Page 38 of Hood Legacy

“Which is?” I prompted. We exited the bathroom and sat in the chairs outside the door in the hallway. We were hidden from the crowd and could talk freely. “Because I don’t know how to explain it.”

“He makes you feel safe,” she said and gave me a sweet smile. “I know you were having problems with The Mares and weren’t happy, which pissed me off because you wouldn’t tell me what was going on. When Pyrite approached me with his offer, I knew I was bringing you with me, no matter what. You came willingly, which meant that whatever bothered you was worse than I thought, but I was happy you trusted me enough to come. You might have thought you were doing a good job hiding it, but I could tell you were hiding something.”

“I didn’t want you to worry,” I said, and she playfully rolled her eyes.

“I’m going to worry because you are my sister. I could walk away from basketball today, and I wouldn’t worry about our friendship. We are locked in for life.” She held up her pinky to show me her half of our matching tattoo. “But I knew that whatever you needed, I couldn’t give it to you. Did I think it would be Hood? No, but then again, you said the same thing when it came to me and Givens. Whatever problem you had is taken care of, and now you get to be happy with Hood’s ass, which is all I’ve ever wanted for you.”

“I know,” I said, nodding with watery eyes. “I know.”

“Good,” Mercy said, smiling. She reached over and gently wiped the tears that had fallen from my eyes, being mindful of my makeup. “And just so you know, the next time you have a stalker and don’t tell me, I’m going to tell Madea and Granddaddy.” She stood and put her hand out for me to take. “You might not be a DeCorte by blood, but you are one of us.”

“Promise?” I said, taking her hand and standing. “Because I’m pretty sure I’m an orphan now because of how Aceyn acted when he met my parents a few weeks ago.”

“Yes, and he did you a favor,” she laughed and hugged me. “Because I’ve been wanting to kill them for years.”

“Stop saying shit like that,” I groaned as we pulled apart and headed back to our table.

“It’s the truth,” she said with a shrug, then laughed. When we returned to the table, Givens and Aceyn helped us into our seats. “Now, what are your plans for the rest of the week since Pyrite banned us from the arena.” We’d received an email earlier today informing the players that the arena would be closed for a week and that no one was allowed entry.

“We are going out of town,” Aceyn answered, and I turned to look at him surprised. This was the first time I heard this. “We leave after this.”

“Where y’all going,” Mercy asked excitedly.

“Cirtine’s resort,” he answered. I sat back in my seat, and Aceyn rested his hand on my thigh. “We are about to enjoy ourselves and not worry about shit.”

“I love that,” Mercy said, and I nodded. She leaned in next to me and whispered. “Don’t get pregnant; we have at least two championships to win first.”

I laughed and held up my hand so she could see my half of our matching tattoo. She tapped her finger against mine, making the lock complete, then sat back and snuggled up next to Givens.

“Let’s go dance,” Aceyn whispered, and I nodded. He helped me from my seat and led me to the dance floor. I wrapped my arms around his neck, and he pulled me close. “You cool with going out of town?”

I looked at him and smirked, “Would it matter if I weren’t?”

“Not really,” he replied with a laugh. “If you don’t want to go, we can just stay here and kick it.”

“I want to go,” I reassured him, and he nodded. His attention went to something over my shoulder, and his jaw clenched. “What’s wrong?” When he didn’t answer me, I moved my hands from around his neck to cup his face. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” he said, then licked his lips. “Just one of the development niggas that I can’t stand.” I tried to turn around, but he shook his head. “Don’t give that fuck nigga the time of day.” He turned his attention back to me and smiled at me. “I’m a selfish nigga and want all your attention on me.”

“Who else would have my attention, Aceyn?” I laughed, and he shrugged. I pulled his face down to mine and kissed him. “It's just you, sir, nobody else but you.”

“Keep it that way, too,” he said, kissing me again.

“Baby, chill,”I laughed at Legacy as she stared at me through the mirror in the bathroom. We'd landed in Bali a little over ten hours ago and immediately went to bed and I’d forgotten to tell her that my parents would be here. Now, I regretted that shit. “You’ve already met my daddy, that nigga cool.”

“Your mom is different, Aceyn,” she sighed as she fixed her hair. I leaned against the door frame and watched her. Legacy moved freely as she fussed at me; I could only smile at her. “Chill that look out, too.”

“What look?” I laughed.

She watched me through the mirror as she fluffed the curls in her ponytail. “That one.” She pointed at me with her comb. “It’s like you're amused.”

“Cuz I am,” I replied with a shrug. “My mama cool as fuck, and I’ll be honest, I doubt we even see them for real cuz my daddy got all these plans for them.” I brushed my hand over my hair and smiled. “The only time we will cross paths is at dinner. They are on one side of the resort in their bungalow, and we are in ours.”

“Why does this still feel like a setup?” She narrowed her eyes at me, and I could only smile. “Aceyn–”

“Point Guard, listen.” I stepped into her space and pulled her back to me. “It’s cool. Now, let’s have some fun before meeting them for dinner.”

“What exactly is your idea of fun?” she asked me, and I shrugged. “Aceyn.”

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