Chapter 13 #2
The friends looked at each other then busted out laughing. When they recovered, Sheree grabbed the baby monitor when she heard Jomie whining and pouted when she stood, stretching to soothe the ache from sitting on the floor. “Let me go check on her.”
“Go head, I’m going to get us set up.” Samari grabbed both of their plates, taking them to the kitchen. She returned with the popcorn in a bowl, the box of cake pops, and the second, uncorked bottle of wine.
After refilling their glasses, she set everything up and made the short trip to the hallway closet where she retrieved two fluffy blankets and sat on one end of the love seat with the tray of goodies centered while she pulled her legs up and crossed them at the ankle.
Needing to be cozy, she draped one of the blankets over her body.
To keep busy while she waited for Sheree, Samari grabbed her phone and opened Skroll, casually swiping until a text that had her smiling filled the top of her screen.
Asao: I need your time later.
Samari: Need or want? Two very different things. Clarify so I’ll know how to respond.
Instead of a text, a call came through that had her eyes darting to the hallway that led to the back of her girl’s house before she answered.
“You trying to make sure there’s no paper trail?” she said with a grin.
“Nah, I’m a man about mine. If I tell you something, I’ll stand on that shit.”
Samari smiled and rolled her eyes. “Need or want?”
“Both, but I have some shit I need to do first, so it’ll be late. You gonna be up?”
“Depends on what you need and what you want.” She was playing with fire but couldn’t help herself.
“I wanna get you in the studio. I have something I want to try, but if you’re busy…”
Samari’s head snapped up when her phone slipped from her hand.
“She’s with me, and whether or not I’m willing to let you have my time depends on what you plan on doing with it,” Sheree said after putting the call on speaker and grinning at her girl.
She loved Samari and valued their time but Sheree also wasn’t selfish and would be willing to share if it meant Samari was one step closer to the two things she wanted the most. Sheree was no fool and she could read her girl like one of her favorite books.
Samari didn’t just want her career back, she wanted Asao.
“Who’s this?’” he said smoothly, his tone easy and unbothered. The sexy drawl had Samari missing him.
“Her girl…”
“What up, friend?” he stated.
“We’re not friends, sir, and are you at a club?”
Asao chuckled. He wasn’t feeling Samari’s friend questioning his moves but he remembered her from the night they’d met and decided to give her grace.
“I pulled up for a minute to holler at my boy but I’m not gonna be here long and calling you friend was just a reference because I can’t remember your name. ”
“Strike one. It’s Sheree. Commit that to memory. If you don’t know anything else in life, you need to know the name of the one who doesn’t play about Samari Janaé. And because I don’t play about her, you better not have no women in your face for that minute.”
“My bad, Sheree. I have you locked in and I’m good on that. The only woman I want in my face is currently in yours.”
“Mhm and what are you trying to do with my girl?”
“Shit, anything she wants and needs me to.”
“I meant for tonight with your smooth ass but I see you.” Sheree grinned and dropped her eyes to Samari who let Sheree have her moment. There was no point in trying to shut her down.
“I’m trying to get in the studio, you’re welcome to come too, or I can reschedule…”
“Nope, she’ll be there. I can’t come because I’m on mommy duty but there will be a raincheck.”
“No doubt. Just let me know when and I’m there.”
“Mhm, I bet. Be good to my girl, Asao. You don’t want the type of heat I will send your way if you don’t.”
“I got you.” She grinned and handed Samari the phone before Sheree filled the spot across from Samari and turned her body to lift the glass of wine behind her on the end table.
Samari took the phone off speaker and placed it to her ear. “Sorry about that. I don’t know why Ree turned into Gangster Barbie.”
He chuckled. “It’s cool. I respect that she’s gonna step behind you. That’s how it should be. I’ll let you do your thing though. Kick it with your girl and hit my line when you’re done.”
“Um, okay, it might be late.”
“That’s cool.”
After Samari ended the call, Sheree was grinning like a fool. “Why are you still here, friend?”
“Were you not just crying about me not spending time with you?”
“I was but that right there is enough for me to give you a pass.” She pointed to Samari’s face before she leaned forward enough to grab a cake pop from the box.
“Plus, if you bail, this makes up for it.” Sheree held up the red velvet cake pop right before her teeth sank into the cream cheese icing covered treat. “These shits are so damn good.”
“Are you really going to compare the value of my time with a sugar rush?”
“No, I’m valuing your time against that goofy ass grin all over your face when that man was on your line. You want that man something serious, Mari, and I’m willing to take a hit for the greater good of our future.”
Samari laughed. “Our futures?”
“Yes, hoe. I told you my baby needs a best friend. You need to be pregnant before her first birthday.”
“Ree, that’s in two months.”
“I pushed her big headed ass out. You don’t think I know when she was born?”
Samari rolled her eyes. “You’re gonna stop playing my baby like that. Her head…”
“Is big as fuck but my baby is still pretty as hell. She gets that from her daddy. You’re giving me two more hours, then you can go.”
“You want me to leave?” Samari fake pouted and Sheree rolled her eyes and surveyed the cake pops, lifting a double chocolate one.
“Bitch no, but I also don’t want you feeling like you have to choose between me and him.
I’m making the decision for you because I’m selfless.
” Sheree bit down on the cake pop and grinned.
“And I also only have about two hours left by the time I finish this wine. Jomie has been kicking my ass lately and Mama is tired.”
“So basically, it’s not about me.”
“Hoe, a win is a win, take that shit and hold it close to the chest.”
Samari grabbed a handful of popcorn and shoved it into her mouth, shaking her head. Having Sheree in her life was definitely a win, either way she flipped it. She would forever be grateful.
Tori’s stomach was in knots after listening to the phone call Asao engaged in, feeling slighted by how he’d not only ignored her but was also giving his time to someone else.
She could decipher from the small part of the conversation she had been privy to that he was speaking to a woman.
One he was familiar with and who Tori assumed he had been or wanted to be intimate with.
Since their last encounter, every text she’d sent had been left on read. When she called, he didn’t answer, and she had yet to catch him at his apartment. Multiple popups left her aggravated, trying to figure out how to get his attention.
Not once had he promised her anything, and during the entire time she had access to him, he’d remained guarded.
However, she was hopeful that she could attach herself to everything he’d built.
Although they hadn’t met until his exit plan had been executed, she was Crescent Falls born and raised.
So she knew the man he was in the streets prior to him putting down roots in the studio.
She fumbled the opportunity and seriously regretted how much it hurt but also refused to accept that she couldn’t work her way back into his good graces.
Like most delusional women, she felt that all she had to do was get him between her thighs to change his mind about granting her access to the world she’d bragged to her friends about being a VIP cardholder to.
Tori was cool with Asao. His dick game was unparalleled, his pockets were deep, and he had a generous heart.
Her issue was a selfish mother—who’d measured her worth by what men were willing to offer for her looks and body—had raised Tori with the lack of understanding it took to appreciate the man he truly was.
His dominance, loyalty, and protective nature didn’t make her pussy wet, but walking into clubs and being escorted to VIP off the strength of his name or the stacks he laced her with to ensure she matched his fly did.
The prospect of another woman gaining what she’d lost was what allowed Tori to push her pride aside and absorb the embarrassment of having to beg for his attention.
But she felt it would be worth it in the end.
She watched Asao, waiting to see if he would acknowledge her, but the most she got was a nod when he’d entered the section paid for by B-Syde.
Poles and Pastries was the last place she wanted to be, but when she and her girls had gotten turned away from a private event at Black Diamonds after she handed over Asao’s name in request for a VIP section, she had to tuck her tail between her legs and either head home for the night or tag along with her girls who were extended an invitation to pregame with B-Syde at the strip club.
Knowing Asao had put word out that she was no longer attached to his name was a slap in the face and a final line in the sand that he was no longer fucking with her.
Seeing him now only made matters worse. Asao was a fine man.
Always kept a fresh cut, his cinnamon brown skin made his jet black beard look shiny like oil as it coated the lower half of his face.
The hangtime that dropped his beard a few inches below his chin was sexy.