by B. Love
As she made her way over to the locked metal door, Christian’s phone began to vibrate in her pocket. She pulled it out, smiling at the sight of Ransom’s name. Even though he was her sister’s unofficial boyfriend, Ransom was one of Christian’s closest friends. They were all close like that. He was the one who gave her her first pound of marijuana to sell.
Ransom taught her everything she knew about the drug game. Between him and Jax, no nigga on the streets had the balls to fuck with her. And it didn’t help matters any that Nash Owens was her best friend. That nigga was cold-blooded. The type to murder an entire family and rob a nigga… just to make him suffer for the rest of his life if he ever disrespected him or someone he loved.
“What’s up?” Christian answered, putting in the code to unlock the door.
“Where you at, Gucci?”
“At the bakery. Where you?”
“I’m here. I’m at the back door, though.”
“Aight. Here I come.”
Christian disconnected the call, then scurried quickly down the stairs. She checked the monitors out of habit to make sure no one was in the underground parking lot with Ransom, then entered the code to let him in. After embracing in a friendly hug, Christian stepped to the side so Ransom could enter. She closed and locked the door behind him, then followed him to the metal table that had a kitchen scale and money counter on top of it.
“Everything good?” Christian checked, putting her phone on top of the table just as Ransom did.
“I can’t really say. We good because I always got a supplier on backup, but Money pulled some shit this morning with the shipment.”
Christian exhaled a hard breath as she slumped down in her seat. Money was an old school dealer who swore he ran the south. He was the type who felt like there could only be one successful drug lord in the city. Money had a reputation of running off his competition and doing whatever it took to make sure no one fucked with him. Over the years, so many people started selling that it was hard for him to shut everyone down, so he only went after those that pulled in six and seven figures.
For quite some time, Ransom, Christian, and their crews had been able to stay under Money’s radar. Ransom supplied Christian with the product he received from his cousin Jax, and they were able to keep a low profile because they didn’t fuck with too many people. Apparently, one of Ransom’s corner boys had been running around, talking shit, boasting about the money he’d recently pulled in from the last lick he did. Money’s boys hemmed him up last night, and he started singing like a canary.
This morning, the shipment that Jax was prepared to receive was hijacked by Money’s men with a warning to play small and stay the fuck out of his way. Jax was so outnumbered, he had to take the loss, but Ransom made it clear to Christian that he was already coming up with a plan of retaliation with Jax and Nash.
Nash and Jax could get any type of weapon possible legally because of their security business, and what wasn’t legal was brought in with their drug shipments. There was no worry or fear in Christian’s heart. If Money wanted to start some shit, she was sure her crew would be able to handle it.
“So what does this mean?” Christian looked over at the glass, airtight containers that held the marijuana she had on hand. “Do I need to try and make what I have stretch?”
The last thing she wanted to do was stop selling temporarily or short her customers by adding less weed in her baked goods, but she didn’t know what other options she had. This was one of the main reasons she wanted to grow her own product, but Ransom had always said that was too risky. Truthfully, it was risky just having the shit in her bakery, but there was nothing he could say or do to stop her from doing that. Christian loved baking just as much as she loved weed; she’d never let anyone create and sell her products for her just so she could bring in a profit.
“Nah. Keep doing what you been doing. I got a connect with another supplier that I’m meeting with this evening. If that falls through, we may have to use Pressure.” Christian’s eyes returned to Ransom’s. “I know you like to keep our business separate from your family, but you’ve more than proven you’re capable of protecting yourself and holding your own weight — literally. Put your pride aside if necessary and get that work, Chris.”
Christian tugged on her ear as she considered Ransom’s solution. Pride was a motherfucker. All it took was for Christian to be told no or rejected once, and that was it. When Pressure told her that he didn’t want her working with him five years ago, no matter the reason, that fueled the hunger and hustle that got her to where she was today.
Pressure, Donovan, and Drecco moved weight from Cuba and Miami through Memphis to wherever whoever was located and wanted it. That’s why they had been able to stay under Money’s radar; they weren’t technically selling in Memphis. Nothing about that trio of brothers was basic, not even the way they moved work and made their money. Still, there was no part of her that wanted to work with him or anyone else in her family, but she would if she absolutely had to.
Over that conversation, Christian asked, “What’s up with you and Leigh?”
Just at the mention of her name, Ransom’s entire body went limp. Christian smiled as he covered his face and shook his head. “She driving me fuckin’ crazy, Chris. I’m liable to strangle her muhfuckin’ ass if she keeps playin’ with me.”
Christian chuckled as her phone began to vibrate. “What she do now?” she asked, smile lingering at the sight of Tyrell’s picture on her phone screen.
That whole… we can talk tomorrow thing didn’t happen a few days ago. Christian hadn’t been talking to Tyrell at all. Even though she wanted to believe every word that came out of his mouth, there was something about both situations that just wasn’t sitting well with her. After pushing ignore, she gave Ransom her undivided attention.
“Same ol’ bullshit, just a different day. I’ma cut her ass off soon, Chris, I swear.”
Christian gave him a disbelieving look as she grumbled, “Yea right.”
There was no way in hell Ransom was leaving Leigh.
Ever.
Her phone began to vibrate again. This time, Christian decided to answer. “What’s up, Tyrell?”
“You downstairs? I’m here.”
It took a few seconds for Christian to reply. She wasn’t expecting him to pull up on her. He only did that once when she was mad at him, so Christian figured she wouldn’t see him any time soon since he popped up at Crazy Crabs.
“Yea.”
“Aight. Here I come.”
Disconnecting the call, Christian’s head tilted as she looked in Ransom’s direction. Even though she was looking at him, her mind was on Tyrell. It was easier to ignore him and remain upset when she wasn’t in his presence. All it took was a few kisses in the right places for her to forget what she was mad at him for. But the moment that moment was over, Christian would remember, and end up upset with herself for letting her guard down.
Christian stood as she put her phone on the table. “Fair warning, Tyrell is about to come down here.”
Ransom stood, face turning hard. “Then I’m ’bout to go. You know I don’t fuck with that nigga, Gucci.”
That was true. Hell, no one in her family really liked Tyrell. They liked how happy he used to make her, but they didn’t like him as a person. Donovan swore it was because he ain’t have no heart. Christian could never see that, though, because of the love within it for her.
“I know, I know. That’s why I barely bring him around y’all anymore.”
“He cool, he just don’t fit you. Personally, I think you should be with Nash anyway.”
Christian rolled her eyes as they made it to the door. If she’d heard that one time, she’d heard it a million more. For as long as she could remember, her siblings and Ransom had been trying to hook her up with Nash. Nash came into her life like a hurricane — wild, relentless, and untamable. He destroyed everything that blocked her heart in his path… then stayed around long enough to use calmer
waves to cleanse and soothe her.
When Christian first met Nash, it was through Maria. She ended up flirting and finessing him out of his wallet, but before she could leave the mall good, he was on her ass. Nash admired her too much to call the police on her. He ended up taking her under his wing just as Ransom had done with Christian. He helped her hone her skills and learn and choose who to go after, offering her support and security as her right-hand man along the way.
Eventually, she stopped snatching wallets and stealing credit cards and identities, just as Christian stopped selling her baked goods out of her home kitchen. Both men had a positive impact on the trio of sisters.
As Nash worked with Maria he worked on Christian, becoming for her what she’d needed most in that moment — a man she could trust with her flaws and fears. Secrets and insecurities. Desires and needs. But only as a friend. As her best fucking friend.
“We are just friends, Ransom,” Christian reminded, keying in the code to the door. “And don’t be saying shit about him when I open this door,” she ordered, though it really wouldn’t do any good. Ransom was the type to say whatever the hell he wanted to say when he wanted to say it.
The sight of Tyrell walking in with red roses in his hand wouldn’t keep him from saying anything about her being with Nash or anyone else for that matter.
“Hey, beautiful,” Tyrell spoke, handing Christian the flowers. “What’s up, big brotha?” he spoke to Ransom, and Christian groaned.
Ransom hated pet names and nicknames coming from strangers just as much as she did. Hell, she barely liked when her family called her nicknames. That’s why mostly everyone called her Gucci. Those that didn’t called her Chris, and depending on who it was, determined if she answered to it.
“I ain’t your brother. I ain’t never felt yo’ mama pussy and I guarantee you yo’ daddy ain’t give you the same blood as me.”
Dropping her head to hide her smile, Christian tugged Tyrell behind her by his wrist.
“Call me when you know what’s up with that new lead. If I have to, I’ll reach out to Pressure, but you know I would rather not.” When Ransom didn’t respond, quite frankly because he was too busy mugging the shit out of Tyrell, Christian used her bouquet of flowers to lightly tap his chest. “You hear me, bro?”
“Yea. I hear you.”
Ransom placed a kiss to her temple and turned to the door, stepping out after Christian put the code back in. Leaning against the door, Christian locked eyes with Tyrell as she inhaled the scent of the roses. She hated to admit it, but it was nice seeing him after so much time had passed. Her heart was beating a little faster than it was previously, and she had to keep herself from giving him a smile.
Plus, the roses were a nice touch. It was a habit of his — never showing up empty-handed when she was mad at him.
“I can’t stay long because I haven’t picked up my load for the day.” Tyrell stepped into her space, filling her nostrils with his Hugo Boss. The scent was sweet, yet masculine. Spicy. Definitely intense. Not super strong and loud. It snuck up on you. But once you smelled that first whiff, you kept inhaling… needing more. “I’m picking you up at seven tonight for a date so we can move past this shit. You’ve ignored me long enough, aight?”
“I’ll check my calendar and let you know if I’m available.”
Tyrell smirked as he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her from the door to his chest. “I don’t care if you got something on your calendar or not. You gon’ clear that shit for me. For us.” The kiss he placed onto her lips was soft and quick, but it cemented the plans he had for her.
Christian nodded as she turned and bit back her smile. After keying in the code, she opened the door for Tyrell and watched as he walked out and up the stairs to get to the top level parking lot. Since she appreciated his effort to get them back on the right track, Christian decided that she could at least be open to what he had planned for the night. Realistically, all it would take was a night of romance and good sex to put her in her place. All she could do was pray she wouldn’t regret opening her heart back up to Tyrell.
Every time Christian gave Tyrell the benefit of the doubt, he said or did something that made her believe he didn’t give a fuck about her wants and needs. When he told her he would be picking her up for a date, Tyrell didn’t mention it was a date with his damn car club. The car club she despised. It didn’t matter how much Tyrell tried to assure her that the members of Mopar Mega Runners were straight and like family… Christian got a bad vibe from mostly everyone she came in contact with.
She thought since Tyrell had spent his day driving his work truck all through Memphis, Mississippi, and Arkansas, that he would want to chill and relax tonight. Instead, he wanted to run up and down the expressway with his club members, stopping at the most random spots just to talk shit, go live, and take pictures. Christian tried not to give Tyrell a hard time about it, because truthfully, they were alone in the car — but this simply was not what she had in mind for a date that was supposed to put them back on good terms.
As they pulled into Swinks Fish Shack, Christian rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. She was looking too good to spend her night in a small, cramped, hot space. Just the thought of her hair smelling like fish grease for at least twenty-four hours if she didn’t wash it when she got home irritated her more.
“You cool with eating this?” Tyrell asked, cutting off his car.
Christian laughed as she shook her head. “Don’t seem to matter since you cutting your car off.”
Tyrell’s shoulders slumped and he sighed. “If you don’t want this, we can go somewhere else and meet them at the club after they eat here. You know we come here because one of the members owns this spot. So this is one of our headquarters.”
“I know,” Christian gritted, looking out of her window at the sight of three big bitches walking into the shack. They were the ones she couldn’t stand the most, mainly because of how they were always on that brother brother shit with Tyrell. He had more fake sisters than anyone she knew, and there was no doubt in Christian’s mind that that was a front to get as close to him as they possibly could.
“So what you wanna do, Chris?”
Her head slowly tilted in his direction. “I want to go on the date you told me you were taking me on, because this can’t be it.”
Tyrell’s eyebrows squeezed together as he scratched his cheek and squeezed the back of his neck. “This is it. I wanted us to be able to spend the night together.”
“And I wanted that, too, but I thought we would be alone? Not with your car club.”
“What you expect, Christian? It’s the weekend. You know I ride out with them every weekend.”
Christian chuckled, trying her hardest not to allow this conversation to fuck her mood up more than it already was. That was true — Tyrell spent literally every weekend riding with his car club. From when he woke up to when it was time to go to sleep. The only way she saw him on the weekend was if she rode out with him or made him pull up on her for a moment while he was out.
“Do I look like I’m dressed to spend hours in a car? Or eat at a damn fish shack for that matter?”
Tyrell’s eyes scanned her body from head to toe. His eyes lowered and jaw clenched when they scanned her breasts and thighs.
“You look good as fuck,” he grumbled lowly. “But that ain’t nothing new. I ain’t tell you to dress up tonight, though, Chris. You want me to take you home so you can change?”
Now that got a good laugh out of her. “That’s the solution to you? For you to take me home so I can change? Not for us to go to a nice restaurant and maybe dancing afterwards or somewhere to listen to some live music?”
Tyrell’s expression tightened as he rested his head on the seat. “I’ve been at work all day, bae. I wanted to do something I enjoy and include the woman I love. Can you please just do this for me and not have a mug the whole time?”
Because her attitude, apparently, was a problem, too. Let
him tell it, some of his sisters in the club felt like she didn’t like them because she hardly talked to them when she was around, and unless she was in her phone or talking to Tyrell one on one, she had a mug on her face.
Not seeing the point in wasting any more of her words on this conversation, Christian unbuckled her seatbelt and got out of the car. She couldn’t wait to leave so she could call Nash and tell him about this bullshit. He would get a good laugh out of it. Nash tried to tell her earlier that this was what Tyrell would do, but Christian gave him the benefit of the doubt and said he wouldn’t dare expect her to spend her night around people he knew she didn’t really trust and fuck with.
Tyrell held the door open for her, staring at the side of her face as she walked inside. Making her way straight to the bathroom, Christian slammed the stall door behind her and paced as much as the small space would allow her to. With her head tilted, she stared up and at the water-stained ceiling. Pulling at her hair gently, Christian mumbled under her breath as she pulled her phone out of her purse. She would not spend her night like this.
In the morning, she’d have to be up at four. If she was going to lose sleep and be grumpy, her night would have to be worth it.
As she pulled Nash’s contact information up, the door to the bathroom opened and closed. The sound of multiple women laughing made her roll her eyes. Her finger hovered over the call button as she listened to their conversation.
“Girl, please. Tyrell on that bullshit, bringing her around me. I’ve been trying to get his ass to do a threesome with me and Pudding all month and he keeps flirting but brushing me off.”
“Bitch, I see why! His girl is pretty as hell. And she thick. If I had to choose between your sloppy ass and her, I would choose her, too.”
