Page 12 of Know Your Place

Icelynn rolled her eyes. I washed off while she rinsed off. Her mean ass got out before me. I made quick work of washing up before I stepped out myself.

While I dried off, I walked into her room and asked, “You washed my clothes I had over here last time?”

She sucked her teeth. “In the closet.”

“Drop the attitude.” I knew that wouldn’t happen since her ass was now sleepy and frustrated from the nut I didn’t let her bust, but she would be alright. I planned to still take care of her when we got back.

I located the sweats and black T-shirt I’d left over here and put them on, along with some fresh boxers and socks. After putting on deodorant, I stepped back into her room to find her ready to go and scrolling on her phone.

“Come on, Juicy.” I tugged on one of her braids, and she swatted me away.

“I can’t stand you.”

“Feeling’s mutual.”

We bickered all the way to her underground garage and then argued for a solid five minutes about who would drive before I gave in and let her have it. At that point, I just wanted to eat.

We rode to our favorite breakfast spot, bickering about the music. It amused me that even when we argued, it felt like we flirted.

The good thing about her driving was that I could roll up a blunt. Icelynn knew how to smoke with the best of us, but her ass didn’t know how to roll a blunt to save her damn life, and she knew it. One thing I appreciated about her was that she knew her strengths, and she played those up and had no issues outsourcing something she might fall short on. Icelynn was a smart-ass woman who amazed me every damn day. The business owner in me appealed to that. I loved that she had her own shit too. Real talk, she matched my fly in every way. Had me wondering what it would look like if we made things official.

I sparked the blunt up and handed it to her just as she parked in a spot near the entrance of the restaurant.

“Let me hit that,” she said with her hand out.

“Damn, I just lit it. Can I get a couple pulls?”

She rolled her eyes. “Ain’t nobody tell you to take so long rolling that shit.”

“Aight. Next time, you gonna do the shit.” She cut her eyes at me, and I laughed. “Yeah. You know rolling a blunt is an art form. One you ain’t got, so stop complaining.”

Icelynn huffed out a breath and crossed her arms over her chest as she sank down in her seat. I took a few more pulls before I held some smoke in my mouth and leaned over the center console. Icelynn knew what was up. She leaned over and met me halfway before opening her mouth. I shot gunned a big ass pull to her. That should calm her down some.

She coughed as she blew the smoke out. “Shit.”

“Yeah, this that good shit,” I commented.

“Always is wit’ you.” She patted her chest.

“Yeah, let you tell it, my shit weak,” I replied as I side-eyed her. Yeah, I was still hurt by her stupid-ass comment from earlier.

Icelynn sucked her teeth. “Beretta, you really think your shit is weak when I keep letting you hit? I ain’t in love, so why else would I keep letting you around if the dick wasn’t good?”

Somehow, that didn’t make me feel any better. I grunted, and we smoked the rest of the blunt in silence. The fact that she could so nonchalantly admit that she wasn’t in love irritated me. Women loved to love me, but of course, the one I actually fucked with could take me or leave me. Ain’t that about a bitch?

When we finally got out of the car, I had the sudden urge to grab her hand. We’d never been on that type of time before, but I decided to try it. After I opened the door of the restaurant, I grabbed her hand. Icelynn’s brows scrunched, and she looked up at me.

“What are you doing?”

“Holding your hand.” Nah. She wasn’t about to make me feel stupid for acting on my impulse. I did whatever the fuck I wanted, and at that moment, I wanted to hold her little-ass hand.

“Okay,” she said slowly, but I saw that ghost of a smile on her face again.

My eyes swept across the crowded restaurant before they landed on the last person I wanted to see—this chick I used to fuck with named Stephanie. As if she could feel my glare, her eyes found mine. I shook my head. I wanted to nip this in the bud before it got to a bad place.

Around the time I met Icelynn, Stephanie had started to get too clingy. I’d only been fucking her for a year, but I knew if she had it her way, she would have my last name and would be carrying my seed right at this moment. By the look in her eyes, I could tell that fact was still true, even though I hadn’t spoken to her or laid eyes on her for six months.

“Stay here,” I demanded as I kept my eyes on Stephanie. If I could keep them apart, then everything would be fine. I could get my breakfast, get some pussy, and kick it with Icelynn for the rest of the day, as planned. I just had to figure out how to speak to Stephanie without Icelynn knowing. I could bring her ass to the bathroom . . .