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“Aight. But one thing I’m not lettin’ you do is hide from me. We grown as fuck. If you decide what happened can never happen again, tell me that when you actually mean the shit. Don’t wake up panickin’ and make the decision for the both of us.”

“Shameek, I need time.”

“I’m givin’ you that.”

I sighed and leaned back in my chair.

“And stop calling my security, telling them what I can and cannot do. Last night you threatened him with a gun for doing his damn job. You cannot be the reason I have security and the reason I need it.”

“I wasn’t gonna shoot that nigga, man.”

“You’re missing the point.”

“I hear you. I was trippin’.”

“Thank you.”

“Aight, go handle yo’ day. I got business anyway.”

“Okay.”

“And Ky.” He stopped me from hanging up.

I closed my eyes. “What now?”

“I meant what I told you last night. I ain’t sorry.”

Before I could answer, he hung up.

“This nigga.”

By noon, I was sitting behind my desk at Royal Flush pretending I had something important to do. There was absolutely no reason for me to be here. My managers had already handled the morning numbers, and everything else was done as well. The weekend schedule had been finalized two days ago. Because I hired competent people. I didn’t have to sit behind this desk seven days a week. I had only come because I needed somewhere to put my mind, and there wasn’t enough work today to occupy it. I picked up my phone and saw a message from Lloyd.

Lloyd: I enjoyed your company last night. I hope you got home without any trouble.

Lloyd represented everything that should’ve made sense. He was educated, established, mature, and respectful. There were no secrets when it came to how he made his money. I could introduce him to anybody without explaining anything. He never made me feel uncomfortable. Shameek had damn near dragged me into a private room because Lloyd was dancing with me. One man was peaceful and the other one had chaos attached to him. And my dumb ass was thinking about the chaotic one.

Me: I did. Thank you and I enjoyed myself too.

I didn’t owe Lloyd a relationship because he was a good man. I also didn’t owe Shameek any more of my time. I needed to sit with myself to get myself together without either of them bothering me.

I pulled up to the restaurant that Jaharee had sent me. When I walked inside, she was sitting in a booth with a mimosa in front of her and her phone in her hand.

“You bitch. You started without me?”

“’Cause you late,” she said.

“Heifer, you don’t know anything about a grace period? You invited me out. You’re just dramatic as hell.” I laughed.

“In my mind, if my ass hit the seat and you’re not here, then you’re late.”

The waitress came over and took my drink order and I ordered some appetizers. When Jaharee ordered more, I knew we were going to be here for a while.

“You can go ahead and get it out,” I told her. “You’ve been looking at me funny since I sat my ass down and I’m not waiting the whole lunch on your foolishness.”

“It’s not foolishness. I was actually thinking about the event. I’m proud that you let yourself have a good time. I saw you laughing and talking to people without that business face you be having. It was nice just seeing my girl Ky show up last night.”

I frowned. “Why does that sound a little too sweet coming from you? What’s the catch?”