Page 34 of Tangled Hearts
Then he closed his eyes and thanked God for one more night of being next to her.
Even if it wasn’t forever, tonight it was enough.
CHAPTER 8
Noir hoppedto her feet with a smile on her face. Life for the seventeen-year-old was easy like Sunday mornings, but that wasn’t what had her in good spirits. After spending many nights on the phone with Christian, she’d finally gotten him to agree to taking her out. That within itself was a feat.
Over the last three days, she hadn’t talked with Knycole much and couldn’t wait to give her all the details on how charming Christian actually was. His thuggish demeanor was like nothing she’d ever experienced, and it had her smitten immediately.
There was only one thing standing in her way—her strict mother.
Nakorea didn’t play the radio when it came down to her dating and wouldn’t like the idea of her seeing an almost twenty-one-year-old man. So, to keep shit down, Noir was going to lie and say she was going to kick it with Knycole. Nakorea knew Knycole’s situation but never held that against her and actually really loved their friendship.
Being that Noir was more than ready to chill with Christian, she packed her bag the night before and even made sure to shave every inch of her body. When she got to Knycole’s house, she wasgoing to bribe her into flat ironing her shoulder-length hair and adding a few tracks for length.
“Damn, you leaving this early?” Nakorea asked when she saw her daughter packing her toothbrush in her Adidas gym bag.
“You said I could go,” Noir said with pouted lips.
Nakorea crossed her legs while she sipped her coffee. “I know what I said, and you also know you ain’t going nowhere before you clean up and eat something. Let me find out your fast ass is trying to get somewhere else.”
Knowing she needed to keep her slick mouth to a minimum if she wanted to get out the house, she dropped her bag and went to do her Saturday cleaning. One thing her mother was certain she’d teach her daughter was how to be a clean person. Nakorea had the power to bend on a lot of things, but having a clean house wasn’t one of them.
After cleaning up, Noir was out the door and on her way to her best friend’s house, which was unknown to Knycole. She would fill her in on the plan once she made it to her apartment. The walk over was warm and riddled with lots of the local corner boys trying to shoot their shot. Her and her best friend were among some of the prettiest girls in the hood and none of the boys let them forget it. Still, she was just unbothered by the common folks. Noir wanted a nigga that had money or a strong ability to get to a bag. She was a gold digger, in the most mediocre sense, and wasn’t ashamed to admit it.
“Aye, pretty girl, when you gonna give me a little of your time?” Cash asked.
Any time the two ran into one another, he would always let it be known that he was feeling her. Cash was no fool, though. He knew she was a sack chaser only willing to talk to a nigga with a bag, and at the moment, that wasn’t him. His money was nowhere near where he wanted it to be, but that never stopped him from flirting.
“Don’t start with me, Cash. You know my time is money,” Noir teased.
He grabbed his pocket. “Shit, how much? I’ll give you everything I got in my pocket.” His smile was infectious. Noir always blushed at the thuggishly handsome boy. If her mindset was different, she would give him her heart. Unfortunately, for him, she was just too young and inexperienced to even want to think about falling in love. Her heart was too immature to hit the paint with a nigga while he stacked his paper.
“Let me think about it and get back with you.” She smiled, running her hand against his exposed arm.
Chills ran up his arm. “Don’t think about it too long… My music is about to take off and you know the saying. ‘Back then they didn’t want me. Now I’m hot, they all on me,’” Cash jested, tossing his hair out his face. Noir didn’t miss the seriousness in his tone.
“I already know. That last song you dropped was a bop,” she replied, never stopping her stride to Knycole’s house. Her compliment made him smile, but he didn’t say anything else to her.
No matter how she tried to mask her feelings, for one reason or another, Cash had a place in her heart. He was handsome, talented, and charming as ever. Unlike the other boys in the hood, he was never disrespectful and would complement her whenever he noticed something new about her. Still, no matter how many butterflies fluttered in her belly, she was determined to not give him the time of day. In her mind, he was too good for her.
But hearing him call her pretty girl always made her heart smile.
The walk over to Knycole’s wasn’t a long one. It took her no time to get to the apartment building and walk up the steps.
Stepping up to the door, Noir tapped on it with little strength. “It’s me, Knyc. Open the damn door.”
Knycole stood in the kitchen whipping up the product while Hov weighed it and separated it to be delivered to his spots. Within three days, his new business was rolling. Since he was respected and feared in the hood, niggas didn’t hesitate to get down when he announced he would be running shit up under Christian. Plus, being associated with Christian was what all low-level dope boys wanted anyway. The thrill of dick riding another man would never make sense to Hov, but who was he to judge?
“So, what did the smokers say about my whip game?” Knycole asked, not hearing the knock at her door.
His eyes peered over to her. “I taught your ass how to cook, so you know they love that shit. My cook game is too official.” Hov chuckled, forming a muscle in his arm.
“I know you heard me knocking on the door!” Noir busted through the door with her hand on her hip. “The fuck?” she gasped, holding onto her chest.
Hov’s eyes grew a few sizes bigger while his gun was pointed at her head. “The fuck? Your hardheaded ass didn’t lock the fuckin’ door, Knycole?” He’d been fussing at her for the same thing since he’d first laid his head there.
“I’m sorry! I forgot. Damn,” Knycole sassed, hand on her hip.
