“Yes, you can have my number.”
After I rattled off my number to him, he promised to call and went into the store. I needed to fill my tank up. The pump had just stopped when he came back out of the store.
“That’s you?” His eyes swept over the car as he nodded in approval.
“Yeap. I’m president of a car club. The Hellcat Barbies,” I revealed proudly.
“Damn that’s what’s up. I’ve been thinking about getting a Camaro. You know about cars, or you just got this one because you liked the way it looked?”
Gavin and I shared a short conversation about cars before parting ways. When I got home, it took everything in me not to check Lucci’s location. I knew his address, so if he wasn’t there, I’d torture myself wondering if he was with Kiandra. I lowkey hoped he’d stopped sharing it with me, but I was too much of a chicken to look and see. Even if he and Kiandra weren’t back together, it was too soon for me to be getting caught up with him.
I’d never met a man like Lucci. He was so rugged on the outside. He didn’t have a simp bone in his body but when he liked a woman, he handled her with extreme care, and that turned me on to the fullest. He wasn’t overly macho or cocky. A person could look at him and tell he wasn’t one to play with. He didn’t have to go around announcing it. And the sex. Oh my God, the sex was out of this world. Walking away from him would be tough, but it was something that I had to do. At least for the moment.
Three days later, I was at a popular wing spot on the strip calledWing It. They had good food and strong slushie alcoholic drinks. I was busting down a ten piece wing, fries, Cajun corn, and a strawberry slushie mixed with tequila. Lauren was beside me, Saskia, aka Sas, and Cressida were seated across from me. At the table beside us, were Rasheeda, Zora, Monique, and Aubree. The eight of us weren’t even half of the car club members, but the other ladies were on their way or coming out later.
There was a block party going on near the beach. The police had blocked off certain streets, so cars couldn’t come through.There was a DJ on the side of the street that the beach was on, and people were out having a good time. Of course, when it was over, me and my girls were going to line up and cruise through the strip. It was just something fun to do on a Friday night. Sometimes, there were street races or races at the track, but I wasn’t one that raced. One wrong move could flip an entire car. I was good on that, but I loved to watch, and a lot of the Barbies were nice with it.
“You know where we’re having the back to school drive this year?” Rasheeda asked as I popped my last fry into my mouth.
“Yeah. Dove Park. I’m also about to start planning for Juneteenth next year. It’s a long time off, but I like to get this kind of thing started early. I mainly want to secure a location. I want vendors and food trucks to come out. I’m hiring a DJ, and I want some guys to cook on the grill, and we can sell plates. We can do a Valentine’s Day raffle or something to raise money for the food.”
“I know it’s going to be lit,” Sas danced in her seat. My girl loved a good party.
I stood and finished off my drink. Ordering a second one was a must because it was hot as hell outside, and the frozen drink would hit just right. Alcohol and heat didn’t necessarily mix, but the fact that the drink was frozen sold me every time. Half of Diamond Cove and plenty of tourists were out. The streets were packed. It was too damn hot for our signature jackets, but we all wore matching Hellcat Barbie tees. The shirts were white and had our logo and names in whatever color our car was. I had mine tied in the back and paired it with denim, ripped, Bermuda shorts and J’s.
Being a part of a car club made me pretty well known. Add in the fact that I came from a big family, and I was a real estate agent, whenever I was out, it wasn’t hard for me to run into people I knew. It always bugged me out when people wantedto take pictures with me or my car. I mean, it was a Hellcat not a Lamborghini, but I didn’t mind. I liked being out and social. If I ever did get married and have kids, I wouldn’t mind staying in the house and raising them because I had fun all the time. Traveling, car club events, nights out with friends, family functions. My life could never be deemed boring. I came and went as I pleased. I could honestly say I hadn’t missed out on anything.
“Oh, so you something like a celebrity out here, huh?” I heard a familiar voice.
Turning around, I came face to face with Gavin. We’d had two phone conversations, so far, and I invited him out. During our first conversation he told me that he worked for a local cable company. He seemed pretty cool, but only time would tell. Most guys started off seemingly perfect and the longer you got to know them, the red flags started blowing in the breeze.
“Celebrity?” I grinned. “No, but The Hellcat Barbies are like that.”
“I see.” The slight gap between Gavin’s front teeth was an indicator that they weren’t veneers. I could appreciate how straight and white his teeth were. “What’s in that cup?”
“A frozen Strawberry Shortcake tequila from Wing It. They have good food and strong drinks.”
“You’re my personal tour guide. I like that. Where else you gonna take me?”
I tapped my chin with my index finger. “Ummm, I’m not sure. Let me think about it.”
“You do that. I was already hungry, but you mentioning food turned it up a notch. You gon’ let me ride in your hellcat?”
“Sure you can ride in my hellcat. You got gas money?” I joked.
“I fa sho’ got gas money. I’ll text you when me and my cousin finish eating.”
“Okay.”
“Do we have a new boo?” Lauren asked.
“Nah, not really. I mean, he’s cool. New in town, and we’ve had a few phone conversations. He installs cable and doesn’t have any kids. I’d be dumb not to at least give him a try. Right?”
Lauren’s lips pursed. “If I were you I would for sure give him a try, but you might not live long enough to do so.”
“Huh?” my brows furrowed with confusion. Following Lauren’s line of vision, my gaze landed on Lucci. He was watching me with clenched jaws and a slight glower.
“Lucci looks like he wants to knock your head between the washer and the dryer.”
