“Money, I think you've got enough bitches running behind you. Funny, you gone end up like that one nigga who got a bunchof women delivering his kids at once. What, this bitch signing up to be baby mama number two?” He pointed at me with the disdain only a man who hated women but enjoyed fucking them could have.
“Who you calling a bitch?” Aldrich was up off his feet and I tried to interfere but Anthony got up in front of us before I could. Aldrich was going to overreact. I could see it by how he was flexing his hands trying to calm himself down.
“Girl, these men are pro-athletes; you are not about to get in between any of this shit.” Aphrodite held my shoulders like she was about to hold me down if need be. The look she gave me was a warning that she wasn’t about to let either of us get in the middle of what was going on.
Aldrich stood tall in front of whoever this was that had been disrespectful to me, staring at him with a look of hatred that had to be more than just this moment of him being slick with his words.
“The last thing he needed to do is to have him fighting. The fucking press just stopped harassing him about stuff. If he gets in a fight—”
“It’ll be covered up because this is some shit between teammates.” Aphrodite was speaking like she knew what she was talking about and I wondered if this was a sports thing or common knowledge I just didn’t know.
“Sterling is here with me. Ain’t nobody gonna disrespect her. Ion’t give a fuck what you think this is but until a woman tells you that she’s here for some easy shit, treat them with fucking respect.”
No. No. My heart shouldn’t be doing this shit. It should not be flip-flopping and swooning hearing him talk like this. As it was Anthony had already stood up and was blocking us from getting in the mix but signaling he was gone swing on whoeverthought they were going to jump up against Aldrich. My foot was jumping and I prayed that they all just settled down.
The Lord was not hearing my plea.
“You bring a bitch dressed like she’s down to fuck and think nigga’s ain’t go try her? I mean, if she walked in with you of course we think she for everybody. It’s obvious you've got a thing for groupie bitches.”
Well damn, when did a fucking thigh-length dress and sandals mean I was open for taking dicks?
Aldrich was chuckling but I could tell he didn’t find shit funny. The music hadn’t been as loud up here as in the rest of the club but somehow everything seemed to be even quieter now. With the way social media was going, I knew that someone had their phone out. I just hoped that it wouldn’t make the news or something like that. His mama was in town and that made it even worse if he got in trouble. Not like we weren’t grown but I was sure having to face Ms. Sonya after getting in trouble would’ve been more stressful. And embarrassing as hell.
“You a hoe ass nigga if you think a woman that comes out is just easy pickings. You over here looking for easy bitches because you wouldn’t be able to pull quality if your life depended on it. I’m trying to go easy because I know we supposed to be teammates and shit, but don’t get your ass beat and your spot taken by somebody else fucking with me.” Aldrich stepped up even closer to his teammate and to his credit the other one didn’t back down. I didn’t know if testosterone had a scent but I was sure the air was filled with it between the two of them.
Mr. Flashy Chain licked his lips in the way men did before they said something that would get the taste slapped out of their mouths. I started to say something but he beat me to it. “You swear you're that nigga but you really not. Them knees will give out and that production will start tanking in just a few years, trust. Whoever heard of an old running back?”
“And even when I’m a washed-up has-been, you know what I’ll still be?” Aldrich was grinning and I hoped that he would let this shit fall off his back.
“What, pretty boy?”
Aldrich stepped even closer, his dimples shining like two beacons in the middle of the club. The light effects that were flashing made shadows dance over Aldrich’s features and he moved from looking normal to looking completely demonic.
“Rich. Fuck that,wealthy. A fucking legend in the game, with hundreds of people having a jersey bearing by name. I ain’t never one to hate on another man but they gotta special order your shit if folks want to buy it. Don’t play me, nigga.”
Okay, that might’ve been too much because that stung me and I wasn’t even on this other man’s side. Aldrich knew exactly where to hit because you could see the anger flush the other man’s features.
“You swear somebody gives a fuck about what you got. Yet you got pinned with the bastard baby of a fucking hoe just like any other duck—”
I knew that was going to be the thing to set Aldrich off and I wasn’t wrong. His face distorted and then his arm was in the air, his fist connecting to his teammate’s face. There was no wild fighting or anything of the sort because he folded that man up in his clothes. The way he crumpled to the ground he looked like them folks that had hands laid on them by charlatans. Like God himself came down and removed the bones from his legs with that hit.
Aphrodite gasped and even Anthony muttereddamnunder his breath. I thought for sure Anthony had seen how Aldrich moved but apparently this was new for him too.
My mouth was on the floor because all I’d seen was calm almost introspective Aldrich. I wasn’t sure who I was looking at right now. Even with the big dollar-sign chain on his neck he stilllooked normal. But the rage on his face was something I hadn’t expected. He stood over the man waiting on him to get up but he was down for the count. Aldrich’s face was angry and I knew the shots at baby girl is what had done him in. He was pissed. He told me he was chill until folks spoke on his family. He took his job as protector seriously since his father passed away. With every move he made with his siblings and even his mama, I knew that the way he looked out for everyone wasn’t just reserved for Amisha. If he claimed you, there was nothing he wouldn’t do for you. It was one reason he hated his mom being so far away. But this was his child someone was speaking on and even I was pissed at the way whatever his name was spoke about her. Ami didn’t have a say in how she got to this world and people speaking on her like they were the authority of her life pissed me off. Like she was somehow less just because of how her mother behaved or how she was perceived.
Aldrich waited another second before Anthony patted him on the shoulder to get his attention. He came out of whatever trance he’d been in and nodded his head like he was cool.
When Aldrich sat back down he moved from where he’d been and sat next to me. I hated for him to feel as though he couldn’t enjoy himself but instead of saying something I allowed him to find the space he needed to calm down next to me. Anthony was pointing at their teammate on the floor and the men who’d walked us into the section appeared and helped him pick him up and put him on a sofa.
I couldn’t help but speak up after a few minutes of his silently fuming. “Are you okay, Aldrich?”
He blew out a humorous breath and glanced at me. “You know what you’re doing calling me that formal ass name.”
I didn’t bother to hide my smile, “Maybe a little. I just didn’t want you to look so…angry. I’m sorry that you’ve gotten into it with your teammate.”
Those brows dipped again and I wondered what was going through his mind. “He shouldn’t have said anything about you and he definitely shouldn’t have said shit about baby girl.”
“No, he shouldn’t have. That was fucked up.” I wanted to touch him but I wasn’t sure if it was okay. I was staring at his profile when he turned and caught me looking at him.
