“Yes. Keith is lucky I didn’t let the man take it there.”
“I wish I could’ve seen that,” Tessa said, laughing. “Keith’s been asking for it.”
“It was uncomfortable but satisfying,” I admitted.
“Uncomfortable?” Sametra raised an eyebrow. “Girl, you looked ready to fight him yourself when you came back from that room.”
“I was.”
“But DaVinci handled it first,” Sametra said knowingly. “Malik said he came back with busted knuckles.”
I didn’t confirm or deny that.
“That man is old news. Fuck Keith. Let's talk about something else.” I asked just as the gym TV switched to ESPN. Honestly, Keith wasn’t the first man to treat me that way. Women in dangerous spaces ruffled feathers; it made us targets. And I didn’t need pity, but I didn’t want to be reminded of anything negative about the night when so much positive had happened.
“DaVinci, there’s been a lot of talk about the incident at your gala last week. Care to comment?”
My whole body tightened seeing DaVinci on screen. Three days without him had me acting desperate. I had to catch myself watching his highlights at 2 am like some groupie. I was down bad.
He shifted, that jaw muscle ticking the way it did when he wasn’t in the mood to talk about irrelevant shit.
“We raised a quarter million for first responders. For people like Lieutenant Halo Grant, who actually deserve respect.” He looked dead at the camera. “As for the other situation, some men can’t handle women in power. That’s a them problem, not a Lieutenant Grant problem.”
As long as I’m in your life, you won’t have any problems…he murmured while we drifted off to sleep the night of the gala.
“Is this a PR relationship? He’s reported that this is what’s happening?”
He smirked, “Cory, you know me better than that. I don’t do PR stunts.”
“Look, it’s simple, he got drunk and embarrassed himself at my charity event. We not about to give this any more attention. I will say and leave it at this, I don’t play about disrespect. I also won’t be playing about Lieutenant Grant either.”
“But—”
“I said what I said.”
Something in me shifted—not from anger, but from hearing him say my name on national television. There was no doubt who he was talking to. He put Keith’s disrespect back where it belonged.
“Damn,” Tessa whispered. “He really just told America that Keith’s a bitch who can’t handle strong women.”
“On ESPN,” Sametra added.
I pulled out my phone, already seeing texts flooding in from the station. Even Chief Morrison sent a simple: Keith is being transferred. Station 19 is proud of all your hard work. Keep it up, Halo.
“No more Keith talk,” Tessa said. “Let’s talk about after the gala. Because Mimi texted me that y’all left together looking very cozy.”
“We did leave together.”
“And?” Tessa leaned forward. “Don’t tell me you went home and just went to sleep.”
Sametra laughed. “Oh, she definitely didn’t just go to sleep. Look at her face.”
I felt my face heat up. “We went to his place. But I’ve been before. I spent the night before.”
“Wait, when?”
“A few weeks ago, he had a hard game, and I took my balms and stuff, no biggie. We’ve been dating and enjoying each other’s company when we can.”
“You bring out big Bertha?”
