I laid there smiling because it felt good to feel wanted again after Hawk. I’d been down on myself for so long because Hawk didn’t want me, that I really started believing I was actually undesirable, and that is insane with the way I look. Men call me beautiful anytime I step out of the house, but because the caliber of man I wanted hadn’t approached me yet, I still took those compliments with a grain of salt.
Cole might not be as rich as Hawk or even as fine, but he is already undoing what Hawk did to my pride. That may be what I needed. Someone who would align with what I wanted.
We got dressed, and I put on a pair of jeans and a cropped shirt I’d packed on my quick trip back to one of my penthouses before coming here. I was never the type to spend the night somewhere and throw on the same clothes. If I stayed over, best believe I had a to-go bag, or someone was bringing me one.
Once he and I got dressed, he took me downstairs to hop into the back of a black truck driven by one of his homeboy slash drivers.
“So where are we headed?”
“Going to pick up my car.”
“You have a car here?”
“Yeah. Up North Car Detail is the best custom car wrapping company in the country. We are on our way to pick up my car, take it to the freight company, and ship it back home. They have had my car for about three months now, and I'm ready to see it. I paid some good money for it.
“Oh well, yes, they do good work. I had a Bentley wrapped by them back in high school.”
“Damn, your ass was even doing it big in high school. What color did you get it?”
“Pink. Hot pink. You could see me coming down the street from a mile away.”
“As fine as you are, I probably would’ve seen you coming with or without the car.
He kissed my neck.
“But that's what's up. Glad to know you used to shit.”
“Yeah, I am. Used to everything but being treated right.”
“Well, don't worry about that. I got you now.”
Once we pulled up to the Up North warehouse, he grabbed my hand and walked in proudly, like I was a piece of jewelry and a part of his outfit for the day.
“Hello! Welcome to Up North.” We were greeted by the owner.
“What up. I'm Cole. This is my lady, Nina.”
“Yes, Nina, the beautiful Nina. Nice to see you again.”
He recognized me because of my trips in high school, but it was also my several trips with Hawk that really made us familiar with each other. I didn't bother mentioning that to Cole, though.
I was actually glad Carlos knew Hawk because he was known for running his mouth whenever anyone came into his shop. I actually hope that me walking in with another baller got back to Hawk in some kind of way.
“So, where is my whip? Let's see what you've come up with.”
“Of course, let me show you, this way,” Carlos replied.
Carlos walked us to the back and pulled the cover off the car sitting nearest the door. Underneath the cover, it unveiled a Porsche 911 wrapped in army print, with gold handles and gold rims. It was flashy and looked expensive as hell just from the rims alone. Would I drive something so flashy? No, but it still screamed that whoever was driving it had money.
“So, what do you think, my friend?” Carlos asked because Cole hadn’t said a word.
“What the fuck do I think?” Cole replied so aggressively that I looked at him, trying to understand where that came from.
“I told you I didn’t want gold handles; I said gold on the panel and gold rims, but with black handles.”
“Are you sure? On the order we wrote down gold door handles, my friend.”
“Are you saying I’m fucking lying? You are really going to argue with me right now and waste more of my fuckin time?”
