“Wewon. My money, your bet.”
“Ay, can I get next?” Joi looked up at the face of a man she knew played for the Hawks. He was familiar, but she didn’t know his name.
“You can have my seat. I’m done. Let me go see what this poker table is talking about.” Dodge pushed his chair back and the player filled it after he collected his chips and left.
“You over here taking everybody’s money, East?” he stated while getting situated.
“Hell yeah and I’m about to take yours too. Ante up.” East spoke casually, with a sense of amusement that caused the player to smirk.
Joi listened to the two men go back and forth for a few more minutes, laughing and smiling as they engaged in a friendly repartee with each other. She could tell the men at this tablerespected East. She had a feeling it extended far beyond the table to the rest of the room.
For the next hour, she placed bets while East made decisions about the hand he was dealt. Their streak was up and down, winning most hands but still losing a few. When East finally bailed out, he was down sixty grand of his personal money but didn’t care. The money wasn’t an issue, so he collected what he had left and asked Joi to join him at the bar. Tonight was about business for East, so he had a beer while Joi had two shots of Cîroc, which had her a little more relaxed. East noticed the hazy look in her eyes and enjoyed the way her face softened after the second one, but he wanted to make sure she was straight.
“You good over there?” He kept his eyes on her, noticing the subtle changes as her smile surfaced.
There was a slight crease next to her lips on the left side and her eyes closed a little more, giving them a semi-slanted type of feel.
“Are you?” Joi wasn’t sure why that was the only thought she could come up with.
She wasn’t drunk, but she was indeed buzzed. However, it wasn’t the alcohol that had her mind stuttering. It was the man next to her.
“One beer. I’m straight. Trust me on that.”
“Two shots, and I’m straight too. Trustmeonthat.”
East chuckled and nodded before lifting his beer to his lips. “She know him before he went in?”
Joi’s eyes shot over to Nyelle and Vega, who were now at the Spades table. The two were across from each other, laughing and smiling with friendly banter between them and their competitors, but it looked like the pair weren’t doing so well as far as the game was going.
“No, they just met.”
“And y’all are here with him?” He eyed her skeptically, trying to decide if he was okay with that. Women had all types of reasons for wanting to be around a man like Vega. Friends were also like-minded, so…
“He asked. It was last minute, but he seemed cool.”
East stared at Joi for a minute before responding. The way his piercing dark eyes drank her in had Joi feeling uncomfortable. “A lot of muthafuckerseemcool, but they’re not. You should be more careful with those types of decisions.”
Joi’s nose scrunched a little as she watched him lift his beer again.Those damn lips.Shaking the thought, she asked her next question. “You’re not cool with Vega? It seemed like you were.”
“He’s straight, I guess. I don’t really know him like that. He’s only here by association. I’m cool with his brother Ace.”
“But you don’t like Vega?” Joi questioned again, assuming that East wasn’t fond of him, and that’s where the warning came from.
He looked down at her with a straight face. “I don’t really know shit about him. He comes from good people, and he has never done shit to me. I can’t tell you if I like or dislike him because I’ve never put that much thought into it. I don’t function that way. My only concern is my own shit, not the next man’s.”
The way he spoke wasn’t disrespectful or in any way sending shots at Vega. East was just being honest. From what he knew, Vega was a standup guy who just needed to figure some shit out. It wasn’t East’s place to judge the man or worry about his past or what little knew. Doing shit like that is what got a lot of muthafuckers caught up. It was damn near impossible to handle your own shit when you were worried about the next man. That was something East just didn’t do.
“Wait, so I’m confused about the warning then.”
“I’m just saying. The first time I met you, you barely even spoke. You just met old boy. You and your girl hopped in a car with him. Be more careful, that’s my only warning.”
A smile stretched across Joi’s face. “Oh, I get it. Your ego is hurt because I didn’t fall in line like I’m sure all the other women do for you.”
East laughed hard and deep, looking down at Joi like she had lost her damn mind. The last time a woman had come anywhere near to bruising his ego was when he was sixteen years old. It was his first sexual encounter and she was five years his senior. After they finished, she tried to casually play him about the fact that he came so quickly. It was his first time ever in pussy and she was experienced. No matter how much porn he watched or how many old heads schooled him on what to do when the time came, East didn’t know shit the first time he slid up in something tight and wet. He nutted after a few short minutes.
When she came for him about it, East tried to play it off, but she really fucked with his confidence. It only lasted for about a week because she was blowing him up, begging to see him again. He never returned a text or a call but fucked her one night a year later in a club where she could barely keep up. East lost count of the number of times he made her cum before he busted one of his own. Satisfied that he proved his worth, East never so much as looked at her twice.
“Nah, Grinch. My ego is untouchable and very much intact. I’m just warning you to be more careful, that’s all. You’re pretty as fuck. A little skinny and shit, but someone would still try to get at you. I’m just looking out. It doesn’t have shit to do with my ego.”
