Page 19 of Full Court Press

734-554-1224:

Come on na, shorty. I always get what I need and what I want.

Me:

Is that so?

734-554-1224:

Indeed. I’ll be waiting for you.

I put my phone back in my pocket and continued to sit and people watch. I had no idea what Khalil was up to, but I didn’t think I liked it too much.

Okay. Maybe just a little.

I made my way across the compound toward the library to meet with my arch nemesis and start on our assignment.

I was late on purpose because I didn’t trust him being nice to me all of a sudden. The way he kept looking at me and smiling that gorgeous smile did things to me, and I hated that for me.

Being around him wasn’t going to be good for me. I was already attracted to him—well, that was before he opened his mouth for the first time, and I realized I didn’t like him. Now, with what happened yesterday and him texting me today, I wasn’t sure if being in his presence was a good idea.

But the assignment had to get done. I was tempted to just do the paper on my own, then give it to them. That way, I didn’t have to collaborate with the crew of assholes at all.

Instead of meeting him in the ten minutes he asked me to meet him, I added on an additional ten minutes before I saw him in the parking lot, leaning on a black Benz truck with black rims and tinted windows. He was talking on his cell and looking every bit of an educated thug.

When I finally approached, he wrapped up his phone call.

“A’ight, beautiful. I’ll see you in a minute. I love you, too. Bye.” He hung up, and his eyes came to me.

I wonder if his girlfriend knows he just called me beautiful? So much for thinking I was special.

“I guess you can’t tell time, huh?” he queried.

“Don’t start your shit,” I said, cutting my eyes at him.

Dare I say I was a little jealous of him calling someone else beautiful?

Get your shit together, Piper. You do not even like him!

“I’m saying, though, shorty. I’m on a time schedule.”

“Well, I had to walk from the back of the compound. Surely, you know it takes a minute by foot,” I lied. I could have made it in five minutes, but I wanted to be stubborn because I wasn’t on his damn time.

“I could have come to pick you up.”

“I’m good. Let’s just go in here and get this started.”

“We’re not going in. We gotta do this at a new location.”

“What do you mean?”

“Hop in,” he said, opening his passenger-side door.

“Um, no thanks. I don’t get into cars with strange men.”

He chuckled. “You know me well enough to where I’m not a stranger anymore. Come on. I really have to go, and we have to start on this paper.”

“Where are we going?” I asked, moving closer to the luxury ride.