Page 10 of Widow Mayker

“Uh, oh.” Neya chuckled. “Rough week at work?”

“Nah…” I sat on one of the couches and declined her request for my drink order. “I’m good.”

She shrugged and moved on to take my brothers’ orders. Absently, I bobbed my head to a song by this new recording artist, Josie.

“You sure you don’t want a drink?” my youngest brother asked. Wesley Gunner Junior eyed me suspiciously when I shook my head. “Fuck wrong wit’ you?” he asked.

“I told y’all I didn’t wanna come here. But, naw, y’all had to drag me outta the house.” Clubs were cool when I wanted to vibe. Tonight, I wasn’t feeling this shit. My house was calling my name, and I had half a mind to get up and leave.

“Bruh, I swear. You need a blunt or somethin’.” Younger than me by one year, Amaré added his two cents.

“I stopped smokin’ years ago,” I said.

“Sadly,” Wes intoned to which I chuckled. “You were easier to deal with back then.”

My face frowned up. “Say one mo’ thing sideways, and I’m leavin’—" Someone just outside my section caught my eye, stopping me from cursing my brother out.

There she was… Fucking fine as hell Maja. She strutted right past my section like the regal-ass vision she made. I’d know that sleek figure and walk anywhere. Tonight, she wore the same fedora hat she’d worn the day we bumped into each other. Right behind her was Heir Bell.

Tilting my head to the side, something clicked. Maja was the adopted daughter of Maddie Cooley—had to be. I knew every Bell there was, and they weren’t too keen about letting people in the fold. However, Maja’s name floated somewhere in the recesses of my mind, and that was because I’d heard it before years ago.

I was out of my seat in seconds, leaving my brothers to argue amongst each other. Just steps behind the ladies, I’d already gotten a whiff of Maja’s perfume. It squeezed my chest and wouldn’t let up until I said something, anything, to her.

They entered a section two spaces down from mine, and I entered right behind them. Heir moved to sit down while I walked up behind Maja. Heir’s eyes widened when she saw me. With all the noise surrounding us, I was surprised when Maja turned to me and placed her hand on her hip. She wore a black dress that fit her snuggly in the bodice, with a puffed out skirt that was short as hell.

“Why are you following me, Mr. Gunner?” she questioned over the music.

I reached up to touch her chin. With the ease and quickness of a trained soldier, her hand caught my wrist just as my fingers touched the delicate flesh of her chin. While the touch of her hand caused me to snag my bottom lip, she snatched her hand back like she’d unwittingly touched a snake. I lifted her chin to stare into those brown eyes.

There was something about a woman whose eyes said so much, yet so little. While beautifully brown, almond shaped and topped with long ass lashes, her eyes held an emptiness that I wanted to fill. Normally, I would’ve taken the emptiness there as a sign to run the other way. Not with Maja. I wanted to break through whatever burdens she carried and put those muthafuckas on my back.

“How did you know I was behind you?” I questioned.

“Because… I just did. It’s improper to follow a lady.”

“Should I remind you of our agreement?” I asked, instead of acknowledging her statement and getting straight to the point.

“No. My memory is perfectly intact.”

I took my phone out of my back pocket and handed it to her. Her dainty fingers wrapped around it. Everything was sexy on this woman, right down to the muted red pointy-ass, semi-long nails she wore. The same color was on her toes in the strappy black heels she wore.

She programmed her number in, then handed me back my phone.

“Are you satisfied?”

“Not just yet,” I said. “Just in case you try to pull some shit…” I dialed her number and felt relieved that her phone rang.

“Now, are you satisfied?”

“I won’t be satisfied until I know the taste of your lips…” My eyes dipped from her glossed covered plump lips down to her toned, thick-ass thighs. Slowly, my eyes returned to hers.

“Well, if that’s what you’re looking for, Mr. Gunner—”

“No one—”

“—I can assure you; you will never know the taste of either.”

Grinning, I closed the tiny space between us until our bodies touched. “I’ma have ya short, beautiful ass swallowin’ those words, Maja.”