“I can see that,” Loyal said.“I’d be happy to send it over to your office after the holiday, but for now, I just want to have a drink and celebrate the way Cassidy is pouring back into the city with this event. The way people remember his name will change with events like this. This is a good day. Care to join me?”
“Sure,” she said skeptically.
“Sure,” he repeated, chuckling.“A sure is better than a no. You like to give a nigga a hard time, I see.”
“I live for it,” she said, smiling.
“I see, I see.” He finally turned to the bartender.“I’lltake Henny on the rocks, and the lady will have…”
“Lychee martini, please, with a sugar rim,” she finished for him.
“Sugar rim,” he said, finessing the hair on his sharply lined chin. Everything about him was precise. From his line-up to his manicured nails, he was well-groomed. Not so much where she thought he was sassy, but just enough to recognize he was polished. A clean-ass man with some home training but sharp edges.“I bet you eat all flats when you order wings too.”
She laughed because it was incredibly accurate.
“I do love a good five-piece, fried hard, all flats, with bleu cheese and buffalo on the side,” she said.
“Sounds about right,” he snickered.“Can’t trust a broad who eat bleu cheese, though.”
“What?” she laughed.“What kind of logic is that?”
“That’s some stank-ass cheese,” Loyal shot back, laughing. The bartender delivered their libations, and she sipped hers.
“I see that husband of yours got his hands full?” he commented, looking at the shiny rock on her finger.
Her smile dwindled.“Hmm,” she answered, shrugging.“That’s a very complicated story.”
“If you were my wife, I’d need you to make the story short and sweet. I’m married, the end, type shit. Got to make it plain for niggas,” he shot back.
“If I were your wife, I think you would have made it plain for niggas without me having to say a word,” she countered.“That’sthe type of man you are, right? Or am I sizing you up wrong?”
He smirked and almost blushed, and she felt a sense of accomplishment.
“Cassidy’s sister,” he said, almost in disbelief as he rubbed a hand to the back of his neck.“Cassidy’s married fucking sister.”
“Hey, baby, there you are! I’ve been looking for you.”
The sweet voice that interrupted the moment was like a needle scratching a record the wrong way. The woman was gorgeous. Tall and dark, with legs that seemed to go on for miles as they disappeared under the short dress she wore. She had to be freezing in that thing, but apparently, it was worth the attention she garnered. She was reminiscent of some 80s supermodel. Naomi or Iman. Ellie’s eyes went to the ring on the girl’s finger.
“Wow,” Ellie nodded as if she was reaching an understanding. She was shocked, but then again, she wasn’t. Niggas would be niggas on every day of every week.“Seems like I was the one asking the wrong questions.” She stood, grabbed her drink, and then sashayed out of the way.“Here, sis, you can have my seat. It was nice to meet you, Loyal.”
She went to walk away, but he grabbed her elbow, standing from his seat as he pulled her back. He took her phone from her hand and held it out for her. This was a bold move in front of someone who was obviously his girl.
“Open it,” he instructed. She was curious as to how far he was going to take this, so she did as he said. He typed his number into the phone.
“So we can review that contract,” he stated.
She scoffed.“Are you really this guy?” she huffed.
“Don’t start sizing me up wrong all of a sudden, Elliot,” he stated. He held out her phone and accepted it before walking away. She wanted to glance back so badly but she didn’t . She didn’t even know where she was headed; she just wanted to get away from him.
Ellie breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Shy, Sloan, and Courtney enter the building.
“Court!” she screamed happily.“I thought you weren’t coming!” Her friend was beautiful. She wore no makeup at all, but she was beaming. She nodded to the stroller.
“I didn’t want to miss it. Sloan said it was kid-friendly, so I packed Christian up, and here we are,” Courtney said.
“You look so good!” Ellie complimented.
