I took a breath and stepped back half an inch. Not enough for him to relax. Just enough space to let the gun come back into his line of sight.
“Let me explain something to you.” My tone went flat. “Halo is my woman. I don’t give a fuck what y’all had going on at work. I don’t care what you thought this was. That shit is dead. You ever raise your voice about her again, you ever pull some shit like tonight, they won't find enough of you to identify. You understand me?”
“Yes,” Keith gasped, his voice cracking.
“Yes, what?”
“Yes, I understand.”
I stared at him for a long moment before gripping his throat. I didn’t feel satisfied enough. The look on her face kept replaying in my head, and that look made me want to body somebody, anybody, whoever made her feel that way.
“DaVinci,” Malik said now, his voice carrying a warning.
I tossed his weak ass back and straightened up, and fixed my shirt. I took my time doing it while Keith bled and trembled in that chair.
“Go get my baby,” I said over my shoulder to Langston.
“Bruh, you sure about that?” Langston asked. I looked at Keith one last time, making sure he saw exactly what kind of man he'd fucked with tonight.
“Go get my fucking lady. This nigga about to apologize for ruining her moment.”
Langston sighed and shook his head as he went to get Halo. I knew I was taking a risk bringing her back, but I didn’t give a fuck. She needed to see what the fuck was going to happen if I ever felt, saw, or heard someone was playing on her top and disrespecting her. She needed to know I wasn’t tolerating that shit from anything or anyone, same as she wasn’t.
The door opened, and Halo stepped in, eyes scanning the scene until they landed on Keith slumped in that chair. Then they landed on me, and a smile appeared on her face.
She walked straight to me, and I pulled her into my arms.
“Who is this nigga to you, Angel?”
“No one but a nigga who likes to run his mouth too damn much and is deserving of whatever he got.”
I nodded.
“Here's what's gonna happen. You're gonna apologize. A real apology. Not some half-ass ‘my bad’ shit. You're gonna tell her you were out of line, you were drunk, and you had no right to disrespect her like that.”
She side-eyed him. “Say what you need to say and keep my name out of your mouth after tonight.”
“Halo, I'm sorry for disrespecting you… for eating your lunch, doing little shit to get you to react.”
“Nigga, you what?” I asked, ready to jaw his ass again.
“I had no right. You’ve been nothing but cool to me, and I was just tryna get you to notice me…”
“Shut the fuck up. Ain’t no way you thought tryna shoot your shot right now was a good idea. That shit is dead, bruh. Ain't no coming in between this.”
He nodded, smelling like a urinal, only pissing me off more. “Angel baby, we good? You need this nigga to say more, kiss your feet, do the Macarena for you? You name it, and I'll make this pissy ass nigga do it, and we can laugh about it later.”
“No, that's enough.” She stepped forward, and for a second, I thought she was gonna walk past him. Instead, she lifted her foot and kicked him square in the shin. Not hard enough to drop him, but hard enough to make him yelp. She lifted her leg and pressed her foot on his nuts with so much force, I worried he may never be able to have children.
“That's for my leftovers,” she said. “And for being a bitch. I’ll always have more balls than you.”
He screamed as she applied more pressure, “Stupid ass.”
I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from laughing.
Halo turned back to me. “Now I'm good. Let's go home and watch derby footage.”
I tore my eyes off Keith and looked at her. The smile on her face told its own story. I knew she meant my place. That alone had me grinning before our mouths even met. I leaned in and kissed her, soft at first, until she slid her tongue into my mouth and everything else in the room faded. When we eased back, there was straight fire sitting in both our eyes.
