“Holy shit! The Princess has graced us with her presence.” Rascal chuckles.
I close my book, rolling my eyes.
“I was beginning to think you’d never leave your room. What’s the special occasion,” he asks.
I stand from the couch. “You not being here.”
He smirks at me. He’s about to respond, but Minx cuts him off. “Hey, Marley!”
“Hey.” I smile at her.
“We’re having a girls’ night up at my house. We would all love it if you came too,” she tells me.
I can sense Rascal’s eyes on me and fight the urge to look at him. “I’d like that. It’ll be good to get out of here for a few hours.”
“Great! We wanted to invite you sooner but wanted to let you get settled in first. Then shit hit the fan, and I haven’t seen you around much,” she explains.
I shrug. “I should really work on changing that.”
“Don’t stress it. We’ve all had a lot going on. Tonight will be pretty chill,” she tells me.
“Will there be food? Or should I eat dinner before I come up,” I ask Minx.
“I got your dinner right here.” Rascal grabs his dick through his jeans.
“Aw, Romeo. That’s not enough for a meal. That’s a snack.”
The guys at the pool tables all erupt with laughter while Rascal stands there, tight-lipped. Minx is trying to suppress a giggle. The corner of my mouth tips into a sly smirk.
Minx clears her throat. “We’re ordering take-out.”
“Awesome! Let me go change into something comfier, and I’ll meet you up there.”
I steal one last glance at Rascal. He’s glaring at me. I wink at him, and he huffs out an angry breath, shaking his head. Giggling to myself, I turn and walk to my room.
2
Rascal
Marley is the first woman to not put up with my shit. Not to mention the first chick I can’t get out of my fucking head either. I chalk it up to wanting to fuck her and not being able to. I’m so used to women throwing themselves at me, I don’t know what the hell to do with being shut down. Multiple times at that. All I need to do is to get her on board with a one night, no strings attached, but she’s having none of it.
As soon as Marley is out of sight, Minx lays into me. “Why do you have to be so crude?”
“Me?” I feign innocence. “Why, Minx, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Diesel and Clutch laugh behind me, and Minx shoots them a glare.
“I’m only havin’ some fun, Lil’ Mama,” I add.
“Well, you’re an asshole,” she says.
“Thanks, I try.”
She slugs me in my arm, making me laugh. A few minutes go by before Marley walks back out. Her dreads are piled on her head, and she doesn’t have much makeup on. She’s wearing a black crop top with the words ‘Trouble Maker’ written across it and cropped waist-high leggings. Not that she needs to cover her waist. She’s got a gorgeous body. I shake the thoughts out of my head.
“Chains,” I yell. His eyes shoot to mine. “Go with them up to the house.”
I storm out of the main room, straight to my room. I grab my pen, taking a hit as I flop back onto my bed. There’s gotta be something I can do to get this chick out of my head. Once the high kicks in, I head to the kitchen to get some food. I walk in, and Hollywood is making a sandwich.
“Go ahead and make me one too, Pretty Boy.” I chuckle.
“Fuck you. Make your own.” He flips me the bird. “Where’s your ball and chain?”
“Ha-ha, asshole. She’s at Minx’s. I put Chains on babysitting duty.”
Once we're both done making our sandwiches, we each grab a bag of chips, taking our food out to the bar. It's the first low-key Saturday night we've had in a long time. Prez even gave Tink and Lolita the night off. Before he sits down to eat, he walks behind the bar.
“You want something to drink?”
“Let me get a beer,” I tell him. He opens two, handing one to me. For the most part, we eat in silence. As we finish, our conversation picks up.
“How ‘bout a game of pool,” he asks.
“How about teams?” Tech says behind us.
“Rascal, my office,” Bull calls out to me.
“Yeah, I’m down as soon as I’m done talking with Prez.” I head to his office, closing the door behind myself.
“Sit. Let’s talk.” He gestures to the chairs in front of his desk. I take a seat and wait for him to talk. “How are things with Marley? Having any issues?”
“Not at all, Prez. She spends about ninety percent of her time in her room,” I tell him. “She’s spending some time with Minx and the girls right now. Chains is up there with them.”
“She needs to mingle with others. It’ll be good for her,” he says.
“Yes, sir. I agree.”
“The two of you gettin’ along alright,” he asks.
I scoff. “Yeah, when we aren’t in the same room as each other.”
Prez shakes his head with a chuckle.
“Any word on the threat against her?” Prez hasn’t shared much about whatever or whoever Marley is running from. Told us it’s a need to know basis and there ain’t much we need to know right now.
“Nothing new or that we didn’t already know,” he tells me.
I nod. “Anything else I need to know?”
“Not right now. Go back to whatever you were doin’.” He dismisses me. I walk back to the main room, wracking my brain about what or who could be putting Marley in danger. What the hell could she have gotten herself into? I take another hit of my pen as I walk over to the table Saint and Raze have a game started at.
“What’d you get in trouble for this time?” Hollywood hands me another beer.
“Not shit, fucker. He wanted an update on how Marley is doin’,” I tell them.
“Did you let him know she roasted you earlier?” Buzz laughs.
I flip him off. “I’m wearing her down. You’ll see.”
“Yeah, see her turn you down again,” Hollywood says. They all burst into laughter.
“Are we playing teams or not?” I try to change the subject. Marley is the last person I want to be thinking about right now.
“We makin’ bets,” Tech asks.
“Twenty from each. Whoever sinks the most balls takes all?” Buzz suggests.
I shrug. “I’m good with whatever.”
Halfway through our first game, a couple cut bunnies make their way over to us. Trix saunters up to me, trying to seduce me with her body. I’ve been immune to that shit since the first time I fucked her. Her pussy ain’t anything to write home about.
“Hey, Ras,” she purrs out. “How you doin’, baby? You need me to take care of you?”
“Not right now, Trix. We’re in the middle of a fuckin’ game,” I tell her. When it’s my turn to shoot, I sink two balls before missing. As soon as I sit down, Trix has her hands all over me. I take one more hit from my pen, now having the perfect high. Hollywood ends the game, winning it for us and winning himself the money.