Page 21 of A Player’s Prayer (Mills Brothers #3)

Letting her out of the booth, I, along with every man in the building, watched her ass jiggle in her sundress. That’s the only thing I want to see her in this summer, but I don’t want niggas looking at my girl like they currently were, so I may have to cut all her shit up.

My girl?

That was the second time the thought of her being mine entered my brain today.

Kodi has made it clear she ain’t going for us being together, but why?

I know I can be a good man to her because she deserves that.

As I watched some niggas try to mack on her while she headed to the bathroom, murderous thoughts began to fill my mind.

The sight—even the thought—of someone else trying to push up on her enraged me.

Ain’t no way I’m going to sit back and watch another nigga take something meant for me.

To get something I’ve never had, I’d have to do something I’ve never done.

I had to—no, I wanted to—make Kodi my girl, so that’s what I was going to do.

“Not she hoe’d you and sent you on your way.” Uno chuckled as he sipped his Hennessy. I called my brothers for a night out, and I regretted it already. “Ain’t no fun when the rabbit got the gun, huh?”

Chugging my Corona, I popped a fry in my mouth as Uno and Skip laughed at my expense.

Tonight, we were keeping it simple and decided to chill at Urban Oasis for dinner and a few drinks.

I called them for some advice on what to do about Dakota, and these niggas weren’t helping me at all.

I should have listened to my first mind when it told me to go home.

It’s been three days since I slid inside of Kodi, and I swear, I could still feel her legs wrapped around me.

She’s been calling me since I dropped her off after our Waffle House visit, but I’ve been avoiding her because I was stuck.

I don’t know what to do with these newfound feelings, so I’ve been keeping my distance.

“I should have gone to see my mama instead of calling you niggas.” I looked around for the waitress so I could get the check. “Y’all niggas think everything is shits and giggles.”

The chuckling that was going on moments ago had now ceased. With both sets of eyes on me, I stared right back at the stupid-ass niggas.

“Oh, you’re serious?” Uno dragged his eyes from me to Skip. “When Harley told me one of your girls made you call Ava to apologize, I assumed she was joking.”

“Kodi didn’t make me do shit,” I corrected him. “Ava was out of line, and I didn’t like that shit, so yeah… I called her and told her that shit wasn’t cool. Kodi is a good girl, and I ain’t gon’ have nobody disrespecting her.”

Finally getting the waitress, I paid for our meals. I was no longer in the mood to chill with these niggas. Grabbing my keys, I stood to leave before Skip pulled me back into my seat.

“Our bad, man. Sit your ass down.” He pointed to the shots on the table. “Take one and tell us what’s going on ’cause your ass is tense as fuck.”

Looking between him and Uno, I saw that they were being genuine.

Grabbing the shot and throwing it back, I slumped in my seat and began my spill.

“Kodi isn’t like any woman I’ve ever dealt with, man,” I stated honestly.

“She doesn’t need me for anything but my company.

She knows I’m Adrian Mills, but she doesn’t give a fuck about that shit like these hoes out here ready to jump on my dick.

She enjoys me , and not what I’m attached to.

She can hold a conversation for longer than five minutes without boring me, and she encourages me with what I got going on with my shoes and the stores. She’s something special, man.”

Here I was, in a lounge full of people with the vibes flowing, pouring out my guts to my brothers about a girl I liked. This was some simp-ass shit, but I no longer gave a fuck because I didn’t know what to do about Kodi.

“You said all that to say what, bro?” Uno asked, confused. “What’s the problem? You like her, and obviously the pussy is?—”

“Don’t speak on her pussy, nigga.” I mugged him as I cut him off from finishing his statement. “Be mindful of your words.”

“That tells me all I need to know,” Skip smirked, throwing back his second shot.

“You like that girl. The problem is… you’ve never had a girlfriend.

You’ve never had to put forth any effort with any woman, and now you have to with her.

” He paused to see if I was listening, and I was because his used-to-be-silent ass was right. “If you want her, go get her, Wild.”

“How, nigga?” I threw my hands up, exasperated. “I can’t even answer the phone when she calls for fear of sounding like a bitch. Skip, how did you get Noemi to be with you? She had a whole fiancé when she came out here to see your ass.”

“I grabbed her by the locs and dragged her ass right on up out of here.” He chuckled as he pointed toward the section in the near distance from us. “Ironically, it was the same section your girl is in now.”

Snapping my neck in the direction he pointed, sure enough, there sat Dakota Jenkins.

Dressed in a sexy romper, I felt my dick brick up immediately.

I found it crazy that it was only reacting this way to her.

I’ve been around multiple women since fucking her, and not once have I felt the urge to fuck them.

Before I could stop myself, I was already headed toward where she was.

Sitting on the plush sofa, she swayed side to side as the tunes of Usher filled the building. Champagne flute to her lips, she grinned as some mark-ass nigga whispered in her ear.

“Tell me the joke,” I said, startling them.

In front of them was a table that held their drinks.

Pushing the cups and bottles to the side, I took a seat right on top of that muthafucka.

Placing my elbows on my knees, I leaned forward and eyed them both.

“It must be something if you can get her mean-ass to laugh.”

Unfazed by my presence, Kodi continued to sway to the music. Amelia, who was seated next to her, looked between us all like she knew it was about to be a shit show.

“I was just telling her how beautiful she was.” Pee Wee smiled, winking at her. “I told her that her man was lucky to have her.”

“I am.” I nodded, locking my eyes with her. “Let me talk to you, Kodi.”

“I’m good…” She waved me off when I reached for her hand. “I’ve been calling you for days, and you’ve been blowing me off. I can take a hint, Adrian. You got what you wanted. We can act like it never happened, playboy.”

Turning her back to me, she went back to talking to the nigga like I wasn’t there.

I watched her for a few minutes before I said fuck it.

Standing up, I pulled my coin from my pocket and flipped it without a second thought.

Amelia stared at me as Kodi continued to act like the nigga had her attention.

After seeing what the coin landed on, I knew her act wouldn’t hold up for long.

Peering over my shoulder as I left the section, she glanced at me for a second before giving her attention back to him.

“Damn, bro. Just give her some time,” Uno spoke sympathetically as I reached our table. “She’s probably mad that—Wild!”

Bypassing the table, I made a beeline for the DJ’s booth, not halting my feet as my brothers stood, shouting my name. Tapping the DJ’s shoulder, I whispered in his ear before sliding him the entire bankroll in my pocket.

“Excuse me… if I could have everyone’s attention.

” The murmurs of the crowd died down once they heard my voice boom through the speakers.

“A lot of y’all know me, so there’s no need for the introductions.

” I chuckled while everyone shared a laugh.

“I just wanted to tell y’all tonight that I’ve found the woman of my dreams. She’s fine as fuck, has her own money, and got a grip like?—”

“Aye, yo!” Uno and Skip yelled out, interrupting me and making the crowd laugh harder.

Nodding, I dragged my eyes to Kodi’s section and saw that I now had her attention. “Kodi, I don’t have the politically correct words to say to you, so I hope this song will do.”

As “Kissin’ On My Tattoos” by August Alsina began to play, I sang along to the words through the mic.

Drifting through the crowd, I made my way back up to her section, sounding like a wounded cat.

Pushing the square-ass nigga away from her and to the floor, I took her hand in mine and sang from my heart.

“All my homies wanna know what’s up with us

They can’t believe that I’m kicking it with just one girl”

With her arms draped around my neck, her eyes shone bright as ever as she smiled and swayed before singing along with me.

Nothing or no one else mattered in this moment but her.

Even though I sounded like I was calling the crows home, she was fucking with it, and that was all I cared about.

Dropping my lips down to hers, I tried my hardest to swallow her entire face for everyone to see.

“I apologize for ghosting you, baby.” I pulled away, and she thumbed away her gloss from my lips.

“I was in my feelings, and that’s something that’s never happened to me.

It ain’t just the sex, but gah damn, you got the kind of—” I stopped when she glared at me.

“What I’m trying to say is, the way I feel for you is something I’ve never felt before, Kodi.

I want you—I want us. I want to see where this shit with us can go.

” Scratching my head with the mic, I walked over toward the banister and looked for my brothers since they were no longer in our section.

Skip was recording, and Uno was grinning like a wide-mouth bass.

“Do I just ask her to be my girl or do I need to buy her a gift or some shit?”

“This nigga!” Skip chuckled, moving the camera from his face. “Man, just ask her!”

Giving him the middle finger, I turned back toward a giggling-ass Amelia and Dakota. Before I could continue, Kodi threw herself into my arms again.

“Dakota Jenkins,” I spoke into the mic as I stared into her eyes. “Will you be my girlfriend?”

“Yes, Adrian. I’ll be your girlfriend.” She smiled, and then for a second, it wavered. “Don’t make me regret it.”

Cheesing hard as fuck, I pulled her into my arms, kissing her with all the passion I had to muster. The partygoers clapped and cheered as the DJ resumed the music, cutting the mic I held. Once I felt my dick stiffen, I knew it was time for us to go.

“Let’s get the fuck out of here before I give the mayor and his townsfolk a reason to really look at me.

” I chuckled with her still in my arms. Glancing over at Amelia, I made sure she was good before we left.

On our way out of the section, I kicked that nigga’s feet and mugged the fuck out of him.

His ass was still sitting on the ground as if he were scared to get up.

That was good—he needed to be nervous after having the audacity to try and mack on my woman.

Putting her in her car, I told her tonight we were staying at Grove’s Plaza Hotel to commemorate our newfound relationship.

Truth is, it was closer than both of our places, and I was ready to fuck.

It was evident that our bodies had been calling out to each other with the way we couldn’t keep our hands to ourselves.

I’m not going to say I was in love with Kodi, but I wasn’t going to fight the idea of it happening.

I’ve never been anybody’s boyfriend, but something told me I could do this for her.

She had proven to be different from these scallywags I’d been dealing with, so it was my turn to show her I could be different as well.

Man, I hope I don’t fuck this up.