off the look.
âWhat are you doing here?â I asked. âTrying to catch a case with the jail bait in here?â
He frowned. âNah, Hodges dragged me in here with him.â
I nodded knowingly and followed the direction of his eyes to his boy standing at the other end of the bar trying to spit at one of those young-looking girls. Hodges was one of those who refused to admit his ass was hitting fifty.
Landon grinned. âI should be asking what youâre doing in here.â
âIâm meeting Danny.â
He chuckled and I joined in. He knew my girlâs taste for young thugs as well as I did.
âHave you seen her?â
He pointed to the back of the room. âSheâs sitting over there.â
We stood there staring at each other like two damn fools. I could have continued, but the last thing I wanted was for him to know just how attracted I was to him. I donât run after men. I like to be chased. âThanks. Iâll holla at you later.â
âYou do that. Save me a dance.â
I reached for my drink, then turned and walked away. At least something good was coming out of this night. I moved to where Danielle was sitting. She was wearing this cute Rocawear jean outfit she bought while we were in St. Louis shopping last week.
There were only two chairs at her table, and neither was empty.
âHey, whassup?â I asked with my eyebrow raised as I looked down at Mavisâs crackheaded ass sitting across from her.
âWhassup, Renee?â she asked as she rose out of my seat. âYou got five dollars?â
I backed up and raised a finger to my nose because I could smell her breath from where I was standing. âYeah, here.â I reached inside my pocket and slipped off a five. Anything to get her ass away from me. She didnât even bother to say bye as she dashed off into the crowd. âUgh! What you doing talking to her?â
âGirl, you know her ass is a booster. Sheâs going to come by my house tomorrow with some new DVDs that just came out.â
âOh, well, if sheâs got anything good, hook me up.â
Danielle nodded, reached for her drink, and took a sip.
âGuess who I saw coming in?â
âWho?â she asked.
âLandon.â
Danielleâs eyes widened. âLandon Lawson? Hell nah! I heard he was back.â
âYep, and he looked good as hell.â
She gave me that look that said I know something you donât . âGirl, you know heâs been messing with Leslieâs wide ass since heâs got back.â
She had my attention. âLeslie who?â
She smirked and reached for her drink. âLeslie Harris.â
My eyes grew large. âHell nah.â
She sucked her teeth. âYep, but I heard she started stalking his ass, so he quit fooling wit her.â
Leslie came out of high school a year ahead of us and was one of those that I never cared much for. She spent too much time in the club getting drunk instead of home taking care of her three kids. I heard she didnât like me. Why, I donât know, and really couldnât care less.
âI saw her in here earlier, so donât let her see you talking to her man.â
âFuck Leslieâs ass.â
âAll right, donât say I didnât warn you,â she teased.
I pursed my lips and swung around in my chair. Danielle knew I wasnât scared of that ho. One thing I donât do is back down.
While sipping my drink, I waved at people I knew as they moved around the building. Like I said, the place is one big circle, so at some point everyone came around at least once. Sure enough I saw Landon, and shortly after Leslie was coming up behind him. I shook my head. One thing Renee doesnât do is sniff after a brotha. When itâs over, itâs over. If we decide we want to fuck after that then itâs a mutual decision. But Iâll be damned if I ever stalk a mothafucka that doesnât
Mary Mcgarry Morris
Cairo
D. Sallen
Alexandra North
Sam Byers
Leslie A. Kelly
Patrick Ness
Aaron Hillegass, Joe Conway
Tamora Pierce
Bride of a Wicked Scotsman