Chapter 5
If I didn’t have to stop by the shop to meet with this chick about some graphic designs, I would have taken my ass home.
It was dangerous for me to be out in the public right now.
I was pissed off, and the smallest thing was sure to set me all the way off.
The way I felt took me back to the days when me and Keegan ran the streets.
We were menaces to society back then and known to fuck shit, and people, up for no real reason.
“I know that look. Fuck wrong wit’ you?” Keegan asked as he eyed me from behind the glass counter containing rows of handguns.
I glanced up at him from the mockup flyers and business cards Trina, the graphic designer, was showing me.
All I gave him was a grunt in response, and he laughed like something was funny. “Aw, hell. What Icelynn do this time?”
I frowned. “How you know somethin’ even wrong, Reem? And how you figure it’s Icelynn’s water-head ass?”
“You forget you my closest cousin, nigga? Practically my brother. Don’t insult my intelligence like that.”
I glanced at Trina, who pretended to mind her business as she scrolled on her phone.
She was a lil mixed girl I would have definitely cracked back before I met Icelynn, but nothing about her seemed appealing as I peered at her right now.
Her skin wasn’t the right shade of melanin.
Her curls were too . . . bouncy and girly.
I’d become more of a protective styles type of man over the past six months.
Give me some braids or locs, and my dick might get hard.
I shook my head and focused back on Keegan. Even when I was pissed at her, I still found ways to give her flowers and compliment her.
I leaned over the glass and whispered, “She was playin’ wit’ a nigga’s dick.”
Keegan’s brows dipped. “Huh? Say that again.”
I huffed out a dramatic breath. “I went to her job earlier and caught her playin’ wit’ a nigga’s dick?”
“You a lie.” Keegan laughed like the shit was funny.
“I ain’t lyin’, nigga. His dick was all out and she talkin’ ’bout she workin’. Talkin’ ’bout she waxin’ it.”
Keegan was silent for a second before he asked, “Well, . . . was she waxin’ him?”
I blinked. “I mean, yeah, but that ain’t the point.”
“Then what’s the point?” Keegan crossed his arms over his chest.
“The point is, she got me fucked up.”
Keegan chuckled. “Y’all got issues.”
“How I get in it? She the one gettin’ paid to play with dicks.” My face automatically frowned up when I said that. The image of Icelynn’s delicate hand around another nigga’s balls fucked my head up. Trina snorted from beside me, and I cut my eyes at her. “Somethin’ funny?”
She quickly shook her head and looked back down at her phone, probably to find something safe to do because laughing at me right now wasn’t it. Keegan was lucky I didn’t knock him in his damn head for laughing and making slick ass comments.
“Y’all need to work on your communication,” Keegan summarized as he leaned against the display case.
My brows shot up. “You done married Chyna, and now, all of a sudden, you’re a relationship expert? You know how to deal with women? Huh? Because if you ask me, they’re all insane, and ain’t no figuring them out.”
“They’re actually pretty simple, but I ain’t ’bout to sit here and break that shit down to you.
You’ll learn eventually. What I do know is that you and Ice need to get ya shit together or leave each other the fuck alone.
I never thought y’all two hookin’ up was a good idea, but since we’re past that now, you guys need to decide to either be in it or let it be.
This in between shit will cause one of y’all to get hurt.
Or both of y’all. Hell, possibly even other people.
I’m surprised you ain’t hurt ol’ boy she was playin’ wit’. ”
The nigga had the nerve to look like he held back a laugh at the mention of Icelynn playing with another man.
“She wasn’t playin’ wit’ him, idiot. She was waxin’ him,” I defended.
Keegan burst into laughter once again. “I thought you just said she was playin’ wit’ him?”
I clenched my jaw. He was playing with me, and I didn’t like that shit. Not right now when I was in a crisis. Icelynn had me fucked up, and I seemed to be the only mothafucka that understood that.
“Whatever,” I mumbled as I waved him off.
I focused back on the business card samples Trina brought by and touched them.
One had a glossy finish and the other was matte.
I picked up the matte one and handed it to her.
“I like this one. And for the flyers, we can print up a few bigger ones to hang up by the door. Send me over the digital copy, and I’ll post it on the store’s socials. ”
“Perfect. Is there anything else I can help you with?” she asked as she gathered the samples. I knew her ass was glad to get up out of here. I was glad to have her gone so I could go home and think about Icelynn.
“The lady asked you a question, Beretta.” The stern voice came from behind me.
I barely registered Keegan laughing quietly to himself as I turned and laid eyes on Icelynn.
I wasn’t the type of man to get spooked often, but the way her ass just materialized had me shook. I glanced around my otherwise empty shop and asked, “Fuck you come from?”
Icelynn ignored me as she nodded at Trina and asked, “Aren’t you going to answer her? Is there anything else she can help you with? A strip tease or some head, perhaps?”
“Yo, you wild, Ice,” Keegan jeered.
Icelynn’s pretty, brown eyes cut over to him before she focused back on me.
My hand slid down my face slowly. “What’s your issue, man? I thought you had a full schedule today?” I mocked.
“I cleared it, goofy. You gonna answer this bitch or not?” she snapped.
“Bitch? I—”
“That ain’t what you wanna do, shorty,” Keegan warned. One look at him let me know he found this entire situation highly amusing.
I scoffed. “Juicy.”
“Don’t Juicy me. Why this bitch gazing all up in your eyes and asking you if you need anything? Something you need to tell me, Beretta?”
“You trippin’.” I wasn’t about to entertain her shit right now. I was still pissed about earlier, and I had a shorter fuse than normal right now.
Icelynn took a step back. “I’m trippin’? You came up to my place of work and caused a scene. I thought I would come to return the favor. How convenient that you got a bitch here to make things a little more interesting.”
Before I could respond, Icelynn pulled a pair of rose gold brass knuckles out of her purse, put them on, and then punched the closest glass display to her.
Alarms blared, and I jumped into action as her crazy ass thoughtfully browsed the selection of guns now at her disposal.
I jogged to the back and dismantled the alarm.
When I walked back to the front, Icelynn had a gun pointed at Trina, who cowered on the floor while Keegan laughed at the scene in front of him.
“Really, nigga? You ain’t think to take the gun from her?” I asked. I walked right up to Icelynn and snatched the gun from her.
“It ain’t like it’s loaded.” Keegan shrugged.
As soon as I had the gun, Trina got up and sprinted out of the store.
Icelynn pouted. “Aw, she’s a party pooper.”
I stared at her for several long seconds, trying to process what I felt at the moment. Finally, I said, “You gotta be certified. Crazy in the fuckin’ head. A damn lunatic.”
“I just wanted to know why she was gazing into your eyes like she saw Jesus,” Icelynn replied. Her innocent tone didn’t fool me.
“And that was so damn important you had to damage my display case and point a gun at her?” I didn’t know if I should be turned on or pissed off.
Icelynn shrugged. “I didn’t like her face. It pissed me off, so I thought maybe if I shot it off . . .” I laughed without meaning to. Icelynn cocked her head. “I’m funny?”
“I don’t know what the fuck you are other than driving me up a damn wall.”
“I’ma let you two fight it out,” Keegan said as he tapped on his phone while he walked toward the door. I knew his lovesick ass was probably filling his wife in on all the tea. Snitchin’ ass.
Once he left the shop, I walked over to the door and locked it so no customers could come in. I had my manager go home for the day because when I was done here, I was going to close up shop, so it was just me and Icelynn now.
“I’m driving you up a damn wall when you ran my damn customer out earlier? Do you know how that made me look? I might not have any clients left after that stunt. You know people love running to social media and talking shit,” Icelynn ranted.
“And you just lost me my damn graphic designer and cost me thousands for this display case,” I argued. The battle between being pissed and turned on was still at hand. My dick was hard, but my blood pressure was all the way up dealing with this looney tune. “You’re payin’ for this shit.”
“Like fuck I am.” Icelynn crossed her arms over her chest as she glared at me. “Why the fuck was she lookin’ at you like that, Beretta? You fuckin’ her?”
“You fuckin’ the nigga wit’ the hairless balls since you liked being all up in his shit?” The thought had me wanting to choke her little ass.
A sly smile covered her face. “You jealous?”
I scoffed. “Not any more jealous than you are.”
We stared at each other for a long moment before she shook her head and took a step back from me. She ran a hand through her braids. I could tell she was close to getting a new style soon, but she was still so damn beautiful to me. It pissed me off.
“This is ridiculous. I don’t even know why I came here. I’m so tired, Beretta.”
She sounded so defeated when she said my name.
“Tired of what?”
“Us.” That one word caused a pain in my heart. I stumbled back some as if she had hit me. “I’m tired of the constant arguing and feeling like I can’t win with you. One second, we’re best friends, and the next, we’re in the middle of a nuclear war. I can’t keep up.”
“Maybe if you stopped getting mad at me . . .” I suggested and let my sentence fall off.
She scoffed. “You get mad at me first.”
“Not always true.”
She sighed. “See? This. This shit is too much. I’m all for being a crazy bitch, but you bring out a whole new level. I don’t know if I even like myself anymore.”
That somehow hurt more than her being tired of us. The thought of her not liking herself when I liked her so much. Damn . . . I really, really liked her ass. I didn’t know what to do with that, but for once, I let my heart do the talking instead of my slick-ass mouth and brain.
“Go on a date with me.”
Her head whipped up. “What?”
“A date.” I shifted from foot to foot. After a second, she laughed.
My brows pulled in, and my heart ached more than ever, but I immediately felt ironclad walls go up to protect me from the vulnerability I just felt by asking her that shit.
I had never in my life asked a woman on a date, so I definitely never thought it would result in the woman laughing in my face.
I waved her off and turned to walk away. “Never mind.”
She rushed over to me and grabbed my wrist to stop me. “No, stop. I’m sorry. I’m laughing because I didn’t expect you to say that. You know we don’t date. It’s just not what we do. It’s why we get along so well . . . sometimes.”
“Maybe we need to try somethin’ new. It was just a thought.” I wanted more than anything to get the fuck away from here and never think about this moment again, but Icelynn’s grip on my wrist kept me in place, tethered to her like she was my lifeline to happiness.
“Okay,” she finally whispered.
My brows dipped. “Okay?”
It was her turn to shift from foot to foot. “Okay. Let’s go on a date.”
My heart soared as those walls surrounding it crumpled. “Yeah?”
She smiled a little while looking at everything but me. “Yeah, but don’t do no cutesy shit, nigga. That ain’t me. Remember you’re bringing a thug on a date, not a pretty princess.”
I chuckled, and I couldn’t help it. I palmed her face and made her look at me. “I got you. Tomorrow night?”
She nodded. “Tomorrow night.”
She slowly backed away from me, that small smile still dancing on her lips.
“Aye, where you goin’?” I asked when I realized I’d gotten way too caught up in her mesmerizing gaze. “You still payin’ for this shit.”
She giggled and let go of my hand, despite me trying to hold on to the tips of her fingers. “If the date goes well, I promise to pay up.”
Pre-cum oozed from my dick as I watched her sexy ass walk out of my shop like she hadn’t come through here like a damn hurricane and rocked my entire world.