A/N: Whew! the longest chapter I have written EVER! 8,500-ish words. SO LIT! Housekeeping things: I've been thinking about maybe starting a Discord or some kind of server/chat that we could all get on to talk with each other? idk. Also, I have another idea about doing a group story where multiple writers contribute and it's like a real collab piece. Like I said, idk lmao; if y'all have some suggestions, let me know in the reviews or shoot me a PM! Anyways, lemme stop boring y'all with this long author's note and get on with the damn chapter! As always, stay safe and READ&REVIEW!

Chapter Ten

I go hard in the muthafuckin' paint, nigga. Leave you stankin' nigga, what the fuck you thinkin' nigga?

Riley bobbed his head with the lyrics as he laced his sneakers. Even though the music blared through his headphones, he still could feel his eyelids getting heavy, begging to close. It was the only thing preventing him from changing his mind and going back to bed, and it was barely working. He knew he agreed to go to the gym with her, but damn did it have to be so early?

He grabbed his duffel bag sitting next to the door and went out into the living room. He groaned as he saw the light come from the balcony through the open blinds. He turned his head and saw his brother sitting at the breakfast table, who did a double-take when he saw Riley come out of his room. "Morning," Riley muttered as he walked into the kitchen, pushing his headphones down to around his neck.

Huey looked down at his watch. "You? Up before noon? I'm shocked."

"Whatever nigga." Riley rolled his eyes as he opened the refrigerator. He wished he stopped by the bodega yesterday to get a Gatorade or something, but settled on the water bottle he filled up the night before. "We got some fruits or some shit?"

"Is it just me or has the construction been getting louder?" Jazmine questioned as she emerged from her bedroom, clipping her badge to the collar of her light blue scrubs. When she saw Riley standing in the kitchen eating a handful of grapes, she looked around the apartment in confusion. "...Am I being Punk'd?"

Riley threw his hands up in frustration. "Oh, haha," he mocked with a full mouth. "Everybody got jokes today! Like Def Comedy Jam in this bitch!" Jazmine put a hand over her mouth to stifle her laugh while Huey shook his head, his focus back on his newspaper. "Like, damn! Can't a nigga wake up early without getting roasted?"

"I once called you at two p.m. and you said you were just waking up," Huey said, raising an eyebrow at him.

Riley puffed his chest. "That was the old me."

"It was last week."

"Like I said, the old me," he bitterly repeated. "A nigga is gonna start bettering himself and shit, ya feel me? Putting all that childish shit behind and becoming a man, ya feel me? I got a girl, I feel good, I'm thinking of a new direction… ya feel me?" The intercom buzzed throughout the apartment and Riley almost ran through Jazmine to get to it first. He cleared his throat and pressed the call button. "Yeah?"

"It's me!"

"Aight. Come up," he replied before pressing the button to buzz her through. He reluctantly turned to face Jazmine, who already had a cheesy grin on her face. "Now, before you say—"

"You know, you almost had me with your little speech," she said, pointing at him in a taunting way while she walked into the kitchen. "For a second, I really thought you were serious about making a change in your life."

"If that was true, he'd look for a job first."

He ignored his brother's remarks. "Aye, just because it came from a bullshit place don't make it bullshit," he offered. Riley heard the knocks on the door, and he wiped his stubble and eyebrows down before opening it halfway. She smiled when she saw him, instantly making him feel warm inside. "Good morning."

"Morning… and to think I was gonna have to pull you out of bed," she taunted, playfully pushing him in the chest. She made a move as if she wanted to enter the apartment, but Riley stopped her with his hand. "What are you doing?"

"What you wanna come inside for?" he questioned, already dreading the looks he'd get from Jazmine. He offered a shrug. "You wanted to go early right?"

Cindy rolled her eyes and folded her arms over her chest. "Boy, you trippin' if you think I'm not gonna see my bestie while I'm here." He noticed that her old accent was appearing more frequently the longer they hung out, almost like the Cindy that he knew was coming out.

"You just saw her on Sunday," he griped. He knew he said this in vain because her icy intimidating glare remained unmoving, a strong indicator that she wasn't backing down soon. "You get on my fuckin' nerves." She smirked as he moved out of the way, putting her hand in his face after being granted access to the apartment.

"Oh, Jaaaa—oof!" she bellowed when she entered the room, only to be interrupted by Jazmine tackling her into a hug.

"Good morning, best friend!" Jazmine exclaimed as she squeezed Cindy's waist. Riley could tell that Jazmine missed having Cindy around; she was always a chipper person by nature, but her smile seemed even bigger in the months since Cindy came back. He didn't even think she could get bubblier.

"Good morning, best friend!" Cindy repeated, reciprocating Jazmine's tight squeeze. Huey sighed and politely put his paper down, earning an eye roll from Cindy. "Huey I can give you a hug too if you're jealous."

"I'll pass."

Jazmine released Cindy from her grip and went back to the kitchen. "Want anything to drink? Eat?"

"Jazzy, that's cap. You know you never make breakfast for niggas on the regular," Riley scoffed, folding his arms over his chest. Jazmine rolled her eyes and started brewing a cup of coffee. "She only showing out because you here, Cin."

"Aw, you just a hater because she loves me more," she snickered, making a face at him. "As much as breakfast sounds bomb, we're going to the gym to play basketball. Gotta tone down a little more before the big day." Riley inwardly groaned every time she mentioned the wedding.

Jazmine gasped. "What? You? No!"

Cindy shooed away her comment. "Plus, we're going to Big Nicky's restaurant to see if he could cater the reception later on."

"Ooh! For Huey's party, he made these fried mac and cheese balls that were so bomb," Jazmine recollected. "Are you gonna go with a modern menu, or keep it traditional?"

The girls then got into a long-winded conversation, jumping from topic to topic in record speed. To be honest, he lost track many times, but he knew that it was longer than he wanted it to be. Riley raised his hand and cleared his throat. "Sorry, don't you gotta be at work or whatever?" he asked, pointing at Jazmine. "And didn't you say you wanted to get there early?" he reminded Cindy.

Cindy eyed him. "Since when are you so excited to go to the gym?" she countered, putting her hand on her hip.

It wasn't that he was excited for the gym per se, but the fact that they hadn't had personal time since he got back from Chicago and he was sort of missing it. He didn't get a chance to talk to her at Sunday dinner since Jazmine talked to her damn near the whole time and every other time she was too busy with wedding things to even have a chance to hang out. But, now it was his turn to get to hang with his best friend for the day.

Was that weird to think about her like that?

"Ready to wash ya ass in basketball." This wasn't a lie. He hadn't a worthy opponent to play one-on-one for a while, and he was ready to see if she still had the juice from years past.

Cindy exchanged a look with Jazmine. "Oh, somebody ready to get embarrassed in public," she teased. She embraced her friend again before walking towards the front door. "Fine, Reezy. I'll give you what you want."

He ignored the cheeky look from Jazmine from the kitchen.

"See y'all niggas later," he said as he rushed Cindy out of the apartment, swiftly slamming and locking the door behind him. She glanced at him for a brief second, surely noticing his squirrelly behavior, but quickly focusing back to in front of her.

He followed her down the stairs, letting her lead the way to her car. He noticed that her hair was in a high ponytail instead of her traditional braids and she was in a pair of gold running tights, which she hated hooping in. He wondered if she had something to change into or if she'd just play through how uncomfortable she'd be.

"Yo."

He realized he'd be in his head too long. "Yeah?"

"You ain't saying nothing," she said with a smile, turning to him while they walked down the stairs. "I really thought you'd be talking bout the playoff game last night by now."

"I mean, what can you say about Giannis?" he said, grinning from ear to ear. He loved it when he got a chance to talk basketball with her; it reminded him of old times. "Nigga had a triple-double by the third. Quarter. Put the entire team on his back."

Cindy nodded in agreement. "I put the game on while I was cooking, right? And Russ was like 'Greek got another rebound' and 'Another dunk by Giannis'," she recalled as she unlocked her Range. Riley feigned interest in her fiancé. "Swear it took an extra twenty minutes to cook because looking at the TV. You wanna come over and watch tonight's game? Russ is gonna be meeting some clients for dinner, and we have plenty of leftovers."

He nodded as he hopped into the passenger seat of her SUV. Anything to make this day last longer. "So, cooking huh? Things really are different because back in the day? You couldn't cook for shit. Remember when you tried to cook eggs after we all slept over and you set off the smoke detector?"

"Shit, how could I forget? Jazzy was mad it woke her up from her sleep," she added, laughing at the memory. "Caesar trying to fan away all the smoke… me thinking I was gonna burn the house down… that was a crazy weekend, huh?"

It was the weekend of prom his sophomore year, her senior. It involved a huge afterparty at Cindy's beach house, the group getting into at least two fights, and Riley passing out on the beach. He remembered how it was one of the few weekends they had together before his older friends went off to college, while he was stuck home. Although he spent most of the weekend either high or drunk or both, he'd never forget hanging out on the beach the day before, or how captivating Cindy was in her prom dress, or having to order a pizza because breakfast was ruined. He was sure it was the happiest moment of his life and considering what happened after, he wished that he cherished the time a little more.

"See, thinking about stuff like that, makes me realize how long ago high school was," she confided, breaking him away from his thoughts. "Like, I'm a completely different person than I was then. Shit's crazy."

"Well, not completely different," he offered. She only took her eyes off the road for a moment. "I mean… ion know. When you around us, it's like old times. Like you were in high school." He shrugged. The person that he knew, the one he fell in love with, was the real her, not this stay-at-home trophy wife. She didn't respond, but she did seem like she was thinking about what he said.

The rest of the ride had no more conversations, only the sounds of some random channel on the radio played in the background. He didn't understand why she was so adamant about changing who she used to be. Was she ashamed of who she used to be?

Cindy pulled into the parking lot of the gym and grabbed a spot near the front of the building. He walked towards the entrance while Cindy grabbed her gym bag out of the trunk. The large windows made the building look enormous, and the natural rays from the morning sun made the inside look vast and spacious. "Damn…" was all he could say.

"Welcome to upper-middle class," Cindy remarked with a smirk. The glass doors slid open when they reached the entrance, showing the sleek, modern interior of the gym. He followed her to the front desk, where they signed him in as a guest of Cindy's. They gave him a towel and a promotional protein bar, perks from her platinum membership level. "Platinum membership? Oh, you got money money," Riley remarked as they walked towards the back.

"The membership comes with Russ's job, so technically I don't pay for it," Cindy countered as she walked towards the locker rooms. "That's the men's one." She pointed towards the blue-tiled entrance before going into the women's locker room.

The blue traveled throughout the entire locker room, serving as an accent against the pearly white interior. He'd never seen a locker room so clean, especially a men's one. If he didn't see the urinals next to the showers, he would've thought he walked into the wrong bathroom.

In the middle of the room, there was a sauna, with a basket of hot coals in the middle. He was definitely going to check that out after they were finished playing. On the other side were the blue lockers, and Riley went down the row until he found one near the end with an open lock. He followed the instructions before putting his bag in the locker.

He met Cindy outside the locker rooms and they walked for a bit, passing the indoor pool and the racquetball courts. "Gonna warm-up on the treadmill," she announced as they reached the floor with rows of cardio equipment. She slipped in her earbuds before walking towards the group of treadmills that faced a mirrored wall.

Riley wandered around the room until he found the cycling bikes in the corner of the room. He was never one to work out, even when he was on varsity basketball. He always tried his hardest to make up excuses on days reserved for strength and conditioning. He usually feigned a cramp that would land him in the trainer's room or forge notes from teachers that he had mandatory tutorials. If the coaches made him stay, he would walk around the weight room with a single dumbbell in his hand, occasionally lifting it in the air when questioned by someone.

He slipped on his headphones as he hopped on the bike and started to pedal, a slow leisurely pace that barely kept the machine on. He took a bite of the protein bar and immediately made a face. How could something be chewy and chalky at the same time? "Blech," he gagged, forcibly swallowing what was in his mouth before stuffing the rest in the cup holder of the bike.

This was boring him. He was going so slow that the bike would reset his progress every minute or so, although he hadn't been doing much of anything. He got off the bike and took a swig from his water bottle before walking over to Cindy, who looked like she was running at full speed. She, on the other hand, loved working out, especially when she still played sports. The summer before her senior year she committed to a grueling exercise plan, in hopes to get recruited by a top women's basketball program. He remembered that most of their dates were spent at the courts playing one-on-one as her training.

Cindy noticed that Riley was standing next to her and pulled out one of the earbuds. "Wassup?" she inquired as she paused the treadmill. Her chest fluttered with intensity as she attempted to catch her breath. The collar of her gold sports bra was damped with her sweat and stray hairs from her ponytail stuck to her face. The sweat glistened off her body as she stood in front of Riley. He was sure that he stopped breathing for a moment.

Shit. He had to get it together.

"Gonna warm-up at the courts," he responded after regaining his composure.

"Okay, you're gonna go down those stairs and make a right," she explained, pointing down the hallway. "You can get a ball from the equipment people right by the courts. Just mention you're my guest." She smiled at him. That fucking smile. He nodded absentmindedly. He stood there for a minute while she restarted her run before realizing how creepy it might look, so he quickly turned to walk in the direction she pointed.

When he reached the bottom of the stairs and turned right, he saw all the basketball courts that covered the floor. All the hoops were open except for one occupied with a group of teenage white boys in the far corner. He signed out a ball from the equipment desk and went towards one of the hoops in the front.

He pulled out his phone and looked over his notifications that came in while he was working out. A few from social media that he didn't bother to open, an early morning thirst trap from Lexi, and a text from Hiro to the group chat reminding everyone that he was DJing at Club Paradise tonight. He wondered if he should invite Cindy out, but she, like Huey and Jazmine, was domesticated now and usually didn't go out during the week. He flipped to Apple Music, scrolling through his songs until he found a good one to shoot around on.

Woo! Bring 'em out, bring 'em out, bring 'em out, bring 'em out! It's hard to yell when the barrel's in ya mouth!

He stretched a little before he started dribbling the basketball. He worked on shooting first, making sure he still had the same accuracy as when he was younger. His advantage over Cindy was that he could pull up from anywhere, all he needed was an open look. Bucket after bucket after bucket while T.I. rapped in his headphones, making him feel a little cocky. He played better when he was feeling himself.

Riley was just as talented as Cindy, everyone knew it. But he lacked the same drive that Cindy had. He relied more on his natural ability, rather than working towards his craft. He rarely showed to practice, never wanted to work out, and he pissed off pretty much all of his coaches. The only time he trained was when he played in pick-up games after school.

But, his jump shots were a thing of beauty.

While his talent was good enough for varsity in high school, it didn't make the cut for college hoops. At least, not to places he wanted to go. So, Riley's basketball career ended his senior year and he stayed at home, while Cindy worked for her scholarship and got to play on ESPN every week.

He shot around until he felt fully energized, jogging towards the area where he placed his water bottle and towel. He put the ball under his arm as he wiped his forehead of his sweat, then taking big sips from his water. He was looking over to the stairs when Cindy was coming down, and a smile crept on his face. "Oh shit, you changed?" he shouted out to her, getting her attention.

She smirked as she casually twirled for him. Her twin French braids swayed as she moved, and she was now in a more breathable pair of black basketball shorts. "Come on, you know I'm superstitious about this shit," she said, stretching to her side. "Gotta pull out the throwbacks to remind you how I used to school that ass."

"Yeah, aight," he snorted, dribbling the ball by his side. He felt the wave of nostalgia rush in, it was really like old times. He passed the ball to her, which she caught with ease, and moved back so she could practice some shots. "First to eleven?"

Cindy dribbled near the basket, working on her footwork and handles. "Twenty-one. Real scoring." She shot the ball for an easy layup. She looked over at him from afar. "Make it, take it?"

Riley scoffed. "You wanna do real scoring and make it, take it?" He shook his head at her. Once he got on a roll, it was hard to knock him off. He shrugged and walked towards her. "Niggas must've forgotten about me. That's cool. I'll help you remember."

He made a fist with his right hand and put it in the palm of his left; Cindy imitated the action. "Rock, Paper, Scissors, Shoot!" they both chanted, smacking their fists in the hands before making a move. Both paper. "Rock, Paper, Scissors, Shoot!" This time, Cindy did paper again while Riley did rock. She smirked as she passed him the ball, practicing skipping as she moved behind the three-point line.

"Whatever." He stood in front of her and passed her the ball, jogging backward to get on defense. He watched her as she slowly approached him, dribbling the ball near her side. "Whatchu got, McPhearson?" Riley questioned, looking at her dribbles. He saw that he was close enough to make a move and try to swipe the ball, but as soon as he reached out, she crossed him up, easily running by him to make a shot under the basket. 2-0 Cindy.

"I got that," she sneered. He growled under his breath and grabbed the ball before standing in front of the three-point line. "Light work, playboy." Riley rolled his eyes and lazily bounce-passed the ball to Cindy. She sucked her teeth and threw it back to him. "Do it right, punk."

He huffed and passed the ball correctly, before getting on defense. She dribbled the ball out a few feet before he got closer to her, waving his hands to prevent her from taking a shot. "Reezy. Your defense has never been this bad before."

"Trick…" Riley knew this was just a tactic of hers, trying to psych him out of the game early. He had to be stronger than he was in the past.

"Reezy, Reezy, Reezy." She cut to the right quick before spinning back to the left, shooting a basket off her back foot. 4-0. "Am… I supposed to be remembering something?" she inquired, tapping her chin as she backpedaled back to the line. Riley picked up the ball from under the net and squeezed it; he was starting to get frustrated. "I remember how garbage ya game is…"

Defense was never a strong point of his; he was purely a shooter, nothing more or less. But he couldn't get shown up like, not this bad. He had to step his game up.

He huffed as he sat down in the passenger seat, arms folded across his chest. He thought the sit in the sauna or the shower after the game would calm him down, but when he met her at the front doors, it was clear that he was still mad. He'd lost to Cindy before, countless times, but never by fifteen points. The fact that he didn't even get the ball until he was already down 9-0 ate at him.

Cindy jumped into the driver's seat after putting her gym bag in the back. She changed into a pair of ripped black jeans with a leather biker jacket, putting her hair in a slick ponytail. She looked so well put together that Riley wished he'd put a little more effort in his outfit of a white tee and gray joggers. If anything, it aggravated him even more.

"Can you put the address in?" she asked, offering her unlocked phone to him. He tongued his cheek as he grabbed the phone from her hand, not even looking in her direction. She peeked at him from the corner of her eye. "Wait… do you have an attitude?" she questioned, a smug grin appearing on her face.

He shook his head. "Nah."

"Oh, you definitely got an attitude." He snorted and looked out the window. He couldn't even hide the irritation from his face. He hated losing, especially to Cindy. She could talk shit easily, but she didn't say much. Her lack of words was backed by her play. "I thought you said you still played."

"Yeah, fucking Hiro! Maybe Ceez if he has a free Saturday," Riley countered, throwing his hands in the air. Cindy snickered under her breath as she turned on the street. He had to get back on his A-game; the defeat left a bad taste in his mouth. "Nah, I gotta get my lick back. I want a rematch ASAP."

"Fine, Reez, you'll get your rematch," she finally relented. "Now can you put in the address to the place so I can stop driving in circles?"

Riley pressed the lock button to wake the phone again. He saw the screensaver, a picture of Cindy with her Baylor teammates, cutting down the net from March Madness a few years ago. The smile on her face radiated through the picture, her hands high in the air as she stood on the ladder under the basket. He cleared his throat and handed the phone to her. "Uh, ya phone locked."

"You take too damn long," she sneered, quickly putting her passcode in and giving it back. Her home screen was different, a picture of her and Russell standing in front of the Eiffel Tower, both flexing for the camera. He felt the sting of jealousy flow through his veins, but he pushed it down to the pit of his stomach. He had to relax. "Do you even know where it is?" she questioned when he was taking too long again.

"He ain't too far from here, but you still gonna have to take the freeway," he answered as he clicked on Apple Maps. He sat her phone in the cup after plugging the address into the navigation. He chewed on his fingernail as he looked straight ahead, lost in his thoughts as she got on the freeway ramp.

Cindy glanced at him for a brief moment. "So… how's Lexi?"

Riley turned to her and shortly laughed. "How's Lexi?" he repeated, the sarcasm dripping from his voice.

"What? You bring her to dinner one time and I never hear about the girl ever again!" she countered. "She don't come around, you don't talk about her… I'm just curious, damn!" Cindy was smiling but he knew she was dead serious. "Made me think I made up or something."

He laughed again and wiped his mouth, the smirk still on his face. "Lexi don't come around because her and Jazzy…" He swayed his head from side to side, trying to figure out the right choice of words for that relationship. "It's not a beef but they're better not crossing paths."

"She pissed Jazzy off?"

He sighed as he adjusted in his seat. "Lexi's charming in that way," he shrugged. She made the same face from earlier when she was mulling things over. He gave her a questioning look. "...Any particular reason why?"

She shook her head but stopped to think about it. "Well… I guess… we're starting to look at seating arrangements, and I'm just trying to… think about how the table for the groomsmen and bridesmaids is going to look."

"So… if I'm gonna bring her as a date." There was no way in Hell he was going to bring Lexi to the wedding. Even if they lasted that long, she was way too unpredictable to bring her to the wedding of his ex-girlfriend. "I mean… it's still a long way away, right? I don't have to think about this now?"

"Yeah, of course!" she quickly answered, her face starting to redden. Riley raised an eyebrow. "I was… also asking as a friend."

Riley nodded. Right, friends talked about each other's relationships. "She's good. Lexi is… good," he finally answered. He opened his mouth, seemingly to add more, but cleared his throat instead, looking at the road ahead. "How about Russ?" Riley didn't really want to ask questions about the nigga, but he figured he had to be polite and reciprocate the question.

"Good! Great!" Cindy replied as they exited off the highway, turning into the neighborhood of the restaurant. He eyed her as she gripped on the steering wheel. She was hiding something, like there was more than she was letting on. She peeked at him over her shoulder. "What?"

Maybe he shouldn't press the issue. Just because they were friendly, he knew there were boundaries he couldn't cross yet. Or ever. He shook his head as he looked forward. "Nothing."

Cindy pulled up to a weathered brick building that stood on the corner of the street. At its apex was a storefront with a white panel outside, surrounded by black seating covered by umbrellas. She pointed at the sign that hung atop the front door, Delilah's Cafe and Catering. "Is this the place? Do I just park on the street?" she inquired, looking around for an opening spot. Riley made a sour face as he pulled out his phone; a Range casually on the street? And Cindy looked like a regular white girl? It was an easy mark.

"Not if you wanna drive home," he remarked, putting his phone to his ear. "There's a parking lot on the other side of the building."

The call finally connected. "You here?" the person on the line asked.

"Yeah. Come outside." Riley hung up and placed his phone back in his pocket, pointing to an open spot in the far right.

Cindy pulled into space and glanced around as they both stepped out of the car. There were signs all around the small parking lot, stating that the lot was residents only, and towing was strictly enforced. "You sure we can park here?"

"Yo, Reezy!" They both turned to the sidewalk and saw a burly man emerging from the building, a huge smile on his face. "And is that Fearsome McPhearson I see?"

She rolled her eyes at the nickname. "Hello, Nicky."

He took off his apron and enveloped Cindy into a big hug, something he was famous for in high school. "Whew, the years have been nice to you!" Nicky exclaimed, his Southern drawl still prominent despite being in the area for nearly a decade. "She lookin' fine as French wine, huh?" he noted, looking in Riley's direction as they dapped. Riley didn't want to co-sign the assessment out loud, but he smirked to himself, internally agreeing.

"Yeah, whatever," she bashfully said, waving him off. "But you! You have a restaurant!"

Nicky shrugged. "Aw, it's just a small shack," he answered as he walked over to Cindy's truck. He took a quick picture of the front before furiously typing on his phone. "Sorry, my landlord a real pain about people parkin' here. Gotta let her know y'all are clients so she won't tow ya asses."

They followed him into the building, walking down a long corridor to the other side of the street. "Went to college on a football scholly, right? I used to sell plates of my Granny's recipes for some extra cash because as you know Cindy, can't have no real job and be a student-athlete." Cindy nodded in agreement. "Then, sophomore year, boom! Blew out my knee; playing career over."

Nicky stopped in front of the restaurant and sighed. "It was one of the best things to happen to me," he said, staring blissfully at the sign. He unlocked the door to the restaurant and led them into the dining room. All the chairs were flipped over the tables except for the longest table in the middle. "Went to culinary school, took a couple of business classes, and now we here! Riley's bro was one of the first clients I had after I got out of school. How are they, by the way?"

Riley scoffed. "Annoying."

Nicky heartily laughed and pushed Riley in the shoulder, almost knocking him over. Riley swore his shoulder was out of the socket after. "Whew, you are funny, Riley. Y'all gon' head and sit at the table, lemme go get my stuff real quick," he told them, disappearing into the kitchen.

Riley plopped down in the chair while Cindy walked around the dining room, looking at the pictures on the wall. "Well? Whatchu think so far?"

"Gotta taste the food first," she admitted. She went to sit down next to Riley, who leaned back in his seat. "But… I like the vibe so far."

"Nah, Nick's legit. His oxtails are like… the best shit I ever had," he explained as he put his hands behind his head. "When I used to live over here, I came like… four, five times a week. Felt like I gained fifty pounds when I moved."

Her eyes widened. "You? Living by yourself? When did that happen?"

He could've sarcastically told her that it was when she deserted all her friends and no one heard from her for years. But instead, he sat straight in the chair. "I moved here after Granddad died and we sold the house in Woodcrest," he explained. "I lived here for about… a year? A year and a half?"

"And…?"

He shrugged. "And… then I didn't." She looked over to him, waiting for him to continue. He shortly laughed and shook his head. "Nah, you not gonna do that reverse psychology shit you did back in Chicago."

"I'm just asking," she stated matter-of-factly before turning forwards in her chair.

Nicky came from the kitchen, pushing a cart into the dining room and parking it next to the chair facing Cindy and Riley at the table. He grabbed his notebook from the cart and sat at the table. "Alrighty Cindy, wedding next April, traditional plated meal, about one hundred and fifty guests, right?"

"Uh, you can bump it up two hundred," she answered, rubbing her temples. "My mom knows way too many people."

"Shoot, this was already gonna be the biggest wedding I catered," Nicky grinned. He threw his hands in the air. "But! I am ready for the challenge! So, I was looking at the profile that you gave me, what y'all like and don't like, some background and all that. Yo family is from here, Russell's family is from Texas, so I came up with a menu that fuses the different cultures together, y'know?" He got back up and placed three plates of food in front of them. He searched around the cart for something but sighed when he didn't find what he was looking for. "Dang! One more thing!" he announced, hustling back to the kitchen.

Riley peered at the selection: crab cakes, some kind of taco, and those fried mac and cheese balls that Jazmine liked so much. He went to grab one of the crab cakes, but Cindy slapped his hand away. "Can you relax?" she snapped under her breath.

He sucked his teeth. "Shit, a nigga hungry after the gym," he complained.

"Why? You didn't do shit," He tongued his cheek as he looked over at her, her grin big as day. "You know I'm playin', Reez. Getting scored on must've really worked up an appetite," she taunted, poking at his side.

Nicky emerged again from the kitchen before Riley could respond, not that he had a comeback anyway. "Wow, I really thought Riley would be going in on the food by now," he snickered as he stood behind the cart.

"If he had his way, he would've," Cindy remarked, stealing a glance in Riley's direction. A frown formed on his face. "I wanted to at least hear the description before he inhaled everything."

Nicky smiled again as he grabbed two champagne flutes and a squeeze bottle, filled with a deep red slurry, from under the cart. "Well, you said you wanted a cocktail hour before dinner, to serve hors d'oeuvres, your signature cocktail, what have you."

Riley had only been to one wedding in his life, one of a distant cousin in Chicago that his Granddad forced him and Huey to go to in high school. They didn't have a cocktail hour, nor the budget to have two hundred people at their wedding. If the engagement party was any indication of the wedding, he knew this was going to an extravagant event.

He pointed to the food. "So what we have here is a Maryland classic: crab cakes. Made traditionally of course, and topped with a spicy remoulade sauce on top. Next, we got some mini tacos to rep Russ. Real simple: slow-cooked barbacoa, cilantro, homemade corn tortillas. Finally, the mac and cheese balls that I am infamous for."

Riley grabbed the mac and cheese while Cindy got a crab cake. Nicky squeezed some of the red juice into the flutes, swirling the glasses until they were both stained red. He popped a bottle of champagne and poured the bubbly in both glasses, garnishing them with a leaf of basil and raspberries. "And for your signature cocktail: Raspberry Basil Champagne Spritzers."

"Oh shit, this is fancy," Riley mentioned, grabbing the champagne. He sipped a little bit first, trying not to down it in one gulp. His eyes widened. "This smacks, Nicky, goddamn."

Nicky waved him off. "You say about all my food," he replied with a warm laugh.

"He's right though," Cindy added, popping a mac and cheese ball into her mouth. "Mmm, seriously, if the hors d'oeuvres are this good, I can't wait to see the main dishes."

"Why thank you, Ms. Cindy," Nicky said, sitting back down. He looked down at his notebook. "So, do you have any questions, suggestions, tweaks so far?"

Riley was eating a crab cake when he noticed that someone in a suit was wandering outside the restaurant windows. Nicky and Cindy were too invested in their conversation to notice, but Riley did. The man glanced down at what looked like a phone in his hands before looking around as if he was lost. Riley watched him walk up to the window and peer inside.

It was Russ.

Russell noticed Riley staring back at him and waved before going towards the front door. Riley felt frozen in place, not even reacting when he heard the door opening. Cindy and Nicky turned towards the entrance, now aware of another person. Cindy's eyes widened when she saw Russ come into the dining room, almost knocking over the chair she sat in to run into his arms. "Russ!" she squealed. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, I had a long lunch today and I thought 'Why don't I go surprise Cindy at the tasting?' And here I am!" He gave Cindy a quick kiss; Riley had to turn away from the scene. He looked over to Nicky. "Where are my manners? I'm Russell Brady. I know Riley's been to so many of these wedding things, people start to think he's the groom."

Riley noticed that Cindy was laughing almost a little too hard at the joke.

"Nick, but everybody from high school calls me Nicky," Nicky greeted as he got out of his seat to shake Russell's hand. He grabbed a chair from a nearby table and placed it next to Cindy's. "We were just going over the hors d'oeuvres for y'all's cocktail hour."

"Ooh, Nicky can you make him the raspberry basil spritzer thing?" She asked, sitting up in her seat. Riley saw how close their seats were, how his left hand was hooked firmly around her waist. Cindy would look up to him with bright eyes, like she was infatuated with what he said. Her voice was high and cheery, and it was almost like he was looking at a completely different person.

He didn't belong here.

"Shit!" he said aloud, capturing the attention of everyone in the room. He looked over to Cindy. "I just remembered… I have to go to this thing for Hiro," he announced, getting up from his seat. Technically he wasn't lying, but the excuse didn't matter as long as it worked. "My bad, Cin, I gotta dip. Can I get my bag out of your car?"

She seemed taken aback by his sudden change in demeanor. "You don't want me to drive you back to your apartment?" she asked.

"Nah, you paid for this time and… yeah. Imma call an Uber or something." She eyed him, trying to figure out why he was acting like this, but he didn't let on. "Come on, I know you wanna eat and drink more champagne."

Cindy finally stood up. "I'll be right back," she said to Russell, kissing him before following Riley out to the street. He stuffed his hands in his pockets as they walked to the car in silence. "So, does that mean we not watching the game tonight?" He shook his head. "Damn. I was really looking forward to it."

"Yeah, me too." She unlocked her doors and he got his bag from the passenger seat, throwing it over his shoulder. He went around the car and saw Cindy open her arms, a small smile on her face. He smirked back and hugged her, relishing the time he got to inhale her scent, and how good it felt to hug her again. "Enjoy it, Cin," he said, waving as she walked back to the building.

He stood in the parking lot for a few minutes, trying to regain himself. He sighed and pulled out his phone, scrolling through his recent calls before landing on the name. It probably rang one time before the call connected. "You home yet?" A pause. "Aight, get dressed; I'll be over there in an hour."

He put Dorothy in park and turned the ignition off, letting the radio continue to play in the background. He leaned his seat back, closing his eyes as he put his hands behind his head. He heard the flicker of a lighter and smirked to himself. "Fucking finally," he muttered aloud.

He went to Lexi's almost immediately after he got home, only going upstairs to change his clothes. He knew he could count on her to temporarily make him feel better, providing him with weed and pussy to make him forget about everything that happened that day. Although he didn't originally plan on it, he decided to take her to Hiro's night at the club and call it a date.

She sucked her teeth as she ran the lighter across the seam of the blunt. "You always complaining about shit," she griped, putting the blunt between her lips. "You try rolling a backwoods in a fast-moving car."

"I have before," he retorted. Lexi lit the end and took a small hit, only holding it in a brief second before coughing all the smoke out. "Baby lungs." He took the blunt from Lexi's fingers and inhaled deep, waiting until he knew he couldn't breathe anymore to smoothly blow out the smoke. He closed his eyes again, letting the feeling take over his body. He took another hit before passing the blunt back to Lexi.

She took a picture with the blunt between her nails, making a face at the camera. She studied the picture before posting it to her IG, smiling when the likes started pouring in. She pushed her hair, a long platinum blonde wig, behind her ear as she took a better hit, letting the smoke mellow a little longer before harshly blowing it out. "What kinda music does Hiro play?" she inquired as she tapped the ash out the window.

"All kinds."

She rolled her eyes. "Can you be more specific?" He shrugged. "Whatever. You want another hit? I'm good right now." He nodded and took it from her. She got out of the car and dusted off her outfit, a skin-tight hot pink mini dress with a strappy back, cut low in the front to show off her cleavage and stopping just below her thigh. Riley could see that the dress barely covered her ass.

He wondered if he should say something about her clothes now that he was officially her "nigga". He knew that she dressed like that because she loved the attention she got from people, especially dudes. Maybe something about how she didn't need other niggas looking at her since she had him. Something that showed that he cared about being in this relationship. He said nothing as he took one last puff before putting out the flame and placing the rest of the blunt in an old to-go cup.

Lexi rubbed her arms as she walked towards the club, spraying herself with perfume from Victoria's Secret. "You want some?" she asked Riley behind her, offering the bottle to him. He shook his head. "Suit yourself; you smell like a hotbox right now."

He didn't really care; he came to Club Paradise high so many times, it surprised the bouncer when he didn't smell like weed. "The VIP side; Hiro got a section for us," he told her, ushering her to the significantly shorter line. They got through with ease after showing their IDs, getting a neon yellow bracelet that granted them special access. The club was surprisingly crowded on a Wednesday, and Lexi had to grab onto Riley's hand to make sure she didn't get lost. He finally saw Caesar and Tia sitting in the section closest to the DJ booth, where Hiro was already working on the turntables. "This way," he said, leading them both through the maze of people.

"Yo!" Caesar excitedly said, standing up when the couple finally reached the booth. Riley grinned as he dapped his friend up. Caesar leaned closer to Riley's ear, to talk to him over the music. "Where's the old married couple?"

Riley rolled his eyes as he turned to help Lexi up the ledge. "You know they never come out," he yelled. He gave Tia a quick hug before pushing Lexi in front of him. "So I think you went to her nail shop before? Anyways, this is Lexi, she's my—"

"Girlfriend," she interrupted, going to shake both of their hands. Riley wasn't sure if Lexi noted both of their surprised faces, but he sure did. "Whew! You want me to make you a drink, Reezy?" she asked as she pointed to all the liquor and juices that covered the glass table in front of the seating. He shook his head as he sat down next to Caesar on the couch.

He saw that Tia whispered something to Caesar, making him shake his head and whisper a response. "I'll explain it later," he heard Caesar say.

"Explain what?"

Lexi was in front of them fixing her drink, bobbing along to the music. Caesar motioned for Riley to move in closer, turning his head to face the wall so Lexi didn't see his lips. "You do realize Lexi calling you her boyfriend?" he questioned. Riley sighed and nodded. "Tia just said she thought the white girl at the party was your girlfriend."

Which is why he said he'd explain later. "Lexi!" he shouted over the music, getting her attention. "Ciroc and pineapple!" She smirked as she made him the drink, making the cup ninety percent alcohol versus juice. She handed him the cup, his whole body shivering when he took the first sip. "Oh, shit."

"Yeah… don't die tonight, Riley," Caesar noted as he looked at the drink.

Lexi came up to him and put her hands on his thighs, dangerously close to the zipper of his black jeans. "Let's go out there," she offered, pointing towards the dance floor. The liquor was starting to set in and the buzz of being cross-faded was running through his veins. He downed the rest of his cup before following her out to the brightly colored floor.

He wanted to feel good again, carefree. Maybe they weren't right for each other, but maybe it's what he deserved. He spent so much of his adult fucking up the lives of other girls by being non-committal, that he longer could have the Cindys of the world, the kind of the girl that you would build your entire life around as he did so many years ago. Nah, now he was only allowed the Lexis: girls that could potentially kill you.

The rest of the night moved in blurs; he remembered he was dancing with Lexi on the dance floor, then he was standing behind the DJ booth while Hiro played, then he was back in the section making another drink. Now, he found himself in the back seat of Dorothy, on his back, feeling on Lexi's booty. His vision was hazy, and if he squinted hard enough, she kind of looked like…

"You're the only girl for me, Ci...sexy." His words slurred so much, Lexi couldn't understand what he was saying.

"Uh-huh," she simply nodded as she took off his shirt. "Just lie back and let me take care of you." He threw his head back in compliance, letting her take the lead. After all, she was the only girl for him.