Page 41 of SIN Looks Good On Us!

"Hell, why not. Kyrie ain't taking me nowhere no damn way."

"That's my girl. Now go shower and put on the sluttiest outfit you can find, and don't wear any panties. And when you get back, call me and tell me how big that dick is ‘cause I know he hanging low."

I busted out laughing. "Bye, fool. I'll call you later."

We hung up, and before I could talk myself out of it, I texted him back.

I sent the text and sat there for a second, staring at my phone like it might undo itself if I looked hard enough. A few seconds later, he sent back an address and a time. Nothing else. No exclamation points, no explanation, just confidence that I'd show up.

I should've put the phone down and forgotten the whole thing. Instead, I got up and walked straight to my closet. I stood there for a good ten minutes, staring at everything I owned as if none of it was good enough, which made no sense considering I hadn't even decided if I was actually going. My hands were shaking a little when I finally pulled the black dress off the hanger, the one I usually saved for special occasions. The sexy one Kyrie had never once seen me wear. It exposed all of my curves and a little cleavage. That thought alone made my stomach twist, but excited at the same time.

"This is stupid," I muttered to myself, laying the dress across the bed. "This is so stupid."

But I got dressed anyway.

My hands fumbled with the zipper longer than they should have, and I caught myself checking the front door twice, half expecting Kyrie to walk back in and catch me standing there in a dress I had no business wearing to have dinner with another man. The house stayed quiet, though. Just me, my reflection, and the sound of my own heartbeat picking up speed. I sat on the edge of the bed and slid my heels on, hands still trembling slightly.

"You don't have to go," I told myself in the mirror. "You can text him right now and cancel."

But I didn't reach for my phone to cancel anything. Instead, I reached for my perfume, dabbing a little on my wrists and the side of my neck. The same way I did whenever I actually wanted to be noticed. That part scared me more than anything else. Here I was enjoying attention from another man because mine wasn’t giving me what I wanted at all.

I stood in front of the mirror a while longer, smoothing my dress down and staring at the woman looking back at me. She looked confident. She looked like she had it all figured out. Truth is, I felt everything, except that.

Guilt sat heavy in my chest the entire time I got ready, guilt over a relationship that had been slipping through my fingers for months. Guilt over a man who probably didn't deserve the loyalty I kept giving him for free. But underneath all that guilt was something else, something I didn't want to admit even to myself. I felt excited and nervous at the same damn time. But alive in a way I hadn't felt in longer than I wanted to think about. I grabbed my purse and my keys, took one last look in the mirror, and whispered the only thing that felt true in that moment.

"I must be out of my mind."

Then I walked out the door before I could change it.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

I got to the restaurant twenty minutes early, which wasn't something I usually did for anybody. I had the private room in the back already set up the way I wanted it, low lighting, candles down the center of the table, a bottle of wine chilling in a bucket beside. Nothing over the top. I wanted her comfortable, not overwhelmed.

Hulk stood by the entrance while I sat at the table checking my watch more than a man like me had any business doing. My phone buzzed against the table.

I stared at Jess’ text for a second, then let a slow smile spread across my face before locking the screen and setting the phone face-down beside my plate.

"That her?" Hulk asked, catching the smile from across the room.

"Nah." I straightened the silverware in front of me, still smiling to myself. "Something else."

He didn't push it, just nodded once and went back to watching the entrance. Whatever Kaior's man thought he had going on, he was about to find out real fast that some things don't stay hidden forever, especially not when I decided to go looking.

A few minutes later, the hostess walked her over to the table. The second I looked up, everything else faded to the background. Kaior stepped in wearing a black dress that fit her like it was made for her. Every curve was doing what it was supposed to do, and her hair fell over one shoulder like she just threw it there. But I knew better. Women ain't never just throw nothing together. She planned every bit of that shit, and it was working.

I stood up out of respect, something I didn't do for just anybody either.

"You made it."

"I said I would." She looked around the room, taking in the candles, the wine, and the privacy.

"This is a lot."

"I don't do small."

"You know... normal people ask for somebody's number."

"I was gonna ask."