Chapter 6
NAOMI
Iexited the locker room and locked eyes with PJ, who'd been waiting for me. She looked irritated and flustered.
"What is it?" I asked.
She nodded toward the tunnel entrance with a scowl on her face. I scowled at those niggas, too. Behind security, Sin stood with his cousin.
"He's not leaving until you talk to him," PJ informed me.
"Well, he can stand his stalking ass right there all night," I sassed, turning toward the exit.
Despite the fact that I'd scored twenty-two points and dropped ten assists, Sin being courtside, had my game off.
His ass had to be the sexiest man I'd ever encountered.
His presence made me nervous on the court in a way I'd never been.
I faced opponents more intimidating than the Hulk, yet Sin seemed to knock me off my rocker.
I second-guessed several shots that I already knew I had in the bag.
Walking away from the game without any turnovers was the highlight of my evening.
Our outing broke the ice a little but not enough for me not to still wanna push his ass away. Too much, too soon, would have me running to the hills.
"Naomi!" Sin's voice carried through the tunnel like a long-ass tongue and strummed my pussy. She quivered in my denim jeans as if Sin had touched her.
During the game, I heard his voice several times, coaching me from the sideline. He even got on to the refs whenever I was fouled or touched too aggressively. At one point, I smiled to myself, thinking his antics were what a supportive man would do on the sidelines.
Rolling my eyes, I ignored the stares from several teammates exiting the locker room.
"You good, Mimi?" That came from Fallon, a teammate of mine that I was sure had a crush on me. She could’ve kept that shit, though. Word around the league was Fallon shared her coochie with any and everybody. To each her own, but she wasn't getting any of my goods.
"Yeah, we're good," PJ spouted, grilling Fallon. She then turned to me. "Just go talk to him, so we can go. And be nice," she hissed after me.
Already worn out, I stalked toward Sin and refused to scan his body up and down again. I could recite what he had on and the way it fit his body to a T.
"Listen, Sin—" I was ready to give him a piece of my mind about how he just needed to fall back.
Unexpectedly, Sin drew me into his corded arms for a hug. "Great game, baby," he praised. I was so busy consuming his essence that I blanked out for a second, or else I would've noticed just how perfect his hands felt caressing my back.
"Uhm... Thanks," I responded, pulling away from his heated embrace.
"Can we continue talkin' over dinner?" he requested. When he saw me hesitating, he quickly added, "I won't keep you out too late. I just want a few minutes of ya time."
Why did he have to lick his lips afterward as if he were already sealing the deal?
Remembering what PJ said, I forced a smile. "If I agree to dinner, will you leave me alone? I'm not trying to be mean, but I don't need any distractions during this time. The gym was cool, and I thought that would scratch the itch you have for me, but I guess not."
Smirking, Sin rubbed at his beard and considered my question. His gaze narrowed so sexily on me that I had to look away.
"I'll be honest, Naomi," he said. "I'm not sure I'd be able to leave you alone.
The gym session with you only made me want you more.
Just seeing you do what you love other than basketball and being that I'm not a stranger to the weights, I loved it too.
If not this game, then it will most definitely be another one that I pop up at," he admitted, causing me to skeptically look at him.
My hands found my hips. "So, you're determined to be a stalker?"
He chuckled. "I'd rather you welcome me with open arms than to stalk you, baby. I think you'd find my company worth it."
This time, I crossed my arms over my breasts.
"What do you want from me?"
"Ya time," he replied.
"Besides my time," I dug.
"We needn't cross that bridge yet. Once you're comfortable givin' me ya time, without thinking a little will satisfy me, then everything else will naturally flow. A little of you only makes me want you more."
"I see that now."
I really wanted to roll my eyes at his poetic ass, but PJ was on my ass about being nice. For some reason, she liked Sin. All bullshit aside, I liked him too, but shit, I didn't need this type of sexy distraction in my life right now.
Sighing, I said, "You can take me to dinner, but my sister has to come with us."
He smiled and shot back, "It'll be my first time on a double date."
"Dinner," I corrected him.
"And what you mean 'double date'?" Zoo, who'd been standing off to the side, came over glaring at Sin.
"Even though I don't like you, I agree. I'm not going anywhere," PJ approached and said. Her gaze was on Zoo. While she claimed to hate men like Zoo, I stood ten toes down in my belief that she was attracted to him.
"It's free dinner, Peeg. I'm not cooking tonight, and neither are you because we're both beat." Instead of arguing her point, PJ started back off through the tunnel toward the exit.
"Zeus," Sin started. "We're gon' take these beautiful ladies to dinner and show them a good time." I could tell by the look Sin gave Zoo that he wasn't asking but rather telling him. Zoo's eyes found PJ, then he snarled.
"You owe me," he said and went after PJ.
"You're putting two Pitbulls in the same space, and I, for one, don't think that's safe," I commented.
Sin, however, smoothed his hand down my arm until his fingers gripped mine. I peered down at our joined hands, confused by both the contact and how good my hand looked in his.
"Zoo is a teddy bear once you get to know him," he stated, leading me through the tunnel. We drew attention that didn't bother Sin one bit but had me uncomfortable under the stares.
"I find that hard to believe," I quipped. "Just know that if Zoo comes at my sister slick, she has no reservations about hurting his feelings. And trust me, whatever comes out of her mouth will have Zoo in deep reflection, wondering what his life really means."
"Damn." Sin chuckled. "Can I expect the same from you?"
His eyes met mine.
"You can expect dinner."
Sin threw his head back and laughed. I hated to say that his laughter brought a smile to my face.
Although Sin wanted me to ride with him, I chose to take my own car to the restaurant of my and PJ's choice.
"I can't believe you got me doing this shit with you," PJ fussed. Just like she was fussing, I was sure Zoo was doing the same thing with Sin.
"We've done worse together," I mumbled.
She smacked her teeth. "Yeah, but this is asking too much. You know how I feel about Zoo's immature ass, yet you wanna put me at a dinner table with him?"
"It'll be fine," I assured her without really being sure myself. We settled on a spot we'd both heard about that wasn't far from the arena. I parked in the sparsely crowded parking lot and waited for Sin to pull in beside me.
"And what nigga drives a damn Maybach besides rich-ass athletes, entertainers, and kingpins?" PJ asked, observing Sin's sleek ride.
"What're you saying?"
"I'm saying," she said, rolling her neck, "you don't even know what this man does for a living. You could be very well injecting us into the underworld of drugs and shit."
Laughter spilled over before I could stop it.
"You go from wishing I'd woman-up and be with another man to saying this man, who happens to have a nice car, may be a drug kingpin? Peeg, I need you to get it together. Do you want me to step out or not?"
Mulling it over, PJ smacked her teeth again and snatched off her seatbelt.
"Next time, I'm gonna keep my damn mouth shut," she grumbled.
We both exited the car, with me being surprised to see Sin strolling up to my door. I didn't miss the way his eyes fell to my Nikes and back to my face in a heartbeat.
"I'll get ya door the next time," he commented. Like before, he took my hand in his.
"So, tell me something about Naomi that I can't find on the internet." Sin's arm went around my shoulders as he made himself more comfortable.
We'd already ordered dinner and were casually sipping our drinks.
I didn't drink alcohol during the season, so I settled on a sweet tea while Sin had a beer.
His cologne had me swimming in desire that had me crossing my legs.
When we met up at the gym, we didn't really get deep into conversation because I was in my zone.
Plus, I had my Beats on, so if he did say something, I only heard him in between the songs changing.
"I'm not surprised you looked me up," I admitted.
He grinned. "Had to. You had me from the moment you looked at me."
Face heating, I glanced away. PJ seemed to be staring dead at me from her seat in the booth across from me. When they first sat down, Zoo sat across from PJ. Now, Zoo sat next to PJ. Whatever they were talking about had PJ irritated.
"I wanna know everything about you," he continued, breaking my gaze away from PJ.
"Sorry, but I'm a pretty boring person outside basketball."
Sin's fingers touched my lips. "That grill tells a different story."
Playing off the fact that his touch sent electricity through my face all the way to the soles of my feet, I rolled my eyes.
"Lemme guess," I stated. "A woman shouldn't have such things in her mouth."
As Vick's mother's voice resurfaced, I cleared my throat.
"There are plenty of things that look good in a woman's mouth..."
My eyes were glued to Sin's lips as he licked them. He didn't miss a spot, moistening his luscious soul snatchers. I knew they were soul snatchers because just gazing at them had my mind gone.
"... however, I fuckin' love ya grill. That shit is sexy."
Sin's comments knocked me back into reality.
"Huh?" Confusion lined my forehead. I couldn't have heard him correctly.
He offered a mischievous smile and leaned into me. With his eyes boring into mine, he pecked my lips, causing them to tingle.