Chapter 2
NAOMI
"I'm telling you, sis, all you have to do is dress up a little. Why you walk around in damn sneakers and jeans all the time is beyond me. Do you know how bomb your body is?"
Sighing, I ignored PJ trying to tell me once again about being more girly. What the fuck was 'girly' anyway? Shoot, I kept my hair nice and flowing or in a topknot, my eyebrows on fleek, and my lips juicy and popping. That was girly in my book!
Her words only reminded me of the bullshit Vick's mother said about me well over a year ago. Fuck! Don't even think about that bullshit! Why, of all days, did that particular memory pop into my head? I needed no reminders of one of the worst days of my life.
"PJ, I feel comfortable in jeans, aight? It's not like I look thrown away."
Her eyes trailed up my body with her nose turned up. We made the exact facial expressions but seeing her do it aggravated me.
"Nah, you don't look thrown away. But imagine how those hips and ass would look in at least some slacks. We're going to meet our possible new agent, and all you could think to throw on was some sneakers and jeans?"
Smirking, I replied, "You only gave me ten minutes, and at least I threw on a blazer."
She smacked her teeth. "With a Marbury graphic tee underneath it."
I shrugged.
"Boo, just because you're a professional basketball player doesn't mean you have to look like a..."
"Don't even say it," I warned.
"... lil' dude," she finished.
Squinting my eyes at the exact replica of me, just a year younger, I grilled her.
"And that shit is still ugly. As fine as my sister is, that grill makes you look like you don't do shit but scrap. We left those days behind when we went to college," she stressed.
I chuckled because PJ was so serious all the time.
"Can we just go in here and meet with these people? I still have some unpacking to do, and I, for one, would like to get it done before the week passes." I almost tripped over a box coming out of my room earlier. If I tweaked my ankle, I would've been pissed.
With the season set to start in less than a month, I wanted to get acclimated with my new home, Pensacola, Florida.
Being from South Florida, this was a nice reprieve from the hustle and bustle of the city.
While I found Pensacola to be laid back and relaxed, there was still enough to do to feel like I was back home — because I didn't do much but play basketball and mind my business.
"Lead the way, Boss." PJ sarcastically grinned.
Giving her the same expression, we both made our way out of the parking garage to walk the block it would take to bring us to The McQueen Firm. In finding a manager, I wanted someone who would have my best interest at heart. According to some locals, The McQueen Firm was where I needed to be.
Several men stared at PJ and me as we walked toward the building housing our destination.
For one, we were sort of tall. I never grew past five-nine, and I was alright with that.
PJ stood at five-nine too, only she had heels on, putting her a few inches taller than me.
Her body drew attention that I'd soon enough love to ignore.
I was trying to keep a low profile, but she didn't give a fuck.
We resembled some runway models, even though I was dressed down like a muthafucka.
Glad that we finally made it to the building, I hustled inside to avoid any further curious stares. In due time, they'd see my face on the television. My eyes scanned the lobby of the nicely decorated suite, slightly smiling. Okay!
Mid-thought, my eyes fell on... perfection.
He was standing with some other fine-ass niggas, but him.
.. he was a fallen angel — literally. His skin was the first thing I noticed.
The glow of his rich mahogany brown complexion was alluring.
The next thing I noticed was the powerful build of his tall body in those all-black Jordans, black slacks, and black Polo he wore.
By the time my eyes made it to his face, I was sold that he indeed was perfection.
Thankfully, I had on shades or else he would've peeped me staring into his soulful brown eyes.
Whether it was the perfectness in his strong jaw, the sleekness of his strong nose, or the fullness of his thick ass lips, I was sure he had to be the finest man I'd ever seen.
Still, it was his eyes that did it. The way they became hooded when they fell on me caused my heart rate to skip.
Annoyed, I wished I had listened to PJ about wearing these damn jeans and sneakers. Not that I wanted his attention. Although I looked bomb as fuck, he looked high class as hell! Because I was annoyed, I grilled him like I did hoes when they stared.
"Mimi!" PJ gasped, having watched the entire interaction. "You are so disrespectful," she whispered. She hurriedly told the receptionist who we were here to see. She pointed to the elevators and told us that Dame Richards was waiting for us on the fourth floor.
"He was staring," I defended.
"So were you." She scoffed as we headed to the elevators.
Shrugging, I replied, "He'on know that."
"Jeez," she muttered, bothered because she hated confrontation. As much as my baby sister could brawl, she did not like confrontation.
At the same time that I felt a presence behind me, the smell of weed and Tom Ford cologne tickled my nose.
Peering over my shoulder, I caught him staring dead in my face.
You ever had a nigga's eyes talk to you?
Well, it was the strangest shit. Maybe because Vick never looked at me that way is why I thought it was strange.
The elevator binged and opened. PJ and I waited for the couple of people to get off before we stepped on. PJ pressed the button for the fourth floor while he stepped into the elevator and stood directly in front of me, with his hands resting in his pockets.
Sliding my shades to the top of my head, I hiked an eyebrow. "Can I help you?" I asked because he was standing too close and smelling too good. His body was so wide, I couldn't see past him. He had to be six-three or six-four.
"I was gon' ask you the same thing, shawty. You mugged me."
Oooh! When he opened his glorious mouth and let that fucking soul-snatching deep voice flow forth, I died inside. Or could it have been the platinum slugs on his fangs that turned me the fuck on?
"She didn't mean it," PJ tried to intervene.
He smirked. "Nah, she meant it." His eyes traveled the length of my body.
The elevator binged, letting us know we were on our floor. He stepped off, then held his hand out so that the elevator would stay open for us.
When I passed him, he drawled, "That don't scare me, baby."
"Isn't it a lil' early to be smellin' like marijuana?" I quipped, ignoring him.
"Less you got something else to relax me," he quickly replied.
Eyes wide, I closed my mouth and continued down the hall with PJ. She was glaring at me like I’d done something wrong. The smell of Tom Ford had me glancing over my shoulder again. Behind me, he casually followed us.
"What are you doing?" I asked. He was fine and everything but a complete stranger.
"I'm tryna see where my wife is headed," he replied with a shrug.
Wife? Ugh! That was an instant fucking turnoff. I did not fuck with single men, let alone married ones. Was it sad that I peered up and down the hall looking for his wife? I wanted to see what this heffa looked like. Fine niggas were synonymous with being with gorilla-looking females.
I didn't see anyone coming, so I shrugged it off as PJ, and I made it to the conference room where Dame was waiting for us, along with a woman who was quite beautiful. Still, this nigga followed.
"Good morning!" she cheerily greeted.
"Morning, ladies." Dame nodded.
"Hi," PJ replied. "I'm Penelope, and this is my sister, Naomi." We shook hands, but the mumbling behind us drew my attention.
"You good, Sin?" Dame was talking to the guy who'd followed us.
Sin. No fucking wonder.
He nodded. "Naomi Smith sounds nice," he drawled. He nodded everyone's way before strolling toward the door.
I turned around to find Dame and the chick chuckling while PJ stared with her mouth open. Smith? I thought. That wasn't my fucking last na- What?
My gaze flew back toward the entrance of the conference room, but he was already gone.
SIN
In deep conversation with Zeus and Brooklyn, I almost missed my damn wife coming into the building.
As I rode the elevator back to the first floor, I licked my lips, wondering how that reckless mouth of hers tasted.
If Naomi thought I was done talking to her, she had another thing coming.
I was going to wait right in this lobby for her fine ass.
I can't say I'd ever met a woman with a gold grill that actually looked attractive.
Before she even mugged me, Naomi's beautiful face captured me.
She was oddly familiar, which had me scrolling through Google, looking up 'Naomis'.
She was here meeting Dame and Frost, which meant she was an athlete or an entertainer.
The grill was a complete contrast to her innocent looks. Her body, though... I loved me a tall ass woman. Only she wasn't so tall as she was shapely. Baby girl was Coke bottle made and downplayed that shit until it intrigued me.
Several Naomis came up in my search results but only one Naomi with that fucking gold bottom grill. Smirking, I clicked on the image of her in the CFU A&M uniform side by side with an image of her in the Pelicans uniform.
I rarely paid attention to female pro-ball players, although I watched college from time to time. Naomi looked the same, minus the dental upgrade.
The elevator doors slid open, and I joined Zoo and Brooklyn while skimming an article about the recent move of the New Orleans WNBA team to Pensacola. I'd heard plenty about the move but seeming as it didn't involve any of my business activities, I paid it no mind.
"Did you see the ass on baby girl?" Zoo commented. I broke away from the article to grill him.
"Which one?" I asked. The woman with Naomi introduced herself as Penelope. She was bad as fuck, too. As a matter of fact, they were damn near twins.
"The one in the damn ‘fuck me’ heels," Zoo answered.
Brooke shook his head and laughed.
"Her name is Penelope, mane," I informed him and then went back to reading.
"Penelope? Damn, I know she's stuck up as fuck," he grumbled.
Brooklyn chuckled. "Like that's 'bout to stop you from tryna slide."
"Shole ain't," Zoo replied, nonplussed.
Snickering, Brooklyn said, "I'm headed to the studio. Y'all niggas stay outta trouble."
I dapped my lil' cousin and told him to be safe.
He didn't like that shit, but that's how it was with me.
I considered myself his big brother, even though he was only a year younger than me.
It wasn't like Brooklyn couldn't handle himself.
I was just the type of nigga to make sure my family kept their eyes open at all times.
Zeus and I were still in the lobby when Naomi and Penelope came gliding off the elevator.
"Girl, no this man ain't, " Naomi whispered to her sister when she spotted me.
Grinning, I approached her. "Name's Jamison. You thought we were done?"
Her expression looked as if she smelled something bad. "Peeg, do I know him?"
Her sister nervously smiled.
"You wanna know me?" I replied. Even if Naomi wanted to pretend like she wasn't attracted to me, I saw right through the facade she displayed.
She snickered. "Yeah, aight. Sin, Jamison, or whatever. You're cute, but not that cute. Besides, you're not my type," she admitted.
"Damn." Zoo chuckled.
My eyebrows piqued for a second.
"Really?" I asked, a little surprised.
"Really," she shot back.
"You like females?" I had to know. I mean, it was cool if she did. It wasn't a thing for me to convince her things were better with me.
"I'on like you, that's for sure," she sassed, causing me to laugh. She grabbed her sister's hand and tried to walk past me.
"Mane, her mouth is slick as fuck," Zoo decided to say, prompting Naomi's sister to stop in her tracks and glare at him.
"Excuse me, but you and your two cents can mind their business," Penelope stated. Where she seemed sweet and docile, underneath that, I could tell baby girl was as mean as a rattlesnake.
"You gon' make me?" Zoo asked, prompting both Naomi and Penelope to scoff.
Zoo was the wrong nigga to get worked up, so I intervened when I saw lil' baby about to light into his ass.
"Chill, Zoo." I chuckled. "How can you say you don't like someone you don't know?" I asked Naomi, taking her mind off Zoo, who stood there eye-fucking Penelope. She was doing the same to him, so I let them be.
"Because... Your aura gives off 'run bitch' vibes," she answered. The fact that she said it with a straight face caused me to laugh.
"Well, if it's anything to you, I like you." My statement didn't go over well as she grimaced.
"It's not anything to me," she stated. "But thank you, though. Come on, Peeg," she called while sliding her shades down over her beautiful, almond-shaped brown eyes.
"You're a lil' mean," I relayed to her retreating back. "But that don't scare me, shawty," I reminded her of the same thing I told her in the elevator. She kept walking with her sister hot on her heels.
"Mane, the day I break lil' baby down. I'ma have her ass callin' me daddy."
I laughed because Zoo never let a woman get under his skin. Clearly Penelope had, and that shit was funny. Both she and her sister were bad as fuck, and their mouths were destined to get them both fucked up.