you have no idea the extent of my talents.”
I blush . With his long arm, he grabs me by the waist and we glide together to the music. The D.J. blasts over the speakers, “Ayo, e’rbody! We got royalty in the building. Divine, the god, just hit the door and now he on the rink with his fiancée. Let’s show my man some love, y’all. He ‘bout to get hitched. Congrats to him and ‘da future Missus. One love, yo.” The crowd goes up in applause and whistles.
I ’m so embarrassed that I try to hide under Azmir’s long arms while keeping my stride. I’m not used to fanfare. I don’t think Azmir likes it either, but he’s been floating on cloud nine since I said yes. He gives the crowd a wave. They love it. And as we brisk past a young guy watching the rink from the floor, I hear him yell, “Yo, man! I always looked up to you like a father, man. Much respect, homie!” Azmir raises his hand to the kid in acknowledgement of the endearing statement as we skate past. That’s a rather warm response to the announcement opposed to the chicks that gives the nastiest gawks. I’ve grown accustomed to those and the other type of women who point and whisper.
“What are you drinking?” Azmir asks while taking my drink from my hand and sipping my cocktail before I can answer.
“ Ilk! This is disgusting. What is this shit?”
I shrug . “Some sort of martini.” I giggle.
“ All right. That’s it. Time to go,” he commands, pointing to an opening where we can exit.
“ Already? You just got here,” I protest. And so did I for that matter .
He nods his head in resolute stubbornness. “I have something I need to show you. We have to go.” He grabs me by the waist to guide me over to exit the rink. My stop is barely smooth. Azmir’s is more so. I see the guards making room for us so that we can get to the counter to return our skates. I had one of the security guards hold my Tom Ford pumps while I was on the rink. The last thing I needed is to have them five-fingered by the staff and have ruined a good night for Azmir. As I’m slipping on my shoes, my attention draws to Petey approaching us.
“ Y’all out, Duke?”
“Yup. Got some plans for shorty,” Azmir says, pulling me close to him. The onlookers seem so amazed by our presence. “You good, right?”
“ Yeah, man. Ronnie holding shit down,” assures Petey.
“ Be sure to tell ‘em I said he did a good job on the planning this year. This is a neutral location.”
“ Yeah, so far no drama,” Petey informs. Azmir extends his hand to Petey in an upright position and leans into him to give him some dap. Petey follows suit and then turns to kiss me on the cheek. He’s been greeting me this way since Vegas. It shocked me at first because he doesn’t come off as an expressive man. Petey reserves his smiles. But he’s warmed up to me without effort on my part. I soak it all up. It’s nice and I know Azmir approves.
“ Soon ta’ be ‘da Missus! I like that!” Petey gushes. I’m once again embarrassed by the attention, but flattered to receive it from Petey. I give a bashful smile and ask him to give Chanell my regards. I lost her when Azmir whisked me off the rink.
The bodyguards navigate us through the crowds to the back door where we jump into the Range Rover.
“How did you get here?” I ask Azmir. I know he wouldn’t leave his car behind and seeing that Ray brought me leads me to wonder.
As he plays around on his phone, he murmurs, “Oh, errr...Kid dropped me off. I had him pick me up from my meeting.”
“Oh, okay.” I s it and wonder, ‘ Where are we going at this hour?’
Seconds later , he maneuvers in his seat to face me and says, “Listen, where I’m taking you to...where we’re going is to meet with someone.” His face is preoccupied as he’s trying to process his thoughts and spoon-feed them to me at the same time. I know Azmir; he’s struggling with something.
“Jacobs , you’re scaring me,” I say
I blush . With his long arm, he grabs me by the waist and we glide together to the music. The D.J. blasts over the speakers, “Ayo, e’rbody! We got royalty in the building. Divine, the god, just hit the door and now he on the rink with his fiancée. Let’s show my man some love, y’all. He ‘bout to get hitched. Congrats to him and ‘da future Missus. One love, yo.” The crowd goes up in applause and whistles.
I ’m so embarrassed that I try to hide under Azmir’s long arms while keeping my stride. I’m not used to fanfare. I don’t think Azmir likes it either, but he’s been floating on cloud nine since I said yes. He gives the crowd a wave. They love it. And as we brisk past a young guy watching the rink from the floor, I hear him yell, “Yo, man! I always looked up to you like a father, man. Much respect, homie!” Azmir raises his hand to the kid in acknowledgement of the endearing statement as we skate past. That’s a rather warm response to the announcement opposed to the chicks that gives the nastiest gawks. I’ve grown accustomed to those and the other type of women who point and whisper.
“What are you drinking?” Azmir asks while taking my drink from my hand and sipping my cocktail before I can answer.
“ Ilk! This is disgusting. What is this shit?”
I shrug . “Some sort of martini.” I giggle.
“ All right. That’s it. Time to go,” he commands, pointing to an opening where we can exit.
“ Already? You just got here,” I protest. And so did I for that matter .
He nods his head in resolute stubbornness. “I have something I need to show you. We have to go.” He grabs me by the waist to guide me over to exit the rink. My stop is barely smooth. Azmir’s is more so. I see the guards making room for us so that we can get to the counter to return our skates. I had one of the security guards hold my Tom Ford pumps while I was on the rink. The last thing I needed is to have them five-fingered by the staff and have ruined a good night for Azmir. As I’m slipping on my shoes, my attention draws to Petey approaching us.
“ Y’all out, Duke?”
“Yup. Got some plans for shorty,” Azmir says, pulling me close to him. The onlookers seem so amazed by our presence. “You good, right?”
“ Yeah, man. Ronnie holding shit down,” assures Petey.
“ Be sure to tell ‘em I said he did a good job on the planning this year. This is a neutral location.”
“ Yeah, so far no drama,” Petey informs. Azmir extends his hand to Petey in an upright position and leans into him to give him some dap. Petey follows suit and then turns to kiss me on the cheek. He’s been greeting me this way since Vegas. It shocked me at first because he doesn’t come off as an expressive man. Petey reserves his smiles. But he’s warmed up to me without effort on my part. I soak it all up. It’s nice and I know Azmir approves.
“ Soon ta’ be ‘da Missus! I like that!” Petey gushes. I’m once again embarrassed by the attention, but flattered to receive it from Petey. I give a bashful smile and ask him to give Chanell my regards. I lost her when Azmir whisked me off the rink.
The bodyguards navigate us through the crowds to the back door where we jump into the Range Rover.
“How did you get here?” I ask Azmir. I know he wouldn’t leave his car behind and seeing that Ray brought me leads me to wonder.
As he plays around on his phone, he murmurs, “Oh, errr...Kid dropped me off. I had him pick me up from my meeting.”
“Oh, okay.” I s it and wonder, ‘ Where are we going at this hour?’
Seconds later , he maneuvers in his seat to face me and says, “Listen, where I’m taking you to...where we’re going is to meet with someone.” His face is preoccupied as he’s trying to process his thoughts and spoon-feed them to me at the same time. I know Azmir; he’s struggling with something.
“Jacobs , you’re scaring me,” I say
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