Page 20 of Smoke After Hours

“Oh, there’s Jade again,” Bentley exclaimed, speaking over the music as we reached the main dance area. “Let me tell her that we released the High Hoppers into the wild.”

She was off, leaving me to watch her escape to the corner of the room where Jade was.

“My eyes must be fuckin’ wit’ me,” a voice bellowed from behind me.

I turned around, surprised to see my friend, Evander.

“Yo, I thought you weren’t in the States,” I stated, dabbing fists with him. “What are you doing here?”

“My cousins are the main attraction,” he answered, nodding to a few men who favored him in looks who were currently entertaining a bridal party.

“Your cousins are strippers?” I asked.

“They call it exotic dancing or some shit,” he explained. “You may not know, but Jade is from Detroit and she recruited them. A few have gotten married since the Hoods started the contract with Black Lush, but those of us who are single or, let’s be for real, actin’ like we’re single, fill in any time we’re in town.”

“Is that why you’re here?”

He nodded. “Yeah. My cousin, Alessandro, hit me up. I head home tomorrow and I ain’t have shit else to do tonight.” He glanced down at my plain black T-shirt and black boxers. “You do know at a place like this, you’re supposed to wear something other than your everyday clothes, right?”

I observed his pink silk shorts that had green weed leaves all over it with a matching shirt that was unbuttoned. “Nah, fam, you’re loud enough for every muthafucka in here.”

Evander spun and popped his collar. “Fuck you, pink is my color.”

Bentley ended her conversation with Jade and joined us. I was about to introduce her to Evander, but the way he was checking her out made me pause.

“Fam, you’re my boy, but you’re staring at my ol’ lady a little too hard.”

Bentley blushed, her eyes sparkling with pleasure at my endearment.

“My bad, bruh,” he stated, shaking his head from the fog that Bentley tended to place too many of these muthafuckas in. “Hey, my name is Evander.”

Bentley accepted his handshake, gasping in surprise when he kissed the back of her hand. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Bentley, and I want to thank you for allowing us to stay at your house.”

“The pleasure is all mine.” He flashed her that dumb ass grin that often drew the ladies to him. The movement was subtle, but when his eyes briefly dropped to her knees, it suddenly hit me why he was being so damn friendly.

“Benz, do you mind if I catch up with Evander real quick?”

She shook her head. “Not at all. I’ll be by the bar.”

I popped Evander upside his head when he watched her walk away. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“It’s not my fault,” he defended, rubbing the spot I hit. “If you think about it, you’ll realize it’s your own damn fault.”

“Nigga, I went into your security room and deleted the footage from the camera you keep in the kitchen after Bentley went to bed. Then I found your backup and deleted that shit, too.”

Evander wiggled his eyebrows. “You ain’t check the feed from the camera in the cookie jar that goes straight to my phone.”

The fuck?“Bruh, the cookie jar?”

“What?” He shrugged. “I like sweets, and no one ever checks the bottom of a cookie jar.”

“Van, if you don’t delete that shit …”

“I know, I know. Already done.” He took out his phone and opened an app, scrolling to the day we were at his house. “See? I deleted everything from the kitchen that night. And before you ask, nah, I didn’t save a copy.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose, knowing this muthafucka wouldn’t tell me the truth any damn way. Evander was one of my best friends, but he was into some freaky shit. Apparently, all of these damn Hoods were when I thought about the tattoo shop that his brother, Elias, ran and his cousins who were grinding on females in every corner of Lush right now.

“At least stop staring at her so goddamn hard.” I popped his head in the same spot when he searched for her at the bar.

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