Page 46 of The Deed to a Gangsta's Heart

She scoffed. “Fuck all that.”

There was no point in going back and forth about it, so I didn’t even respond. The ride home was silent. I hadn’t even gotten the car in the garage good before she was storming off. All I could do was chuckle. She was so sweet and warm, but when she was mad, it was like night and day.

I found her in our bedroom undressing with the shower on.

“Are you mad at me?” I asked, walking over to her.

“No, you didn’t do anything. Are you mad at me?”

“No. I wish things would have played out different, but I can’t fault you for your reaction to disrespect. I like fighting your battles for you, pookie.”

Her stance softened and she walked over to me. Wrapping her arms around me, Callie puckered her lips for a kiss. I gladly gave her one.

“I appreciate you wanting to be my protector, but she was a woman, so it was on me to handle that.”

“And clearly Luci too.”

A smile broke out across her face. “Did you expect anything different?”

“Actually no, with y’all wild asses.”

She giggled before giving me another kiss. “Take a shower with me. I don’t want her to ruin our night.”

“Say less.”

As I undressed, I thought about how what happened tonight could be a regular occurrence. A lot of women swore something was going on between me and Callie. Hell, she was the reason a lot of my relationships didn’t last long. Maybe they saw something between us we were too blind to see. Either way, I was glad Callie was able to brush the shit off quickly. Hopefully, if any of my exes heard about what happened tonight, it would keep them from approaching us if they saw us in the future.

27

Armor

That Weekend

After the fiascoatEver’s Pub, I didn’t want to go out this weekend, so I invited the crew to my place to chill tomorrow night. Now that I had Luci, I didn’t mind being around the other couples in the group. I’d texted Adam one last time and told him straight up that if I didn’t hear from him, I assumed he didn’t want me in his life and that he didn’t want to hear from me again. It felt extreme, but I was tired of the way things were between us.

I wasn’t expecting him to call, so when Luci yelled from the bedroom and told me my phone was ringing, I didn’t expect it to be him. Still, I told her to answer as I pulled my shirt over my head. After her gasp, I heard a thud. I rushed into the bedroom to find her gripping the dresser, mouth open, as she stared at my phone on the carpeted floor.

“What’s wrong, sweetheart?”

“W-what’s your b-brother’s name?” she stuttered as tears filled her eyes.

The phone vibrated. I looked down at it and sawBROTHAon the screen. She must have hung up in his face, and I needed to know why before I answered.

“Adam. Why?”

Chuckling, she ran her fingers down her locs and pulled them. “Why don’t y’all have the same last name?”

“Mama didn’t want to give him our father’s last name since he didn’t stick around for me. She regretted sleeping with him again the one time he showed up after she had me. What’s going on? You know him?”

“Yes,” she stressed as she began to pace. “That’s my ex. The one that randomly broke up with me before I left Memphis.”

Her words settled on my heart like bricks. The phone rang again. I didn’t know what to say to Luci, so I answered for him.

“Wassup, Adam?”

“What’s going on? Somebody answered the phone and hung up.”

“Yeah uh… Can I call you right back?”

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