I bit my bottom lip, shaking my head slowly while my eyes stayed locked on her.
She was testing the fuck outta me.
And the crazy part was, she ain’t even realize how close I was to saying fuck being patient.
Once this sling came off? Yeah… I already knew what type of time I was on.
“Aight now.” Coach laughed, cutting through the tension. “I talked to the police earlier, and they told me they got who did this to you.”
My brows pulled together. “How the fuck they know? I ain’t tell them shit.”
That irritation hit me fast as hell because now everything I wanted to do had been taken out of my hands.
“I know you didn’t,” Coach replied, holding his hands up a little. “But them folks came up here asking questions. Wanted to know if you had problems with anybody on the team, and I told ’em about that scuffle between you and Jamal earlier that day.”
He shook his head, letting out a breath. “Kyrie, man… I’m sorry about that.”
“It ain’t yo’ fault, Coach.”
“Feel like it is, though.” He leaned back in his chair again. “If I woulda stepped in sooner, maybe none of this woulda happened. You’d still be out there runnin’ that ball for us.”
“I’ll be back in a month,” I replied.
“He will,” Sianni cut in, looking over at Coach. “But he still gotta go through rehab and take it easy.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know.” Coach nodded. “But look at it this way… at least they got that damn Jamal. Shit ain’t have to go this far.”
“It didn’t,” I muttered. “But it is what it is.”
Coach nodded slowly, but I barely paid attention after that.
Truth was, I was hot as fuck that Jamal got arrested.
That wasn’t how I wanted this shit handled.
I wanted that nigga to feel what I felt.
“Aight, Kyrie, my boy,” Coach said, standing up from behind his desk. “I’ma let y’all go. I’ll holla at you later.”
“Bet.”
“And Sianni,” he added with a smile, “you take good care of my boy over here, you hear?”
Sianni smiled back. “I will.”
After we left the facility, we headed back to the crib. As soon as we got inside, I threw something on the TV, trying to get my mind together, but honestly?
That shit wasn’t working.
I lookedover at Alexia and instantly felt that familiar regret creeping back in. I still didn’t know why the hell I kept dealing with her.
Shorty was fine as hell. I couldn’t even take that away from her. Pretty face, body crazy, always dressed like she had somewhere important to be. But her attitude?
That shit ruined everything.
Her ego was through the roof, and the wild part was that she stayed in silent competition with her best friend. I peeped it every time Sianni walked into a room. The slick comments, the fake smiles, the little looks she thought nobody noticed. Yeah, that shit was ugly. But instead of calling it out every time, I just sat back and watched.
My mama always told me a muthafucka would hang themselves if you gave ’em enough rope, and Alexia was damn near building the noose on her own at this point.
