“Damn. That’s so dope,” she says while nodding. “And you just knew how to run a business? Or did you go to school for it?” she asks, genuinely curious.
“I learned everything about business in the streets, no school. When you are thirteen and need to make sure the lights don’t get cut off, the only jobs are on the corners,” I say, then look for her reaction.
She doesn’t give me one though. Her genuine, interested expression is still on her pretty face. She simply remarks, “Thirteen? That’s a baby.”
“I wasn’t a baby. My circumstances made me grow up quick. Not having shit—no food, barely any clothes, and no lights in the crib—will do that,” I say, real shit shocking myself. The only other person besides Kadean who knows this shit is Rick ’cause I don’t speak on it.Never.It’s a part of my life I try to forget; it holds too many horrid memories and a mistake I can’t escape. “Daddies didn’t exist. Them clowns were cool with not knowing or helping us and my momma was zooted all the damn time. Any money she got ahold of was spent on drugs. She used to boost then sell the clothes for shit around the house but even that money stopped making it back to us. Shit was bad and I had to man the fuck up. We lived in the Ridge; so finding something to get into was easy. I only had to knock on the door three doors down from us.”
“But you were thirteen,” she says again. “That’s too young for anyone to carry so much responsibility. I just can’t imagine.”
“It’s more common than you know. I wasn’t the only thirteen-year-old running packs,” I say, and when she doesn’t question me, I realize she’s familiar with the drug game. Not everyone knows running packs is moving drugs from place to place. I ran from our building to the blocks in The Manor. “Where did you grow up?”
“In the Manor but off Blythwood,” she says, mentioning a small housing area in my hood, not too far from the my projects.
“By that basketball court,” I say and she nods. “Then we should have went to school together. I know we didn’t because I fo’ sho would have remembered yo’ pretty ass.”
“We had to. I just wore glasses and was super skinny,” she says but she does that biting thing on her lip before sipping from her drink. I don’t know if she’s telling the truth or fucking with me.
“Real shit?” I question.
“Yeah. I was little like my baby Romi until high school. I would eat but never gained any weight. I don’t have that problem now though,” she says. “Food loves my hips, I swear.”
“I don’t blame it; I love them too,” I admit, taking advantage of this opportunity. I’m finally in her space and face and I’m enjoying it.
“You’re a mess,” she says with a slight grin.
“I’m just speaking facts but I still would have remembered you. You went to Ridge Pointe Middle and Manor Crossing High?” I ask because I don’t see how I wouldn’t have noticed her.Everything about Adora is memorable.
Chapter 10
Adora
As he talks, I try hard not to stare butdamn.How can I not look?Xai is fine as hell and is too handsome. He’s that kind of handsome that would make me circle the block if he were standing outside. It doesn’t hurt that he’s charming as hell too, saying all the right things. While I have zero recollection of sending him the text to get him here, I’m a hundred percent glad I did.Thank you, prosecco.
Being all grown and fast, I lied to the girl earlier at the spa about being familiar with the wine. Today was my first time having it and the two glasses I had put me on my ass. I was dizzy as hell walking into my treatment and I felt tipsy. But then the strangest shit happened, as fast as I’d gotten tipsy, I sobered upjust as fast. Not even an hour after my second glass, I started to feel like myself. I fully enjoyed my treatments then brought my relaxed ass back up here to shower and take a nap.
I can’t lie; I was apprehensive at first when I heard him say his name through the door but I pushed it aside. I’m glad I did too. This is nice, real nice. I haven’t been alone with a man like this in too damn long and he’s the perfect man to break my drought. Our text convos were cool and our first actual convo on the phone last night had been even better.But this? This is perfect.
After taking another sip of my drink, I finally answer him. “Ridge Pointe, yes, but in tenth grade, my momma moved me to CF Academy. She wanted me to stay out of trouble. The problem is I ran right into trouble there. I met the girls’ dad there my senior year. He wasn’t in school. He had already graduated from Manor Crossing the year before but was there for a game. You probably know him,” I say.
“I might but I don’t want to talk about him,” he says with no emotion. “All I need to know is you’re not fucking with him no more.”
“Definitely not. That’s been over,” I assure him.
“Good, ’cause you gotta know I’m feeling you,” he says with his mesmerizing eyes locked on me. If his words didn’t convey his sentiment, his eyes surely do.
“What about you? There’s no woman out there waiting on your call or waiting for you to come home?” I ask because I’m feeling him too and I’m not trying to get caught up in some shit.
“Waiting for me to come home? Hell nah. Waiting on my call? Shit. I can’t say that for certain. But I can say there isn’t one waiting because I have her expecting me to call. There’s only one woman I want to call, to call me, talk to, and be around and she’s right here looking sexy as hell in some big ass sweatpants,” he says and I feel his words permeate my damn skin.
It's crazy how I had convinced myself that I was cool without a man. After almost five years of accidental celibacy, my mind and body had somehow tricked me into believing I didn’t need one. Between my toys and fingers, I took care of business when needed, but nothing replaces this—true male energy.Nothing.
Xai’s presence fills the room, crowds it, and smothers me in the most intoxicating way. His words, the way he looks at me, all of him exudes sex appeal, a slight dominance, and pressure.Shit!I haven’t felt this in too damn long, even when Rush was out and I was with him. He never had this.
Intrigued and a little nervous, I sit up, finish my glass, and quickly refill it. I need to break his hold over me and catch my damn breath.
“You finished eating?” I ask as I start to recover the platters. If he isn’t, he is now. My nervous energy needs to be expended and putting this food up is the only thing I can think to do.
“Yeah,” is all he says before killing his drink.
