Page 10 of Disrespectfully, Relic
Kennedy bobbed her head in approval at the one-eighty he’d done. Her tongue poked at her inner cheek in contemplation before she held out her palm, deciding that afriendto occupy her spare time wouldn’t hurt.
“Give me your phone.”
“About time, shit. You almost had me thinking, I lost it.”
Lomar’s inviting grin as he passed her the phone made her wonder what he’d done to end up behind bars. Although she could tell he was rough around the edges, he was sweeter than the men she usually dated. That realization fueled her decision not to shut down his advances since she tended to attract the worst type of niggas. Even her nephew had noticed and pointed out her bad taste that’d become alarmingly apparent after her last boyfriend left her high and dry. Her first love had done the same, but she kept that painful reminder tucked at the deepest recesses of her mind.
“Don’t just stare at the number when I call you either,” Lomar told her when she passed back his phone after locking her number in. “Pick that shit up.”
“Maybe, maybe not,” she teased with her attention veering to the familiar car slowing in front of them. Kennedy peeped Lomar reaching behind his back as it lurched to a halt before the passenger window rolled down.
“So, this is why you ain’t checked back in yet, hoe? Too busy smiling in a nigga’s face.”
Kennedy pushed out an exasperated breath at Lexi’s extra ass, who leaned on the center console to peek around Toot in the passenger seat. Lexi wanted to check out the man whose face she’d caught her friend grinning in, red-handed.
“What are you doing here, Lexi? I told you, I was good, and you didn’t have to come,” Kennedy reminded her, but she waved her off.
“You did, but I wasn’t about to leave you out here alone, looking simple. Had I known it was a fine ass nigga that you hit—”
“Please, stop.”
Kennedy cut her off, scrubbing her forehead before pivoting to face Lomar who was tugging down the back of his jacket. A knowing smirk stretched across her face that made him chuckle.
“Gotta stay with the heat, mama. It’s cold out here in these streets.”
“I wasn’t gon’ speak on it. That’s your business. Thank you for understanding about the accident, though.”
“Don’t thank me, but do be more careful. Every nigga ain’t as understanding as me.”
Lomar shot her a wink and a slick smirk with the warning, backpedaling to his car before hopping inside as she watched. Lexi pulled forward so that he could back out, and once he was gone, Kennedy stormed to Lexi’s car.
“You never know how to fucking act!” she snapped, and Lexi laughed it off with a hunch of her shoulder. “Give my damn money, so I can go. Where’s Promise?”
“We left her at the restaurant. I have to drop Toot back to work, but she wanted to ride with me.”
“To talk to you,” Toot enlightened Kennedy, causing her brow to raise.
There wasn’t bad blood between her and Toot, but her nephew’s ex-girlfriend hadn’t spoken to her much since finding out that she’d paid for another girl’s abortion on Tekken’s behalf. The most she’d gotten out of Toot since then was a polite wave or halfhearted smile.
“What’s going on? Nothing happened with Tek, did it?”
“No, but did you know that he’s coming home tomorrow?”
Taken aback by the information she wasn’t aware of; Kennedy shook her head while containing the frown threatening to burst onto her face. Tekken hit her up from time to time, but their relationship was strained, which meant she didn’t sit high on the list of people privy to his whereabouts. That realization broke her heart.
“I know you two haven’t been talking much, but I think he’d be happy to see you. Me, Savvy, and Michi are going to the studio tomorrow night with the guys to surprise them. You should come,” Toot offered with a smile before it fell. “Don’t tell Tek that it was my idea if you do, though. I’m not talking to his ass.”
Kennedy laughed at the stubborn girl that her nephew had it bad for. “Thank you for letting me know, Toot. I’ll hit up Savvy about it.”
“Right, ‘cause why didn’t she invite us anyway? I damn sure knew nothing ‘bout this lil’ pop up,” Lexi bitched with a roll of her eyes that made Toot smirk.
“She didn’t tell you because my best friend will be there. She’s coming back with my brother.”
“Definitely don’t want to be there then,” she clipped, plucking the bills from her cupholder to pass Kennedy through the window. “Let me know when you get home, girl. Bye!”
Lexi chucked up the deuce before skirting off without awaiting a response, and Kennedy laughed. She proceeded to her own ride, knowing her girl was as salty as the seven seas about Treasure visiting and would probably find a reason to argue with Pierre because of it. The thought made her write a mental note to ignore Lexi’s calls for the next few days.
She had more important shit to worry about, like finalizing the stylists and staff for the salon, or how her nephew would react to seeing her after months. Kennedy huffed a breath before adding fixing her car to that list, knowing she couldn’t depend on a man she’d known for two seconds to come through for her like he’d claimed. The last thing she cared to deal with was another person’s trivial issues when she had a shitload of her own.
