“Babe, maybe you should take some lessons from him,” Patience turned to Aaron to say.
His brothers broke out into laughter, as did Brutus.
“He’s beyond my help,” Brutus quipped.
Carter and Joshua laughed louder.
“That’s a fact,” Carter yelled.
“He moves like shit,” Joshua said, his arm wrapped around Kayla.
“Leave him alone,” Kayla protested, swatting at Joshua’s chest.
“Fuck all three of you,” Aaron snarled. He wrapped an arm around his wife and leaned in to say something none of us could hear. But by the way Patience’s eyes bolded, I could take a few guesses as to what it was.
I spun around to face Brutus. “I’m not done dancing with you yet,” I said, pulling him away from the others and to a clearing where we could dance.
“Thanks for coming,” I said sometime later.
“You’re not pissed we intruded on your night?” he asked, grinning.
I shrugged. “I was starting to miss you.” That was the truth. I was missing my dance partner on the floor before he showed up.
“That’s what the fuck I like to hear.” He leaned in and kissed me.
“Ugh, you two need a room,” Carlene interrupted us. She held up her cell phone. “My man’s calling me, asking when I’m coming home. You know he likes to wait for me.”
I grinned. “It’s early.”
Her eyes bulged. “Girl, it’s almost one in the morning.”
My mouth fell open. I’d lost track of time between dancing with them and Brutus and the other men showing up.
“I’ve already ordered an Uber. Sharise and I are going together,” Carlene said.
“Wait, I’ll walk you both down.”
“We’ll walk you down,” Brutus added.
I didn’t even argue because I knew he wasn’t about to let me out of his sight. I would have told him it wasn’t necessary, but yeah right.
Minutes later, I hugged my sister and best friend before they exited the club, their Uber waiting outside for them. Brutus made sure to take the name and number of the Uber driver “just in case,” as he put it.
I appreciated that he was protective over the two closest women in my life, though.
“I have to go to the bathroom,” I told him.
“I’ll wait for you.”
“Go upstairs,” I insisted. “It’s right around the corner. I’ll be quick, and then we can say goodnight to everyone.”
He hesitated. I knew he was cautious, but he was going a little overboard. He’d been the same way since the night of the attempted break-in. At the time, I had to remind him that my shop was harmed, not me.
“I’ll wait here,” he said.
“Suit yourself.” I headed in the direction of the ladies’ room and was delighted when I didn’t find a line a mile long waiting outside. I pushed through the door to see three stalls. The room was surprisingly clean for a nightclub, for which I was grateful.
I took one step toward the middle stall before I heard a voice behind me. A wrong voice because it belonged to a man.
