Page 168 of The Coldest: Stay Dangerous Part 2

“That shit nice as fuck. I love it. I love you.” He leans in and presses his lips to mine before pulling back.

“I’m sorry,” I blurt.

“For what?”

“For calling you a dirty dick ass nigga.”

Rico pulls a corner of his mouth up. “No you not. You meant that shit.”

“I did,” I grin. “But it’s still not right. How are we ever gonna be okay if we’re constantly getting into it? I gotta move on from that.”

Rico drags his finger down my cheek to my chin before trapping it between his finger and thumb. “You ain’t gotta move on from shit if you don’t want to, Snow. I was moving foul as fuck, and that shit has consequences. It is what it is.”

“So, what? We’re supposed to just argue and go back and forth forever? That’s toxic, Rico.”

“I’on think so.”

“Well, I know so!” I whisper harshly. “What if… what if we argue so much we cross the line? Say something too fucked up. It’s not healthy to be fussing and fighting and going through phones. What if one day, you wake up and decide you want someone who trusts you and gives you peace?”

Rico holds my gaze, before rearranging us again until he’s sitting up and I’m straddling him. He has a pensive look on his face, and I know he’s thinking of what to say to best get his point across.

My Rico… every day he’s trying to speak his mind instead of shutting down. His hands go to the creases of my thighs and rest there.

“Snow… us fighting means we’re still in this together. It means you haven’t given up on us. I spent years without hearing you fuss at me. Years of silence and ‘peace.’ I'm cool on that. I would rather be into it with you every day than have peace with someone else. Besides, it’s cute when you get to lying about how you don’t belong to me. And it’s fun reminding you that you’re exactly where you want to be, like I am. Yeah, we be talking shit. But be real; are you tired of that shit? You really think we the type of people to wanna stop talking shit about a muthafucka?”

I snort, laughing fully when he grins at me. His dimples are deep like Set’s, but he rarely smiles long or hard enough for them to show. I dip my pinky in one and shake my head. “No… I’m sure both of our lasts words will be some mess.”

“‘Zactly, bae. And if I’m being foreal, I was lying earlier. I know we toxic as fuck. But a long time ago, I told you that I’m rockin’ and you rollin’. Either one of us cross a line, the other going right over that muthafucka, too.”

“Promise?” I ask, snaking my arms around his neck.

He nods enthusiastically. “What you want me to put it on so you know it’s the real deal? My mama? The set? Fredo? I put that on my brother, Snow. No matter how many times yo duck ass say you not mine, you belong to me, and I’m never letting you go. And I’m never gon’ let you let me go either.”

I can’t wait any longer. I capture his lips, desire building from my toes, making me hot all over.

“Put that dirty ass dick in me,” I whisper, kissing him through his laughs. I’m feeling high, the way I feel whenever Rico’s vulnerability shows.

My man, that's not my man. My soulmate.

He squeezes my ass through my dress and bites my lower lip. “You can wait until we get to the crib.”

“I can’t,” I whine. “I need… I need…”

I pull back slowly. My stomach dips, and my heart starts beating faster and faster. All the lust clears from Rico’s face, as he sits up and his eyebrows pull.

“Snow?”

His voice sounds distorted. I open my mouth to tell him I feel weird as shit, but my eyes roll back, and I start freefalling into a bottomless pit.

The last thing I hear is him calling my name, over and over, before darkness.

Rico

I was never an insurgent in my time in MARSOC. My objective was always to blend in, gather intel, and neutralize if absolutely necessary.

The most action I ever saw was always in the city, as Luney. Whether it was with my niggas, or that one time I led the First Nations into a war with the Italians that probably led Cochise Beverly to meet his new fiancée.

And when I’m in the field in my city, as Luney, there's no real need for the skills the Marines teach you. I already had all the skills I needed to exceed in whatever situation I found myself in, thanks to G-Pops taking Nutty under his wing, and his incessant need to include his day ones in his shenanigans.