I didn’t bother calling her out and revealing that it was impossible since I got home yesterday. Chrissy stood in the middle of the room with her bottom lip touching her chin, but I didn’t feed into her pity party. I searched my nightstand for my pouch, then I grabbed a bottle of water near my bed. Not only had my time away kept me from my spoiled girlfriend, but I also could not feed my body the fuel it needed. No matter how much I maintained a solid front when in Kannon’s presence, my irregular heartbeat and labored breathing had me more spooked than the lady with the cat-like eyes.
By the time I consumed the last pill, Chrissy was on the bed with me. She snaked her hand down my shoulder, allowing her short nails to glide over my skin. Relief urged a slow breath toslip from my lips, and with ease, my eyes closed, and my head fell back against her big breasts.
“I’m sorry for being insecure, Neptune. You’re right. I called you a couple times, and when you didn’t pick up, I thought you were ignoring me. I should’ve known better.” She massaged my shoulders. “Do you want to talk about what happened? As a matter of fact, I don’t want to be an accomplice to some street shit. Are you feeling well enough to go with me to my parents’ place for dinner?”
I grimaced, though I shouldn’t have expected more. Chrissy was a brat from the North Side of Slyde City, who only knew the difference between Crips and Bloods because of YouTube videos. She came from old money, and no amount of time together took the selfishness out of the black Barbie.
“All right,” I stated. “Give me twenty minutes to get myself together, then we can head out.”
“Perfect! That will give me time to change.”
She scurried out of sight, giving me the chance to hit my blunt while I looked for something to wear. I used every minute I asked for and met Chrissy at the front door at seven on the dot. As soon as we made eye contact, I detected the disapproval in her gaze.
“Are you wearingthat?”
I peered down at my khakis, loafers, and Purple Label polo. “I put it on, didn’t I?”
“Don’t get offended. You know how my parents are.”
I wouldn’t gain anything from telling her the truth about her parents and hurting her feelings, so I kept my response dormant.
“If I take off these clothes, it’s a wrap for dinner, Chrissy.”
“Ugh.” She stomped in place like a temperamental toddler. “All right. You don’t want to listen. I don’t want to hear you complain when my father goes on a rant about you not wearing a tie.”
“I don’t complain, baby. That’s your job.” I smacked her ass, urging her out of the door. “Let’s get this over with.”
Chrissy was adamant that I drive the most expensive car I owned instead of my first choice—my Audi. The request was on brand for Chrissy’s uppity attitude. None of that bothered me more than the way she consistently tried to change me. Chrissy put on a front for her folks, and too often, she asked me to join in on building the facade. Mindful of her feelings, I let her lie about my occupation, but that was all I lied to them about.
When we ran into traffic, I turned up the music to calm my nerves. A one-note laugh rocked my chest when a song Kannon hummed around the house poured through my speakers. Memories of conversations she had when she stepped out of the room drifted to the front of my mind. I wondered why she wanted to play in the streets so badly. I wondered if she had a man I would have to kill to get to her. Flashbacks of the crushed expression on her face carried a smile to mine. I tried to warn her early on in her mission that it would fail, but the kidnapper was hardheaded.
Once we arrived at the White’s estate, Chrissy and I couldn’t make it up the steps before her father opened the door.
“Baby girl!”
“Hey, Daddy. How did you know we were here?”
“The guard at the gate called as soon as your friend sped up the hill.”
Chrissy giggled instead of correcting him on my position in her life. When she fell into his big belly, he grimaced at me over her shoulder. A look of repulsion penetrated his blue eyes, and his thin lips gathered into a ball. Tall, round, and white, Chrissy’s father looked like a gray-haired John Goodman.
“Hello, Mr. Sinner,” he said when they separated.
“Neptune is fine.”
“Not as fine as you think. Dinner is ready.”
Mr. White grabbed Chrissy’s hand and guided her in front of him so he was walking between us. As someone who found solace in standing alone, I chuckled at his attempt to exclude me from some shit I never wanted to be a part of. Chrissy and I met in my family’s underground casino, and I fucked her on the first night. I never asked her to be my girlfriend, but after a few months, we fell into a routine. Anytime I thought about calling it quits, the idea of starting over changed my mind. My father’s opinion also swayed my decision. He despised marriage and commitment, but he believed having kids was a requirement to be a solid man.
When we entered the dining room, my eyes landed on a long, wooden table covered in Thanksgiving dishes. Next, my focus fell on the matriarch of the family, watching us from her seat. She wore enough diamonds for her appearance to be tacky, and her blonde wig looked as dry as the food. The warmth Chrissy received from her father was drastically different from what her mother offered. Mrs. White didn’t bother to abandon her seat, and her gaze rested on her personal Peter Griffin instead of her daughter as we all sat down.
“About time you returned. I thought you forgot about me.”
Chrissy cleared her throat. “Hello, Mother.”
“Hello, Chrissy. I see you and your friend finally joined us. We told you to be here by five. Were you trying to starve us to death?”
Chrissy cut her eyes at me. “Of course not. Neptune got held up at work.”
