Page 304 of Kentrell

Kentrell.

Standing in the doorway like the end of every problem and the start of all new ones.

TWENTY-THREE

KENTRELL

The doorswung open to her wild, over-freaky, loud-ass best friend, Mars. She was barely dressed too—tight-ass strapless bralette and some damn near painted-on booty shorts. I watched her lustful gaze wash over me, slow and deliberate, like she was deciding whether I deserved entry. But she didn’t give it. At least not right away.

My jaw flexed as she stared me down. I was watching her too—but not the way she was looking at me. Nah. Mine was an assessment. Reading her face, clocking every emotion I could catch to figure out what I was walking into… what I needed to do… what energy I had to bring to get through her, Ayesha, and Stacia—just to get to mine.

Zoe.

The second I saw her—sitting at the dining table with a direct view of the door—it hit me like air after being held underwater too long.

She looked tired. Pale. Smaller somehow. But still her.

Still mine.

And I wasn’t giving her any other option but to stay that way. She was leaving with me tonight. Period.

“Damn, nigga… why you gotta look and smell this fuckin’ good?” Mars finally spoke, dramatic as hell, throwing her head back like I was stressing her spirit. “We supposed to be mad at you,” she added with a sigh.

That part made me smirk, especially catching the quick smile Zoe fought to hide. It was there though. Brief, but it was there.

“And you got on sweatpants, too—turn to the side and like wiggle a lil’ bit?—”

“Marniece!” Zoe, Ayesha, and Stacia yelled, laughing.

Yeah, she might have Wani beat.

“Zoe… whatchu want me to do?” Mars asked, stepping away from the door with a lazy hand gesture like a game show model waiting on the contestant’s final decision.

I dipped my head at Mars, lowkey grateful she left the choice to my baby and not the damn peanut gallery. Zoe’s hazel eyes flickered over me—quick and electric—then she shrugged and gave a soft nod.

“Your queen awaits,” Mars said with a bow, making me chuckle as I stepped inside, shaking my head at all of ’em.

“Marniece,” Zoe groaned, with Ayesha and Stacia snickering behind her.

“Okay, I’m done,” Mars giggled, locking the door after I stepped inside. “You can sit down.”

She flounced around me, dropping onto the burgundy velvet sofa posted up in front of the table where Zoe was still sitting… still watching me.

I took one step, then stopped again—my eyes overstimulated as hell by Mars’s whole… aesthetic.

First thing I noticed was the smell. Incense burning on the wooden coffee table. Coconut and cedar… or maybe sandalwood. Kensei put me on to a few scents, so I could recognize the difference every now and then.

To the left of the table… a rolling tray with green crumbs still scattered across it, next to a grinder, a lighter, and some rolling papers. On the other side, an ashtray with a fat bundle of sage still smoking like it had just been lit.

“Um… we’re waiting,” one of them said—sounded like Stacia—prompting me to take two more steps in. Damn near tripped over a floor cushion shaped like a?—

Hold up.

Is that… a pussy?

I blinked and leaned back a little, letting my eyes scan the whole room.

Shorty wasn’t just wild… she lived in that shit.

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