Page 24 of Until the Ink Dries

I turned my head and my eyes caught a glimpse of someone familiar.

“Isn’t that Tierra Cox?” I asked, pointing across the room.

Shirah followed my gaze and nodded. “Yeah. Just… don’t make eye contact with her.”

I laughed. “Why not? She can’t possibly still hate my guts ten years later.”

I never had any real beef with Tierra, but she apparently had beef with me, meaning she was beefing alone. She’s always been jealous of how well I got along with most everybody. Back then, I was a social butterfly and carried myself with a grace she didn’t have. She thought I thought I was better than everybody. That was the furthest thing from the truth.

“Tierra is different now,” Shirah explained. “I mean, she changed for the better after high school, but she’sreallydifferent now. Not a good different. Just leave it at that.”

My brows furrowed.What was the big deal about Tierra?

She peered around me once more and rolled her eyes. “Mr. Popular is being Mr. Popular. Bitches be so thirsty?—”

I shot her a look. “Just bitches?”

She pointed a finger at me. “Don’t do that. I’m not thirsty for that man. I’ve had him and I could have him again if I want.” She huffed. “I’m going to dance. You coming or are you gonna watch Benjamin all night?”

“Fuck you.”

She cackled as she walked off to the dance floor. I shook my head as I downed another sip of my drink. I looked between the nearly empty cup and the bar, trying to decide if I wanted to go over. There was an empty spot right next to Benjamin. Swallowing my nerves, I put on my best poker face and made my way over to him. I stopped behind him and tapped his shoulder.

“I see you knew what was best for you,” I jested.

He took another drink before turning to face me. I didn’t miss his eyes perusing my frame. A small smirk found its way to my face as his eyes finally met mine.

“And what was that?” he asked.

“That you be here. Shirah and I even rode by the shop. I was going to make good on dragging you out of there if I had to.”

He laughed and waved me off.

“Where is your girl, anyway?” he asked.

I nodded to the dance floor. There was my girl, being the life of the party, doing the chicken head in the middle of the floor. I laughed to myself as I shook my head.

“You gone leave your girl out there by herself?” Benjamin asked.

“She will be alright. Does it look like she needs any help?”

We looked back in her direction and noticed a few of our other classmates had joined her on the dance floor with her, being just as ratchet. If there was one thing my girl knew how to do, it was start and keep a party going. I knew I was going to hear about how bad her knees were hurting tomorrow because she wasn’t as young as she used to be.

I looked back at Benjamin. “Look at you trying so hard to get rid of me. Are you trying to tell me you aren’t enjoying my company?”

He finished his drink, then tossed it into the closest trash bin before returning his focus back to me. A few of my curls had dropped in front of my face and when he reached out to move them behind my ear, my breathing hitched. It was a simple gesture, but still somewhat… intimate. Our eyes locked for a moment and he ran his tongue against his lower lip before stepping back.

“Nah, never that. You cool, I’m just trying not to bore you.”

“If I was bored, trust me, I wouldn’t have come seeking you out to be around you.”

“Touché.”

Jordan walked over before we could say more. He spoke to me briefly before Shirah came over, complaining about her knees like I knew she would. Her eyes met Jordan’s as he licked his lips and smiled. My girl smirked, knowing she’d grabbed his attention. The way those two were looking at each other, I knew by the end of the night, I was going to be a third wheel.

All was going well until a commotion that started across the room made its way over to us in the form of that damn Tierra Cox. My gaze drifted to Benjamin who seemed like she was the last person he wanted to see. I found out why when she greeted him with that“Hey, baby daddy,”line. Baby daddy? He has a kid? And with her of all people?

Tierra was getting loud and being ignorant. When she made Benjamin spill a drink on himself, I thought he was going to lose it. He’d calmly told her to go outside and when she refused, he raised his voice, causing me to jump. The Benjamin I knew never yelled. He was always calm, cool, and collected. I wasn’t sure if they were still a thing, but whatever they had going on was toxic as hell.

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