Page 42 of Stand on That

“Thought you were done with her,” he smirked.

“Man,” I sucked my teeth. “You always worried about the wrong thing. She’s driving my car to the club. That’s it that’s all.”

“We lying now? Bro, I don’t even know who you are anymore,” Azarius joked. “It’s all good though. Vani is my sis, and I’ll be glad when y’all make it right.”

I didn’t respond to him. It was funny to me how whenever I was freshly pissed with her no one could tell me I wasn’t serious about being done with her ass. But the moment I saw her I folded like a lawn chair. I didn’t even like Vani knowing she had that much power over me. It was all good though. Whatever was supposed to happen would happen.

Pushing Vani to the back of my mind, I had to focus on what I was about to do. There was no room for distractions. Killing Tyson wouldn’t bring Wally back, but if Wally wasn’t alive, Tyson’s bitch ass wasn’t going to be either.

I was tired and didn’t even want to be in the club, but I was willing to stay for an hour and a half at the most, so Darius could do what he needed to do. The truth of the matter was that even though I gave him a hard time, if he needed me, I was going to be there with very little questions asked. Lo and Hailey came out with me. I was trying to turn up and have a good time, but I was tired. The blunt we smoked on the way to the club wasn’t helping. Instead of having me turnt up, it had me slow and sluggish. My lids felt heavy, and I wanted my bed. Until I saw Darius and Azarius walking in our direction. Then, I wanted to get in the bed but not to sleep. That man was so damn fine moving through the crowded club looking like hood royalty and shit.

Darius was one of the smoothest men I knew, and it only intensified as he got older. He didn’t have to put in any effort. Literally all he had to do was to just be him. I knew exactly why Bree was in love with him because more than likely, they were the same reasons that I was in love with him. With his gaze locked on my face, Darius advanced toward me until he was all in my personal space. He smelled like a mixture of weed, cologne, and cinnamon flavored gum. When he grabbed my waist and pulled me into him, my breath hitched in my throat.

“Thank you.”

I looked up at him unable to speak. Shit, I didn’t even know if I was breathing. He had won. I was waving the white flag. Every time I had to see his daughter it would make my chest cave in, but I had to get used to it. Acting like Darius didn’t exist and trying to maneuver through the free world without him wasn’t working. And Lord knows I had been trying. I had been trying with everything in me.

When I didn’t respond, he licked his lips. “You ready to go?”

“Yeah, I’m tired.”

“Can I put you to sleep?”

All I could do was close my eyes. It took enough courage to admit my feelings to myself. Admitting them out loud to him seemed like too much too fast, but he could read me. Darius placed his face in the crook of my neck. “I’ll freak you right I will. I’ll freak you right I will. I’ll freak you like no one has ever, ever made you feel,” he sang making me giggle.

“Please get off me,” I laughed.

Darius let me go and gave Azarius dap while I hugged Lo and Hailey goodbye. We all exited the club at the same time. In the car, Darius gripped my thigh while he drove, and the nostalgia from that one act of affection had me on cloud nine. Late night car rides with him had been one of the best parts of our relationship.

When we arrived at my house, I wasted no time getting in the shower, so I could wash the club off me. The moment I cut the water off, Darius was in the bathroom with his mouth on me. He didn’t even give me time to dry off. In the bed, he locked his fingers in mine and rocked in and out of me to a slow and steady rhythm.

“I ain’t never coming up off you,” he promised before snaking his tongue into my mouth.

From the looks of it, I wasn’t coming up off him either.

The next day, I was in a great mood. Not only because Darius had put it on me after the club and when we woke up that morning. I was also happy because it was my last day at the restaurant. The money that Darius had given me when I was first released lasted me a good lil’ while. Everything I made from braiding hair and the restaurant went into a savings account. I refused to only rely on braiding until I had reached a specific monetary goal, and I had surpassed it. Plus, that morning, Darius had given me $5,000. My clientele was increasing by the week, and I was confident that I could pay my bills from solely braiding hair.

As long as I was dealing with Darius, I knew he was going to give me money, but I would never depend on it. It would only be an added bonus to what I made. One of my regulars came in, and he was flirting with me the way he always did.

“I can’t believe you haven’t let me take you out yet.”

“Why would I let you take me out when you came in here two weeks ago with a female?” I grinned.

“I don’t have a girlfriend, but I will feed a chick. Let me take you out, and I’ll feed you too.”

That got a laugh out of me. The bell over the door chimed, and I looked up to see who was entering. The smile remained on my face even when I spotted Bree walking in. When she spotted me, she frowned slightly, and that made my smile broaden just a bit. Clearly, she hated me as much as I hated her, but I didn’t want her to know that I gave a fuck one way or the other. I hoped she was getting takeout, however because if the hostess sat her in my section, I wasn’t serving her.

It was comical to me the way Bree’s nose scrunched while she held her head high looking like she had her nose up in the air. Yes, I was a server. And I was pretty sure she had more money in the bank than me because if she didn’t she was a damn fool. She’d been free the whole time I’d been in prison. She could look down on me. I didn’t give a damn about that. I wasn’t broke, and I had a car, and a crib courtesy of her baby daddy. And even if he stopped paying my bills tomorrow, I could pay my own because I made sure I had all my ducks in a row before I told my mother not to put me on the schedule for the upcoming week.

I only had an hour to go before I got off. For once, seeing Bree’s face wasn’t going to make me upset. She remained by the door looking constipated until the hostess handed her a takeout bag. “Bitch,” I mumbled.

I refilled some drinks and checked on my other tables before circling back around to give Jamal his ticket. “You working this weekend?” he inquired as he reached into his pocket.

“Nope. I’m off.” I wasn’t even going to bother to tell him it was my last day because then he’d hound me for my number.

“So, can I please take you out?”

Jamal was cute. He had toasted brown skin with a thick beard and a broad nose. If I wasn’t so stuck on Darius, I might actually let him take me out even though I could tell he was toxic. Some men just had that look, and he was one of them.