Page 12 of A Player's Prayer
“What?” I frowned, snatching the Louis bag from her. “It’s just a duffle bag.” Shaking my head, I looked inside, and my mouth dropped. Placing it in my lap, I opened it wider to see knots and knots of rolled hundreds inside. “What the fuck?”
“You know what?” Amelia stood, but I was too focused on the cash to look at her. “I’m staying here with you tonight. Fuck the club. It seems to me we need a girls’ night. Let me order us some food. You’ve been holding out on me, Dakota, cause ain’t no way.”
Still unable to say anything, I stared at the money in awe. Between this and all of the gifts, I didn’t know what to say. Wild didn’t have to do all of this to get my attention. He may not have known it, but he already had it with his unhinged behavior. I don’t know what his endgame was, but he didn’t have to go to this extreme to get my time. Hearing a phone ring, I fumbled around until I found it under the stack of boxes. Chuckling, I realized this was his replacement for breaking my phone the other day. I only needed a new screen, but I wasn’t going to complain about getting the brand-new iPhone 16.
“Hello?” My heart thudded in my chest as I answered for the unknown caller. “Who is this?”
“Who the fuck you think?” Wild all but growled. Inhaling deeply, he blew out what I assumed was smoke before speakingagain. “You expecting another nigga to call you on this new line?”
“As a matter of fact?—”
“Girl, don’t make me come over there and smother your ass.” He cut me off, causing me to laugh. “Did you get the stuff I sent you?”
“Adrian, how did you get my address?” I countered, frowning in confusion. “Not only my address but also where I worked, my name… hell, even my sizes. Have you been stalking me?”
“Yes,” he answered immediately with no shame. “Yes, I have, so there’s no need to go back and forth about it. Seeing as though you got the gifts, do you like them?”
Looking around at the mountains of shoes, purses, and bags, I nodded as if he could see me. “Yes, the money too. Listen, I appreciate the gesture, but you didn’t have to do any of this. A simple ‘I’m sorry for being a stupid-ass nigga with no home training?—'”
“I’m gon’ tell Evelyn how you’ve been out here dragging her mothering skills—out here clowning my mama like she’s a deadbeat and shit.” He stopped talking to me to address a woman in his background. It was so loud, it sounded as if he were at a party. “Check it, I gotta go and handle some shit. Don’t think too much about the gifts because that shit ain’t me. I know you’ve been having a tough time lately, and I flipped the coin to see if I should help. I guess the universe wanted me to do something to brighten your day.”
“Well, instead of thanking you, I’ll thank the universe.”
“Man, it ain’t nothing but a hop and skip to that townhouse you’re sitting up in. You must like me choking your ass out, Kodi.”
I smirked, knowing that would get a response out of him. “Thank you for the gifts, Adrian,” I said as Amelia came backinto the living room with food. “Thank you for the money too. It’s too much, but I’ma keep it.”
“It’s not too much.” Shuffling could be heard before he belted out, “Girl, get the fuck out of my face! Don’t your onion head ass see me on the phone!” He pulled the phone away from his mouth to cuss her out. I could have sworn I heard him say something about sticking his dick in her nose, but I wasn’t sure. “My bad, Kodi. These hoes ain’t got no manners. Listen, the money, gifts, all that shit is for you. I was rude as fuck to you for no reason, and this is my way of saying, ‘my bad.’” Look on the bright side… Now I know for sure you got the bread and ain’t got to be out here giving lip service for sneakers. Peace out.”
Hanging up the phone before I could cuss him out, I looked up and found Amelia grinning up at me. “He likes you, friend.” She handed me a bag full of tacos. I guess we were Mexicans tonight. “I’ve never seen him spend money on a woman before.”
“Girl, I’m not worried about his ignorant ass.” I waved her off as I spread my food out before me. “I don’t care how much money he spends; he will never be able to buy common sense, and hedamn surecan’t buy me.”
“Heard you!” We laughed and slapped hands. “But, seriously… Wild’s a good dude, and he comes from a good family. He’s been a lifesaver to me, so I will always sing his praises. Enough about that, though.” She stood from the floor and walked over to my stereo. “Let’s unbox all this stuff so I can see what I want to borrow.”
For the rest of the night, we sat on the floor and ran through an entire bottle of liquor. By the time we were done, we were drunk as hell and too full to move. I showed Amelia where my guest room was, and she wasted no time stumbling up the stairs to settle in.
As I flopped down on my bed, head swimming, my mind drifted to a certain loud-mouthed dreadhead. Adrian was allthings wild, and I knew I needed to stay away from him. Unfortunately, the thumping between my lower lips was saying something different. The couple of times I’ve been around this man, I wanted to slap his face and ride it at the same time. He was nothing but trouble, but part of me wanted to test the waters anyway. Sighing heavily, I threw my arm over my eyes and welcomed the darkness. The liquor was talking right now, and it was a little too loud for me. I knew I had to stay away from Adrian Mills. I didn’t want the drama and chaos that I’m sure came along with him.
Since I’ve been off work, I’ve decided to be more intentional about the things I do in my free time. Today was such a beautiful day, and I chose to run the small trail located near my home. I’ve never really had to do much when it came to fitness and being in shape, but if I wanted to live a long and healthy life, it wasn’t a bad idea to start.
“Shit…” I panted as I hit the two-mile mark. I hadn’t run this long since my early college days. “I’m tired as hell.”
Stumbling over to a nearby bench, I popped the top off my water bottle and guzzled it down. It was a little after seven on a Saturday morning, so the heat for today had yet to come. I wanted to get a head start on my day because I had a few errands to run later, and I still wanted to get some TV time too.
While I sat with my head back, catching my breath, I felt a shadow form over me. Popping my eyes open, I was face-to-face with a sweaty Dr. Morrison.
“Nurse Jenkins… what a shock to see you here.” He grinned as he moved to the side of me and took a seat on the bench. “I run this trail every day, and I haven’t seen you out here once.”
“If I want to have a hot girl summer, I can’t afford to have a big back.” I shrugged as he stared at me, obviously unsure of how to respond. “I’m joking, Dr. Morrison. But I felt like the day was too nice not to come out and enjoy it.” Standing from my seat, I stretched slightly, the doctor’s eyes following my every move. “I just finished up, so I’m leaving now. Enjoy your day, Doc.”
“Craig…” he called out as he jogged to catch up with me. I hadn’t gotten too far, just walking through the gate, headed back toward the main entrance of the trail. The park was a five-minute walk from my townhouse, so there was no need to drive. “We’re not at work, so you don’t have to be so formal.” Reaching to grab my arm, I stopped, turning to face him. “I would love to take you out sometime, Dakota.”
Looking him over, I would never deny how attractive he was. The white beater clung to his chest like a second layer of skin while his ball shorts left nothing to the imagination. I could drool over his stature and how hung he was, but it was nothing new. Just like Wild, he towered over my small frame.Wild.Speaking of attractive men, he had called me a total of three times this morning. I wasn’t intentionally ignoring him. I just wanted to go through my day with the least amount of distractions as possible, but with my phone vibrating again for the fourth time, I came to the realization that was not going to happen.
“I’m sorry… one second.” I gave him a small smile as I pulled my phone from my fanny pack. “This might be important.” Nodding that he understood, I walked a few steps away and took the call. “Adrian, it’s early. Is everything okay?”
Since he had the gifts sent to my home two days ago, he and I have exchanged minimal messages. He would always start off asking what I was doing and end up asking if he could come over. Although our encounters with each other have beenchaotic, he was funny, and I enjoyed his banter. As much as I wanted to write him off, he had a way of clinging to you.
