“This ain’t right,” I whispered, glancing left, then right.
The houses were old, and the streets were narrow, with cars parked tightly on both sides. A couple of men stood on the corner, their eyes tracking my car as I passed.
I slowed down, pulled over, and put the car in park while I reached for my phone. The screen lit up, and I opened my maps, then typed in my address in disbelief at what I’d just done.
A few moments later, the route popped up. A blue line cut across streets I should’ve known how to navigate without help. I set the phone down in my lap, ready to follow it, then I looked up.
My eyes landed on the street sign across from me and stopped. I read it once. Then again. My hands went still on the wheel, and for a second, the migraine, the heat, the whole afternoon just dropped away.
And just like that, I was no longer in the present.
Club Exo’s bass was still thumping in my chest when I pushed through the exit doors. As soon as we were outside, the night air hit me like a splash of cold water, and the sidewalk tilted under my heels. To keep from falling, I caught the rail with both hands, cracking up at myself.
“Hold on.” I shook my head as I continued to giggle. “I almost just busted my ass.”
I couldn’t believe it.
After I straightened, I looked around to make sure no one saw me and continued on my way once I was sure they hadn’t. My feet hurt like hell, but the night was still young, and my girls were ready to hit the next spot. Supposedly, the drinks were stronger, cheaper, and the DJ didn’t stop rocking the place until five in the morning.
On any other night, I would’ve been right there with them, but the four drinks I’d downed had my head spinning. My mind was caught somewhere between the dance floor we’d just left and what it would feel like to crawl into my bed. I was beyond tipsy and didn’t know how much longer I could hang.
All I wanted was water, maybe some food, and sleep. Sex would’ve ended the night on a good note, but that was only wishful thinking. I didn’t have a man, or a friend with benefits that I wouldn’t have minded spreading my legs for.
My friends were going back and forth about where we were going next, and I was halfway listening, catching pieces here and there. Telling them I was going home was sitting right on the tip of my tongue, and one of the girls noticed. This one obviously knew me well.
“Koko,” she dragged my name in warning, linking her arm through mine as we walked toward the cars. “Don’t even try it. Your ass is going to the next spot with us.”
“Girl, I’m hanging on by a thread,” I groaned, but she wasn’t having it.
She didn’t play when it came to our nights out.
“You said that at the last spot, and somehow you managed to still throw it back on the dancefloor,” she shot back, laughing. “Come on. Just one more spot. If it’s not jumping, we’ll take you home. I promise.”
I knew that promise was worth about as much as the cheap liquor they were serving inside, but I didn’t have the energy to argue. Besides, she was right. I’d bounced back before. Maybe I would again.
We made our way down the block toward where the cars were parked, our heels smacking the concrete in an uneven rhythm. The street was lined with cars, and I was just about to tell her I needed to sit down for a minute when a figure stepped out from between two parked vehicles directly in our path.
My eyes went up, and up, and up some more before they finally settled on a face that made my stomach do a flip. He was tall, like, really tall, with shoulders broad enough to block out the streetlight behind him. His skin was like a rich slab of melted chocolate, and his neck was covered in tattoos. His hair was laid in waves so sharp they could cut, and when he smiled, dimples made deep craters in his cheeks.
He was draped in designer clothes, his teeth were pearly white, and his jewelry caught the light every time he moved.Everything about him screamed money, power, and trouble, the kind that made your mouth go dry and your panties wet at the same time.
“Girl, that’s Booda,” one of them whispered beside me, and I felt the grip on my arm tighten.
I turned toward her voice automatically, but the second I tried to focus on her face, my head throbbed. The pain hit right behind my eyes, and I squinted, trying to force her features into place, but they wouldn’t stay still long enough for me to catch them. Her mouth moved. Earrings swung near her jaw. Dark hair brushed bare shoulders. That was all I could hold onto before everything blurred together again.
I blinked hard and looked away. It felt wrong not being able to see her clearly when she was standing right beside me.
“You know him?” I asked, my eyes pulling back toward his face.
“Not personally, but his name rings bells in the hood. He got that paper, girl,” the girl holding onto me whispered so only I would hear.
The alcohol made everything feel slower and dreamier, as if I was gazing at him through water.
He stepped fully into the light, and my heart kicked up speed when I really got a good look at him. Booda was even more handsome than I’d originally thought.
The wind picked up, and his cologne hit me. It was that same mix of bergamot and sandalwood they keep locked behind glass at the department store. Booda not only looked it, but he smelled like money, too.
“You good, Mama?” he asked, his voice smooth as butter with a rasp underneath that made my knees weak.
