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“I’m just trying to keep you from making things worse.”

I laughed, slingin’ soap everywhere. “For who?”

He paused, then answered, soundin’ like a bitch. “For you, Juvie.”

“Aye, Luke. Ima put it to you like this. You fired.”

“Juvie—”

“Nah, nigga. Send whatever the fuck you got over to my lawyer. I don’t want you touchin’ nothin’ else wit’ my name on it.”

“You’re making a mistake. You know this is bigger than me.”

“Fuck off my phone, Luke. Talk to my lawyer.”

Before he could respond, I hung up on his bitch ass. Luke and Ni had me fucked up. I stood under the water for a minute, lettin’ it beat against my head. Years of mufuckas puttin’ people around me and callin’ it help. They wanted control of everything in my life. But if a nigga who worked for me kept tryna dictate my moves, he had to get the fuck from around me. By the time I stepped out of the shower, I already knew who I was callin’ next.

Emery had a home game tonight. I sat in the gym with one of the other players’ wives, watching them shoot around. The arena was half-empty for a regular season game, sneakers squeaking, and the ball’s bounce echoing off all the empty seats above us. Jacinta was loud, and nosey as hell. I could never tell if she was happy or sad some days. Botox had her face so damn stiff that if she was mad, she looked surprised. Jacinta put me on to my wig maker, so I kept her close. The best wig I ever had came from the manufacturer she put me in contact with.

“Are you gonna make it to the game tonight, Savannah?” she asked.

“Yeah, I’ll be here. Emery made me promise. He said I’ve been working too hard,” I replied, watching Emery run up and down the court.

She tossed her auburn wig over her shoulder. “I don’t know why you work. I wouldn’t dream of it. My job is being Marcus’ wife and mother of his children. It’s in the prenup. I made sure of it.”

I turned and looked at her like she had lost her fuckin’ mind. “Jacinta, I’m not a kept bitch. I do the keeping. Anything Emery does for me is just that. You better get your own hustle. If you let a nigga feed you, you give him the power to starve you. Free game, mama.”

“I’ll worry about that once the kids are in high school. Until then, I’ll enjoy my life. You gotta loosen up. You’re always in hustle mode. It’s okay to relax sometimes.”

“Girl, I’ll relax when I see one hundred million in my bank account. Until then, I’m hustling.”

I locked back in on my work, stealing glances at Emery. He kept blowing me kisses every time he shot the ball. Sweat poured down his face as he ran back and forth, distracting me from what I was supposed to be doing. Their coach blew the whistle for a break, and he walked up the bleachers, standing over me and smiling. He wiped his face with the towel lying beside me, then hovered over me.

“Gimme a kiss, Vannah. I ain’t in your face for nothin’.”

“You all sweaty. It’s gonna drip on me,” I said, swatting at him.

“So?” he replied, leaning closer to my ear. “You don’t care when we both sweaty.”

I grabbed his face, giggling and blocking out everyone around us. I tried to peck his lips a few times, but Emery wasn’t with none of that quick shit. He leaned into me and kissed me deeper, ignoring Jacinta sitting right next to me. When I tried to pull back, he kept kissing me and gently wrapped his hand around my throat. He finally came up for air with a sneaky look in his eyes.

“After this game, I got two days off. Come stay at my place. I got all the lil’ shit you like. Your paint materials came the other day, too.”

“Okay. Go back to your team. You got them staring at us, Em,” I said, looking around him at his team laughing and pointing at us.

“I ain’t worried ’bout them niggas.” He pecked my lips again, then stood. “Pack a bag. When the game is over tonight, I want you to leave with me.”

“I will. Now, go. You’re holding them up.”

He grabbed my hand, kissed the back of it, then ran down the bleachers. His teammates were clowning, but he ain’t pay them no mind. Their coach blew the whistle, and he jumped back onto the court.

“What did you do to that man, Savannah?” Jacinta asked.

“Same thing he does to me,” I said, smiling as I watched him run back and forth.

My phone buzzed in my lap, and I picked it up. I had a notification from Instagram. I opened it without thinking, and the message was from Juvie.

JuvieRoss27: Wassup, Juicy? You got room for another client?