Page 14 of Know Your Place

She looked me up and down with disgust before her elbow connected with my abdomen. It didn’t hurt, but it did catch me off guard, and I let her go as I grunted. She turned to look up at me with her hand out. “Give me my key back, Beretta.”

I looked at her like she’d lost her damn mind because she really had. If she thought I went through all that trouble to steal her key, make a copy, and then put it back just to give her my copy, she was really touched in the damn head.

“No.”

Her brows rose. “I’m sure this goofy bitch here would love to give you a key to her place. You clearly don’t need mine.”

That hurt. She really thought I didn’t need access to her like that? She was really tripping.

“Nah. You ain’t gettin’ shit back.”

“Are you fuckin’ her?” she hissed. I knew that was really why she was irritated. Stephanie came in hot, like I owed her something . . . like I still stuck my dick in her. It gave Icelynn the wrong impression, and I hated that.

“What I do with my pussy ain’t your concern.” Stephanie interrupted before I could say anything.

I shook my head.

“Bitch, this nigga been fuckin’ me raw for six months, so while I ain’t concerned with your fish cake, I am concerned with his dick and what kind of bad energy he’s been tappin’ into. Let that be the last time you speak to me before I make sure you can’t speak at all anymore.” Icelynn glared at Stephanie, who took a small step back. I didn’t blame her. I had to stop myself from stepping back too. Icelynn was intimidating when she wanted to be.

Stephanie simply scoffed, and I spoke before either of them could exchange any more words.

“I ain’t⁠—”

“It don’t matter. I’ll get my locks changed.” Icelynn reached up and flicked my nose hard as hell before she stomped out of the restaurant.

I was about to follow her when I felt a hand on my arm. “Why don’t you come over to my place, B? I miss you.”

I snatched away from her before I gripped her upper arm. “Fuck wrong wit’ you?”

She looked up at me with big light brown eyes and a pout on her lips. “I already told you. I miss you. You don’t want a bitch with an attitude like that anyway. Let me take care of you⁠—”

Her hand found my dick, and I pushed her away, harder than I meant to. If people weren’t already tuned in to the drama, they for sure were now. Stephanie stumbled, and I really didn’t even care. She had violated. My dick wasn’t up for grabs anymore. It was Icelynn’s property, and I hadn’t even fully realized that until now.

“Stay the fuck away from me. Next time, I ain’t gonna stop my girl from beatin’ yo’ ass.”

It was all I could say before I turned around and walked out of the restaurant, hoping to catch up with Icelynn, but her car was already gone.

I shook my head. Her ass really left me here. That was okay. I would give her some time to cool off, but it was clear to me that we needed to have a talk before someone ended up hurt, and I wasn’t even all that convinced that it would be one of us. It could very well be someone who was a liability because of our explosive situation. Neither of us were good at talking about our feelings, but something had to give.

I snatched the wax strip off my client angrily as I thought about Beretta.

“Shit, Icelynn. You bein’ kind of rough today, ain’t you?” Carl asked as he winced in pain. His legs were spread, and his soft dick lulled to one side as I waxed the crease between his thigh and his shaft.

I glared down at him, knowing I should care that I took my anger out on him, but I found it hard at this particular moment. As far as I was concerned, all men weren’t shit.

For the sake of my business, though, I mumbled, “My bad,” before I moved over to the wax pot. I grabbed a fresh wax applicator and dipped it into the pot before I turned back to Carl. When I spread the pink wax near his ball sac, I asked, “Is it too hot?”

“Nah, it’s good.”

I nodded curtly. Thankfully, Carl wasn’t one of my talkative clients. That was how I knew I should probably ease up on my anger and be a bit gentler, because he wouldn’t have spoken up unless something was really wrong. I tried my best not to think about Beretta, but when I pulled the next wax strip, his shit-eating grin flashed through my mind, and I tugged roughly.

Before Carl could say anything, I muttered, “Sorry,” as I placed my hand on the spot that I just pulled from to apply pressure. It helped with the sting after having the hair pulled out.

“All good,” he mumbled. His face was screwed up, and there was a small part of me that felt bad. He was a longtime client of mine. His career as a model kept him coming back for full body waxing, and I knew I needed to get my shit together before he stopped coming to me and told all his little model friends to find a new esthetician too. It was silent for a beat while I laid down my next wax strip before he timidly asked, “You want to talk about it?”

My face screwed up. I made it a point not to mix in my personal business with my clients, but maybe if I spoke about it out loud, I could get the anger up out of me. The last time I’d seen Beretta two days ago plagued my mind. I couldn’t believe the nerve of Stephanie and how Beretta didn’t feel the need to put her ass in her place.

“Men.”