Chapter 7
Trooper
“Foul me again and I’m gon’ knock your ass out.” Los grilled Trey hard as hell before he hurled the ball at his chest to check him.
“Quit whining and just play. Pussy ass.”
I glanced at Los and gave him a look that said chill. This was why we didn’t come down here to play that often, but Trey kept talking about taking Los to the hole, so we were in our old hood, at the end of a pickup game with Trey and Rique.
“Shut the fuck up before your people spend the next few weeks planning how to bury your ass.” Los yelled before Trey returned the ball to him.
Los dribbled low with his eyes on Trey before he delivered a no look pass to the left that landed right in my hands. He spun and cut right, driving to the lane before I sent it in the air. Los caught it and sent the ball through the rim, grabbing it before he let his Js hit the asphalt again.
“Muthafucking game. Now what was all that you were talking?” Los walked up on Trey, getting right in his face, and Trey’s bitch ass pushed him back.
“You won, so fucking what? Get the fuck outta my face with that childish ass shit.”
Rique laughed at Trey, knowing he was pissed, which didn’t help the situation.
“Ay, don’t be crying. Just take that loss like a man and pay up. Ten grand, muthafucker.”
I headed to the bench that lined the court we were on and went through my bag for my towel. It was September in New York, so a cool breeze flowed through. I was sweating like crazy and being shirtless wasn’t helping.
“I got your fucking money, damn,” Trey said, heading my way with Los right behind him, still talking shit.
Los was hostile, and arrogant as fuck, so he wasn’t about to let it go.
“Shit, you saying that like you had a choice. Let me get them stacks,” Los said from behind Trey just as he reached the bench.
Trey turned and shoved him in the chest again, causing Los to nail his ass right in the eye. They started going at it and I noticed Rique reaching for his back, but I had my piece in my hand and aimed at him before he got a chance to move.
“Won’t be none of that. That’s their shit, let them handle it,” I said calmly as my eyes moved around the court to see our spectators.
A few people had come out to watch the games, and they had their eyes on us, but everyone knew who Los and I were. Even though I wasn’t in the streets anymore, I still had respect like I was. Los was still doing his thing, so no one would say anything to either of us.
Rique threw his hands up then reached for his shirt. Once he pulled it over his head, he and I watched Los beat the shit outta Trey until he got tired and walked away.
Los approached the bench, mumbling under his breath before he grabbed Trey’s bag and started digging through it. He pulled out two stacks and tossed one to me before he lifted his bag and walked off.
“Pussy ass,” he yelled as he stepped over Trey, who was just now getting up and looking mad as fuck.
“Nice doing business with you,” I said with a smirk to Rique, who glanced at Trey then shook his head.
When I passed Trey, I stopped and looked at him while he stretched his jaw and touched it.
“Why the fuck you always doing shit like that? You know he ain’t stable, Trey.”
“Fuck him. He better keep his eyes open.”
I chuckled and looked Trey right in his eyes.
“You really gonna threaten my man right here in front of me? You’s a dumb ass muthafucker.
How about this? You keep your gotdamn eyes open, ’cause if I think for one second there was any sincerity to what the fuck you just said, your family won’t need to plan shit because there won’t be anything left to bury. Now play with it.”
I smiled at him then walked off. I didn’t care about turning my back to him because one thing was for sure; he knew better than to try me. I was willing to bet my life on that.
When I got to my car, I found Los pulling a hoodie over his head with his bag in my passenger seat.
“That’s why I don’t like coming down here. Muthafuckers seem to forget who the fuck we are sometimes,” I said as I pulled my door open and tossed my bag into the back then opened my console to get my phone.
I smiled at the message from Sophie.
Sophie: Board meeting, I’m bored. Dinner tonight?
“Fuck that muthafucker. He better be glad he still breathing,” Los said with a grin. That meant he was good again.
“Ay, I feel you, but this shit ain’t for us no more. I know you only did it to shut his ass up, but it’s not worth the stress.”
“You getting soft on me, Troop.”
“Don’t fucking play me, Los. Ain’t shit about me soft but my dick and that’s only because ain’t no bad bitches around to fix that for me.”
Los chuckled before he grabbed his bag, tossed it in the back, and got in.
I slipped into the driver’s seat and pulled off.
“Bad bitches? I’m starting to think you don’t know what those are anymore since you found Sophie, Troop.”
I grinned and shot him a bird. “Trust me, I’m well aware, but I’m chilling right now.”
“Chilling, huh?” Los laughed. “Nah, she got your ass on lock, but it’s cool. I like Sophie. Just be careful.”
“Fuck I need to be careful for?”
“’Cause a woman like that will have your ass married with two point five children and you won’t even know it happened. You’ll wake up one day with a mini me looking up at your ass calling you daddy.”
I burst out laughing and his ass looked at me like he was deep in thought.
“Yo, don’t fucking laugh, Troop. I’m serious as fuck. It can happen.”
“Nah, not to me. Trust me, I’m good on that,” I said with a nod.
Thirty minutes later, I pulled up in front of Los’ building and he reached in the back and got his shit.
“We chilling tonight or what?”
“Not tonight. I got plans.”
“See, that’s that shit right there. Married with two point five kids, Troop.” Los pulled the handle to the door and placed one foot on the ground before he looked at me. “And a gotdamn dog. Not even a real one either. One of them cute type of shits women like.”
“Get the fuck out of my car with all that,” I said and laughed.
“Ay, I’m speaking the truth, but I’ll get with you soon.
Just hit me up when Sophie lets your ass out to play.
Tell her I said what’s up, though.” Los got out and leaned down to look at me again.
“Two point five, just remember that shit,” he announced before he shut the door and headed toward his building.
It had been three weeks since the party at my place and she and I had been chilling pretty heavy.
I had her ass wide open, doing shit she wasn’t used to.
We’d go to dinner and fuck in the bathroom or chill in Harlem at Ginny’s listening to local artists who thought they would be the next big thing out of New York.
Most of our time was spent in my world, but she was comfortable with that, so I didn’t complain.
Problem was, she had me neglecting people on some serious shit, most importantly Orin.
It was getting harder and harder to dodge her and she had even shown up one night while Sophie was there.
I had just knocked her walls down so Sophie was taking a bath and didn’t know, which was good.
For the first time, I was with someone I didn’t want to feel disrespected by the other women in my life, Orin included.
I didn’t want to get rid of Orin just yet because we had been rocking for a minute and I didn’t know what me and Sophie were.
Right now, it was just fun, but I was feeling her.
She had me doing shit I didn’t do, like chilling on a regular basis, falling asleep with her in my bed and loving it.
When she wasn’t here, I missed her, and when she was, I didn’t want her to go.
Regardless, I wasn’t about to be locked into anything.
That wasn’t my shit and I didn’t see that changing anytime soon.
“Oh shit, Sophie.” I pushed her head down further into my lap and she took it like a champ.
When I felt my head hit the back of her throat, my teeth sank into my lip for a minute and I gripped her hair, pulling her up because I was about to cum.
I tried it once before and damn near choked her ass, so I respected it wasn’t her thing.
Covering my dick with my hand, I exploded into it with my eyes closed and my head back against the sofa.
I opened my eyes just in time to see Sophie standing over me with a pleased grin on her face as she handed over a warm wet towel, which I used to clean up then handed back to her.
When she left again, I tucked my man back into my jeans and waited for her to return.
When she did, she climbed into my lap and leaned into my chest with her shoulder while I placed my hands on her thighs to hold her in place.
“I need to ask you something,” she said, running her fingers across the tattoos on my forearms.
“What’s up?” I asked before I kissed her temple.
“My father is having a black-tie event for the board members and some of our biggest clients. I was wondering if you would go with me.” Her eyes were on me now as she waited.
I really wasn’t feeling that for two reasons.
One, if her father was hosting, that meant he would be there.
I wasn’t the “meet your family” type because that meant commitment.
Even though Sophie and I had been kicking it pretty solid, nothing about us was defined.
The other reason was because Orin had already asked me to take her.
She modeled for her father’s company, which I found out was one of Sophie’s clients.
That was how she ended up at all their functions, like the night I’d escorted Orin to one of Prescotts’ events.
I was still dealing with Orin, though not as much because Sophie took up most of my time.
Even though what we had held no more definition than me and Sophie, I wasn’t about to be stuck in the middle of them.
The fucked up part was I was more concerned about Sophie feeling some type of way about me and Orin than about Orin feeling some type of way about me showing up with Sophie.
“When is it?” I asked, even though I already knew because Orin had filled me in.
“Next Friday,” she said, sounding hopeful. “And I’m not trying to set you up. You can just be my date. I’m not trying to introduce you to my family as my boyfriend or anything.”
I smirked and looked at her. “Word, you don’t want them to think I’m your boyfriend? It’s like that?” I had no idea why I even said that shit, knowing it was about to backfire.
“No, I mean if that’s what you want and you’re okay with that, I am too. We just never talked about it. I just didn’t want you to think I was trying to force you into anything. I’m okay with you just being my date.”
I chuckled at her rambling. It was cute as fuck and she came off as sixteen right now, not twenty-six.
“How about this, let me check on a few things and I’ll let you know. And as for the other thing, I’ll be whatever you want me to be. I’ll leave that up to you.” Fuck was I doing? Come on, Troop.
I was stressing, but it made her happy. At that moment, it was the right thing to do.
“Good enough.” She beamed then kissed me. “Now, I’m starving. So can we go eat?”
“Yeah, we can do that. Let’s go.” I stole one last kiss before she slipped off my lap and rounded the sofa.
When she disappeared into her room, my hand moved across my head and I exhaled. I had a week to figure this shit out, but I had a feeling I was about to lose one of them. Sad thing was, it wouldn’t be Sophie.