I glared at my cousin. “Not a chance.” I slipped on my boots, then my coat. Glancing at Dallas out of the corner of my eye, I said, “To answer your question, yes.”
Des held her hands over her ears. “This is way more than I need to know.”
“But,” I checked my makeup in the mirror, “I won’t need it tonight. We haven’t even had a discussion yet. Besides, I just got divorced today.”
“You haven’t been fucked in at least a year, though,” Blake interjected.
Des threw her hands up in frustration. “Why?”
I tossed a pillow at my cousin. “Shut. Up.”
“I know you didn’t just tell me to shut up,” Blake tossed back.
“Sure did. I don’t know why I tell you anything.”
Blake shrugged. “Because you love me.”
“You get on my damn nerves,” I muttered. “I spoiled yo’ little ass.”
There was a ten-year age difference between us. When I first met Aunt Vicki, the twins were young. I wanted to get to know all of them, so I offered to babysit. Blake was attached to my hip, followed me everywhere. Watching my little cousins grow into adults, being such an important part of their lives, meant the world to me. I learned a lot from them. But damn … Blake never could keep her mouth shut.
“Yes, you did,” Bliss chimed in. “You spoiled all of us. And we love you for it.” She fixed the collar of my coat. “You smell good, you look good. Now you get to feel good.”
Dallas snorted. “In a strictly dickly way.”
We all laughed … even Des. While I knew it probably wasn’t a good time to get into something so serious, I was looking forward to the journey. Spence had checked off the first three items on my move-the-fuck-on list. Despite what I’d told the ladies, I couldn’t deny the spark of hope in anticipation of number four—along, hard dick.
As they filed out of the house ahead of me, I paused, hand on the door and an idea in my head. “Actually, why don’t you all go ahead? I’ll meet you there.”
CHAPTER 6
Can I Call You Rose?
Spencer
“Are you in the hospital? ’Cause why the fuck are you FaceTiming me?”
My homeboy, Malcolm Jacobs, grinned widely. “I’m high as fuck right now, Ace Deuce.”
He’d given me the nickname during a heated dice game after I won five racks rolling three on my first turn. And because my hometown, Ypsilanti, is close to Ann Arbor, which was affectionately referred to as Ace Deuce by people in the area.
Chuckling, I turned off my laptop. “And it’s late, too,” I added.
MJ took a hit from a joint. “Shit, I thought I was texting you.”
Right after high school, I moved my Black ass down to Georgia with no plan. Learned a lot of hard lessons. I wasn’t enrolled in school or anything, had no job, and didn’t even care. My goal was to get the hell out of Michigan.
I met MJ when I dated his older sister, Monica. Got into some trouble because I didn’t know when to stop talking shit. He had my back. Been fam ever since, even after I broke up with his sister.
MJ ran some of the biggest craps games in the country and owned a successful cannabis business. He was one of the main suppliers for the Leaf Lodge.
“What time is it there?” he asked.
I glanced at my watch. After spending most of my day putting out fires at work, I was running late for my nephew’s engagement party. “Eight o’clock. What’s good?”
“Shit,” he grumbled, wiping his face. “This shit is weird as fuck. Video chatting.” He barked out a laugh. “Looks like you’re thinning up top, though.”
“Shut the hell up, man.”
