Page 53 of Arris, Jayme & Dyani
“Thank you, Dyani.”
I smiled at her. She smiled at me. We both laid our heads along the back of the couch. We looked at each other. I was the one who reached for her hand. She let me grab it and her fingers linked through mine.
“I had fun tonight,” I said. “Blake is a cool kid.”
“Isn’t he?”
“I mean he does get it from both sides.” I wagged my eyebrows up and down and Jayme giggled.
“Don’t tell Arris that.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it.”
“Good.” She lifted my hand and kissed the back. Then she let her head tilt forward and closed her eyes.
“Jayme?” I said quietly.
“Hm?” She opened her eyes.
“I had lunch with Arris today.”
“Okay?” It was apparent from how she responded that she wasn’t sure why I was bringing it up. Part of me was unsure how to broach the subject. I didn’t respond for a beat and was thankful when she broke the silence. “How was it?”
“It was okay.” I turned further into her. “We talked about last night and dating and how the two of you may be trying something out and that I could maybe try something out with you and Arris, together and separately.” I swallowed nervously. Jayme didn’t say anything. She just looked at me and patiently waited for me to continue. I shifted slightly. “I think I’d like that, if that’s okay with you.”
A smile crossed Jayme’s face.
“That’s okay with me, Dyani.”
She grabbed me lightly by the back of my head and I reveled in her touch. My eyes fluttered shut automatically and my breath hitched when I felt her shift. I didn’t open my eyes. I just simpered when her mouth softly met mine. She kissed me sweetly then smiled against my mouth.
“More than okay,” I whispered.
Jayme nodded. “More than okay.”
Chapter 11
Arris
I shifted,took a half step back, and sent off the basketball in my hand. I watched it sink into the net and clapped as I circled to make sure my eyes were still on the ball. Me, Darryl, and some of the guys had been recruited to help with the annual street ball tournament, so we were really just fucking around at this point with the actual basketball players.
The street ball tournament was in Highland Park, where scouts showed up and scholarships were awarded. Our team, the D-Ville Ballerz, was coached by Jay-Roc and honestly them niggas weren’t half bad. Our biggest competition was probably going to be the Bedford Boys, but I was confident we were going to take the win. Shit. As soon as betting opened, I would throw a few grand in the ring. With Tyriq and Yaakov playing under our flag, we were damn near a fucking guaranteed win in my opinion.
I turned and tried to block Darryl but he barreled into me and I pushed him away with one hand before turning around and shooting a three. I shook my head and cursed as I missed.
“Tighten up,” Darryl teased.
“Yeah. Alright, lil nigga.” I waved him off and moved to focus as the other team pushed back toward our side of the court.
The game went on for another thirty minutes before we called it. My team just barely lost and we laughed about it as we all drank water and just chopped shit up.
When I finished, I headed straight home so I could shower and get ready for a branding we had scheduled. We didn’t have a whole bunch of niggas being branded tonight but I tried to make every one we had. I felt like it was the least I could do after everything D-Ville had done for me.
Our brands were sacred and a time of branding was a time of welcoming and understanding that couldn’t be explained to anyone else.
Getting branded was monumental and usually niggas had parties and shit the night they got their brand, but honestly, I wasn’t trying to do all that. I went with some of the D-Ville niggas to the liquor store anyway and grabbed a few bottles.
I had my head down and was looking at a text from Dyani’s fine ass when someone bumped into me. I changed the hold I had on the bottle in my hand, grabbing it by the neck while I looked a Bedford Boy up and down.
