While they were conversing, she got a text from Cam telling her who she was talking to and what he wanted her to do. He was in the club, ducked off, watching her. He never crowded her in public because he wanted men to approach her. He wanted herto rob anybody that was a big fish. She had never actually gone through with it before until meeting Lethal. Abuse from Vick and Cam had turned her cold, but even while she was inebriated, slipping something in Lethal’s drink that night didn’t sit well with her.
Even though she’d drugged him, he fucked the taste out of her mouth. He may not have remembered it, but she remembered every detail, and it was the best sex she’d ever had. There were many nights Khrome thought back to that night with Lethal. When she stopped sleeping with Cam, sex had been the last thing on her mind, but Lethal had awakened the beast in her. She hadn’t had sex since, and sex with just anybody wasn’t on her mind. Revisiting sex with him would have been amazing, but she doubted he’d ever touch her again, and he wasn’t wrong. There were many things she regretted and not standing up to Cam about Lethal was one of them. Then again, had she not had sex with him, she wouldn’t have Lyric.
When Lethal was done in the ring, him and his trainer talked for about fifteen minutes, and he grabbed his bag to leave.
“You ever thought about doing a short film?” Khrome asked him as they walked to his car. “Kind of like a documentary of you preparing for a fight? It can be like twenty to thirty minutes long, and you can put it on your YouTube channel. Short form content is cool, but there’s money in longer content, too.”
Lethal’s head bobbed. “I never really thought about that. That’s a good idea. I still have a few more weeks before the fight. I’ll have to get a lot of content.”
“That will be easy. We can film everything from what you eat for breakfast to what you eat in a day, press, your weigh-in, all that. I’m not the best with editing, but I can get the content together, and you can pay someone to edit it really nice. Add music and all that.” Khrome couldn’t believe she was excited.For the first time in a long time, she was excited. She felt like she’d found herthing.
“Look at you being innovative.” He grinned as he opened the car door for her.
She waited until he was inside the car to respond. “I’ve been brainstorming all day. I’m really excited about the opportunity. The only other job I’ve ever had was the bartender job, and that didn’t last long. Making money and doing it legally is a blessing.”
Lethal liked how Khrome always seemed appreciative of the things he did for her. Even though she had his child, she didn’t act entitled. She knew she was on thin ice because of what she did to him, and Lethal honestly felt like she was trying to right her wrong.
“I know I have to take you back to the house, so you can get the car and go to Lyric, but I want to stop by Target. Is that cool?”
“Yes, I need to pick up some personal hygiene items and some leggings and stuff.”
Khrome had left a lot of things behind at Cam’s house. The only places she went were the hospital and to run errands, so she’d been recycling the same few sundresses, pairs of leggings, and shirts. She did want to get some braids, but aside from clothes to lounge in, Khrome didn’t care about replacing her wardrobe too much. Her goals were making money and getting her baby home to her.
Lethal took his eyes off the road long enough to glance over at her. “My brothers’ girlfriends wanted to invite you out to brunch tomorrow.”
“Me? Why?” Khrome wasn’t sure how she felt about meeting new people. There were many times she wished she had friends or siblings, but she didn’t trust people. More often than not, they had ulterior motives or were just plain mean girls.
“Listen, I know once you get an apartment, I probably won’t see you unless I’m picking Lyric up or dropping her off. But I just don’t like the fact that you don’t even have one friend. That shit has to be lonely. My brothers’ girls are good people. Symphony is a doctor, and Averi is pregnant, so she’s not working right now.”
“A doctor?” Khrome’s brows hiked and instantly, Lethal knew what she was thinking.
“Symphony is cool people, I promise. She’s not stuck-up or judgmental. I wouldn’t even encourage you to go into that kind of situation.”
Khrome trusted Lethal as much as she could have trusted anybody. He hadn’t lied to her or let her down yet. If he said Symphony and Averi were nice people then maybe, they were.
O-okay,” she slowly agreed. She had to find something at Target that was cute enough for her to wear to brunch.
Lethal glanced over at her again after arriving at Target and finding a parking space. “The Khrome I met that night in the club; she was confident. Borderline cocky. I liked that shit,” he confessed. The meek side of Khrome didn’t sit well with him. Lethal had seen her in her element with her nose stuck up in the air like she knew her worth. Knew she was a bad bitch. The Khrome he knew was always apologizing, always on edge. He didn’t like that for her.
“Yeah, well that Khrome was drunk, high, and mad at the world. I had too much going on to be shy. I got drunk and high to escape reality. Being in Cam’s presence when I was sober literally made my skin crawl. I did whatever I had to do to numb the pain and survive.”
Lethal felt bad that he had even brought it up. He exited the car, rounded it, and opened the door for her. Inside the store, Khrome was prepared to go her own way. “I’ll go get what I need, and we can meet at the register.”
“You don’t want to be seen with me?” Lethal grabbed a shopping cart.
“I didn’t say that. I just, I don’t know.”
“Come with me, you gotta help me pick stuff out.”
Khrome’s curiosity was piqued, but she didn’t say anything. It all made sense when he walked to the baby department. “Help me pick out a good car seat. She’s going to need some lil’ toys and stuff for the nursery. I got my homie coming tomorrow to paint in there. I need blankets, rugs, all that good shit. Oh, a rocking chair, too. I might have to come back with a truck.”
He was ready to go all out, and that made Khrome’s heart smile. She had the time of her life picking out items for Lyric’s nursery. Shopping was fun when money wasn’t a thing. Lethal stood back and let Khrome put everything she wanted in the cart. By the time she was done, the cart was overflowing.
“Okay, this is good enough for today, right?”
“Yes.” She giggled. “Unless you want to go get another cart.”
“Aight. Let’s go get your stuff.”
