Shaking my head, I finished up sanitizing the bag, then closed the curtains to keep some of the Florida sun from spilling into the room. It was fine while I worked out, but that heat was unnecessary for just any reason. The aggression I spoke of a little earlier stemmed from the fact that my agent called himself parting ways with me just weeks before the season was to start. I thought Brett and I had a wonderful working relationship. According to him, he wanted to 'venture into other territories', meaning he wanted to take on a bigger name... or should I say bigger pockets.
It wasn't a secret that WNBA players made less than NBA players. Things were getting better for us, but the struggle was real. If I didn't come from money, I'd be struggling just like most of my teammates were prior to the salary increase.
Brett could've been straight up, though. I was a pretty straight-up woman and hated for people to be fake, especially niggas. To come across as weak was a turnoff. Not speaking the fuck up and sugar-coating shit was weak as fuck.
Sighing, I made my way to my room, bypassing the boxes lining the hallway. PJ stood at her bedroom door, eyeing me up and down.
"Eight minutes, Mimi," she warned.
Rolling my eyes, I continued into my room. Aside from my bed, dresser, and nightstands, the room was pretty bland. PJ and I had only moved in this past weekend. I'd get my shit unpacked at some point.
Although she wasn't totally moved yet, PJ's room was laid like fuck because she didn't like clutter and seldomly procrastinated. We were complete opposites, but I loved my sister to no end.
Going into the bathroom, I started my shower and hopped in before PJ came in here tripping. Lord knows I didn't want to hear her educated mouth.
JAMISON 'SIN' SMITH
"This muhfucka on that bullshit!" I growled, snatching my phone off the nightstand. Sunlight peaked through the curtains, a complete contrast to how I felt. A nigga was dead-ass tired after the night I had.
"Aye!" I barked. "Stay the fuck off my line 'fore I body slam yo' ass!" I threatened.
Laughing sounded on the other end.
"Get yo' ass the fuck up!" Zoo barked back. "I know you hear this fuckin' doorbell, nigga."
Grumbling, I threw the phone back on the nightstand and climbed out of bed. This nigga knew damn well not to fuck with my sleep, especially when I barely had any. Snatching on some sweats, I angrily made my way downstairs and to the front door.
"Give me my key back, and you won't have this problem," Zoo said, grinning as soon as I opened the door.
"Itookthe muhfuckin' key 'cause yo' ass wouldn't stop comin' up in my shit all times of the mornin'. Nobody's tryna hear allat loud talkin' yo' ass do for no fuckin' reason."
He shrugged. "I'm country. What you expect?"
I grunted, leaving him in the entryway as I went back to my room and into the bathroom. I loved my cousin to death and didn't have a bone in me that felt negatively about him. We grew up together, along with our cousin, Brooklyn. The three of us were close, like brothers. None of that meant this nigga didn't get on my muthafuckin' nerves.
Cutting the shower on, I brushed my teeth and washed my face while the water heated. The doorbell sounded again, causing me to groan. If I thought I was going to sleep in on my day off, my fam reminded me I wasn't.
As the water glided over my body, I sighed. I'd been working overtime to complete a deal with some of Pensacola's most prominent lawyers. The law firm was Black-owned and was responsible for helping many Black people in the community. While I'd handled deals all over the country, this one was close to my heart. It was a huge task to take on a building housing five prominent Black lawyers and their staff, who all had different tastes, but the deal was approved late yesterday.
I guess I shouldn't have complained. Owning a multi-million-dollar business at twenty-seven was a blessing. Where some had the story of growing up in the struggle, I had no such story. I was fortunate enough to be born into a family that actually gave a damn about each other. My great-great-grandfather started his own construction business when he was only nineteen. It'd been passed down through generations until it fell into mine, Zeus', and Brooklyn's laps. We ran JSC, my great-great-grandfather's initials, with the same thorough love that he'd shown the company when he first started it.
With all my success, status, and material shit, I was unhappy as a muhfucka. I wasn't unhappy with myself. My unhappiness stemmed from being tired of coming home to an empty house. I was tired of fucking different women just because I could. As much as I wanted to fight the fact that I was lonely, the writing was on the damn wall.
This woman named Toya that I'd been fucking for a few months now was doing her best to drop hints about us being more in our relationship. I reminded her we weren't in a relationship and warned her never to bring that shit up again. She hadn't since, and that was three weeks ago.
Toya was cool in the sense that she was pretty and gave me my space. We'd been fine before she decided she wanted something more than I was offering. I'd set clear boundaries prior to fucking with her. However, like most women, she thought she could change my mind. Toya just didn't appeal to me on a level where I could see myself with her past a good nut.
The woman I needed had to be able to handle a nigga like me and my lifestyle. That was probably asking too much. Whoever the fuck she was needed to make her presence known, 'cause a nigga refused to keep running through bitches.
My father, Jaxon, beat it in his children's heads the necessity of having a good partner. Likewise, he and my mother raised my sisters and me with the mindset that a spouse and children were the endgame. I'd heard it so much it was probably why my ass was around here acting like I needed a woman to love.
Jaxon Smith didn't play about me, nor my two sisters, and neither did my mother, Renea. Shiidd, if you see either of them coming, you better know they were out for blood behind their kids. That's what the fuck I needed. A woman that wouldn't play about her nigga. When I found her, I was going to lock her ass down and put a few kids in her. Zoo thought I was crazy for wanting some permanent shit, but at the rate, these femaleswere out here fucking any and everything, so I needed to be my ass somewhere permanent.
The shower ran cold just as banging sounded on my bathroom door.
"Quit playin' wit' yo'' dick and get outta there!" Zoo thundered. "Nasty ass nigga!"
Laughing, I cut the water off and grabbed my body towel while listening to my cousins go at it.
