Page 105 of Shifting Gears

I took another long drag on the blunt. The high settled in nicely as I closed my eyes and rested my head against the headrest.

The sound of her laughter when we were driving at high speeds. The way she’d try to steal one of my hoodies to keep at her place when I couldn’t come over. The way her hands felt, running through my hair.

I missed it all.

Her soft, sleepy voice in the morning. The way she bit her lip when she was nervous, but making an effort to act like she wasn’t. How she sang along to the hip-hop songs I loved to listen to. The way she leaned into our kisses, like she needed them to breathe.

“Fuck. I hope I didn’t ruin it all for good. Just give me one more shot, baby girl. That’s all I’m asking for,” I said to myself as I finished off the blunt.

Right on time, Billy resurfaced from the house, a couple of paper bags in his hand. He checked his phone as he walked overto the SUV and opened the trunk, lifting the floor cover and sliding those bags inside the space there.

He got in the driver’s seat and turned toward me.

“It’s some good shit, huh? New product line, flying off the shelves. One more quick stop, and we’re heading up to make the deal,” he said as he started up the car and backed down the street.

We turned down a few more roads before parking in the driveway of one of the houses I knew they had a bunch of girls in.

“Let’s go. You need to shower. You smell like a dog—no offense.” He laughed as he got out.

I followed him, grabbing my duffel bag from the back seat. I slung it over my shoulder as we walked inside.

The sounds of moaning and the smells of heavy perfume and sex slammed into us as we walked in. A few chicks wearing barely anything greeted us, but he sent them away and led me to a bathroom by a back door.

“Head out back when you’re done, and we can go,” Billy said as he shoved open the bathroom door and jerked his head toward the exit.

“Be out in ten,” I said as I walked in.

The shower felt good, but I rushed it. I wanted to get out and get this business with Billy over with so I could finally get to see Rosalie.

I walked out back and around the side of the house. Billy was leaned up against his SUV, dressed in a fresh top, his thick white chain with diamonds in it on full display around his neck. He was talking to a chick with short red hair that matched her street name.

“Red,” I said as I walked up to them.

“Hey, heard you were back. ’Bout time. Missed seeing you around. Especially some of the girls,” she said as she winked at me.

Red ran the houses full of girls on the Barrons’ block. She called it a superior escort service. The only things those girls had missed about me were my cash and my dick. They didn’t care about me beyond that.

“I’m not in the market for a good time. Just helping Billy out with something,” I said as I put my duffel back inside the SUV.

“Damn, that’s too bad. Anyway, you boys have fun. I gotta go.”

With that, she walked out onto the sidewalk and out of sight.

We rode with the music bumping as we cruised a couple of hours through LA to a club in the nicer part of town.

He didn’t valet park; instead, he parked the SUV around back, and that was where we entered the club. We went through a few hallways as the music got louder, and Billy pushed open some double doors into the main club space.

I saw her as soon as I walked into the room.

Rosalie Wells was sitting at a bar on the second level, wearing a sexy, tight little black dress that was hiked halfway up her thighs. Her blue eyes picked up the club’s light as she glanced around the room. Her hair had gotten longer.

She was still so fucking beautiful.

She looked like my girl, but the smile she had didn’t reach her eyes. It was like she was here, putting on a good face, but her heart wasn’t in it. Next to her had to be the guy she was with.

I tried to get a good look at him, but from where I was standing, a group of girls blocked my direct line of sight.

Once they saw me and Billy, they jumped up and down and cheered, trying to get our attention.

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