Cortez grins, sliding down into the seat next to Arnold. “See? He’s good.” I send a death glare his way, prompting him to lift his hands in surrender. “Anyway, yo, Arnold, your girl keeps some bad bitches in her circle, huh?”
The rest of the clown squad let out whistles and howls of agreement, confirming my suspicions that they’ve been around for a while, because how else would they have seen the women Amerie hangs around? A growl hums beside me and I turn to see Micah watching them with barely veiled fury.
“Uh, sure, yeah,” Arnold agrees.
Cortez strokes the lines of his goatee with a move straight out of a bad kung fu movie. “They all bad as fuck. That one bitch, what’s her name? Dani? I’d bend her Amazonian ass over any day.”
“Watch your mouth,” Micah warns.
“Oh shit, son. That’s you?” he jokes, the laughter of his goons boosting his confidence.
“No. But you need to watch how you talk about women when you’re around me. I don’t play that shit.” We all echo his comment.
He pretends to shiver in fear, cackling at his own antics. “Right, right. My bad. What about Miss Evelyn? Any of you got eyes on her? She fine as hell but she kinda mouthy. Those the ones that look the best with my dick in their mouth.”
“You must not value your life, huh?” Jalen asks, his voice a deathly low rumble.
“Yo, Arnold, is this who you spend your time with? Who the fuck is this clown?” Nick asks.
“Watch who you calling a clown, fool.” This man is a fucking idiot. Nick Graves is lethal; he’s one of the biggest linemen in the game and he’s got about six inches and one hundred and fifty pounds on Cortez. He really doesn’t value his life.
Arnold runs his hands along his head again. “He’s my cousin. He’s just d-drunk.” No, he’s an asshole. That’s his default, it’s just dialed up because he’s drunk.
“Shit, I’m drunk and I’m not saying dumb shit like this,” Troy adds.
“Facts,” Christian agrees.
Jalen’s eyes remain locked in on Cortez. “I’m waiting on your answer. Do you value your life or nah?”
Cortez’s eyes wander around the room, careful not to land on Jalen. I grip my glass tighter in my hand, wishing it were Cortez’s skull.
“Y’all too sensitive for me. I’m just speaking my mind, I ain’t know that was against the law. Shit. I’m not checking for neither of them anyway.” He rubs his hands together in front of his chest. “Nah, I’m really checking for Janelle’s fine ass. She thick as a bitch.”
I crack the knuckles on my free hand because I know before the end of the night they’ll be introduced to Cortez’s face. I gulp down the rest of my drink, sniffing as I sit the glass on the table in front of me.
One of the goons claps hands with Cortez at that statement, earning a growl from me.
“That ’bout to be you, my boy?” another one of the goons asks.
“Hell yeah, by the time this wedding is over, I’ma have fucked her seven different ways. Arnold, my boy, tell me, how was the pussy? Was that shit tight or was it whack? Is that why you left ol’ girl for her sister? I hate when bad bitches have weak ass pussy.”
Arnold’s head snaps up at that.
“Cortez.”
Everyone’s eyes turn to me. Christian, Troy, and Nick look concerned. The goons look amused. Jalen and Micah are the only ones who know how close to death Cortez is right now.
“Think carefully about the next words you say. You’ve already been warned once about watching your mouth. If I have to tell you, I’ma speak in a language I know you understand.” Cortez has gotten his ass beat for his mouth before but if I do it, I’ll make sure the lesson sticks.
One of the goons laughs but quickly cuts it off when the other ones don’t join.
“You threatening me over some pussy?”
I sit on the edge of my seat. “I don’t make threats.”
He runs his tongue over his teeth, contemplating his next move. “I don’t see what the problem is. Arnold got to tap both Cross sisters. I’m just saying if we passing pussy around…”
No one hears the end of Cortez’s sentence because my fist ramming into his face cuts it off. I hear protests from both sides of me. Glass shatters around me and I hear bodies hitting the ground, signifying my boys are probably fighting Cortez’s to keep them away from the two of us. Nothing could get me off Cortez’s ass right now.
