Page 33 of Know Your Place

“Me? You started that shit.” I laughed. We both knew we were being slightly ridiculous, but that was what the world got for pairing us together. We would raise hell wherever we went and not feel bad about it. Since we couldn’t do it to each other anymore, we had to let that energy out somehow.

Beretta grabbed my hands and gazed at me lovingly. “You ready to be Mrs. Slater yet?”

I loved the sound of that.

“Soon, daddy. Soon. I promise.” It didn’t really matter to me anymore how quickly we did or did not move. All I knew was I wanted to be up under Beretta all the damn time. But I also knew I wanted an actual wedding. Nothing big, but something fancy and fun, for sure. All black everything, just for my man. I could see it now. “A fall wedding sounds nice.”

It was only a couple of months away.

Beretta grinned. “Yeah, it do.”

“October?”

“Twenty-first,” he suggested.

I raised a brow. “Why the twenty-first?”

“It just sounds good.” He shrugged.

I giggled. “October twenty-first it is then.”

A server appeared at our table. It was an older white man with a gray beard. “Can I interest you in a bottle of wine?”

I opened my mouth to tell him to bring us the most expensive one, but Beretta spoke first.

“Aye, man. You flirtin’ wit’ my woman?” Beretta snapped.

“What? S-sir, no,” the server stammered.

“Yes, you was. We don’t want you as a server. Bring us a female,” Beretta said.

“And you think the bitch won’t flirt with your fine ass? No. No women.” I cut my eyes at Beretta.

He held his hands up in mock surrender. “Fine. Bring us a lady man.”

I nodded. “Yeah. A lady man. That sounds perfect. Can’t be mad if they flirting with us both.”

Beretta and I laughed and slapped hands while the server scurried away.

“You hell,” he said.

I shook my head as I giggled. “You bring the worst out in me.”

“Yeah? Well, you bring the best and the worst out in me, Juicy.”

“Aw, baby. That’s so sweet.” I gushed.

“I love you, woman.”

“And I love you.” I leaned over the table and kissed him, more than happy to have a lifetime of foolery with this man who was my fiancé but also my best damn friend.

10 years later . . .

I grabbed my wife’s hand as we stormed through the front doors of our daughter’s school.

We were on a mission. These teachers had us fucked up at this damn school, and the principal? He was about to see the wrath of a menace, and that menace wouldn’t even be me. I glanced at Icelynn who had fire dancing in her eyes. When she had our daughter six years ago, she turned into the biggest mama bear, and it was so sexy to see. Not to mention the way her hips spread and her stacked body. My baby was a sight to see.

We were familiar with the principal’s office, so we made it there in no time. Icelynn didn’t even knock. She simply pushed the door open. Our daughter, Scottlynn, sat in a chair in front of the principal’s desk, kicking her feet and looking at the ground. The sight of her sad face pissed me off.