo said, grinning as soon as I opened the door.
"I took the muhfuckin' key 'cause yo' ass wouldn't stop comin' up in my shit all times of the mornin'. Nobody's tryna hear allat loud talkin' yo' ass do for no fuckin' reason."
He shrugged. "I'm country. What you expect?"
I grunted, leaving him in the entryway as I went back to my room and into the bathroom.
I loved my cousin to death and didn't have a bone in me that felt negatively about him.
We grew up together, along with our cousin, Brooklyn.
The three of us were close, like brothers.
None of that meant this nigga didn't get on my muthafuckin' nerves.
Cutting the shower on, I brushed my teeth and washed my face while the water heated. The doorbell sounded again, causing me to groan. If I thought I was going to sleep in on my day off, my fam reminded me I wasn't.
As the water glided over my body, I sighed.
I'd been working overtime to complete a deal with some of Pensacola's most prominent lawyers.
The law firm was Black-owned and was responsible for helping many Black people in the community.
While I'd handled deals all over the country, this one was close to my heart.
It was a huge task to take on a building housing five prominent Black lawyers and their staff, who all had different tastes, but the deal was approved late yesterday.
I guess I shouldn't have complained. Owning a multi-million-dollar business at twenty-seven was a blessing.
Where some had the story of growing up in the struggle, I had no such story.
I was fortunate enough to be born into a family that actually gave a damn about each other.
My great-great-grandfather started his own construction business when he was only nineteen.
It'd been passed down through generations until it fell into mine, Zeus', and Brooklyn's laps.
We ran JSC, my great-great-grandfather's initials, with the same thorough love that he'd shown the company when he first started it.
With all my success, status, and material shit, I was unhappy as a muhfucka.
I wasn't unhappy with myself. My unhappiness stemmed from being tired of coming home to an empty house.
I was tired of fucking different women just because I could.
As much as I wanted to fight the fact that I was lonely, the writing was on the damn wall.
This woman named Toya that I'd been fucking for a few months now was doing her best to drop hints about us being more in our relationship. I reminded her we weren't in a relationship and warned her never to bring that shit up again. She hadn't since, and that was three weeks ago.
Toya was cool in the sense that she was pretty and gave me my space.
We'd been fine before she decided she wanted something more than I was offering.
I'd set clear boundaries prior to fucking with her.
However, like most women, she thought she could change my mind.
Toya just didn't appeal to me on a level where I could see myself with her past a good nut.
The woman I needed had to be able to handle a nigga like me and my lifestyle. That was probably asking too much. Whoever the fuck she was needed to make her presence known, 'cause a nigga refused to keep running through bitches.
My father, Jaxon, beat it in his children's heads the necessity of having a good partner.
Likewise, he and my mother raised my sisters and me with the mindset that a spouse and children were the endgame.
I'd heard it so much it was probably why my ass was around here acting like I needed a woman to love.
Jaxon Smith didn't play about me, nor my two sisters, and neither did my mother, Renea.
Shiidd, if you see either of them coming, you better know they were out for blood behind their kids.
That's what the fuck I needed. A woman that wouldn't play about her nigga.
When I found her, I was going to lock her ass down and put a few kids in her.
Zoo thought I was crazy for wanting some permanent shit, but at the rate, these females were out here fucking any and everything, so I needed to be my ass somewhere permanent.
The shower ran cold just as banging sounded on my bathroom door.
"Quit playin' wit' yo'' dick and get outta there!" Zoo thundered. "Nasty ass nigga!"
Laughing, I cut the water off and grabbed my body towel while listening to my cousins go at it.
"Mane, he gon' fuck you up," Brooklyn warned. "You already woke his surly ass up."
Zoo huffed. "Nigga, what the fuck is 'surly'? Old ass. How you younger than Sin and me, but you act old as Granddad?"
Granddad was in his eighties.
Shaking my head, I tuned them out while I moisturized my skin and handled my beard and low cut. Inside my walk-in closet, I selected a pair of boxers, tailored slacks, a Polo shirt, and a fresh pair of all-black Jordans. I dressed, then iced myself out before heading back into my room.
I found Zoo and Brooklyn in my doorway, mugging me.
"What?"
"Fuck you was in there so long for?" Zoo questioned, with his nose turned up.
Brooklyn snickered. "Yo' ass is determined to get fucked up this mornin'. I'll meet y'all outside."
I mushed Zoo in the side of his head as I passed him, which earned me a mush back. "Yo' house is next door. I bet if you had a woman up in that bitch, yo' ass would stay outta my shit."
Zoo chortled as we made it down the stairs. "The devil is a lie! Don't be speakin' that wicked shit over me."
I shook my head and laughed because my cousin was dumb as fuck, but I loved his loud, obnoxious ass more than anything.