Page 29 of Platinum Pressure

“And we are telling you not to. Carrying unnecessary guilt and pain on your conscience can be detrimental to your progress. You’ve been doing great these last couple of weeks. We don’t need no mental health crisis.” Seddrick eyed me seriously.

He was my brother, and I knew he loved me. They all did. Finding one stand-up guy to call my brother was hard enough. God decided I needed three.

“So, what’s been up with y’all?”

“Not much. Relaxing before off-season workouts start. Been getting into the clubs and shit, but that’s basically it,” Eddie explained.

“Same shit. It ain’t been the same since you fell off the face of the earth. We used to be four deep in these streets, but y’all been MIA.” Lay Low shook his head.

“Nobody wants a nigga in their section with a brace and crutches. I wasn’t about to risk another injury in a crowded club.”

“It looks like you’re off the crutches and brace now. We need to go out tonight,” Lay Low suggested.

“Where?”

“Section in Houston?” he answered.

“Hell yeah.” Eddie agreed instantly.

“Last time Eddie went to a Houston club, this mothafucka spent five thousand dollars.”

“What them young money rappers say? I got money to blow!” Eddie smirked.

Seddrick laughed. “Y’all are about to terrorize the city like three bad-ass toddlers.”

“You are coming too,” I retorted.

“No, I got shit to do.”

“No, you don’t. You’re the responsible one. You got to clear your schedule, or we’re going to be on every news channel by tomorrow morning.”

Seddrick released a deep breath. “Fuck, man. I hate Houston clubs. Why couldn’t we hit up the strip club or casino in Cade’s Cove?”

“I don’t want to be seen around the city. I got a better chance of minding my business in a Houston spot.”

Seddrick ran a hand down his face. “Whatever. Everybody be ready by ten.”

We continued to catch up. They asked about my recovery process and who got me back in the gym just as Meadow walked into the house. She’d taken the afternoon to spend time with her family and left in a sundress that made her ass look extra juicy—hence the shower I took earlier.

“Hey, Platinum! Hey, Seddrick!” Meadow called out as she walked into the living room.

“Gah damn . . . Who is that?” Low asked as he craned his neck to look at her.

“Shit. She got the type of ass you can see from the front. I know it’s a nigga who doesn’t play about her,” Eddie added.

Any other time, I would have laughed the comments off by my friends because I knew them. We all used to talk like this about fine women in our vicinity. However, I’d been silently brewing since I watched them ogle over her appearance in my presence. I wanted to snatch their eyeballs out and twist up their lips and kick them out, but they didn’t know even the half of what I felt for Meadow.

They didn’t know I’d caught feelings for my nurse. They didn’t know every day I fought the urge to confess my feelings and hope she’d let go of the boundary she’d set and let me show her how deep my love could go.

“Oh! Y’all have guests. Sorry, I can go to my room.” Meadow clasped her hands together as she looked at Eddie and Lay Low.

“You ain’t got to leave at all, beautiful. I’m Eddie, your future husband.” Eddie stood up and stretched out his hand. Meadow shook his hand and giggled when Eddie lifted her hand to his lips and kissed the skin gently.

My hands balled into fists as I watched silently.

“Nigga don’t even know her name, and he already trynna get married. If you want a deep Southern man who can take you to ride some horses, I’m your guy.” Lay Low was the next to take Meadow’s hand to shake.

Seddy chuckled. “Please don’t mind Platinum’s teammates.”