“My sister. She’s three, loves to cheat at Go Fish, and her favorite food is chicken fingers.”
“Oh so you have jokes. You really expect me to believe that?”
“Nah, I don’t because your hateful ass doesn’t want to believe shit that’s in plain sight as it is, so let me see your phone.”
“My phone? For what?”
“Just give me your phone, Grinch. I’m going to show you something.”
Joi stared at him quizzically for a moment before she unlocked and handed over her phone. East searched her screen for a minute, annoyed at all the damn icons. She had too much shit on her screen, so it took him a minute to locate the folder she had labeled social media. Once he found her Instagram, he typed in his handle and pulled up his page, handing it over to Joi right after.
Her eyes scanned the page, moving from picture to picture. Most were of cuts he had done, some of tattoos she recognized from her keen inspection of his arms, neck, and hands after spending time with him tonight. Most recently, there were pictures of him and a pretty-faced, brown-skinned girl with a lot of hair, deep dimples, and a smile too big for her face.
“Read the caption,” East rattled off when he noticed Joi smiling at the most recent picture of him and Kelsey. It was in his bed and she was sitting on his chest while taking a selfie of the two of them with his phone.
In the three months he had Kelsey with him, East was positive she had placed at a minimum three hundred selfies and random photos on his phone.
Joi’s eyes moved across the first caption.My lil rider. Baby sis caught me slipping. She moved to another picture and read the caption.Fuck with baby sis and I’m comin’ for your lineage.
“I had to check. Dudes are quick to lie.”
East only chuckled then nodded. “Go ahead and follow me, so when you’re creeping later and like a picture from a few years ago, I’ll know it’s you.” He winked at her and Joi’s cheeks warmed, but she kept her face hard.
“Nobody is worried about you, so I damn sure won’t be creeping on your page.”
“Yeah, aight. So we going or what?” East peered at Joi, who sucked her teeth again.
“Give me your gun.”
“What?” East’s face instantly went hard.
“Your gun. I know you have one because I felt it on you. I trust you, but I’m not crazy. Let me hold it.”
East considered his options for a minute before he smirked and removed the Beretta from his body. Once he was certain the safety was on, he handed it over by gripping the barrel and extending the handle then pulled it back.
“You know how to handle a gun?”
“Yes, I have a permit to carry, and I’ve practiced with a Beretta before. Now hand it over.”
“Be careful with that. It damn sure isn’t a toy, and if you fuck around and shoot me by mistake, I’m gon’ hurt your little ass. I don’t care how pretty you are, Grinch. That’s my word.”
Joi shot him a look for calling her Grinch again, but East only chuckled and shut her door, with her allowing him to this time. He knew he had his hands full with Joi but was prepared to handle whatever she brought to the table.
As soon as East was situated, he asked for Joi’s address. She hesitated and he chuckled.
“You have my gun, Grinch. If I act up, you can shoot me, but I can’t get you home if you don’t let me know where you live. Shit, at least get me to your block, then you can walk the rest of the way if that makes you feel better. But trust, I don’t have any intentions. I’m not the type who has to take anything. It’s handed over to me on the regular.”
“I bet,” she mumbled before rattling off her address.
East was driving a few minutes after with his eyes on the road. Neither said much until he glanced at her and noticed she had her eyes pinned to the window.
“You’re pretty as fuck when you smile, Grinch. You should do it more often.”
Joi sucked her teeth but kept her eyes on the window. “You should stop calling me that and I might. Words have power, and if you want me to be nice to you, then you should address me as something more endearing, or at least by my name.”
East chuckled and nodded, pulling his lip between his teeth. He loved the sound of her voice already. It was soft but aggressive at the same time. The kind that you couldn’t really take serious in an argument or when it was delivering a threat, but with her fiery attitude, East knew that Joi wasn’t one to fuck with. She was scrappy and demanding, even if she was dancing around her attraction to him.
“So, what do you want me to call you when I hit you up later?” This time, his voice granted him a visual of her pretty face.
