Page 57 of Dope Boys: Most Wanted
“Then cut it out. You’ll choke, and then I got to hit you with a few pumps and some mouth-to-mouth, and I’m not trying to go out like that,” he joked.
Reign grabbed the pillow and swatted him with it. “Leave me alone.”
“Oh, she laughs and smiles. I gotta give Svyn another band, I was sure your face was going to crack if you did.”
“Boy, leave me alone,” Reign said, quieting her laughter.
He stole a few pieces of fruit off her plate and sat down, leaving only inches of space between them. “Nah, you’ll miss me.”
“Oh my God, please,” she huffed, standing up. “I’m going to get ready, keep your ass down here.”
“Damn, you think I’m a creep?” he asked with a stupid smirk on his face.
Reign cut him a look. “I think you’re a lot of things.”
Markus reached over the couch to grab her, and she scooted away. “Girl.”
“Got to be faster than that,” she teased, walking away.
Showering, doing her new skin routine, and putting on just enough makeup to cover up the mostly faded bruise, Reign studied herself. She felt lighter. Her spirit wasn’t stirring with constant anxiousness, despair, and fright. It’d been years since she saw an actual unmanufactured smile on her face.
After dabbing the special oil blend Aunt G gave her over the bruise, she followed it with color corrector, liquid foundation, and just enough highlighter to emphasize her high cheekbones and almond-shaped eyes. Dare she say it, she felt – pretty.
After applying her mascara, she cleaned up the counter, unpinned her curls and spritzed her perfume. Center of her chest, behind her neck, inner arms, thighs, wrists, and ankles. She rolled her eyes at herself. “Like any of that mattered for anyone other than yourself.”
She dressed in a pair of light-washed jeans, a heavy, weighted-cotton fitted hoodie, and a designer varsity jacket. Reign studied the outfit in the full-length mirror and nodded.“It’s only for yourself. You look good, girl. Now you’ve got to gain some weight back. Which shouldn’t be hard since you’re being stuffed with food every six hours.”
Reign smirked, tousled her curls, and grabbed a pair of sneakers out of the box. The amount of clothes Markus had delivered for her was absurd. The ten bags from Aunt G’s boutique were obsessive, but this closet full of clothes, unheard of. Shoes in hand, she jogged down the stairs. Markus was fully dressed again, standing in front of the window with his phone pressed to his ear.
“Did we get them?” he asked whoever he was talking to. “Bet. I don’t want those houses touched until after we handle that business. That whole side of town looks like shit. Twelve is expecting them to be traps. I’d rather not give them niggas any ideas…yeah, just leave ‘em empty…nah, I’m headed up to Mercer Grove. I need to check in on the store and handle some other shit…nigga, fuck you.” He laughed. “I owe your ass a band, too. Don’t say shit else to me. Bet, I’ll check in when I’m back later. Aight.”
He hung up and inhaled deeply before turning around, finding Reign sitting on the ottoman putting her sneakers on.
“Will this do?” she posed, hair cascading over her face, blocking her view of his ogle. He didn’t answer immediately, so she lifted her head to find him taking slow, deep breaths and just…looking. “Do I need to change? Are you having a stroke or something? I’m only twenty-six, I don’t know the signs of a stroke for real.”
Markus frowned slightly. “How old do you think I am?”
She shrugged. “Old.”
“Girl,” he grumbled. “Twenty-nine and I’m not having no damn stroke. I’m just…”
She raised her brows. “Just…”
“What is that scent?” he asked, as if it was going to drive him mad.
“Uh…citrus, jasmine, amber, and musk.”
He palmed his face. “You trying to kill me, huh?”
“Are you allergic or something?”
“To keepin’ my hands off of you, yes,” he admitted.
Her lips wiggled into a small smile, but she nipped her lip to stop it from spreading fully across her face. “You need to practice your self-control, then. Are you ready?”
“We got to swing by my spot. I wasn’t thinking you were actually going to let me stay. Could have sworn I was going to be sleeping in my truck until you walked your pretty ass out in the morning.”
Reign rolled her eyes and stood. “Come on before I change my mind and go back to sleep.”
