“I didn’t think I had a choice, since you blackmailed me.”
He grins, showing off his straight teeth.
“You damn sure didn’t.” He holds out a hand toward me. I take the offered appendage and we both come in for a one arm hugged.
“Damn, man, feels like I haven’t seen you in years. We don’t even hang at the bar anymore.”
I laughed at Devon before letting go of him.
“Been busy.” I shrug.
Devon steps back, allowing me into his home. He takes the bourbon from me before shutting the door.
“Nothing keeps a muthafucker away from his boys but new pussy,” he smirks. “So who is she?”
The moment he mentions a woman, my mind brings up Ella in my head. He wasn’t entirely wrong. All of my extra time goes to her. I can’t think of anywhere else I’d rather be.
“Wait, Miller, you got a new girl?” Quincy climbs to his feet, holding a glass of brown liquor. He comes over to give me a quick one arm hug.
Quincy was about a foot shorter than me, but had my build. It’s always funny to see Quincy because in college he wore hishair in long locs that the girls used to go crazy over. Now his head was shiny and bald.
“No,” I lie. “I don’t have a new girl. Devon’s just saying shit.”
I make my way further into the room. Shaun is sitting in the chair beside my usual spot. He waves and grins when he spots me.
“Mitch!” he sings in greeting.
Jack is already here as well. He dips his chin at me in greeting. I return the gesture.
“We got the whole gang back together,” Quincy laughs, walking back over to his chair.
As soon as he takes his seat, noise from my left alerts me that someone else is here. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know who it is. Quincy said the whole gang was together.
Drew walks around the corner. He stops when he spots me. For a second, we size each other up. I haven’t spoken to him since the day he came to my office to tell me to stay away from his family. We didn’t even have a full conversation at the birthday party. It’s hard to believe that two guys who were once inseparable barely speak now.
“Well, look what the cat drug in,” he chuckles as if the shit he said was funny. “I figured you’d have some kind of project to do for my ex. What, no painting tonight or rebuilding a bathroom?”
I heard laughter behind me, but I didn’t have to turn to know who it came from. The only person who laughs at the bullshit Drew says is Jack.
“Nah,” I say, folding my arms across my chest. “She didn’t need me tonight. I took care of her before I came.”
I leave the innuendo out there for him to read into as he pleased. If he wanted to be funny, I was going to be fucking hilarious. I can tell my words hit their mark by the way his brow furrows and his nose crinkles. But just as fast as it came, he laughed it off. Yeah, asshole, keep thinking I’m playing.
“Well, now that everyone is here, I hope ya’ll ready to lose all your money.”
Devon walks over with a glass of bourbon for me. I take the rocks glass and head to my regular seat. As soon as I sit down, Shaun gives me a quick handshake.
The cards are quickly dealt, and before long, we’re all in a flow. It didn’t take long for Drew to dominate the conversation. We’ve been here for an hour, and he’s done nothing but brag about himself. We’re all used to it. However, since I’ve been away from the bullshit, what once would roll off my back now irks the hell out of me.
My phone chimes in my pocket. I pull it out to check it. It's a message from Ella. Since she's home with all the boys tonight, I don't hesitate opening the chat.
Instead of a text, it's a picture. I nearly swallow my fucking tongue. It’s a picture of her lying on her back; the camera is slightly above her head. One knee is bent, showing me she is probably in her panties, and the angle of the camera allows me to see the perfect top of her breasts. She looks incredibly gorgeous. I stare at the screen without blinking.
“Damn, Mitch,” Quincy’s voice has me looking away from my screen. “What the fuck’s got you staring at your phone that hard? You look like you’re five seconds away from jumping in that muthafucker.”
“You know what it is.” Devon tosses his cards down on the table, letting us know he’s out. “She sent your ass a pussy pic, didn’t she?” he grins from ear to ear.
I laugh it off, sliding my phone back into my pocket. I readjust my semi-hard cock in my pants. That picture almost had me hard as fuck. I wasn’t lying to Drew when I told him I took care of Ella before I came.
