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  “You were going to shoot my brother?!”

  “Bitch, your brother fucked me doggy style then asked for a divorce! I was going to shoot his kneecaps off so he could never doggy style another bitch in his life!”

  “Nedra!” She looked like she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

  “That’s my name, bitch” I snapped at her. I was irritated. What Chris had said to her was closer to the truth than I wanted to admit to myself. I was undeniably a little crazy that night. My heart was hurting and had convinced my brain that I was dreaming, in an attempt to deal with the pain.

  “I want to be mad at you but…”

  I sighed. Ashton was my friend, had been my best friend since I was fourteen. But she was also Chris’s sister. “For the record, I didn’t really think I would hurt him. I thought I was dreaming, and you know how they say that you can’t feel pain or die in a dream? Well, I figured if I shot him then I would wake up and everything would go back to normal.”

  The sympathy in her eyes made me look away from her. I hadn’t even told Shanice that part.

  “Aww, sissy!” She squeezed into the bathroom and wrapped her arms around me, burying her face in my neck.

  I felt the tears rise in the back of my throat and tried to stave them off. I needed to get her off of me. “Ashton, your makeup!”

  “Duh, I used a setting spray! This shit ain’t going anywhere.” Then she sniffled. “I’m so sorry, Ned. You don’t deserve to go through this.”

  I nodded, afraid that saying anything would release the dam of my tears. She rubbed my back and rocked us back and forth for a few minutes and I let her, knowing that she needed this. Ashton was the more emotional of the two of us and the dissolution of my marriage would be hard on her. She’d been calling me her sister since we were kids, and when I legally became her sister you couldn’t tell her shit. Now that bond was disappearing, at least legally, and I had no idea how she would react.

  Suddenly, her hands froze on my back, and she leaned back to look me in the eye. I met her suspicious gaze with my curious one.

  “What?”

  She stepped back and propped both of her hands on her slender hips. “Wait a damn minute. If the belief is that you can’t feel pain or die in a dream then why were you going to shoot Chris?”

  I processed her words and cracked up laughing. “Oh shit.” I bent over at the waist and laughed until my ribs hurt. “Ashton, I really am crazy.”

  She didn’t know why I was laughing, but she started chuckling along with me.

  I stood upright and tried to speak through my giggles. “Girl, you know how they say, when you get married, two become one?” I waited for her to nod before I continued. “Okay, so like, I figured that because we were one, shooting him would hurt me.” I shook my head at the logic my heartbroken self had conjured up. “Ooh shit, I am a damn psycho.” My laughter petered off and out of nowhere, I burst into tears. “I’m so fucking crazy!”

  I dropped down to the closed toilet and covered my face with my hands. Ashton rushed over and kneeled next to me, wrapping her arms around me and resuming her rocking motion from before.

  “You’re not crazy; you’re heartbroken. I’m so sorry, sissy.”

  I don’t know how long we stayed like that, but my butt started to hurt from sitting on the hard toilet seat, and my back started to ache from being in a hunched position. Ashton released me as soon as I started to lift up, but she didn’t back away. She leaned back and studied my face, presumably to see if I was okay. Grabbing tissues from a box on the back of the toilet, she wiped the tears from my face and shoved some in my hand so I could blow my nose. When I was done, I nodded and she stood up and backed toward the door.

  Following suit, I stopped in front of the mirror to look at my face. The waterproof mascara I had applied and nude lipstick that matched my skin tone were still intact, but my eyeliner had run a little bit. An easy fix. I looked at Ashton and was surprised to see her face still looked flawless.

  “Damn, Ash, I need to try that setting spray.”

  She smiled at me and posed for a second, blinking her eyes coquettishly. She dropped the pose and raised her eyebrows at me. “Do you want to stay in tonight?”

  I shook my head. After that cry, I definitely needed to get out. I wanted to go to this club and dance. Chris and I never used to go to clubs, but I loved to dance and rarely got to do it. Not only that, I knew how badly Ashton wanted to go out. Her whole trip home was because of this weekend, and I would not hold her back from being the thot she claimed she wasn’t.

  “Absolutely not. There is twerking to be done tonight. I need copious amounts of alcoholic beverages and random niggas tryna grope my ass as I walk by.”

  Ashton gave me a knowing look. “All of that is doable. I’ll take care of everything, and the groping is guaranteed.”

  “Good.” So I turned and redid my eye makeup then went into my room to get dressed. The dress I’d planned for tonight was something that had caught my eye online more than a year ago. It was a long-sleeved, bodycon scoop-neck dress that I’d purchased, even though I had nowhere to wear it. The soft pink color looked amazing against my dark brown hue, and the smooth fabric felt amazing against my skin.

  I paired the dress with strappy sandals in the same pink shade that I had bought from the same boutique months after the dress but also not had a chance to wear. I kept my jewelry understated, going with a simple pair of large wooden earrings in the shape of a black woman’s head and afro and a thin gold chain, with an N pendant in the center, around my neck. With the fresh haircut I’d gotten that morning plus the mani and pedi that Ashton had treated me to, I looked—and felt—good as fuck. When I walked into the living room, Ashton put two fingers in her mouth and let out a loud wolf whistle.

  “Gotdamn, Nedra!”

  I grinned and posed as she whipped out her phone and took a picture. I’d taken a couple of selfies in my room but hadn’t posted them anywhere on social media.

  “Are you ready?” I had a small clutch that held my phone and card case along with gum and a mini switchblade hidden inside of a lipstick tube. I had done my research on this club we were going to, and there were no guns allowed, but I wasn’t going anywhere without some type of protection. Plus, I kept a gun in my car at all times. Folks were crazy out there these days.

  We were in my car and on the road in no time, and Ashton proceeded to tell me about her foolproof plan to secure a sexual partner.

  “Girl, I’m telling you, this app has been the best thing to ever happen to me.”

  I shook my head at how earnest she sounded, but I didn’t respond. The quickly growing website designed for safe and verified one night stands, JustOneNight.com, had finally created a mobile app and apparently, Ashton was pleased with the outcome.

  “All I do is turn on the location, and it shows me if I have any matches within a one-mile radius. I can adjust the range down or up to five miles.” She grinned. “Technology is amazing.”

  I had to agree with that one, especially since it was allowing me to build a successful business from the ground up. “That it is.”

  When we arrived downtown, I was unsurprised at the amount of traffic. This was a big weekend, and the surge of people to the city had already been planned for weeks. I had purchased a parking permit for the weekend the moment Ashton told me she was making the trip. I preferred having my own transportation than having to depend on a rideshare app or having to hoof it back and forth to the train. The garage that I purchased my permit from was central to all of the event venues.

  To my surprise, Ashton had purchased tickets to the game on Sunday as well as the rookie game and the multiple challenges taking place. I know that had cost a grip, but she said she had it, so I didn’t ask her any more questions. Cali had apparently been good to my friend.

  The line to get into the VR Club & Lounge was literally wrapped around the building. I had started to slow down because as eager as I was to drop it like it was hot, I was n
ot down to wait in a long-ass line.

  Ashton noticed that I had fallen behind, and she grabbed my hand and pulled me forward. “Come on, sissy. That line isn’t for us.” To my surprise, she walked right up to the door and gave her name to the heavily muscled man at the door. He flicked his finger across the screen of the tablet in his hand and two seconds later, turned to nod at the similarly shaped man behind him who was blocking the door. The second man stood aside, and Ashton pulled me into the building.

  “What the hell just happened? You were on a list? How?”

  Ashton flipped the end of her bob back. “You ain’t know, girl? I know people.”

  If I hadn’t witnessed what I’d just witnessed, I would have laughed in her face, but I was walking into a brand new night-club that was owned by a professional basketball player, and it was all because of her. So, maybe she really did know people. What the hell was Ashton doing out in Cali?

  We rounded a corner and came into a wide open space of the club. It was a huge room that looked to be divided up into zones. There was a bar on either side of the room, each almost as long as the building and already swarmed with people. To our right, on a raised platform, was the DJ, who was speaking into a mic over some random rap song. Across the room, opposite the DJ, was another raised platform that had several sections of couches. At the foot of the short flight of steps that led to that platform stood another large man. That must be the VIP section.

  After looking around and taking in her surroundings, Ashton looked back at me and asked in a loud voice, “Drinks or dancing first?”

  I didn’t even hesitate to call back, “Drinks!”

  She nodded and led me over to the bar closest to us. We waited for a couple of minutes for one of the many bartenders to get a moment and acknowledge us. When a woman with a braided mohawk came over, Ashton gave her order then looked back at me.

  “Whiskey sour, Jameson, extra sour, please.”

  She nodded and started on our drinks. While we waited, I looked around the room. There were so many people here. From my limited memory of clubbing back in college, people didn’t usually come out until well after eleven. It was just after ten, but the dance floor looked like it was already midnight.

  I chose to come early because I anticipated there being heavy traffic and had hoped to avoid the long line that would surely be at the door come midnight. Had I known that Ashton was on the list, I would have waited at least another hour. Looking at the crush of people all around, it looked like we made the right decision anyway.

  Ashton nudged me, and I turned to see my drink sitting in front of me. I grabbed it and took a sip. It was perfect. I started to unzip my clutch, but Ashton grabbed my hand, stopping me. I looked up and she leaned in close to my ear.

  “Drinks on me tonight.”

  I smirked. “Say no more.” I looked at the bartender who was placing Ashton’s dirty martini on a bar napkin and pointed to my glass. “Let me get another one of these.” Ashton laughed and pulled a card out of the top of her dress. She handed it to the bartender.

  “Start me a tab, hun.” The woman grinned and took the card. By the time she placed my second drink on the bar, my first was gone. I sucked down the fresh one quickly and pulled Ashton to the dance floor. She laughed at my antics and shifted her drink to her other hand so she wouldn’t spill it.

  The DJ was playing Crew by Goldlink, and I loved that song. I started rocking my hips and swaying to the music. Ashton started rapping, and I laughed as she stumbled over the words. The DJ asked if all the ladies were ready and then the song switched to Rake It Up by Yo Gotti. Ashton screamed and bent at the waist, shaking her hips left and right. I put my hands in the air and danced along with her. She stood upright and got behind me, pushing at my back to bend me over. I laughed at her silliness but did as she instructed. I put my hands on my knees and twerked my ass on her. She rubbed her unoccupied hand on my ass but when she slapped my butt, I jerked forward. Her bony-ass fingers hurt.

  “Bitch, watch those sticks you call fingers!”

  She laughed at me. “My bad, sissy.” She’d finished her drink, and the empty glass was dangling from her fingers. “Let’s go back to the bar.” I followed her back across the dancefloor and requested a bottle of water as she set her empty glass on the bartop. She pulled out her phone and started moving her thumbs across the screen.

  “Lemme see if there’s some dick in here with my name on it.”

  I chuckled and accepted my water, downing half the bottle in seconds. Dancing had heated me up, and the iciness of the drink was hydrating and cooling. Ashton gripped my arm and I looked at her.

  “You found someone?”

  The smirk she gave me answered the question. She told me to follow her as she, in turn, followed the app in the direction it led her. We pushed through the crowd until we were in the back of the room where the VIP platform was. I glanced at her, wondering if she was going to go in another direction or if the bouncer was her new dick. I was surprised when, once again, she gave her name and the man moved to the side.

  My eyes widened, and I couldn’t stop myself from saying, “Biiiitch! Who the fuck are you?” Ashton was on lists and shit now, and I didn’t know what to do with this new development.

  Ashton looked back at me, and that ever-present smirk was on her face. “You ain’t know, bitch? I’m Ashton fucking Phillips.”

  I threw my head back and laughed hard at that. “You right.”

  Chapter Seven

  Jermaine

  When You Find and Lose Love In The Club

  I sipped from my tumbler and swept my gaze across the club. It was almost eleven, but the room was packed with women and niggas galore. It was the All-Star effect. It brought out so many people considering it wasn’t even midnight yet. It also didn’t hurt that this was a celebrity spot.

  The owner and my teammate, Fred Pierce, made sure that it was well advertised that VR Club & Lounge—short for Velvet Rope because Fred was a Janet stan—was his club and that it would be poppin’ this weekend. He wasn’t lying. Everybody had come out to have a good time and support Fred. It was good to see; he was a good dude and deserved to have his endeavor take off like it did.

  The bass thumped through the speakers, and throngs of bodies pulsed on the dance floor below me. VR was designed with the dance floor as the focal point. At the back of the club, deep into the space, was a raised, two-level platform, which served as the VIP area. On each level were three sections of crescent-shaped, leather sectional couches and low sitting, glass-topped tables. Opposite the VIP, smooth on the other side of the club, was the DJ booth. On every wall were large screens that displayed abstract art that moved in time with the beat of whatever song was playing at the moment.

  I sat on the highest platform in VIP in the furthest section. Going out wasn’t something I did often. My reputation was almost that of a hermit. If I wasn’t on the court, you rarely saw me. But Fred had invited me to his grand opening personally, and since this was All-Star weekend, I decided to show up and support. It was a compromise because he was only getting three hours out of me tonight, and hour two had just begun.

  As I bobbed my head to the music and took another sip of my drink, something, or rather, someone to the right caught my eye. I turned to the set of stairs that separated where I sat from the rest of the club and froze. In fact, everything around me froze. The loud music faded away and at the moment, I couldn’t even tell you who the people around me were.

  The first thing I noticed was her cheekbones. They were so pronounced, sticking out high on her round face. Her smile was wide—all teeth—and genuine. How I could tell that from across the twenty-five feet that separated us, I have no idea. I just knew that it was true. She stood a step under and behind another woman, but whoever that other woman was, she might as well have been a ghost because I saw right through her.

  Maybe it was the spotlights dotted around the room and the woman who had my attention just so happened to be standing under on
e, but she had a glow around her, a golden light illuminating her celestial beauty. She was a goddess. When she threw her head back and laughed at something the woman with her said, my stomach tightened. I wanted to know what her laugh sounded like. Shit, I wanted to make her laugh again. She followed the ghost woman up the stairs, and they started heading in my direction. The closer she got, the more enthralled I became.

  Her hair was short, like really short, and faded on the sides with about an inch of shiny black curls left on top. There was a severe part cut into the left side of her hair and while I generally preferred long hair on women, the short style was sexy as hell on her. She wore a long-sleeved, form-fitting dress the color of cotton candy that fell past her knees and wrapped around her wide curves that made my heart beat fast and my dick try to stand up inside my slacks.

  She was thick and stacked, and I had every intention of becoming acquainted with her. With a silent prayer of thanks to God for blessing me with this vision, I stood, ready to make my mark. The two women came to a stop in front of me; the goddess had her eyes on the ghost whose face was glued to the screen of the cell phone in her hand.

  I opened my mouth to speak but was interrupted by a hand clapping me on the shoulder. I turned to see Fred standing next to me with his cell phone in his hand. Shit, I had been so enthralled with thickums, I had forgotten he had come by to check on me. He looked at me and smirked as he caught my eye before turning his attention to the two women in front of me.

  “Which one of you beauties is Ashton?”

  Both women snapped their heads up, and I held my breath. Please don’t let my goddess be Fred’s next conquest. Ever since his favorite matchmaking service, JustOneNight.com, had debuted their mobile app, Fred had been fucking a different woman at every turn. He was pretty tame when we were out on the road, but after every home game, he was guaranteed to bring a woman home. I had no interest in using the service, but he swore by it, attributing his lack of drama in the bedroom to the company. If it turned out that this yet nameless woman who had captured my attention was also on that damn site, I might give it a shot.