by A'zayler
“You know a lot of people tell me that, but I’m really not. I just speak the truth.” He shrugged. “Sometimes, the truth hurts.”
“You trying to dress it up now.”
“I really ain’t,” Killian told her just as he heard his name called.
He and Jaya’s head both turned toward the voice. When he saw Jaylen walking toward him with a large smile on her face, he wore one to match. He raised one of his arms, so she could walk beneath it and hug him. He held her in a side embrace for a second before she pulled away and continued smiling.
Jaylen was such a beautiful and vibrant woman. His cousin had lucked up, but then again, Onyx was a handsome nigga. He and Jaylen matched perfectly.
“What you doing up in here?”
Jaylen’s bracelets made noise as she held her wrist up to let him see her bags. “Shopping.”
“I don’t know who’s worse, you or your man.”
Jaylen’s smile grew larger at the mention of Onyx.
“Probably him.”
Killian looked at all the bags weighing down Jaylen’s arms and shook his head. “Nah, it’s probably you. In here spending all my nigga’s money.”
“You’re the one to talk, you stay blowing money.” Jaylen laughed.
“It’s our turn.” Jaya’s voice interrupted their conversation.
As if just noticing Jaya next to Killian, Jaylen looked at her from head to toe before looking back at Killian. He could tell she wanted to ask the obvious, but she didn’t.
“Jaylen, this is Jaya, she’s one of my trainers.”
Jaylen smiled and waved curtly. “Hello, how are you?”
“I’m well. I love your shirt.”
Jaylen looked down at the bright yellow top she was wearing before thanking Jaya. For the first time since he’d met her, Jaylen appeared to not like someone. Jaya being that someone. Though she hadn’t done anything rude, or out of order, Killian could tell she wasn’t too fond of Jaya, so he guided her back to him.
“You in here by yourself? Where’s your mean ass cousin?”
Jaylen looked from Jaya back to Killian. “She’s in here somewhere, but you better not let her see you on your little lunch date.” Jaylen whispered the last part.
The smile on Killian’s lip teased Jaylen, bringing about a stern look. “I’m just saying, you and her are extremely similar. She’s mean as a snake and will act out inappropriately without thinking twice about it.”
“She ain’t got no reason to do that. I ain’t her man.”
Jaylen’s mouth fell open as her eyes squinted. “You sure have been sexing her like you are.”
Jaya’s eyes went to his discreetly, but since he’d been looking at her, he’d saw her. She hurried to look away, but he knew she’d heard Jaylen.
“That was on her. She asked for that.”
“When?”
Killian chuckled while he considered going into detail about he and East’s agreement but right then wasn’t the time or place. “Don’t worry about it. Just tell her I said what’s up.”
“Will do.” Jaylen smiled at him while simultaneously tapping Jaya’s shoulder. “It was nice to meet you, dear.”
“Likewise, beautiful,” Jaya responded.
“See you later, Kill.”
Killian watched Jaylen sashay away in her little high heels with her large purse hanging over her shoulder and bags dragging her arms to the ground. Briefly, he considered walking around the mall in search of East, but he was more than positive that wouldn’t be a good idea since Jaya was with him.
When they finally got their food and sat down to eat, the conversation picked up. It took a little while for him to finally open up, but when he did, having lunch with Jaya turned out to be kind of cool. She was funny in a corny kind of way, but he’d been laughing nonstop, so he couldn’t necessarily complain.
“I told you I could be a good friend for you,” Jaya told him as they stood in front of the men’s shoes in Foot Locker.
They’d gone there after eating to kill a little more time before going back to work. Being that Killian loved to shop and spent the majority of his money on shoes, there was no way he could be in the mall without checking out some of his favorite stores.
“I see.” Killian picked up the blue Airmax and marveled at them. “I ain’t really looking for no friends right now, though.”
Jaya stood in front of him smiling. “What you looking for then?”
Killian looked from the shoe to her so he could respond, but his eyes caught a person behind her instead. East was standing in the kid’s section looking at the exact same pair of shoes he’d just had in his hand. He immediately grew anxious. It had been a long two days since he’d last spoken to her, and he wanted to address that right then.
After leaving Jaylen and Onyx’s spot that day after their midday sex, he’d texted her a couple of times, and she’d ignored him every time. He’d thought about popping up on her but didn’t want to seem pressed, so he’d kept his distance, but looking at her right then had his mind changing.
The tight black jeans looked magical on her small hips as the crop top exposed the bottom half of her stomach. A long pink sweater covered the top while gold jewelry made the simple yet well put together outfit pop. Her hair was different today. It was pushed up into a big ball on the top of her head while a pair of gold-rimmed glasses sat on her face.
Killian didn’t know if they were prescription or not, but they looked amazing on her face. They added a nice touch of sophistication to her already poised vibe.
“You know her?” Jaya asked him.
Damn. Killian looked away from East and back down at Jaya. He had totally forgotten she was right there. Watching East pace the floor casually in a pair of black heels that made her at least four inches taller had him gone. His mind had left and joined East in the kid’s section of the store.
“Yeah, that’s my people. I’ma go holla at her right quick,” Killian told Jaya without waiting for a response.
Killian’s heart raced a little the closer he got to her. After pulling at the bottom of his Nike warmup jacket to make sure he looked put together, he pulled his cap down lower on his head and swiped his tongue across the front of his teeth.
Versus the subtle approach he’d been about to take, he decided to be a little more forward. He’d planned to give her some distance, but fuck that. He walked straight up to her until he was directly in her face. He didn’t stop his approach until his chest was touching hers. Of course, she’d tried to take a step back until she realized it was him.
“Why you ignoring me?”
East’s eyes held a look of surprise before she attempted to step away from him. Killian’s hand left her stomach and found the side of her neck instead. He pulled her to him with one hand while grabbing the blue shoe from her with the other.
“Don’t run now. Tell me why you’re ignoring me.”
East’s beauty shined throughout the store as she licked her lips and stared up at him through her lenses. Her small nose and eyes, only inches away from him.
“I thought that was what you wanted.”
Killian frowned. “Lie again.”
“Nigga, I ain’t lying. That’s what it seemed like to me, so I gave you what you were asking for.”
“How it seemed like that?”
East tried to turn her head away from him, but he held her head still, even rubbing the center of her neck with his thumb.
“You’re always fucking me and leaving me like I ain’t nobody. I’m tired of that mess. Then you pick and choose when you want to play nice. That’s annoying.”
Killian fought the smile on his face. He’d known their sex life was her problem, but he didn’t know why because she’d started it.
“I don’t fuck you and leave you.”
East crossed her arms and rolled her neck. “Well, what do you do then? Tell me, because the last time I saw you, you left me like a paid for hoe and dipped before I could even finish taking my shower
.”
Killian’s laughter escaped. “You ain’t tell me to wait.”
East’s mouth fell open before she pulled herself out of his grasp. “You know what, I don’t have time for your shit, Killian. Move.”
East grabbed her shoe from him and walked toward the check-out counter. She’d just handed the girl the shoe and asked for her size when Killian approached and waited next to her. She stood there ignoring him while the lady left to retrieve her shoe. When she came back, Killian followed her to the bench she was on and sat down so he could watch her try the shoe on. It looked damn good on her foot.
“You want those?”
“Would I be trying them on if I didn’t?”
Killian chuckled. “Watch your damn mouth.”
“Get away from me.”
Killian’s long arm circled her neck and playfully pulled her to him. East swatted at his arm, fussing about him messing up her hair until he let her go.
“They fit okay, ma’am?” The salesgirl walked up, interrupting their playful antics.
“Yes, thank you.”
“Take these and get her the red ones like this too.” Killian leaned over and pulled his wallet from the pocket on the side of his jacket.
He extended the red bank card toward her and sent her on her way. East watched him the whole time as he returned his wallet.
“Don’t try to come up in here buying me stuff so I won’t be mad with you.”
“I don’t give a fuck about you being mad at me. I just thought the shoes looked too good on your foot for you not to have them.”
“A lie don’t care who tells it.”
“Same shit I thought when you just told me I made you ignore me.”
East’s poorly suppressed smile surfaced as she turned her head to hide her face. Killian watched her as he sat calmly next to her.
“I hate to interrupt, but I think we need to be getting back.” Jaya interrupted him for what seemed like the millionth time that day. “I have a client coming in about thirty minutes.”
East’s head shot up with the quickness. Her face frowned even quicker. Killian could barely contain himself as he watched her damn near cut Jaya’s head off with her eyes.
“Aight, let me pay for this stuff real quick then I’ll be ready.”
“You must want me to kill you, Killian.” East looked at him.
Killian’s laughter finally found its way out, and when it did, he couldn’t stop it. He laughed at East for a good few minutes before calming down enough to address her.
“Kill me for what?”
“We’re just friends,” Jaya interjected.
If looks could kill, Jaya would have died and been buried right there in Foot Locker. East’s eyes were small slits as she stared Jaya dead in her face.
“Girl, why are you talking to me?”
“You two look like you’re together, and I didn’t want you to get the wrong idea.”
East scoffed. “Oh, you ain’t want me to get the wrong idea? Well, aren’t you sweet?” When she looked at Killian, she rolled her eyes before scratching her head. “Get your friend, Killian.”
Killian’s eyes caught sight of the diamonds on her hand. “I knew your ass had my ring.”
East’s eyes went to his pinky ring that she was sporting on her thumb. Although it was stolen, it looked damn good on her.
“Fuck you. This mine.” A sexy little smirk crossed her face as she looked at him and realized she’d been caught. “You gave it to me.”
“When?”
“That night,” she looked away for a few seconds before going back to him. “Afterward, you told me I could have it.”
Killian couldn’t really recall the lie she was telling, but he was going to let her have it. “You lying, but I’ma let you keep it since it looks so good on you.”
“If that’s the case, you should let me keep you.” She stepped closer to him and grabbed the front of his jacket. “You look good on me too.”
Killian’s whole face flushed hot as he stared down at her with a scowl on his face. Her words had done something to him that he couldn’t explain.
“What the hell is wrong with you, girl, talking like that while we in this store.”
East smiled and looked over at Jaya before shrugging nonchalantly and releasing his jacket. “No time like the present.” She winked before walking away and grabbing her bag of shoes. Killian watched her with a lustful smile on his face.
Jaya stepped closer to him and tapped his arm lightly.
“Aight, let’s go.”
She nodded and followed him to the counter where the sales girl had just handed East his bank card. Killian was reaching for it, but East stuck it in her purse instead.
“I got it.”
“You got it?” He smirked.
“Yep.”
“Fuck nah, you ain’t about to spend up all my money.”
“Why not? You got it.” She smiled mischievously. “You be ready to pay for broken windows and stuff every time I let you get some, so I know you can afford a couple of outfits.”
There it was again, the warm feeling Killian had felt since his eyes landed on her. How in the world was he allowing this girl to make him blush? He never used to do that shit.
“That’s different. I’ll give you anything while I’m in your pussy.”
“What’s stopping you from getting in it now?”
“You cutting up today.” He smirked and ran his hand over the bottom half of his face.
East laughed before darting her eyes toward Jaya. “I know, but you can go ahead. I know it’s probably time for you and your friend to go.”
Jaya stood awkwardly by doing her best to not make eye contact. “I’ll just go in the hallway to give you all some privacy.” She walked away without looking back at either of them.
Killian didn’t bother to watch her walk away, but East was a totally different story. She watched her until she couldn’t see her anymore.
“You got me fucked up if you think you’re about to be around here fucking me but perusing the mall with another bitch. I’m crazy for real, Killian. None of that play-play stuff. I’m real life beat your Audi with a baseball bat kind of crazy.” East’s eyes squinted, and her pointer finger came up and pointed directly into his face. “She rode here with you? She’s in your car?” Realization was all over East’s face as she snaked her neck at him and waited for an answer. “If she is, get ready to get fucked up.” She began grabbing at her earrings as if she was going to take them off. “I’m tired of your ass.”
Killian grabbed her hands and stopped her movement. “What you got against my car? You stay trying to mess it up.”
“It’s either you or the car, now answer me. Did she ride here with you?”
Killian watched her eyes follow his tongue when he licked his lips before grabbing her hand. “You’ll beat me with a bat?” Killian ignored her question once again.
“If I have to.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re going to be one way with me or no way at all. You get the goods, then respect me. Don’t have sex with me, put me in my feelings, and then leave without bothering to even call and say goodnight. I mean, for real, Killian. Damn.” She sucked her teeth.
“You the one said you just wanted me to be something to do. I’m following your lead.”
The recollection of her words sank in as she stood in the middle of Foot Locker staring at him. “That was when I first met you. We’ve been more than that for a minute now, don’t downplay us.”
“True, but you still said it.”
East fidgeted with her earring. “That’s not what I meant.”
“Well, tell me what you mean then.”
East scratched her hair and pushed her perfectly fine glasses back up on her nose. “I didn’t know you like that then and didn’t want to run you off, so I tried to beat you to dumping me.”
Killian’s mind was blown. “You for real?”
She nodded. Killian looked f
rom her to the hallway where Jaya was seated.
“What you about to do?”
She shrugged. “Nothing, I’m just hanging out with Jaylen.”
“Aight, cool. Stay here and get you some more shit, on me, until I come back to get you.”
“What you coming back to get me for?”
“I need to right my wrongs.” He pecked her forehead quickly. “Just free up your time for me.”
She nodded, and he kissed her forehead again.
“You want to do that?”
“Yeah.”
“Bet. I’ma take her back to the gym then I’ma come back and scoop you up.”
“I knew she was in that car.” East’s annoyance was evident as she looked away for a minute, tapping her foot. “Don’t come pick me up in that shit. I’ll meet you wherever we’re going.”
“Like hell.”
“I’m not getting in that shit,” she fired back at him.
“Why? That girl don’t mean nothing to me. She just works at my gym.”
“Whatever. You probably fucked her before.” East sucked her teeth at the same time her face dropped some. Killian did the worst thing he could have done in that moment, which was remain quiet. East went off the deep end then. “You did, didn’t you?” Her head shook from side to side as she grabbed her exposed stomach. “Aww, damn, I think my stomach hurt.”
Killian stepped closer to her and grabbed her hands.
“Stop doing that. I haven’t fucked that girl.”
“Yes, you did. I bet you did it like you be doing me too, didn’t you?” East pleaded him with her eyes not to say yes.
Killian stood there watching her overreact and almost proposed. Although her sentiments were a bit theatrical, they made him feel good. She cared, it was obvious, and that was all he’d wanted. Somebody who actually cared about him, and from the looks of East and the way she held her stomach at the thought of him being with another woman sexually, she most definitely did.
“Fuck no,” Killian frowned. “I ain’t did nobody how I do you.”
“What’s the difference?”
Killian’s lips touched the side of her ear when he pulled her to him. “I protect myself from everybody else.”