by D. M. Burns
Reese and I look at each other and giggle. What do we do you ask? Simple, we raise our shots to the Ben Affleck accountant look-a-like then bottoms up. He smiles and tosses his shot back at the same time.
“Whoooo. That’s some good stuff.” She says.
“Oh, you know it,” I say.
“Ash…” Reese turns to look at me. “Do you want to talk about it yet?”
I know what she’s speaking on. I’m not dumb, neither is she. Reese knows I was in a bad place before I left. She knows me better than anyone. I like the fact that she doesn’t pretend or pussy-foot around the issue like I’m some type of delectate and breakable glass fixture.
“Nope babe. Not yet.” I say. She nods her head.
“Just know I’m here for you. I want to make sure you’re okay. When you’re ready, come talk to me, Ash.”
“I’m getting there Reese’s Pieces.” I plaster my best fake smile on and nod my head behind her. “I’ll probably be doing a lot better after talking to Ben. I lost all my receipts too, just saying.” I giggle.
Reese turns her head to see what I’m referring to. Mr. Affleck with deep aqua blue eyes himself stops right in front of us. He has a drop-dead gorgeous smile playing on his face and his body underneath the suit is yum. Panty pulling pretty, period.
“Good evening ladies.” His low voice rumbles. That’s a sexy sound.
“Hello yourself,” Reese says. “My name is Reese, and this is my best friend Asia.” She waves her hand out to me.
“Well, it’s nice to meet you both. My names Chance.”
“Thank you for the liquid love Chance,” I say. He smirks at me.
“Liquid love. I like that.” He says.
“Me too. It’s very much appreciated.” I wink at him. Yeah, I’m a little tipsy.
“Chance are you from Atlanta?” Reese asks.
“Yes, ma’am. Born and raised in the southern charm state.” Quick with the slip of the tongue too. He’s good. “Unfortunately, I’m about to head out for the evening. I prefer not to live with regrets though.”
“Oh, wow. What?” Reese asks. She looks completely confused. But after living in LA, I’ve heard it all. I know where this is going.
“If I leave here without getting your number, that’s a regret I’ll have to live with Asia. If you’re not seeing someone, I’d love to take you out sometime.” Chance says.
“Oh my God. She’d love too.” Reese squeals. Chance looks at her and chuckles.
“I like you.” Chance says to Reese.
Reese’s entire body shivers and at first, I think it’s the vodka. Then her head whips to the side and she visibly melts in her seat.
“The fuck you say?” The vibe is deadly.
The growl is heard right before all lights are shielded out by the human overcast eclipse that is known as Rage. We all turn our heads to see one pissed off, brick wall of muscle accompanied by a healthy side dose of reinforced Renegade. God, why do you have to present this package of muscled up asshole in a three-piece suit looking like a sex-able fashion icon? WHY? Jesus.
Renegade’s really a beautiful man. His hair is slicked back tonight with business envy etched out around the snug fit of his tailored wardrobe. The two top buttons on his crisp white shirt are open making it appear like he just walked out of a boardroom massacre slaying the corporate world without one winkle present. His massive hand is wrapped around what I suspect to be a glass of bourbon while the Rolex hangs around his wrist sparkling when the light splashes perfectly.
Rage showed face for Reese but I’m not sure why Ren’s here. He looks like he wants to tackle Chance head-on. Why he’d care what or who I do is beyond me. Turning my back to the tempting suit-sex, I slam my empty glass down on the bar. That gains some attention. I motion with my finger in a come-hither gesture at the bartender. I’m going to need a fucking constant flow of IV alcohol if this thorn in my vagina is joining our party.
“Big guy, you’ve got it all wrong. Chance was asking Asia out, not me.” Reese explains. Rage stalks over beside his wife’s seat. He tilts her head back with his index finger and plants a kiss on her lips all without taking his eyes off Chance. Pissing all over her stool like the dog he is.
“Chance this is my husband Rage and his cousin Renegade.” Chance holds his hand out to Rage. Rage growls but returns the manly gesture with a monstrous grip. Chance shakes his handout and turns to Renegade offering up the same peaceful adult-like gesture.
“Keep that shit moving man.” Renegade shakes his head. Total dick move on his part. My mouth falls open, but I snap it back shut quickly. Jesus. I spin slowly back to Renegade who’s burning a hole in my forehead with his gunmetal glare.
“Overlook the one with the long-hair, Chance. He lost his manners some time ago. We’re still trying to people train him.” I deadpan.
“Asia…” Renegade growls. It’s a warning. One I’m going to ignore.
“Ryice…” I smirk and quirk my brow. I really want to pull a Rage right now and flip him off in front of God and everybody.
The alcohol proves to be the steroid I needed to stronghold my no shits given attitude with this asshole. Everyone’s head is ping-ponging back and forth between us.
Chance turns back to me and slips me his card. “My numbers on there. Give me a call beautiful.” He really is pretty and I nod my head yes.
“We can share some liquid love one night soon, yeah?” I purr. Yeah, I know… I know… I’m goading the wicked warrior behind Chance with a branding iron, spiteful technique. Why not? He already hates me, right? Chance chuckles and nods his head too.
“Any type of love you’re willing to share is fine by me.” Chance winks at me. No, he didn’t. My head falls back, and I laugh out loud. It feels good to laugh again.
Of course, that gets shit on too by the asshole. Renegade reaches between us and plucks the golden dicking-ticket out of my hand thrusting it back into Chance’s chest with a powerful shove that proves to be effective. Renegade’s body is now shielding me from the view of Chance altogether. What the ever-loving hell?
“I don’t think so fuckboy. Time for you to go. She’s drunk and not accepting applications for ass. Fuck outta here with that shit.” Ren’s voice is low and controlled but has all the signs of embarking onto toxic territory soon.
“Excuse me, asshole,” I whisper shout at Renegade’s back while poking at his shoulder blade. He ignores me altogether. Rage chuckles and my eyes slice over to him. He merely shrugs his shoulders in response. He’s loving every minute of this shit.
“Man, I didn’t know you two were a thing.” Chance holds his hands up in surrender.
“That’s because we’re not,” I say behind gritted teeth.
I lay that truth out in the atmosphere, loud and clear. Chance tries to look around Renegade’s towering frame but no dice. Ren’s quick reflexes snap Chance again right in the middle of his chest almost knocking the poor guy over a nearby table. Holy shit. This has got to be a bad fucking joke. I whip my head around Renegade’s body and snap my fingers at Rage.
“Hey… Rage do something.” I plead. Rage turns to Chance and flips him off with a devious smirk playing out on his face. “Oh, real mature.” I quip. Rage’s head falls back, and he laughs out loud. Typical.
“Oh my God, Rage. Be nice.” Reese squeaks.
“Baby girl, I am. I’ve not laid a finger on the fucker, yet.” He holds his hands up and shrugs. “This shit was bound to happen, baby. Told you the other night.”
“Oh fuck…” When I hear that familiar voice my head swivels around to find Rebel coming our way with fuel driven footsteps. He knows this is tons of fun about to turn destructive. Results of which will fuck his bar up. I didn’t even know he was here. As usual, Reb looks stone and completely confused with the shitshow playing out in his bar. Well, that makes two of us.
“You guys are a bunch of assholes. I’ll call you tomorrow Reese. I’m out.” I say.
“Rage… You guys ruined our girl’s night.” Reese wh
ines as she slaps at his chest. Which would be serious if the hit stood a chance of swaying him. “She doesn’t need to drive,” Reese says.
“I’ll grab an Uber babe. No worries.” I whisper out at her while winking.
As Reese and Rage go back and forth, I decide to dash. I grab my clutch, bounce out of my stool and go to walk around the scene. Just when I think I’m in the clear slinking around Ren’s back his bear claw snakes out latching onto my wrist.
“Handle this fucker Rage.” Ren’s head snaps back to Rage. Rage nods and steps up to bat. Tag teaming assholes. What is this the WWF?
“I’m leaving. Willingly. There’s no need for this man.” Chance says. Rage’s smile grows wider. It’s one of pure demonic joy as he stalks past us. Jesus Christ.
“Ren let me go or I shit you not, I’ll waste you in this place.” I seethe.
“I wish like to fuck you’d try right about now.” He smiles wickedly. “I’m not the same guy you used to know. Girl meet man.”
With that, he moves rapidly not allowing my drunken state time to comprehend what’s happening. He leans down and nudges his big ass shoulder into my stomach sweeping me off the ground fireman style while holding my dress down so my black thong is not on display for the entire bar. I feel like a damn tackling dummy during one of his blasts to the past practices. Then his hand lands over my ass with a deafening smack and heated tingles coat my left ass cheek. Motherfucker! Noooooo….
“You bastard.” I wail out.
His shoulder vibrates under my stomach promoting my thought process that he’s in fact silently chuckling at me. I have a good mind to kneecap him in the face and crawl him like a fucking rope after he hits the floor. But I love this dress. Later though, shits going to get real.
As we move past Rebel, the bong hitting brother makes a grave mistake of laughing at my expense. I lean up with all my brown hair obscuring my upside-down view, whiplash the long strands out of the way, and tag Reb right in the throat with a right jab which leaves him sputtering. Laugh about that you red-eyed asshole. I chuckle through my drunken but effective knuckled-up hit.
This incident coupled with the alcohol has left me feeling a certain type of way, fucking pissed. I feel somewhat vindicated for about a second until another swift smack lands perfectly over that same ass cheek again. Holy shit. Mother of all that’s real in the world. This man is about to lose his nut sack.
“Damn you, Renegade,” I growl.
“It’s alright Rebel. I spanked the naughty ninja for her bad conduct brother.” Ren says. “Asia you should be ashamed of yourself for hitting poor old Reb like that. I’m appalled at your behavior.” He laughs out loud.
“PUT. ME. DOWN. RIGHT. FUCKING. NOW. RENEGADE.” I screech. Much like my ass, my face is on fire and I’m sure red flames are shooting out of my ears.
“Oh, I’m going to put you down.” Ren kicks the side exit door open with his top-dollar designer shoes. Hell, I’d compliment them if I weren’t so damn pissed. He continues walking for a beat then stops suddenly, zero movement. “Asia when I set you on the ground, you’ll listen to me or swear to Christ that little cherry shade of dye on that ass of yours won’t compare to the shit I’ll do to you. You’re going to calm the fuck down and listen to me or become very fucking acquainted with my palm print several times over. You got me?” Oh, I can play nice until I don’t have to.
“Sure. Just set me down, Renegade. I’m fine. We’re fine. It’s all going to be fine.” I purr into his ass. I should bite the fuck out of him.
“We both know you’re thinking evil thoughts babe.” He chuckles. “Outta fear for my balls, I’m going to let you in on a little something. That pretty barboy Chance was in Club Chaos last week with his wife camped out in the front row. Now, calm the fuck down.” He growls.
My entire body goes slack, and I feel like the damn fool that I am. Wow, just wow. It’s not the fact that Chance turned out to be a wanna-be cheating douche bag, no. It’s the struggle of dissecting the thoughts that are racing through my mind right now. Why did Ren go out of his way in order to keep me from making a huge mistake tonight? Why does he even care? He hates me, right? RIGHT? Shit.
The man’s loyalty is heartbreaking. I wonder sometimes if he even realizes that his actions are noble. He shows more love through behavior than his mouth can ever speak on. He must feel the defeat in my slacken frame. Ren slides his hands protectively over my body then leans forward placing me on the ground. He stands tall and stares down at me with those gray coated clouds.
“Why?” I whisper. “Why would you care? You hate me remember? Why do that?” I sling my arm out at the building we just exited. There’s confusion in my expression. My eyes bounce back and forth between his searching.
The hurt from repeating those words springs to my eyes in the form of liquid. God, please no. Don’t let me cry in front of him. One of those lone traitors trails out of the crease of my eye, picking up speed down my cheek. Ren steps forward and brushes it with the pad of his thumb.
“Asia…” His jaw jumps. “I don’t hate…Shit.” He clears his throat. “Fuck… Hating you is not in my genetic makeup. I don’t fucking understand you. None of your choices make sense to me. You offer up nothing.” He rumbles. His hand lightly sweeps across my cheek continuing through the strands of my hair then cups the nape of my neck. “It runs deep.” Oh, God. No please. God, make him stop.
Closing my eyes, I grit my teeth and gulp down the rest of my tears. I know what that means. I tore him to shreds. I hurt him deeply. I get it Ryice. I’m so sorry you believe that.
“Get in and let me take you home.” He drops his hand and motions toward his truck.
“Okay. Uhm, thank you, Renegade.” I whisper.
“That’s what I do. Renegade to the god damn rescue.”
I stare at the ground. Too ashamed to look him in the eyes again. Being half-drunk, I simply nod my head. He beeps the locks on his truck, opens the door and helps me in. The ride to my apartment is a sobering quiet drive. No words. Nothing. Not even a goodbye when I crawl my embarrassed ass out of the vehicle and trek my way to my front door. It feels like the walk of shame and in many ways it is.
chapter 11 – Asia
Five years ago
Reese is headed off to college in Cali next week and I still haven’t figured out what I’m going to do once I graduate. I’ve decided to pursue my education in the fabulous industry of fashion and makeup. It’s something that I have a knack for, and I love doing it too. If you find something, you’re passionate about and love, then spending your time doing that is not a living, it’s a blessing. Atlanta is a fashion capital on the rise anyway.
Leaving Renegade is not even a thought worth entertaining now. The day that Principle Rowlane handed out that assignment to Reese for us to shadow the new boys, that was the day I realized that my ninja kindred spirit belonged with Ren. What can I say? I like playing with his nun-chucks.
His ability to laugh with his whole heart and love in that same light lassoed me in for safekeeping. When he transferred here with his brothers and cousin, it was like God sent me a present, him. One, I thoroughly enjoy unwrapping, often.
Admittedly, his looks were the first trigger that hit the center bullseye of my horny existence. His bright white smile is flawless and those silver eyes that melt my insides speak to me without words. His Thor gorgeous hair is a mixture of dark brown with hints of sporadic ink black that feather around his face. Those silky waves are normally pulled back into a ponytail at the base of his neck unless it’s just us, then it’s a curtain of sexual heat.
Renegade’s a six-foot-one massive bulk of solid muscle that plays hard every day on the football field. His release doesn’t stop there, no. His talents for energetic dirty sex explode every time we’re alone. It’s something I welcome with arms wide open, yummy. I make sure his skillset is tested and his body is exhausted. The guy has no limitations and our energy feed off one another. We’re stronger together, we fit.
The only drawback or thorn in my side is that asshole bird-flipping cousin of his, Rage. That guy lives to torture my best friend. But that’s not really Renegade’s fault. He’s not responsible for Rage’s… well, rage. Renegade told me that Rage and Reese finally hooked up last night and I did a damn happy dance dedicated to the Sex Gods. Thanks, orgasmic mythical God. I hope the asshole is as good at giving orgasms as he is at waiving that damn bird finger around.
Hopefully, that means that the brooding bastard will stop tormenting himself, Reese and everyone else. It’s obvious that he loves Reese. Now he can flip the bird up to the human race while banging Reese’s brains out. Happiness through orgasms is a healthy existence, period.
Maybe this is a means to an end for his destructive bullshit. If not, the oversized angry asshole is going to fuck with my bestie and make me lose my religion. Studying karate and Jujitsu since I was able to walk will finally payoff, on his face or a kick to the dick. We’ll just have to wait and see how he chooses to play the shit out.
Zig-zagging my way through the bodies at another one of Jake’s parties, I look over the crowd trying to catch sight of Renegade. He’s supposed to be here already. The overcrowded festivities are getting a little out of control. I shoot out another text to Renegade to see where he’s at when I hear someone shout my name out.
Exploring over the faces, I see Big Pimpin, Jake Sellers, waving me over. His football captain claim to fame has been placed in the backseat ever since Renegade showed up at Creekside. Surprisingly, the guy has been pretty cool about it or at least Jake hasn’t shown any aggression to his rise and fall status. He could just be a really good actor in disguise. Who knows with this guy?
As I close in, I see that his face is busted up. It resembles what I’d imagine a head-on collision with a mac-truck to look like, fucking brutal. On a serious note, it looks like a ripe apple that was slam-dunked repeatedly against a cement wall. When I join him and all the rest of the football players gathered around the kitchen island, I grimace.
“Oh my God Jake. What the hell happened to your face?” My shock factor is topped out and I make a pouting face.