“You believe in karma?” his low rumble made my center moist while under the influence of the potent marijuana that he possessed.
“Yeah. Like you reap what you sow type shit?”
Lucci bobbed his head and pushed smoke from his nose. “I’m starting to think it’s bullshit. ‘Cus I know some good ass people that be getting the short end of the stick for real.”
“No matter how good a person is, no one is exempt from tragedy, disappointment, hard times, or even death. It’s fucked up but true.”
Lucci pulled from the blunt, held the smoke in his lungs, and turned to face me. “Where yo’ nigga at?”
“Um,” his question caught me off guard. “I don’t have one.” I was so stunned by the abrupt change of subject that I answered his question almost in the form of a question as if I wasn’t sure myself.
“Hmmm.” He exhaled the smoke and hit the blunt again.
“Can I ask you a question?”
“Shoot.” His eyes were once again focused on the water in front of us.
“Why did you tell Maino I was off limits?” Lucci chuckled and passed the blunt back to me. The few tokes I had taken had me feeling real mellow. I wasn’t even nervous as I anticipated his answer.
“Because I didn’t want you talking to that nigga.” His gravelly tone sent chills down my spine.
I didn’t want to assume. The safest thing for me to do was to inhale weed into my lungs. Maybe he didn’t think Maino was a good person. It didn’t have to necessarily be because he liked me. The weed smoke filled my lungs creating a euphoric feeling. My calm mood with the sounds of the ocean had me in a zone. My nipples hardened, and my clit swelled.
“Why is that?” My tone was sultry and feminine. I was coming off real calm and cool, but if he didn’t attribute his comment to jealousy my heart would sink.
“Because if I was single, you’d be mine.”
I was definitely high because his answer wasn’t one that warranted a giggle. But I did. “Keyword is if. You aren’t single. So how are you going to cock block? That’s selfish.” Staring at the side of his face, I regretted not being a hoe. Because I was two seconds from saying fuck his girlfriend.
Lucci eyed me. “You want that nigga?” Even in the dark, I didn’t miss the way his jaw muscle flexed.
“No.” I hated the anxiousness that my answer held. I wanted him to know that I wasn’t checking for Maino which was insane because the man was taken, and I didn’t do side chick.
“I don’t cheat.” A sigh pushed from his throat as if his confession was heavy. “And it is lame as hell to cock block when I have somebody. I just don’t want you with a nigga I know.”
I swallowed uncomfortably hard. “If you love your girl, then why does it matter?” I passed the blunt back to him deciding that I was done. I was high as hell. My mouth felt like sandpaper. Never in my life had I been thirstier.
“I love her, but I’m not in love with her.”
“Oh.”
There were so many questions that I wanted to ask, however, I didn’t know where to start. It didn’t matter because Lucci stood up. He reached for my hand and when I placed mine in his, he pulled me up. “Thank you for keeping me company.”
His tone was low. As he peered down into my face, I wanted him to call his girlfriend and tell that hoe he was never coming home again.
“It was no problem. Thank you for asking me to keep you company. I didn’t even realize that I needed it too.”
“Where did you park? I’ll walk you to your car.”
We walked to my car in silence. There were so many things I wanted to say, but I chose to remain quiet. Shit, what was there even to say? I had a crush on him, and he had a crush on me. He was off limits though because apparently, he loved his girl, buthe wasn’t in love with her. I would have loved to know the back story behind that, but I wouldn’t find out on this night.
“Drive safe.” Lucci tapped the top of my car once I was inside. He walked off and internally, I screamed. Wanting a man that I couldn’t have was literal torture!
CHAPTER 7
LUCCI
I satin Maino’s den staring at the stacks of money on his coffee table and an ounce of cocaine. It had been two weeks since Tyler died, and I had gone from shocked and hurt to angry as fuck. A nigga was in straight savage mode. I didn’t give a fuck about trying to change, trying to walk a straight path, none of that shit. I watched Rich’s homeboy for four nights before I ran up in his spot and robbed him for $29,000 and some coke. I did that shit by myself. Some might have looked at it as a suicide mission, but I gave no fucks. Deep down, maybe I wanted to die. Losing my brother was a pain that I’d never felt before.
