She sat up looking for her phone and I pulled her back down to me and kissed her cheek. “Let me call Reese and tell her to have Runt let that asshole from Miami through on Sunday.”
“Not you wishing me ill.”
“You just sound like you need some sense knocked into your and I know I’m not the one to do it.”
I squeezed her close to me, waiting until I felt her body relax before I spoke again. “Nah, can’t have that. You and I know what we have. We’re good together and for each other. As long as we have that knowledge of us, nothing is going to shake what we have.”
“Look at this pretty boy ass nigga trying to look hard.”
I’d been ignoring the players the closer they crept to our side of the field because I wasn’t in the mood to get fined before I could even play. We were having another home game and this was on a Sunday night so the lights inside the stadium were even brighter than normal. We had been playing well on racking upone loss and I swore these Stars niggas were always trying some shit.
Case in point, them coming to our side of the field just like they did last year like shit was sweet. They could only push us so far before someone swung fines be damned.
“These muthafuckas never learn do they?” Marcel looked at me and I could see he wanted to say something but he kept his face calm despite how pissed I knew he was. I was glad that he and Chris had hit it off because I knew me and Ant had been booed up all season. Whatever free time I had, I spent it at home or with Ling. They understood because we literally saw each other every day at work. We still said we’d have to find a minute to hang out together outside of work.
“Never. But I’m not about to do anything to jeopardize what we've got going on. They're trying to start trouble before the game. We're gone see who’s laughing when the numbers hit zero.” I dropped that word of advice and let it ride, trying to keep it calm.
“You know Ant’s crazy ass ain’t about to just chill and not get in on this shit.” Chris nodded to Ant who was trying to ignore everything and keep stretching.
“Don’t remind me. Gone have me needing to cuss his ass out.” Ant stood up his eyes still on the niggas who were steadily creeping closer and talking louder and louder. With the music in the stadium going and along with the crowd noise, they needed to speak up in order for us to hear them.
“Then he fucking the bitch he got raising the baby too. Wifed the fucking help like a simp.”
My ears perked up and Marcel’s did too because I knew this fuck nigga was not talking about my girl.
“Remember what you said, Money.” Marcel gave me that warning like that was gone stop me from breaking my foot off in his ass.
“That was before that nigga put Ling’s name in his mouth. I ain’t about to let that shit slide.” I turned toward the fucking Stars that were trying to start shit. The main one was this big corn-fed ass Bama that I played against in college and he hated me.
“What’s good, Money?”
I turned back to my teammates with my hands up like everything was cool. “Oh, it’s just this nigga, Micah. He must still be mad cause I fucked his bitch during Covid and he's still salty about it.”
“Nigga!”
Ant and Marcel cracked up while Chris kept his eyes on the men behind us. I knew if they wanted motion he’d give it to them.
Before he could do anything, I just waved them over to our sideline where the rest of the offense was waiting for us. Ant dapped us up before heading to the defensive huddle that Coby was holding.
Grant was looking in the direction we’d come from and when I glanced behind me I could see them niggas were still lingering behind us. “What’s good?”
He asked completely normal, but everyone who’d seen him rumble knew he was on go. It was either the hype from getting ready for the game or that he, like the rest of us, couldn’t stand theStars. “They're talking shit that’s all.”
“For what?” Grant’s normally zen ass was looking back at the defense like he wanted all the smoke and I wished people would see this side of him more often. Everybody thought he was a buttoned-up do-gooder, and mostly he was. But he didn’t take people messing with his friends and family too lightly.
“It ain’t shit.” I rolled my shoulders because I didn’t want to get too hyped up since I needed to focus on this game.
“Gotta be if your overly-disciplined ass is trying to get your head in the game. What’s good?”
“Just talking shit like I said.”
“They over there mentioning his girl. So he’s trying to channel some of your zen so he can focus.” I don’t know where Runt’s ass came from but I guess the rest of the Stars were still talking shit.
I glared at him, and his big ass just laughed at me. He was over six-five and clocked in at over three hundred pounds. I definitely looked like a kid standing with his big brother when I stood next to him. “Anymore of my business you want to tell, Runt?”
“Nah, that’s it. Unless you're keeping secrets or something.” He folded his arms and I knew to keep my mouth shut cause he was crucial to my success. And since he could Hulk smash me around the stadium I didn’t want to play those games.
“I think the whole fucking world knows my business right now.”
