Or even a halfway decent one.
Sigel was something to do, someone to get under my brother’s skin. He was so particular about who he thought me or Kora should be with. He never had a problem with who Kora dated, and that was because she dated squares. White men that came from trust funds and rich families.
Families that went to the Hamptons for the summer and had a huge house on the water. Kora played it safe because like me, she couldn’t feel either. At least I was honest with myself, while she continued to play into these men being her type.
That was the reason the relationships never lasted long, and they only became a distant memory that sat on her bookshelves. Kora was collecting white men in picture frames like Thanos was collecting infinity stones.
Gerald: Good morning, Baby Cakes. Hope you slept good.
I smiled as I looked at the text message that came across my desktop from Gerald. Every morning, he sent a text message to check in on me, and they were always on time. On the rare occasion that I could actually sleep, and decided to sleep in, his messages were always waiting for me when I woke up.
“Why would you say that?” I yelled behind Gerald as he continued walking toward the beach. He paused, turning around, slowing down so I could catch up with him.
I wasn’t running to his ass, although my legs were trying to betray me by doing the opposite of what I wanted. Gerald stood there, towering over me as he backed me up against the wall while continuing to stare down into my eyes.
His stare was so intense and loving at the same time. It made me feel something that I feared, so I looked away. He pulled my face toward his direction, licking his lips as he stared down into my eyes.
My body reacted.
“I need you to know that when I take that man’s breath from him, it’s not because of you. Thun had that shit coming to him over some personal shit.”
Folding my arms, I met his gaze. “Can you tell me what happened?”
“Not your worry, baby cakes. Your brother has kept you away from this life, and I plan to respect him by keeping it that way. You stay on the legal side of this.”
I snorted. “Do whatever Menace says, huh?”
He chuckled lowly, as he held my chin and his lips grazed my ears. “I can tell you got some good pum pum, eh?”
His eh had a slight accent to it which turned me on more than I cared to admit. My body was more than likely the same temperature as the sun. He completely ignored me trying to get under his skin about listening to Menace.
“Gera—”
“Answer me, Zoya,” he replied, not allowing me to get a word in.
I think this was the first time I had heard him use my actual name. Gerald called me Ms. Lawyer for the longest. “Wouldn’t you like to know.”
His lips kissed my ear. “I’ll know. Baby Cakes, I’m on you real bad. You ain’t never had a real nigga come and break down those walls. By the time I’m done with you, you gonna have those walls broken down with a stomach full of me, and a ring on that finger… have fun tonight, baby.”
He backed up, smirked, and then walked toward the beach, as I slowly walked back up to my girls.
The doorbell pulled me from a memory I visited way too often. Closing down my computer, I shuffled across the floor toward the front door. Bando’s nails tapped against the wooden floors as he followed closely behind me.
I checked through the peephole and saw Navy standing there. Opening the door, she and Mink pushed in like they normally did since I moved into the building.
“I got caught up and lost track of time. Bando was telling me, and I hadn’t even looked at the time to see that it was close to his walk time.”
Me and Navy walked both Mink and Bando together most days. If we both got busy, then we shared a dog walker who loved both dogs. Bando loved being with Mink. Since they were both big breeds, I didn’t play that dog park mess.
Nobody was gonna accuse my baby of being aggressive when he was a big teddy bear. I’d have a lawsuit with the city if someone ever tried me when it came to Bando Jerome Caselli.
“I was a little late myself,” she pulled her leggings up, and I noticed she was missing a damn eyelash.
“Where’s your eyelash, Navy?”
She shrugged with this silly grin on. “Your brother woke me up, so—” I held my hand up and cut her short by walking toward my bedroom.
“I don’t want to hear anything that you and Landon have going on… ugh.”
