“Who says I want you to call me anything?”
“Your eyes, that slick mouth of yours, and the way you have your ankles crossed to keep your thighs tight over there says you want me to not only call you something but you want me to handle a few things too.”
The way East captured Joi’s thoughts had her feeling exposed. She was deep in her head about him, which was why her eyes were trained on the window. And he was also right about her legs being locked tight. Being this close to him, in his car that smelled like his cologne, had Joi feeling things about a man she didn’t know anything about beyond the fact that he was unpleasant half the time, said what he wanted, and was fine as hell.
“You really are arrogant.” Joi grinned, causing East to release a muffled laugh.
“Nah, not arrogant, just sure about things and not afraid to speak on them. You should try that.”
“I do.”
“Nah, you really don’t. You’re feeling me, but you’re acting like you’re not.”
“But that’s not being arrogant?”
East flashed Joi a smile again and she melted. She was already mildly intoxicated and it had nothing to do with the two shots of Cîroc she had before leaving with him.
“It’s facts. You’re not feeling me, Joi?”
He watched her intently for a moment. The way her breath hitched, the way her fingers pushed into her thigh, and the way her eyes fluttered. All signs that she was feeling something.
She didn’t answer verbally but East didn’t need her to. He moved on instead. “Why do you have a permit?”
Joi flashed him a smile before looking down at her lap where his Beretta lay. “Dudes in Atlanta are crazy.”
East chuckled and nodded to agree. It was the reason he was always strapped, even if for different variations of the word crazy. However, he understood. It was nothing for a dude to run up on the next, trying to take what they were too lazy to work for. In her case, it was likely physical, whereas with him, it was monetary.
“I won’t debate that. Who taught you to shoot? Yourboyfriend?”
East wasn’t sure why he had been on some bitch shit with Joi. The fact that he had mentioned her man a few times was out of character. East didn’t give a fuck about him one way or another, since he didn’t feel threatened by his presence in Joi’s life. East knew what he brought to the table, and nothing could compete with everything he was, but her dude had access to Joi, something East didn’t have,yet.
“One of them.” Joi had learned a few years ago from a boyfriend, but it wasn’t Reg. It was before his time.
“Damn, you roll like that?” He hadn’t expected that answer. Was she really a player? Maybe that was why she wasn’t concerned about her dude cheating.
“No, that’s not what I meant. Anex-boyfriend, not my current one. Definitely not as in I have multiple.” Joi rolled her eyes.
“Ay, I’m just saying. Women are worse than men these days, and if that’s how you rock, who am I to judge?” East smirked and Joi rolled her eyes again.
“Apparently, you wouldn’t care. You already know I have a man, yet here I am.”
His eyes quickly shot over to her, only to meet hers, which were waiting. “I respect loyalty, but only when it goes both ways. Your shit is one-sided because you’re fucking with a little boy, not a man. A man wouldn’t move the way your dude moves.”
Joi frowned at him in a way that had East waiting with an unbothered disposition. “You keep throwing things out here about him, but you said you don’t know him.”
“You keep bringing him up and I don’t know him. I know his type. I also know that if you had a real man, you wouldn’t have been with me all night, and you damn sure wouldn’t be in my car right now, considering the possibility of experiencing a man like me.”
Joi hated how confident and secure East was with his delivery. It was almost condescending in a sense and made her feel silly for claiming Reg.
Because East was so observant, he picked up on the shift in her mood right away.
“Ay, if you’re good with your situation, my opinion doesn’t matter.”
“I know.” Joi spoke as confidently as she could, but truth was, East had her mind reeling.
After a few minutes of processing, she delivered one last question.
“What’s it like experiencing a man like you?”
