Page 17 of Van

Chapter 7

Van

Reggie walks in, acting like nothing is different, like nothing has changed. The girls stand near the bar with their hands on Chy’s belly, feeling the baby move. Mask is off in his office, and I’m here, just watching the scene in front of me. Chyanne has been here for a few weeks now, and the more I talk to her, the more I find I like her. She’s a nice person who thinks highly of others. She has a good heart and would be the kind of girl I would be attracted to if she weren’t having a baby. At least, that’s what I’m telling myself.

“You okay?” Pike asks as he passes me a beer.

“I’m good. Just ready to handle Reggie,” I tell him. We’ve been keeping an eye on him for the last couple of weeks, hoping he would stop selling our drugs for his own profit, but he hasn’t. And he doesn’t know we know.

“Heard that, brother. I’m with you. I don’t know how much longer we have to wait on this shit,” he says.

“What shit?” Free asks as he joins our little conversation.

“Reggie shit,” I tell him. He nods and brings his beer to his lips before sitting on the chair and leaning back.

“I want it over,” Free states.

“We all do. I think Mask is just givin’ him a little time to change, and I don’t think that’s gonna happen,” I tell him.

“Don’t seem that way, does it?”

“No. Not at all.” I turn my head when I hear Chy laughing and look at her. She looks beautiful. Fucking perfect, and I’m a sick motherfucker for thinking about her like that. I can’t get involved with her. I know I can’t.

“You like the new girl?” Pike asks me.

“What’s not to like?” I ask him back as I look at her. She’s beautiful.

“She’s pregnant.”

“There is that,” I say as I nod my head. I know she’s pregnant, and that’s exactly why I can’t get involved with her, no matter how much I like being around her. I shove out of my chair and walk over to the girls, sliding up next to Nicole. She immediately throws her arms around my neck, pressing her lips to my cheek.

“What are you doing?” she asks as she presses her body against mine.

“Just seein’ what you girls are up to. Kinda lonely over there with the guys,” I tell her. She nods her head and leans in, pressing her lips to mine. I kiss her back, hell any man would kiss her back but it all feels wrong. The laughter stops around us when I pull away and glance at the other girls. No one is laughing now that Chy has turned and walked away. Fuck. Did she walk off because of me?

“She okay?” I ask Nicole.

“She’s fine. Just having a bad day,” she says as she runs her hands up and down my chest and abs. I came over here and started this, so why the fuck don’t I want to finish it? Instead of playing, I step back and let her hands fall away from me. She looks at me strangely when I run my hand over my face and smile.

“I need to piss,” I tell her before turning and walking down the hall. I don’t have to piss. I need to see what’s wrong with Chyanne. And that’s exactly where I go, too. I knock on her door before I think better of it, and when she says it’s open, I walk in.

“I didn’t know it was you,” she murmurs.

“What difference does that make?”

“I’m not really into dealing with men today,” she tells me as I walk over and drop into the chair in the corner of her room. She looks at me, really looks at me and I find myself wondering what it is she’s thinking about.

“Talk to me.”

“I don’t want to.”

“I think you do,” I tell her. I can see the look in her eyes. She has something to say, and I want to hear it. I need to hear it.

“I just don’t feel like talking today, Van.”

“What happened?”

“Don’t you have girls waiting for you?” she asks, a slight attitude in her tone. She didn’t like seeing me with Nic, and maybe that’s the problem. She doesn’t want to see anyone with her friend.

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