Page 8 of Smoke After Hours

As the night ended, guests reluctantly bidded farewell to the sensory extravaganza, their senses awakened, and their spirits lifted by an evening of unparalleled indulgence. Sometimes, you didn’t know what you were missing until you found your people, the sense of belonging infectious.

It wasn’t until after everyone had left and I stepped out into the cool night air with Bentley by my side as we walked home that I truly felt at ease for the first time all night. That’s what being around her did to me. She was my center.

“I love nights like this,” Bentley muttered as the Brooklyn night enveloped us in its cool embrace. Even after midnight, the city was alive with the buzz of activity, especially on our block. Per usual, we fell into easy conversation—her voicing her excitement for what was yet to come with the smoke hop, and me walking in silence as I enjoyed the sound of her voice.

“Do you remember that time we were delivering Mr. Johnson’s edible order?" she asked, a mischievous twinkle in her eye when she pointed to a familiar brownstone that used to be owned by the owner of an urban clothing store that had been around since I was a kid.

“Yeah, he moved a few years back,” I recounted. “He still owns his store, but Messiah heard he owns a strip club in Atlanta now.”

Bentley shook her head in amusement, a wry smile playing on her lips. “Not surprising. We walked in on Mr. J and his wifeat the wrong time. But I gotta admit, it was funny as hell when we realized they were arguing because both of them were having an affair with the same woman.”

“That shit was crazy, but lowkey, Mrs. J wasn’t hiding the fact that she would leave her husband for the other woman. He brought the other woman into their house in the first place,” I reminded. “He met his mistress at a strip club, and when Mrs. J found the other woman in bed with her husband, she kicked her ass out.”

“Only to start something with ol’ girl a month later.” Bentley laughed. “I swear, the best decision we made that day was taking Mr. and Mrs. J up on their offer to pop an edi with them. Their chaos was bringing me life that day.”

As we approached our apartment building, I couldn’t help but feel a surge of spontaneity, not wanting the night to end.

“Would you be down for getting a burger at that new joint on Flatbush Avenue?”

Like they always did, her eyes sparkled at the mention of food.

“Oh hell yeah,” she exclaimed, already dragging me to the train.

When we got there, Bentley ended up ordering two burgers, one chicken and the other ground beef since she couldn’t make up her mind.

I didn’t tell her that the real reason we were at the burger joint was because I knew she hadn’t eaten a full meal all day. She’d only been snacking on that dried steak, too nervous about launching the smoke hop to eat something substantial.

I barely touched my burger. Instead, I watched her. Just like I always did.

four

HOP STOP #2 - Herbal Haze: An organic dispensary sampling in the basement of Greek Gawds Ink tattoo shop.

BENTLEY

I always enjoyed visiting Michigan,but I had never been to Summerland, a college town that seemed quaint and chill during the day, but at night, every business seemed to come alive.

Although the cigar lounge had kicked off Toasted, today was the official start of the traveling portion of the smoke hop. Our host for the next couple days was Elias Hood, owner of the Greek Gawds Ink location in Summerland. Or at least I thought Elias was joining us.

“Thanks for hosting us,” I told Wade and the other tattoo artists present, Knox, Diesel, and Stryker. I greeted each of them, unable to help my body’s response to how attractive they all were. All beautifully crafted in different shades of brown. Each with their own unique style that couldn’t help but draw you in.

And if their looks weren’t enough to make me drool, their eye contact, and the way they made you feel like no one else existed in the room when they shook my hand, put me in an invigorating trance I couldn’t shake. Not that I wanted to.

“We’re happy to have you here,” Wade replied in a heavy southern accent. “Elias is sorry he was unable to be here, but he’s away on other business. We’re new to the cannabis industry, and Stryker here is the brain behind Herbal Haze, our organic dispensary in the basement of the shop.”

Stryker stepped forward, his dreads pulled back into a neat ponytail and his skin the kind of smooth dark chocolate that you couldn’t help but want to lick.

“Did you want a tour of the facility before tonight’s workshop?” Stryker asked.

In a couple hours, our VIP High Hoppers and local members would be attending an educational workshop on cannabis cultivation, food infusion, and wellness.

“Of course,” I answered, smiling a bit too hard. “We’d love that.”

The smirk that filled his mouth was too damn sexy. “Follow me. I’ll take care of you.”

It was how he saidyouthat had me goofily grinning even more than I already was. As we followed Stryker to the basement, I wasn’t surprised to find Volley giving me the side eye when he looked from me to Stryker.

‘What?’I mouthed, earning me a scowl as he lifted his eyebrow.

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