Deceitful Hearts

by A'zayler

  “Got it, Boss.” That was Bear

  “For sho, Twin.” Zino was next.

  She’d heard Tone, and Ollie, so there was one more then she was hanging up.

  “You fucking up my mental with this soft shit, Fe. Get off the phone. We love your ass, now peace,” Tek’s crazy self was last.

  Phoenix snickered before telling them she’d talk to them later. She ended their call and opened her door to get out. Jamar rushed to help her out. He grabbed her hand as she jumped out of her truck.

  “Hold on, I think I have my beach bag in the trunk from last weekend.” She and Zino had chilled on the beach with a few of his friends, and she hadn’t gotten her bag out yet.

  “That’s cool. You was smiling hard as hell on that phone a minute ago. Tell that nigga to chill. I’m taking care of your ass.”

  “Let me find out you jealous. I was on the phone with my brothers.”

  Jamar nodded as he grabbed the flower mesh bag she handed him. “How many brothers you got? I ain’t trying to get shot up. Pretty as you are, I know those niggas got to be crazy.”

  “Trust me, they are. I didn’t even tell them I was going on a date. They don’t play that.”

  “Damn, you can’t date?”

  Phoenix shook her head and walked around to the driver seat of her car. When she picked her phone up, the green light was flashing, indicating that she had a text.

  Ollie: I’m tense than a muthafucka

  Phoenix: I heard you ease that in our convo

  Ollie: Good, you gon’ let me in when I get back?

  Phoenix: Maybe… I don’t know

  Ollie: You should let me make love to you, Phoenix.

  Ollie: I promise to do it right

  Phoenix balled her lips up and looked to the sky, trying to hide the embarrassment she felt from his text messages. Before she could even respond, her phone beeped again.

  Ollie: It’s cool. I can wait. Be safe I’ll see you when I get back.

  Phoenix: Handle business and we’ll see when you get here

  She tucked her phone in her pocket and closed her truck door.

  “Okay, I’m finally ready. That was my brother.”

  “No pressure, beautiful. Let’s go.” He held his hand out to her and she hesitated about taking it.

  It was bad enough she was out in the city with this nigga and didn’t know anything about him. He could be an enemy for all she knew. Hell, pretty much everybody was an enemy when it came to the Zoo crew. She could tell he was feeling some type of way about his gesture, so he dropped his hand and smiled.

  “You’re going to be a hard one to crack, I can see that now.”

  “Yeah, I’m pretty tough.” Her smile was bright and so was his.

  His dark brown hair was cut low and laid down against his head and face. Her eyes traveled from the muscles in his upper body that were ripping through his muscle shirt and the sexy way his calf muscles flexed every time he took a step. She wanted to admire his handsomeness discreetly, but he was making that hard, being that he was so much taller than her.

  “Don’t stare, it’s rude.” He smiled down at her.

  “Oh, whatever. I was not staring at you. I just like your sunglasses.”

  “My sunglasses, huh?”

  “Yep. They would probably look better on me.” She stopped walking, stood on her tip toes and grabbed them off of his face. She used his arm to help balance herself.

  If she thought looking at his muscles was mesmerizing, feeling them flex in her hand was even better. Then, when he turned to look at her and the sun caught his hazel eyes, she thought she would just melt into the sand. He looked her up and down as she slid his glasses onto her face. She could feel him watching her, but tried to act like she didn’t notice it. His gaze was unnerving.

  “You were right. You look sexy as hell in my shit.”

  “I already knew I would,”

  Phoenix looked at him and smiled. Shit. He mumbled to himself. This little chick was bad as hell. He’d known she was pretty at the club that night but she looked even better in the sunlight. Her smooth peanut butter colored skin was flawless. There wasn’t a blemish or tattoo in sight. Her eyebrows were thick and pretty. The tiny diamond in her nose was only noticeable from certain angles, but added to her sex appeal. She had her black hair pulled up, but from the size of her bun he knew that shit had to be long. That ball was big as fuck on the top of her heard. Her small brown eyes slanted in the corner giving her an exotic look. Full lips the perfect size and color. They were puckered slightly, even when she was relaxed. Waiting patiently for his.

  She could most definitely get the business. Her body wasn’t banging like the women he was accustomed to, but she had a little bit of everything. Normally, skinny women weren’t his forte but he could rock with it for now. Her legs were toned and her breasts were firm, that’s all he required. He kept fantasizing about her legs wrapped around his back, and it was distracting as fuck.

  “Ain’t you the same one that just told me it’s rude to stare?”

  Jamar laughed. He was busted, so he didn’t even try to lie. Instead, he just pulled her toward the rental stand on the beach.

  Phoenix caught the stares of a few of the people there. Some were envious, while others were downright ugly. Due to her affiliation with the Zoo, she wasn’t favored by a lot of people, but they knew better than to disrespect her. They had better keep it at mugging her, because if they got close enough, she was popping their ass. She could fight like hell, so she wasn’t worried about a bitch, but she’d caught a few glares from niggas too. If they knew what was good for them they would hold that shit down. She had one rule and one rule only. Their bodies would be smoking from bullets before they got close enough to say anything to her.

  To better prepare herself, she grabbed her bag from Jamar. She’d stuck her glock .9 in there before handing it to him when they were by her truck. She stuck her hand inside the zipper part to take the safety off before slinging it over her shoulder. When she was satisfied, she caught up with him and leaned over the counter to talk to the lifeguards about the jet skis. Once Jamar had paid for an hour rental, he turned to face her.

  “Let’s get changed while they get them ready.”

  “Okay. Where do we go?”

  “We can go to the restrooms if you want.”

  Phoenix shook her head. She didn’t do public restrooms. Tone said that was the easiest way for a person to catch you slipping. “I’ll just change in my truck,”

  Jamar gave her a confused look. “You sure? The bathrooms are right there.” He pointed across the sand to a small little hut.

  “Yep, I’m sure. I don’t trust these hoes. I caught a few of them looking while we were walking up. I’m not trying to beat no ass today. It’s my day off.”

  “Your day off?”

  “Yeah. I beat ass through the weekdays. I like to keep the weekends to myself.”

  Jamar couldn’t hold in his laughter. “Your little wild ass. Man, come on. We’ll go back to the parking lot then.”

  She followed him willingly. He joked on her the entire time they walked to their cars. She thought it was cute that he thought she was playing. He didn’t need to know the real her. Not that she was as ruthless as her boys, but she could handle her own. She kept a low profile for the most part because the Zoo handled everything for her, but she wouldn’t hesitate to get shit popping. When they were at their cars, they both got into their own rides and changed. Although Jamar didn’t understand why he couldn’t change in the same car as her.

  It was funny to her how he pretended to pout when she’d told him no. Phoenix was inexperienced and shy. He wasn’t about to watch her take her clothes off. Thank God the tint on her windows was damn near impossible to see through. The only man to ever see her body was Ollie, and not even he had seen everything. That little stunt he pulled last night was the closest thing she’d ever done to sex.

  Tone hadn’t made it easy to have boyfriends, and her parents
were never around to help. All they cared about was themselves, and it had been that way for as long as she could remember. So whatever Tone said went. Because of his protectiveness, she was a twenty-two-year-old virgin, and she was about tired of that shit.

  A knock at her window interrupted her thoughts. Jamar was standing there looking fine as hell in some orange swim trunks and no shirt. His light skin was painted in tattoos. They all stopped right before his elbows and neck line. No wonder she hadn’t seen them when he had his shirt on. She closed her mouth and unlocked the door so he could open it. When she stepped out, she fixed her bikini bottom and took her earrings off. They were here favorite pair and she was not about to lose them in that water.

  “You trying to have me shooting niggas out here? You ain’t got one of those lil scarves or nun?” Jamar was smiling when he pulled at the hot pink string of her bikini.

  “Boy, hush. You’re the one to talk, I just told your ass I didn’t feel like fighting today and you go and take your shirt off. Go put that shit back on.” She walked around him and over to his car, pretending to search for his shirt.

  “You’re a fucking clown. Bring your lil’ fine ass on.”

  This time she allowed him to hold her hand.

  When they got back to the beach, the lifeguard had their jet skis waiting. He handed them both life jackets and took their belongings. She turned away from them and stuck her gun on the inside of her life jacket. Although she didn’t want Jamar to see her, he did anyway. He had walked up on her just as she zipped her vest up. Shock was evident, but she didn’t care. He didn’t know her life. He could judge if he wanted to, but she was going to protect herself at all times. When she noticed he was still staring, she turned to face him.

  “What? You acting like you ain’t never seen a gun before,”

  “Why you taking it in the water? You plan on shooting the fish or some shit?”

  She laughed and shook her head. “No, I just like to keep it on me at all times. For protection, you know?”

  “I’m sure nothing is going to pop off in the water, but even if it did, I got you.”

  “That’s not necessary. I got myself.”

  He was still standing there like he was in disbelief.

  “Look, Jamar, the safety is on if that makes you feel better.”

  “Excuse my behavior, you just caught me off guard with that shit. You good though. Whatever makes you feel comfortable, I’m with it. Just don’t kill a nigga out here and leave me floating with the fish or no shit like that.”

  Phoenix burst out laughing and walked over to her jet ski. “I’m not going to do that Jamar, I promise, baby. Now let’s ride.”

  He pushed her boat into the water before his own. He hopped on and they started riding the waves. The further out they got the faster they went. Jamar peeled off, and left her. She pushed the red button and took off right behind him. She was having so much fun with Jamar. They rode the waves so hard their jet skis were splashing out of the water and into the air. They rode for their entire hour before they headed back to shore. Her hair was soaking wet and falling out of her bun. Jamar turned their boats in as she grabbed their stuff. She grabbed her gun and placed it back in her bag before completely removing her vest.

  “You hungry?” Jamar watched her as she stood against her truck and pulled her hair free of her bun. Just like he’d thought, she had a head full. It fell around her shoulders, making his dick hard in the process.

  “Yeah, where you want to eat at?”

  “We could walk up the strip and grab some food, that way we don’t have to change.”

  “Okay, just let me call my brothers real quick to check in.” She grabbed her phone and walked a few steps away so he couldn’t hear her conversation. She waited for a few minutes, but Tone didn’t answer. She dialed Ollie next, he didn’t answer either, so she dialed Zino.

  “What’s up, twin?”

  “Where y’all at? Why Tone and Ollie ain’t answer for me?”

  It had been well over four hours since they’d left. They should have been there by now.

  “They taking care of business. You need something?”

  “Nah, I just wanted to make sure y’all was good.”

  “We good, boo. You straight?”

  “Yeah, I’m at the beach. Call me when y’all get settled for the night. Tell everybody I love them.”

  “Love you too. Watch your back.”

  Phoenix assured him that she would before hanging up. When she was done talking, she walked back to Jamar. He too was on the phone. However, his conversation looked a little more intense than hers had been. His eyebrows were scrunched together and he was cursing.

  “Kill all that shit. I don’t want to hear all these fucking excuses. Call me once you’ve handled the shit.” He hung up and looked over at her. His face relaxed as he massaged his temples.

  “You okay?”

  “Yeah, just some incompetent ass niggas from work. Everything good with your people?”

  “Yeah, they’re good. They went out of town today and I’m a little worried. I hate when they’re away.”

  “Y’all tight like that?”

  She nodded her head up and down while wrapping her multicolored sarong around her waist.

  “That’s what’s up. I got two sisters, but we ain’t that close.”

  “Well, I’m the only girl of five boys, so I really ain’t got no other choice but to be close with their asses. They don’t let me breathe, but it’s cool. I love ’em.”

  “Damn, five? I ain’t ever getting no play.” He pinched her stomach and winked.

  “If you don’t get no play, trust me, it won’t be nobody’s fault but your own.”

  “Word?”

  She nodded again as they started walking away. They walked the strip after eating, stopping at the various stores. By the time they left, it was starting to get dark. Jamar hadn’t been ready to leave yet, but she didn’t stay out past dark when she was alone. She didn’t tell him that though. Once they were back to their cars, he pulled her in for a hug. He was leaning against his car, holding her tightly in his arms. She rested her head against his shoulder and wrapped her arms around his waist. If this was what it felt like to have a boyfriend, she had been missing out.

  They had been outside all day in the water and the sun, and he still smelled good. His manly scent, mixed with whatever cologne he had on was intoxicating. Pressed against his body, she could feel the subtle stiffness of his dick but she didn’t address it. Instead, she tried to get closer to him; she wanted to feel it. Neither of them had said anything for a while until she shifted some and he thought she was trying to pull away.

  “Not yet. Just let me hold you for a minute.”

  “I’m not going anywhere, I was trying to squeeze closer to you,”

  “Let me help you.” He spread his legs a little wider and pulled her tighter against his chest. Once she got comfortable enough to stop moving, he wrapped his arms back around her and held her close.

  With his face comfortably nuzzled in her neck, he inhaled her scent. “You smell amazing.”

  “I’m sure that’s a lie. We’ve been out all day,”

  “And you still smell good.”

  “This feels so good.”

  “The hug? Or my dick? Because I know you feel that shit rising.”

  Phoenix snickered before telling him the hug. She stayed close to him for a few more minutes before realizing it was completely dark outside. After wiggling out of his grasp, she took a few steps backward so she could see his face. With her hand in his, he brought it to his mouth and kissed it.

  “I hope this ain’t the last time I get to see you.”

  “Why would you say that?”

  “You was blowing a nigga off at the club, then you said your brothers are out of town, which leads me to believe they don’t have a clue you’re out with me.”

  Phoenix was surprised that he’d actually been listening to her. In order to have analyzed the whole si
tuation, he had to have been thinking about it.

  “I blew you off at the club because that’s all I know how to do. I don’t date, so I’ve become an expert at curving niggas. As far as my brothers go, that’s a different story, but I’ll handle it.”

  “So, today was your first date?”

  Phoenix nodded.

  “That’s hard to believe. You too fucking fine for me to believe that shit. Your ass is running game.”

  Phoenix held up her right hand. “I swear, I’m not. I told you my brothers are overprotective. Aside from that, I don’t trust easy.”

  “Why not?”

  “Most people ain’t worth my loyalty, and it goes hand in hand with my trust.”

  “That’s real shit. I can fuck with you on that.”

  “Well, all right. I had a good time today, but it’s time for me to go.”

  “Cool. Text me when you make it home so I’ll know you’re good.” Jamar opened her car door and hugged her again before helping her inside. “I’ ma make you trust me.” He winked and closed her door.

  Phoenix watched him get in before she pulled out of the parking lot. On her way home, she made a few wrong turns, going all out of her way just to make sure no one was following her. She’d made this a habit any time when she was out. Their home was their solace; she wouldn’t bring any unnecessary heat to her house. After driving for another thirty minutes, she pulled into their garage and set the code. Everything in their house had a code.

  Once she was inside, she set the alarm and went to her room. She stripped down and got into the shower. After washing her hair and bathing, she got out and headed for her bed. She didn’t even bother putting on any clothes. She dried off and fell face first in her bed. Her body was tired and she was ready for some sleep, but she needed to check on her boys. She pulled her cell phone off the nightstand and called Tone. He answered immediately.

  “What’s going on, baby sis?”

  “I just wanted to hear y’all voices before I went to sleep.”

  She could hear Tone laughing.

  “You act like you our moms or something. We’re good over here.”

  “I wanted to see for myself. Y’all got everything ready for tonight?”