Ricochet

by Lore Ree

  “Hey.” I stomped over and shook its shoulder. “Hey! Get the fuck up.”

  “What! What?” The guy jumped up, and I recognized Corey, the DJ from the club the night before. “Oh. Hey, Miles. ’Sup, man?”

  “’Sup?” I narrowed my eyes. “What the fuck are you doing on my couch?”

  “Warren let me in.”

  “Uh huh? And where is he?”

  “His apartment.”

  Without another word to Corey, I stomped down the hall to Warren’s.

  “Warren!” I banged on the door, not giving a shit about how much noise I made. “Open the fucking door.”

  He answered a few minutes later with a sheet wrapped low around his waist. Warren scowled and glared when he saw me. “Where’s the fucking fire?”

  “What’s your friend doing on my couch?”

  “Corey? He’s still here?”

  I don’t know why he seemed so confused. “Clearly.”

  “Give me a second.” He shut the door in my face, but I knew he wouldn’t be coming back anytime soon and made my way back to my place. Inside, the snoring serenade was still on. I glared at the back of Corey’s head, too tired to make a bigger deal out of him being in my apartment than I already had. So, I sent him a silent threat that his snoring better not fuck up my sleep or he would get an elbow to the back of the head.

  Once in the quiet of my room, I peeled off my clothes and slid under the cool covers. I feel asleep with a smile on my face and thoughts of the night I had with Noelle in my head.

  -SEVEN—

  A few hours later, I woke up feeling fully rested and fucking starving.

  My steps faltered as I headed into the kitchen. The mountain was still on my couch.

  “My dude!” I shouted and then hung my head. “What are you doing here?”

  He and Warren didn’t get it. Yeah, Corey was cool. He was still a stranger to me, though, which meant I wasn’t OK with how Warren had let him into my place without coming to me about it first.

  The only reason I hadn’t flipped my shit was because, in the end, I did trust Warren. He wouldn’t let just any-old-body in my house. But still …

  Corey jumped up, his face pinched in confusion.

  “Yeah, you’re at my place,” I said in a monotone voice.

  “What time is it?”

  I didn’t bother answering him. Instead, I went on the hunt for something to eat. I fished through the fridge and grimaced. I couldn’t decipher which takeout containers were the newest. It was definitely time to hit the store, but not today.

  I walked into the living room and waved a takeout menu. “I’m ordering. You want something?” It didn’t matter how I felt about him randomly camping out at my place, I wasn’t about to just eat in front of him.

  We decided on pizza and extra wings, knowing it was only a matter of time before Warren made his way over. For as small that motherfucker was, he could outeat anyone.

  “Thanks for letting me crash here.”

  I nodded. I didn’t let him do anything, but it was decent of him to say. “So, uh, not that it matters, but how did you end up on my couch?”

  He settled onto the couch and paused as though he weren’t sure how to word what he was about to say. Or maybe he didn’t want to explain what had happened.

  “I had to bring Warren home and didn’t wanna drive all the way to my place. Teresa came home with him and … ” He shuddered and made a gagging noise. “I didn’t want to be anywhere near what was going down, so he let me in here.”

  I could respect him not wanting to stick around. But I had no idea who he was talking about. “Teresa?”

  “She’s friends with the girls. When you left, she was the one with Warren.”

  I gave him the OK sign. He did me a solid by bringing Warren home. Now we were even.

  We talked for a little bit before his phone rang and a goofy smile crossed his face. At the same time, my house phone went off; it was the doorman telling me our food had arrived.

  Corey handed me his wallet, and since I refuse to go into other people’s shit, I shook my head and told him not to worry about it. He gave me a short nod but kept his wallet out while focusing on his phone call.

  I took care of the bill and put the food on the table, ready to dig in. Corey clapped his hands once before joining me.

  “That was Erica.”

  “OK?” I raised an eyebrow. Why would I care?

  “My girl,” he said, sounding more awake. “She was wondering if the girls were with us and if we wanted to link up for a bit before they go out.”

  I choked on my bite of pizza. “Who’s ‘we’? And meet where?”

  “I didn’t ask all that.” He shrugged, piling up his plate. “I told her I was getting up and would hit her back after I talked to you and Warren.”

  “OK, um … ” I scratched the back of my head. The thought of seeing Noelle again made a part of me fucking ecstatic. Another part, not so much. Mainly because I shouldn’t have been so damned overjoyed at the prospect of seeing a chick I banged and had no plans of seeing again.

  “Call Warren and see what he wants to do.” I’d let him be the voice of reason on this one. Since he brought home the random girl he was with last night, I figured I’d wait to see if he wanted to get rid of her.

  “Just texted him,” Corey answered. “He hasn’t responded, so we’ll see.”

  Warren let himself in a while later, swaggering as though he fucking owned the place. Corey and I shot quick glances at each other before swallowing our laughter.

  “What?” Warren demanded, making me laugh again.

  “I invented that look.” I smirked, waggling my eyebrows. “Good night?”

  He flicked me the finger, but the corner of his mouth twitched. “So what’s this about meeting with who?”

  Corey relayed the message about his girl wanting us to meet. I listened as though it was the first time I was hearing it.

  “I’m down.” Warren’s eyes narrowed into slits. “What about you?”

  ”What the fuck you looking at?”

  “You’re being quiet.” He jabbed a fat, accusing finger toward me and gave me an exaggerated version of the side eye. “Why?”

  I didn’t trust his ass, didn’t trust his tone. Warren never missed an opportunity to start some shit.

  “I’m not being quiet.” I did my best to defend myself, even though he was right. I hadn’t contributed much to the conversation.

  “Uh huh. How was your night?”

  “It was straight.” Fucking great, actually, but I wouldn’t admit it to these two.

  Both Warren and Corey started laughing like the assholes they were.

  “What’s so fucking funny?”

  “Oh, Miles.” Warren shook his head. His eyes were wide, his smile wider. Like he won some game, or knew some secret.

  He didn’t know shit.

  “She’s already got you by the balls.” The whipping sound he made annoyed me more than his actual words.

  “She doesn’t have me by the balls, asshole!” Impossible. I’d only known her for a day and hadn’t thought about her much since I’d gotten home, either. “It was only one night.”

  “To be followed by many more,” he muttered, sharing a knowing smirk with Corey.

  Like I said—assholes.

  By the time Corey returned after running home and changing, his girl and Noelle were already waiting at Teresa’s place.

  When we crossed paths in the hallway, Noelle stayed off to the side and offered me nothing but a coy smile.

  Now she wanted to act shy? Being out of practice with women, I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing. While I was relieved she wasn’t clingy—didn’t go flying into my arms like I was her man or something—it was also weird because, I mean, she should have been a little happy to see me.

  We shuffled into the apartment. Noelle avoided eye contact with me before she and her friends disappeared into another room.

  “They do know we know t
hey’re talking about us right?” Warren asked, focused on the empty hallway.

  I shrugged. I’d always assumed that’s what chicks did when they went off together, but I could be wrong. For all I knew, they discussed makeup or gardening or some shit.

  While Corey sat his happy ass down and got comfortable on the couch, Warren and I lingered by the door, waiting for an invitation to sit.

  We waited.

  And waited.

  “Ask us to sit, you rude fuck!” Warren was the one who snapped first.

  “Oh shit. Sorry.” Corey moved over. It wasn’t his house, so that was the closest thing to a formal invitation we were going to get. “So, uh, what’s Teresa like?” Warren asked, sitting on the arm of the couch.

  I was just as interested in Corey’s answer because I planned to ask about Noelle next.

  Corey informed us of all the girls in their group Teresa was most likely to turn into a stalker and have their wedding already planned. Then he said Noelle was the most likely to act indifferent and be the hardest to read.

  I snorted. Yeah, I’d already figured that one out.

  “Me and Erica, we’ve been together for a little over a year.” He dropped his voice. The three of us looked around to make sure the girls weren’t within earshot. “I met them at one of their dance recital things.” His words made Warren tense, but I was too curious to ask him what was up. “Anyway.” Corey dropped his voice to a conspiring-type whisper. “I’ve only seen Elle with one boyfriend. It might be a stage thing, but I could never tell when she was upset, or happy for that matter. She mastered the bitch brows, blank stares, and complacent smiles. Other than that, she’s not the type to wear her heart on her sleeve.”

  I pondered that. OK, so sometime within the past year she’d been in a relationship and now she wasn’t. I started to wonder if something bad went down, but I shook my head free of the thought. It didn’t fucking matter.

  Things between Noelle and me weren’t going any further than this weekend anyway. She was a rebound, and so far she’d served her purpose well.

  When the girls finally came out, Teresa honed in on Warren as though the sun rose out of his ass, and Noelle acted bored. Corey had called it.

  “Pssst,” I whispered, motioning her over. She tip-toed toward me with a wary expression. Taking Corey’s loose advice into consideration, I didn’t let her cautiousness deter me. Actually, it made me want to reach out to her more and see if I could crack some of what I surmised was a façade. I pulled her down to sit sideways on my lap. Her expression gave way to a bright smile. “What’s up?”

  “Not much.” Still grinning, she shrugged and wrapped an arm around my shoulder. “What are you up to today?”

  “Not shit. Just waiting to hear what you ladies have planned.”

  “The girls want to go to Newbury Street to get dresses for tonight.” She rolled her eyes but was still smiling. “Which reminds me … ” she turned toward the guys. “What do you guys have planned tonight? Did you want to go out with us? Continue my birthday celebration?” She wasn’t facing me when she offered the invite. Her voice gave nothing away. I couldn’t tell if this came from her or if she did it for her friends’ benefit.

  Warren agreed with the plan, but Corey bowed out, saying he had a party to DJ.

  I didn’t answer.

  “What about you?” Her eyes were wary again, almost guarded. I didn’t know what to make of her, and it was giving me a headache. “You wanna come tonight?”

  “Do you want me to?”

  “Yeah, if you’d like to come with us, you’re more than welcome.”

  “That’s not what I asked.” I shook my head and pinched her chin to make sure she looked at me. “Do you want me to come with you tonight?”

  Noelle smirked and pressed her weight down on my lap. “Tonight? Yeah, I definitely want us to come together.”

  “Oh yeah?” I licked my lips and slid my hands around her waist to buck my hips against her. “I like the sound of that.” Noelle raised one eyebrow and looked down as if she’d be able to see and not just feel how hard she made me. It seemed as if she was about to say something, but Teresa called to her then, and our moment was gone.

  Of course.

  Soon, we parted ways since Warren and I didn’t feel like strolling down Newbury Street. Never saw the appeal. There was nothing in those shops I couldn’t find at a mall. Plus, years of shopping with Arianna had me traumatized; I had no idea what kind of shoppers these girls were. The last thing I needed was to see an ugly, entitled side of Noelle. It was best I took my ass home.

  Thankfully, the next few hours flew by, and it was time to meet the girls. In an unspoken agreement, Warren and I drove separately.

  When we got to the club, the girls were waiting outside. They were all hot, but Noelle … I had no words. Her dress was short and tight, barely covering her ass. As we approached, I shamelessly checked her out. From those legs, down to the sexy, strappy shoes she had on; fuck-me heels. That’s what they called them.

  Even the silly-ass crown on her head was sexy. I smiled, picturing her in just her crown and shoes.

  “What?” She smiled.

  I shook my head, snickering. “Nothing.”

  “OK, then. Are you ready to go in?”

  I motioned for her and the girls to lead the way.

  Within seconds, it was clear that tonight was Noelle’s real birthday celebration. That or she was some celebrity I didn’t know about. With every step, someone pulled her into a hug or gave her a kiss on the cheek.

  Some of the females were blatant as they eye fucked me; Noelle tightened her hold on my hand. I returned the favor when I noticed guys staring. Fucking lurking predators. Disrespectful assholes. I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and glared at them. Seriously, they had no respect.

  Several more girls were waiting at our reserved table. When they saw us, they jumped up and chorused Noelle’s name. Squealing, they snatched her away from me for hugs and air kisses. As the only guy in their group, I needed to step away for a second. They needed time to do their girly greeting, and I needed to find Warren.

  “I’ll go get us drinks,” I shouted. “And find where the hell Warren already disappeared to.”

  “No!” Noelle’s hold on my hand became like a death grip. I winced as her damn nails dug into my skin.

  “What the fuck? What’s wrong?” I mimicked her actions, searching for what was going on behind me. Why the hell was she, by all accounts, acting like a fucking spaz? All I saw was the regular sea of dancing bodies.

  “Are you OK?”

  She shook her head and opened her mouth to speak but was cut off as some guy approached.

  -EIGHT-

  “Happy birthday, babe.”

  Babe?

  “Justin.” Noelle nodded and then snaked her arms around my waist.

  Too focused on being a fucking creep, he didn’t catch how annoyed she sounded. His expectancy irked me.

  I wrapped my arm low around Noelle’s waist and brought her closer. Now he noticed me. Justin looked me over from head to toe. I saw the exact moment my challenge registered with him, because he was quick to snap his gaze to Noelle instead of stepping to me.

  “Who’s this asshole?”

  “What?” I took a step forward. Noelle pulled me right back.

  “Justin, stop it before you get your ass kicked.”

  “By whom?” He chuckled at Noelle and ignored my hard stare. “May I speak with you for a minute?”

  “Absolutely not,” she answered quickly.

  His nostrils flared and he nodded. “I see. So is he the reason you haven’t been answering my calls all week?”

  “It’s been more than a week. And you know why I haven’t been answering your calls.”

  Justin’s face fell. His expression took on that of a wounded-puppy, but the bitch ass wouldn’t let it go. “Does he know you were in my bed less than a month ago?”

  When Noelle tensed, I was done.

 
; “Listen—” Before I had a chance to say or do anything, I felt a heavy hand on my shoulder. I turned around and came face-to-face with a guy who was almost the same massive size as Corey.

  From his glare, I thought he was about to start some shit with me, but he was focused on Justin.

  He stepped up and said something to Justin, but I couldn’t hear what. Whatever was said, though, caused some of the color to drain from Justin’s already pale face. For a moment, I liked this new guy.

  Noelle released her hold on me and went to stand next to the two men. She said something that made the new dude’s shoulders relax. It was clear from his indiscreet glances Noelle was talking about me. Just as quickly, I decided I didn’t like him much anymore.

  Annoyed, I headed to the bar. I never did get that drink. Once there, I ran smack dab into one of Warren’s exes. And by ex I mean somebody he fucked a couple of times.

  “Michael!” She threw her arms around me as if we were old friends.

  Resisting a shudder, I pushed her off.

  “Sorry.” She giggled, too drunk to be offended. “How have you been?”

  “Fine.” I didn’t feel the need to point out she fucked up my name.

  “Is Warren with you?”

  “No.” Had I been in a better mood, I would’ve been more polite. But my focus was on Noelle, those guys, and how annoyed I was because of it. Not to mention, this chick smelled of smoke and sweat combined with cheap perfume, which didn’t endear her to me.

  I waved the bartender over and ordered a drink for Noelle and a beer for me.

  “Eww! Guinness is disgusting.”

  “Good thing you’re not the one drinking it, huh?”

  The girl pursed her lips and nodded. “So, you wanna dance?”

  “God no!”

  “You here with someone?” She placed her hand on my bicep. I looked at her sloppy ass and then at her hand and then at her face.

  This broad didn’t respect the concept of personal space.

  “Please, don’t touch me.”

  I looked toward Noelle and her friends.

  “That your girl or something? She looks like a bitch. You can do so much better.”

  Jesus fucking Christ! “Listen!” I put a hand up to stop her from stepping any closer than she already was. “I’m gonna need you to have a seat, m’kay? You were my boy’s sidepiece. That doesn’t make us friends.” I gestured between us. “And you got one more time to call my girl a bitch.”