Page 12 of The Need to Know

My body was sore and achy, but nothing beat that fresh workout feeling.

“You doing better?” Cesar asked me as we came out of the locker room.

I was just out of the shower, feeling clean and renewed. I was going to be another year older, and even if I wasn’t getting what I wanted, it wasn’t the end of the world. “Yeah. Let’s just make twenty-eight a year of more work and more success, and show ’im what we worth.”

Cesar reached out, pounding his fist against mine. “Bet.”

I could wait. Good things came to those who waited. If I could show my pops I was serious, without a woman at my side, perhaps he’d ignore all that romance and love shit and let it go.

Up ahead of us, I spotted Miss PYT zipping up her gym bag, about to leave. She was dressed down in her regular clothes, baggy cargos and a top she had tied at the side. It was street. Urban. And it worked for her without being try hard.

“Ay, you get the number?” Cesar asked as he nudged me.

“Nah.” I left him and raced over to the front section of the gym before Miss PYT could walk off. Even though women and I were a bad mix at the moment, I wanted to smooth things over.

“Miss,” I said as I caught her.

She turned, again her guard going up as she recognized me from earlier.

I stood back, not crowding her space, not intimidating her or making her uncomfortable. No meant no.

“You look like you’re not having a good day and I shouldn’t have approached you earlier,” I said. “I shouldn’t even be bothering you now, but I’m a people pleaser.” I flashed a hopeless smile as I dug into my pocket. I grabbed my wallet and pulled out a VIP pass and handed it over. “So, come out this weekend on the house.”

Miss PYT accepted the pass and examined it. “BLVCKJVCK? I keep hearing about this place being dope.”

“Nice to know our reputation precedes us.”

Her eyes flashed to mine. “You work here?”

I touched my chest, not about to lie to get in good with her. “Dad owns it. I mostly run it.”

Her lips twisted into a scowl. “If this is a ploy to impress me⁠—”

“Nah, I just want to make it up to you. Bring a friend.”

“Wouldn’t come without her.”

Smart. “Again, I’m sorry for disturbing your peace.”

“Can I get free drinks?” she asked with her chin up, grinning with no shame, trying to milk this gesture.

I dug into wallet again, going against protocol. I held out a matte black card between two fingers toward her.

She took and studied it. “What’s this?”

“The golden ticket gets you in the door and into VIP, but that…” I tapped the card. “…gets you unlimited access to free drinks for the night. Now, I rarely give those out, they’re sorta members only, so don’t tell anybody where you got it.”

She perked a brow. “You’re really trying to impress me.”

I bit back a chuckle. “You are impressed.”

She scoffed, taking a step back. “Wow, cocky. I’ll think about going to the club.”

She’d show up.

Because I had some sense, I held my hand out for a proper introduction. “My fault, Ezekiel.”

Tentatively, she shook my hand, tipping her head toward me. “Ezekiel.”