“Lower your motherfucking voice,” James sneered, grabbing her waist, and digging his fingers into it painfully as he discreetly pulled her closer.
“Are you drunk? Did you come here drunk? What is wrong with you?” she cried, eyes watering.
“Bring your ass outside, let me talk to you,” he said. It was the way he spoke to her that revealed his disdain.
“I’m not going outside,” she said.
“Oh, you not?” he asked, challenging her.
“No, I’m not going outside with you,” Courtney hissed.“I’m done with this shit. I should have never even accepted this invitation. I thought you would try. I thought we would both try.” Her eyes were betraying her, and she didn’t want to cry in the middle of this event.
“Bitch, youain’t trying, you in here hoeing,” James said. It was sinister the way he could undo her without raising his tone.
“Because of a dance? I’m aho now? Okay,” she said, scoffing.“I can’t talk to you when you’re on this level.” She knew she needed to be the one to keep a level head because engaging would only add fuel to his fire. He had decided her intent the moment he laid eyes on her on that dance floor. They would have a blowout fight, and he wouldn’t come out of this vengeful rage until after it had already gone too far. It was the cycle of their entire relationship. She didn’t want to do it here. She was tired of doing it at all.
“Probably sucked that nigga off in the bathroom,” James said. He was going lower and lower, and Courtney was on the verge of tears.
“Everything good over here?”
Courtney was so grateful when Loyal stepped between them and motioned for the bartender.
“Let’s get my guy here a ginger ale,” Loyal ordered.
“Everything’s good, man. Thanks for inviting me and my girl. This is…”
“Courtney. Yeah, we’ve met,” Loyal said.
“Met when?” James asked, unable to holster his jealousy.
Loyal turned sharp eyes to James because he heard the undertone of unreasonable jealousy.“Yo, my nigga. You coming in here with too much heat on your chest. That’sa mistake,” Loyal said, holding out his hand for a shake. James reluctantly took his hand and Loyal squeezed that hand so tightly that it felt like James’bones were breaking.“I know you said you getting some things together up top, my nigga. Don’t let your mind get too lost that you forget where you at and who you talking to,” Loyal whispered. Loyal took a step back and turned to Courtney.“James is going to let you enjoy the rest of the night with your girls. I need him to handle something for me. I’m not sure if he told you, but he’sthe new general foreman of one of my construction sites.”
Courtney was uneasy as she replied,“No, I didn’t know that. That’samazing. Congrats, babe.”
James’nostrils flared, but he replied,“Yeah, that’s what I invited you here to tell you. That I’m working on some stuff.”
“You got a lot of work to do,” Loyal stated in a tone that implied so much more.“Hard work. Let me walk you out and let you know what I need you to do. Court, I’m sorry to have to end y’all night early, but if hegon’be the boss, this can’t wait. I think Ellie’s looking for you.”
Courtney nodded as she watched James and Loyal exit.
Ellie browsed through the room, admiring the art as she called Sloan for the third time.
“Girl, where are you? This nigga’s baby mama just said some shit to me that fucked my mind up! I needyouuu. I’m so confused,” Ellie hissed into the phone. She hadn’t worked up the nerve to return to the main ballroom, instead, she gave Loyal the space to be the boss as she processed Tisa’s words.
A threesome? It was so far out of bounds for a woman like Ellie. She loved good dick, but she didn’t want to share it. She wanted to confront Loyal, but she didn’t want to bring drama to this classy event. Opting to stay out of the way felt like the right move. She kept waiting for him to come back and check on her, but after half an hour of solitude, she figured that he would be monopolized for most of the evening.
“Ellie!” she turned to find Courtney yelling her name frantically.
She rushed to the hallway.“What? What’s wrong?” Ellie asked. She could hear the panic in her friend’s voice, and without even knowing what was wrong, she knew something was off.
“Ellie, I think Loyal is putting James out,” Courtney panted frantically.
“What happened?”Ellie exclaimed.
“He’s tripping. He showed up over an hour late and walked in on some jealous shit because I was dancing with Loyal’s brother.”
“His brother?” Ellie shot back, trying to follow the chain of events. Ellie didn’t even know Loyal had a brother.
“James is drunk, and he was a little aggressive, but…”
