by A'zayler
He wrapped his arms around the top of her shoulders as she danced. He leaned down to her ear.
“You know how many of my lil freaks is up in here right now? And I’m all over your ass.”
Summer blushed. “I don’t care about them.”
“You shouldn’t because I don’t give a fuck about them. Only you, so stop acting so damn mean all the time.”
“Stop playing with my feelings and I will.”
“Oh shit. Big bad Summer has feelings?”
She nodded. “For you.”
Jacorey tightened his grip around her shoulders and kissed her ear. “I got some for only you too, best friend.” They enjoyed the rest of their night before going back to his house together.
Chapter 9: Blurred Lines
“So, you asked the nigga, no no no, let me correct myself, you begged that gotdamn boy to tell you what was going on, and when he does, you flip out?” Alex placed his hand on his hip and rolled his eyes toward the sky. “Summer, come hold me back before I punch this lil timid bitch.”
Alex, Rain, Summer, and Fallon were all seated in the living room of Alex’s apartment having drinks and pizza. Rain and Fallon had come over after a long day of shopping. Jazz had gone with Dakota to the fire department to give Fallon a break. After the long night they’d had before, Rain was in much need of a break herself. She’d thought spending time with her friends would help, but she should have known better. Alex’ mouth was too much sometimes.
“Timid? Don’t do me, bitch.”
“Don’t do you? Girl, bye. You’re doing your own damn self. You’ve been asking this man forever to tell you what went on, and when he finally does, you acting like you can’t take it. You should have left well enough alone with your nosey ass. You can’t fix everything, Rain.”
“Had I known he was going to tell me he killed those damn people, I would have never asked.”
Summer looked at Rain. “I’mma have to side with Alex on this one. He avoided telling you for a reason. You should have known it wasn’t no simple shit when it took him this long to tell you. Like Alex said, you can’t fix everything, Rain. Some things are better left unsaid.”
Alex walked into the kitchen and came back with the Pineapple Cîroc bottle. “She’s too naive.”
“No, I’m not.”
“Yes, you are.” Alex and Summer said, at the same time.
“Y’all, don’t do her like that,” Fallon said, from the floor.
Alex held his hand up in the air to stop Fallon from talking. “You just be quiet because you still in the hot seat your own damn self. You the same one left the boy when he needed you the most, so you can’t say shit either.”
“Poor Love in the club.” Summer’s voice held much sympathy.
“Ain’t it? That poor boy. All these crazy ass women he’s surrounded by. No wonder he loves Summer’s ass so much. Y’all two bitches,” Alex pointed to Rain and Fallon, “are trying to drive the damn boy crazy.”
“Now why you have to say that? I’m still sensitive right now.” Fallon looked down at her lap.
“Nah bitch, raise your head up. Ain’t no feeling sorry for yourself. You did it, so man up. It’s the past, he forgave you, so move on.” Alex walked toward her. “Now hold your shot glass up.”
Fallon smiled at him as he refilled her cup with the clear liquor.
“Don’t mind my bestie, Fallon, he’s harsh, but he means well.”
“I’m not harsh. These hoes are grown.” Alex poured himself and Summer another shot before turning around to Rain, who was holding her cup in the air, too. “What you got your cup up for?”
“Your mouth got me wanting to drink. Pour me up.”
“Bitch you tried it. Wait a minute, I’ll get you some juice.” Alex walked back into his kitchen and came back with some cranberry juice. He filled Rain’s shot glass up before taking a seat on the sofa next to her.
“Why she can’t have no Cîroc?” Fallon questioned.
“Because she’s preggy.” Summer smiled at Rain.
Fallon’s mouth fell open. “Here I am pouring all my secrets out to you, and you can’t even tell me I’m finna be an auntie?”
“I wanted to wait until Love was ready to tell you. Sorry, boo.”
“Um huh. You better be lucky I’m in a forgiving mood.”
“I hope we have a little boy that looks just like Jazz.”
Fallon smiled at the thought of her baby. “Me too.”
“Look at y’all acting like y’all know each other and shit.” Summer was on the other sofa with Fallon on the floor near the table. “That’s sweet and all, but I have a question for the pregnant one.” She pointed at Rain. “You ain’t been acting all mad and stuff with him, have you?”
“Not really. I mean I know he can tell something is wrong with me, but I haven’t been that bad.”
“Yes, she has. He was talking to her this morning and she walked right out the door and didn’t say nothing.”
“Oh, you on their side now?” Rain looked at Fallon.
She laughed and blew Rain a kiss. “I’m sorry, boo, but you’re lying.”
“She gets on my nerves. She act like he gon kill her ass or something.” Alex threw his shot back and reached for the bottle again.
“He might.”
Summer drank her shot and slammed her head back into Alex’s soft sofa. “You can’t be serious right now. You can’t possibly think the same nigga that saved your ass from a burning house less than a month ago, will kill you today?” Summer rolled her eyes and poured herself another shot. “Slap her for me, Alex.”
“Gladly.” Alex’s hand swiftly landed across the side of Rain’s face.
He laughed when she punched him in the arm. “Slap me again, gay ass boy.”
“Oh hell, Summer, she calling names. That bitch getting mad.”
“Good. Now she sees how Love feels.”
Fallon held her cup up for Alex to pour her another shot. “So that’s what y’all call him? Love?”
The three of them all told her yes in different forms.
“That’s cool.” She drank her shot. “So when did he save you, Rain?”
“A few weeks ago. Somebody has been stalking me, leaving random notes on my car and stuff, and they finally got irritated enough to break in, I guess. Kicked in my window, nearly stomped my ass to death, and set my house on fire. If your brother hadn’t come, I probably would have died.”
“Oh yeahhh, you told me that while we were in the hospital.”
Rain nodded.
“My brother is really not a bad person. He was just traumatized. He watched all of that happen.” Fallon’s eyes watered. “You know something, he’s always been a fan of burning houses because he ran back into our burning home trying to save our parents. He was too small to move them and ended up passing out. The firefighters brought him back out.”
“He told me that,” Rain said, quietly.
Alex hit her upside her head. “And you still doubting the boy enough to be mad about some shit he did when he was a child?”
“Leave me alone, Alex.”
“Or what? I’m not Love in the club.”
“Summer, get him.” Rain whined.
Alex looked at how pitiful Rain was acting and decided to ease up on her a little. “Okay, I’ll chill. I’m just trying to tell you, Rain. You and Love in the club have been through enough. Don’t bring up no more unnecessary issues. That’s the past. He’s been a murderer all this time and you didn’t know it, so just leave it alone. Be happy you got a man that wants you.”
“Amen to that.” Fallon held up her cup and Alex and Summer touched it with theirs.
“How’s Jacorey, Miss Fast Ass?” Alex wanted to change the subject before they got into his life.
He knew Rain like the back of his hand, and the ending of his last statement was more than likely going to draw some sort of sympathy or conversation from her. Normally he wouldn’t mind talking about it with them, but things were diffe
rent at the moment. Fallon seemed cool and all, but he didn’t know her or trust her enough to be talking about his business, especially with Damien being on the down low. He wouldn’t put out his business like that by being careless.
Summer being the smart girl that she was, winked at him and picked up the conversation. “He’s cool. Still in a little bit of pain and whining like a baby, but other than that, he’s good. It’s going to take him some time to get his eating under control, but once he does that he should be all right. He just don’t like to listen. He’s like a little bitty child. As soon as I leave, he’s sneaking to eat something he knows he can’t have.” Summer shook her head. “I keep trying to tell that fool, it’s not me that he’s hurting. Stupid ass.” Summer’s laughter was giddy and full of happiness.
“So you in love or nah?” Fallon asked.
“She is, and the crazy thing about it, Fallon, they love to act like they’re best friends. Ain’t that so childish?”
“Oh my God, yes. Y’all too old for that, Summer. Stake your claim, boo.”
“Jacorey knows where it’s good at. I ain’t worried. The only reason I can’t take him serious is because he does stupid shit. Like yesterday, some lil crossed-eyed hoe came over there talking about she heard he was in the hospital and wanted to check on him… like bitch… I know you see me in here?” Summer told them with her eyebrows raised.
“Then this hoe drags me off to the club to help make him mad. It ended up working though because they were damn near inseparable the rest of the night. Talking about bitches hating? Baby, let me tell you, they were big mad with Summer’s ass.” Alex was ready to tell the juice.
Summer went on to explain what happened. Of course, all of them had their share of comments and advice. Most of it was encouragement and playful banter.
“I ain’t worried. That nigga knows what’s up. He wants to play this friend role, then I’m with it. It’ll happen eventually.”
Alex slapped fives with her. “That’s my girl. Get his ass, best friend.”
They were all laughing when Fallon interrupted.
“Hold on, this the same Jacorey that was in jail with Dakota, Rain?”
“Yep.”
“Aww, that’s so cute.”
“Dang, Alex, all you have to do is find you one out the crew, and y’all will have the whole team locked down.”
Alex, Rain, and Summer all laughed amongst themselves. “Trust me, boo. I got that covered.”
Fallon’s eyes got large and her mouth fell open. “You lying.”
“No ma’am, I am not.”
“Scandalous ass niggas.”
Alex agreed with her and made a few more jokes before that conversation died down. They all laughed and joked well into the night. The only reason they’d begun to disperse was because their men had started calling. First, it was Love, then Jacorey, then Fallon’s husband. He wasn’t too happy about all of the noise she had going on in the background, so he ended up hanging up in her face.
Jacorey and Love, on the other hand, had called back to back until their women left. Alex walked them all out to the car before going back up to his house. He was drunk and lonely, and all he wanted to do was go to bed. If he and the girls hadn’t made such a mess, he probably would have, but he wasn’t that type of person. He could never go to bed and leave his apartment dirty. He gathered all the food and trash first, followed by the drinks and cups.
He did the best he could with his head spinning. Thankfully, it didn’t take long, and he was headed to his shower before he knew it. With his shower cap on, Alex stood with his back to the water and scrolled on his phone. He had been on Facebook first, then Snapchat. He was in the middle of watching his friend, Connie’s story when Troy’s name popped up on his screen.
“What the hell?” he mumbled to himself.
Troy hadn’t reached out to him since the day that he’d left his home in a rage. He briefly wondered what he could want before answering.
“Hey Troy, what’s going on?” Alex tried to sound as calm as possible.
“Nothing, just thinking about you. How you been?” His voice was lazy like he was lying in bed or something.
“Okay, I guess. Just trying to sort some things out. You doing okay?”
“Good as I can be… I miss you, though.”
Alex was quiet because he didn’t know what to say. He had missed him too, more that he’d thought he would initially, but he didn’t want to seem desperate.
“I take your silence as you’ve been missing me, too?” Troy’s chuckle was low and sexy as hell to Alex.
“You always did know me.”
“Still do.”
“What made you think about me?”
“It’s just another day. That’s all it takes.”
Alex nearly melted into the wall. Troy was the sweetest thing in the world to him. The fact that he’d been that way since the day Alex had met him let him know that he was telling the truth. Everything he was saying was really how he felt.
“You alone? Or do you have company?” Troy interrupted his thoughts.
“I’m alone.”
“Can I come over?”
“You really want to?”
Troy’s breathing was all Alex could hear for a minute. “If you want me to.”
“I do.”
“On the way.” Troy hung up the phone.
Alex smiled to himself and tossed his phone out of the shower door. It hit the dark blue rug face down. When the door closed back, Alex bathed quickly and rinsed off. Once he finished, he dried off before wrapping his towel around his waist and running to his room. He put lotion on his body and slid into his pajamas, then brushed his weave and ran back into the bathroom. He hurried to wash his face and brush his teeth.
Being that he was still very drunk, he had to focus a little harder to complete all the tasks. When he finished, he sprayed on some body spray and walked around his house, making sure everything was clean. Before going back to his room, he lit some candles and sprayed some air freshener around his kitchen and living room.
Back in his room, it dawned on him that he might need to change his sheets. He hadn’t had company in a while, but he didn’t want to take any chances. Troy hadn’t said anything sexually suggestive, but he wanted to be sure anyways. There had been many nights where the two of them chilled with nothing happening other than laughter and jokes, but tonight might be different.
He replaced the black sheets on his bed with some light blue ones and remade the bed. He stuffed his dirty linen into the bottom of his hamper in the laundry room and went back to his bed. Troy was so nosey and extra attentive. The moment he spotted the dirty sheets he would assume the worst, and Alex wasn’t really in the mood for anything like that.
The TV was on Law and Order as he snuggled beneath his covers waiting. He tried to keep his eyes open, but the liquor and the long day he’d had made that nearly impossible. Before he could stop himself, he’d fallen asleep. He probably would have still been asleep had he not felt a hand rubbing up and down his back, softly.
He jumped and grabbed his chest as he yelled. When he turned around, Troy was smiling lazily at him. His eyes were low and he looked drunk as hell. His hair was cut low and he smelled heavenly. The black thermal and black and red cotton pajama pants gave him a very relaxed appearance.
“Boy, you scared the shit out of me. How you got in here?”
“That’s what you get since you were supposed to be up waiting for me, and I still have my key. You want it back?”
“You took too long.” Alex shook his head. “Just keep it.” Alex knew one thing; Troy wasn’t the intrusive type. He wouldn’t use the key unless instructed to do so.
He smiled. “Un huh. Your ass drunk, ain’t you?”
Alex pulled the covers over his face only for Troy to pull them right back down. “Don’t be shame now. What you doing up in here drinking?”
“Summer and Rain came over earlier.”
“I should have known.
” The dimples in his cheeks sunk deeper than they’d been.
Alex scooted back until his back was against the headboard. “You know you really look like Jussie Smollett now with your hair cut like that, right?”
Troy ran his hand over his low fade and looked away. “I know. Everybody keeps saying that. He’s a hot ass dude, though, so it’s cool.”
Alex licked his bottom lip and just enjoyed the fact that Troy was sitting near him. He hadn’t known he’d missed him that much. In the back of his mind, he knew he loved Troy. He just always felt like he might love Damien more, but in that moment, he was no longer sure. It was like he was seeing him for the first time or something.
“I’m a lil faded, too. You mind if I stay the night?”
Alex pushed the top of his comforter back as an open invitation for Troy to climb in. He scooted over as Troy kicked his shoes off. He walked to the door and flipped the fan on then pulled his shirt over his head. Alex lusted like crazy over his light skin until his eyes landed on that horrible ass unicorn tattoo. He still hated that shit.
“I just want to get a marker and color over that ugly ass tattoo.”
Troy laughed and touched the spot on his shoulder where it was. “I’ll get it covered up just for you. How about that?”
Alex turned his nose up. “Please do because that shit is just beyond gay.”
“You’re crazy. You know that, right?”
Alex slid down in the bed. “So I’ve been told.”
Troy hit the lights before joining him in bed. He scooted as close as he could get to Alex and wrapped his arm around him. He laid his head on the pillow before sitting up again.
“You not gon put on that ugly bonnet you be wearing?”
“I wasn’t going to, but since you reminded me, can you hand it to me? It’s in my top—”
“I know where it’s at.” Troy got back out the bed and handed Alex the bonnet before getting back in.
Alex tucked all of his long wavy weave into his bonnet and lay back down. As soon as he stopped moving, Troy was right back on him. They snuggled close together and fell asleep. They tossed and turned throughout the night, eventually waking up to a few sessions of lovemaking before the sun came the next morning.