Page 29 of Read the Room

“I am so ready,” she told me. “I’m usually not a club, lounge, or wherever type of girl, but to get out of the house, I’ll go any damn where. I don’t even know where we’re going. Where are we going?”

I chuckled at her zealousness. “It’s Joey’s birthday. We got a section at Club Obsession.”

She gasped. “It’s Joey’s birthday! He never told me that his birthday was coming up. I don’t have a gift for him, Lo.” Her ass was worried about a damn gift.

“Tsireya, why the fuck would you know when that man’s birthday is? As far as a gift, tell that nigga happy birthday, and keep it moving,” I told her. “Going to his party is the gift.”

Her top lip turned up. “That is so ghetto. I should know when his birthday is since I spend a lot of time with him. I know yours.”

My neck stretched back. That surprised me because I never told her ass my birthday.

“When is my birthday?”

She crossed her arms over herself with an “I Know it All” smirk.

“Your birthday is September sixteenth, sir.”

She laughed when I asked her how the hell she knew that shit.

“I’m resourceful. I asked Mama Bee.”

Mama Bee didn’t mind telling people’s business whether you wanted her to or not. I felt like that was a characteristic of people over fifty. They didn’t give a damn what they said about your business, their business, or anyone else’s business. If you said something to them, their asses would cuss you out like your business was their business, because once you put it in their ear, it was their business.

“Okay, I see you.” I glanced down at my Movado watch. “Get ready. We’re leaving around ten-thirty.”

I didn’t give her a chance to respond before I left her room. My outfit was already laid out, so it wouldn’t take me long to jump into the shower and get ready. Mama Bee raised me to lay my clothes out the night before. It was a lesson that I never let go of and planned to teach it to my children. Hell, I was teaching it to Jedi. Before we sat down for our movie, we picked out his clothes for the next day. He had this thing where once he picked out his outfit, he wanted to lay it out next to my clothes inmy room. That was cool for now since his mama and I weren’t sleeping together yet.

Reya was ready by the time I was ready. Jedi and SJ were bathed, in their pajamas, and in the living room on a cushioned pallet ready for their movie night. Neither of their asses would last long because they both were fighting their sleep.

After we all made sure we were ready to go, we walked out to the two cars that awaited us. I figured that we would drink. Plus, we were going to a hotel afterward. There was no way that I would potentially fuck a woman with Mama Bee in the house.

It took just under an hour to get to Club Obsession. There was a line wrapped around the building as expected. It wasn’t a secret that Sully and Simone would come to Joey’s party together. When I stepped foot out of the second car, some of the bitches in the line were already calling my name to get in. Hos these days were different. Back in the day, hos were more discrete about how they approached men. Now, they didn’t give a fuck who was around when they offered to buss it open.

When my hand extended into the car and Reya came out on the other end of it, the shock was real for the bitches and niggas. Although Reya was a good, quiet girl, she was known because of her jobs at the sandwich shop and the strip club. As we walked to the door hand in hand, my eyes fell on Meka and Carmella in the line. Their reaction was priceless.

“What’s up, ladies?”

“H-hey, AK.” Meka greeted me. “Hey, Reya. Surprised to see you here.”

Reya smiled. “Hey, Meka. It’s nice to see you too.” She bowed her head in greeting. “Carmela.”

Security immediately let us in.

“What’s up, my guy?” Avery Horry greeted us at the door. He was a cool old head who minded his business and his family. Hedidn’t tolerate bullshit in his establishment, and it was known as a neutral zone in the city. The same was for Club Lit.

Sully and I dapped him.

“You know it’s all love and business,” I responded.

He personally escorted us to our section, which was the biggest in the club. Joey and Ethan were already in the section with a few bitches and members of our team. There were two sections next to ours that held members of our team too. Not everyone was blessed to party in the boss’s section. We all greeted each other and settled in. I made sure Reya’s ass settled on my lap. None of these niggas needed to get any ideas.

Reya wore a form fitting dress that was shorter than I wanted it to be. Before we left the house, I wanted to do a fuckin’ fingertip test, but Ma told me to leave her alone. There was a bar in the section, so our waitress didn’t have to go far to get our drink orders. My arm was firmly around Reya’s waist as she rocked her hips to the beat of the music. My lips had a mind of their own when they kissed her neck.

She stole a glance over her shoulder at me. Her ass smelled good, looked beautiful, and felt good on my lap. I unwrapped my arm from her waist to put my hand in her curly twist out. A twist-out was her signature hairstyle, and I loved that natural shit. My hand lightly gripped her hair, and I pulled her back into me. Without any instruction, she shifted on my lap and slammed her lips into mine.First move made.

Our tongues played tug of war with each other. There was an urgency in our kiss like this was something that we both wanted for a long time. When I pulled back, I gripped her lip between my teeth. From the message in her gaze, I knew that she liked it a little rough. My dick started to brick, so I let her lip go. We hadn’t been here an acceptable amount of time to leave yet.

“Be good,” I said into her ear.

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