Page 97 of Heartless Mafia Prince

She whipped her head toward me. “What? You didn’t like the watch I bought you for your birthday?”

I chuckled as I kept my eyes on the road. “Yes, I love the watch.” I squeezed her thigh.

“You don’t realize how bad I have it for you. Tonight, I want to unwrap you.”

Ryah leaned over and pressed her lips against my cheek. Her fingers lingered in my curly hair.

“I can’t wait. But first, I plan to beat your ass in basketball and Skee-Ball.”

“Bring it, Princess.”

***P***

Ryah and I approached our friends. They were gathered near the basketball station. The arcade was massive. You could play laser tag in the room next to the arcade zone.

I heard bowling balls smacking pins at the nearby lanes. It was a kid’s dream place for fun.

“What’s up, bro?” Jeremiah smiled, giving me a bro hug.

“This is the most we’ve seen each other outside of school.”

Briar and Easton laughed.

“In his defense, we didn’t know if we were moving to another school,” Ryah stated, before stepping over to the girls.

There was some truth to what she said. I wanted to hang out with my teammates. Usually, I didn’t bother getting invested with people outside my mafia circle. This was a first for me. Letting people in. Just a little. When I told Ryah we’d stay, I decided to hang out with the guys.

She once said no one was to be trusted. And she was right. My woman was smart for thinking that way.

Ryah chose to hang out with the girls but viewed their friendship through skeptical lenses. She was ready to cut Faith’s throat at any moment. The second she learned of foul play; Faith would be sleeping underneath a strip mall.

“We’ll play guys against girls. I’ll grab a token card.” I walked past several kids crowded around the claw machine.

They smashed their fingers against the glass. “Pick up the blue stuffed animal,” one kid yelled. The others hollered in agreeance.

They were so fucking loud. I could hear them over the noisy machines around me.

“Rocco?” Ryah called, jogging toward me.

“Yeah?” I hooked my arm around her neck.

“I told Genevieve I’d ask you about Jeremiah. Is he interested in her? I noticed him flirting with her yesterday.”

“You did, huh?” I pushed a twenty-dollar bill into the card machine. I probably shouldn’t tell her he said he wanted to fuck her friend.

Her big, beautiful eyes held curiosity.

“Jeremiah, doesn’t really do girlfriends.”

“You didn’t either.”

I snatched the card out of the machine. “You’re right, but I liked you for years.”

“But I didn’t know that, Rocco.”

Slipping my arm around her waist, I pulled her against me. “I’ll ask him.”

Ryah’s face lit up.

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