Page 57 of Quasim: King Inferno

“Cheer up and be nice. The both of you need to figure out whatever this is because the mood tonight is fun.”

“Shelly-Ann, call the man before I change my mind.”

She snickered. “You been hanging out with my husband too much… alright, bye.”

When she ended the call, I went into the freezer and grabbed my bottle of tequila and took two shots to soothe my nerves. Nosooner than the tequila slid down my throat, my phone started to ring, and it was Quasim’s name.

My hand hesitated over the green button and eventually I answered the phone. “Hey.”

“I’m on my way to you now, Anjo.”

Ugh. I hated that the nickname still sent flutters in my stomach. “Just text me when you’re here.”

The line went silent. “Yeah.”

I ended the call and poured me another shot before putting the bottle back and pacing the living room while wringing my hands. My heart went all crazy whenever I saw him, and I knew the minute that I saw him, the anger would remain, but my heart would soften because that’s what he did to me. Putting it frankly, I was putty in Quasim’s hands, and he knew it.

Quasimmy: Downstairs.

I grabbed my bag and purse, then locked up before heading downstairs. Before I left out the door, I saw Quasim leaning against a big ass SUV. He was looking straight at me as I pushed the door open, making sure that it was closed behind me.

“Where did you get this big ass truck from?”

Aside from seeing his old school car, I usually only saw Quasim on his bike. “I’m a pops for the summer so I needed to get a dad whip.”

I laughed. “You went and bought an entire car for just the summer?”

He opened the passenger door for me. “Who knows what the future holds? I might mess around and have me a football team.”

I looked at him, then quickly looked away as I climbed up in the front, and he took my bag with my clothes for the concert. “You’re going to make some woman super happy… but lord a football team sounds painful.”

He hesitated on closing the door while staring me right in the eyes. “Stop fucking playing with me, Blair.”

“What do you mean?”

“Yeah… ight.” He nodded his head as he closed the door and walked around the truck, climbing into the driver’s seat.

What does that even mean?

It was so roomy up here that I was able to cross my legs and pull out my kindle to finish readingBetting on Wilde Acesby Morgan Rose. Capri was the one that told me I needed to read it because it was so good.

Pri always had good book recommendations, so I decided to start the book, and now I was using it as a distraction to avoid having a conversation with Quasim on this two-hour ride to Lennox Hills.

As we pulled away from my street, I spotted IG’s getting on all angles on the truck as Sim whipped the wheel with one hand. Quasim saluted as he took off, and they kept right on up with him. This was their leader, the man they needed to protect. I always felt special whenever the IG’s surrounded my little busted Nissan, or when they were outside the studio.

“How you been, Anjo?”

“Blessed and highly favored.”

“Amen,” his petty ass hollered, sticking up that infamous church finger, and I rolled my eyes at him while he snickered to himself.

An hour into our drive, my phone finally added some noise to the silence in this car. Quasim was drumming his fingers on the steering wheel as he listened to old school songs and drove this truck like a maniac.

I now understood where Meer got his wild ass driving from, because the way this man was in and out of cars on this expressway was something crazy. The IG’s had fallen back the minute we got further on the highway.

Answering the phone, I turned out the window because it was Zay calling me and I didn’t want Quasim all in my business. “What happened to I’m going to call you when I get home?” I teased him.

He was in the studio late last night and said he would call me back, but he never did. I didn’t take it personally, because I was knocked out with drool spilling from my mouth, anyway.

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