Page 45 of Only You

“She, nigga! I don’t know her damn name. Read between the lines,” I rushed out. I was giving him shit, but I appreciated that we’d grown so close.

“Ooohhhhh. Fuck!”

“That’s the same thing I just said. She also knows that Nina is behind it. She hit me with a nice little threat after she told me that I was having family problems. On my soul she better not fuck with the family. Did you get her entered into your tracking software?” I asked while I slid my foot inside the cleats and tied them tightly.

“Yeah, we put her in the Bio Scan last night. Still nothing stateside though. It should turn something up as soon as her ass hits a US airport.”

“Alright. We good on that exit plan?” I asked as I stood to secure my flag belt.

“Working on it.” I nodded. During that time, the referee, the rest of our team, and our opponents had all arrived. Brody came over with Justin and Pierre in tow.

“What’s up? Why y’all sitting over here pouting? Jourdan finally realized, you ain’t shit?” He asked Steph, then laughed. Steph stuck up his middle finger.

“You just make sure your ass is covered up and that your damn shoes can be tied,” Steph followed causing us all to laugh.

“Yo, did I tell y’all that she cut all the collars off my t-shirts because I told her that she needed to stay off my neck about cheating? She gone say I didn’t need them since I didn’t like stuff on my neck.”

“Stop fucking lying Brody!” I said and laughed.

“Would I lie? Steph, would I lie?” He loudly asked, looking at Steph and Pierre to help him plead his case that he was telling the truth. Pierre tilted his head back and gave him the duck lips, because we all knew he liked to put on a show.

“I promise y’all she had your boy chest all out. You know what fuck y’all,” he said and stared off as if he was thinking about it. We all laughed at his outburst. Brody and Jade had been together forever as far as I knew. He claimed that he was constantly fucking up in Jade’s eyes, but it was all bullshit. He loved that woman’s dirty underwear. Brody’s ass just loved the drama so he constantly caused it.

“That’s her right there, ain’t it?” Steph asked. Brody’s head went on a nervous swivel, trying to locate Jade. We all knelt over laughing at his expense.

“I swear you fall for that shit every time,” Pierre said. As the ref signaled for us to step onto the field, Justin pulled Steph to the side, pointing at one of the players on the other team. I’ve seen that look in Steph’s eyes plenty of times; the only problem was that it was Rock when I’d seen it. It damn sure wasn’t the place or the time.

Aw shit!

After the ref had reviewed the rules and tossed the coin, it was time to start the game. We were to play defense first. We all lined up in a simple man-to-man coverage. Steph lined up to my left, playing man to the guy Justin had just pointed out.

“Who is that?” I asked Steph, nodding in that direction.

“He put his hands on Jourdan before. I told her to break them. She didn’t, but I’m about to lay his ass out.” he said coolly.

“You do realize we’re playing flag football, right?” He shrugged. I shook my head because I was about to be on whatever he was.

“You think I give a fuck about a penalty? Yeah, nah,” he said. The ref got into position, and the QB called for the ball from the center. He dropped back, throwing it right towards the man Steph was covering.

“Steph, get up on eem and run that fade,” I yelled. When he jumped up to catch the ball, Steph tackled him to the ground hard. The guy immediately popped up, bumped Steph’s chest, and attempted to get into his face. Steph had him by a whole head, so the sight before me looked comical. I stood back because if I took my ass over there things were bound to escalate. As the guy’s chestheaved up and down, Steph began to laugh maniacally. The whole scene made me laugh because I thought I was bad.

“Team Steph, nigga!” He said, patting him on the shoulder, before he turned to walk off, continuing to laugh. The ref furiously blew his whistle before awarding them an automatic first down for the penalty. It was our time to run offense after they’d turned the ball over on downs. We lined up in a simple bunch formation, and I stood just behind Brody to receive the hike. I called for it and dropped back to wait for Steph or Justin to get open. Steph hit a quick juke, and I threw it, dropping it right over his shoulder.

We easily won the game. My skills from back in the day were easily enough to dominate even with Steph and his bum knee that he tried to hide when he’d missed a step. Aside from my disdain for the temperature, playing had taken my mind off things and helped me work out some aggression. But as I sat on the bench to remove my football gear and rehydrate, the problems returned to the forefront.

I was no longer concerned about the docks because there could be no movement without Sin. Every shipment from here on out would have to be approved by me. According to the shipping manifest, he’d set up one more gun shipment, and we’d be there to receive it. With Sins’ phone, we had one up on Nina, because she didn’t know he was dead. So far, she hadn’t tried to contact him. We were at a standstill until Nina resurfaced, and I hated that shit. I rested my elbows on my knees and held my head in my palms.

“I’m going to ask you again. Are you good?” I took my hands down and looked at Steph.

“Yeah, I’m straight,” I answered, but Steph knew there was nothing he could do to fix this shit no more than I could right now. He gave me a once-over, then nodded. When he turned to leave, I stood and left right behind him. I was ready to go home to Tay.

CHAPTER 25

Tayla

“Tay. Tay, where you at, Baby?” He yelled as soon as he came through the front door.

“I’m in the basement,” I yelled back. I listened as he opened the basement door and stood at the top of the stairs. I stood on the stairs landing, hoping he wouldn’t make his way down here. At least not yet.

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