Page 4 of A Player’s Prayer (Mills Brothers #3)

Bradley, or Bear, and I had been high school sweethearts.

There was never a time when I thought he and I wouldn’t last forever.

I should have known what we had was puppy love and wouldn’t stand a chance in the real world.

Once I went to Albany State for college, leaving him back home in Florida, he changed.

Our relationship couldn’t withstand the distance, so I told him I wanted to break up and focus on school.

It seemed as if it was the right thing to do, because shortly after, girls came out of the woodwork claiming he was their man.

He denied it and told me they meant nothing; that he was just passing the time until I came back home.

After graduating from college, I returned home and found a job, and sadly, I gave in to Bear when he wanted another chance.

His cheating ways didn’t stop; in fact, they got worse.

Seeing it firsthand was different than hearing about it while at school.

I was never one to come second to anyone, so I left his ass, literally and figuratively.

It’s not on me if he didn’t get the memo when he saw all my shit was gone.

“Dakota, did you hear me?” I jumped at hearing her scream my name through my AirPods. “Girl, let me find out you’re ignoring me.”

“I am…” I sighed heavily, looking around the store for an associate. Seeing one bending behind the counter, I made my way over. “You’re not talking about shit, so I kind of zoned out. You know I don’t want to hear anything about Bear.”

“Don’t let that lil’ job and a lil’ bit of money have you talking down on my brother.” I paused and frowned at the discourse in her voice. “Don’t get out there and start acting like you forgot where you came from.”

“Girl, who the fuck are you talking to?” I looked around as if there was someone else and as if she could see me doing so through the phone.

“You know me better than to ever say something like that. On top of that, fuck that nigga. He can be your brother, but he’s not my problem, and I’d appreciate it if you remember that the next time you try to check me about him.

Where was your loyalty to me when that nigga was back home fuckin’ all the girls on the block while I was at school?

You chose to stay out of it, right?” Silence.

“Exactly. Keep that energy and stay out of it now. I’ll call you later. ”

Placing the shoe on the counter, I closed my eyes, squeezing the bridge of my nose.

I love Zaria, but sometimes she pisses me off.

I get that she has love for Bear because of the history we all had, but she could miss me with that “he’s a good nigga” shit.

Not to mention, insinuating I feel like I’m better than them because I wanted more for myself was a lie within itself.

“You know… something told me you had some fire in you.” Snapping my eyes open, I smiled when Amelia came into view from behind the counter. “I love that for you.”

“Amelia! Hey, boo.” I walked around the counter and hugged her. I wasn’t usually this friendly, but she had an inviting spirit. “How’s your back?”

“You remember me?” Her eyes went wide as she looked from me to the shoe I placed on the counter.

“I know you see so many faces at that hospital daily, so to remember mine is crazy. To answer your question, though, I’m doing a lot better.

I didn’t even get the prescription filled—just an old-fashioned heating pad. I’m not a fan of pills.”

Telling her I understood, we both looked at the counter before she asked me for my shoe size.

She turned to head toward the back to get the shoebox, letting me know she’d be right back.

Looking around the store, I noticed a few more people had come in.

With it being close to the end of summer, I knew a lot of people were going to be in and out.

One of the nurses told me this was the best and most affordable shoe store on this side of town.

I’d done my research enough to know this side of Milly Grove isn’t the most luxurious, but I didn’t mind shopping where I would get more bang for my buck.

Seeing a hoodie come into view that I had missed the first time I browsed, I hurried over to get it before Amelia came back with the shoes.

“If you don’t get your fat, funky ass out of my face, I’m going to choke the shit out of you.

” I gasped at some man’s brashness as I reached the rack.

He was now blocking the set I wanted, and I groaned at the thought of having to ask him if he could move over.

“I told you the last time I saw you that if I saw you again, I was going to gut you and feed the whole hood. You thought a nigga was playing with you?”

“Baby don’t be like that. Let me suck?—”

“Excuse me…” I walked up and interrupted their conversation. “I just want to get this hoodie, and I’ll be out of y’all way.”

“Lady, don’t you see?—”

Turning to glare at me, the most handsome man I’d ever seen locked eyes with me.

He was so damn tall that I damn near put a crook in my neck looking up at him.

The mug on his face did nothing to take away from how handsome he was.

His locs were long, thick, and placed in a messy bun on top of his head.

His tattooed arms bulged from under his white tee, and those grey sweats he had on should have been a crime the way they hung just right off of his hips. This man was a problem.

“Aye!” He pulled me from my lustful thoughts as he snapped his fingers in my face. “You having a stroke or something? The fuck is wrong with you, just staring at a nigga and shit.”

“Nigga, what?” I hissed my words, embarrassed that he caught me gawking. “I was only asking if I could get by you so I could get the hoodie.” I pointed at the display behind him. “You don’t have to be so damn rude.”

Taking me in from head to toe, I stood there like an idiot and let him. I should have turned around to go get the shoes from Amelia and gone on my way. Maybe then, I wouldn’t be on the verge of going in my Marc Jacobs bag to retrieve my Glock to shoot this nigga.

“Jenkins?” I dragged my eyes to the figure that stepped from behind him, kissing my teeth to see it was Tanessa. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

“I know you think my sole purpose in life is to take orders from you, but I do have off days, with today being one of them.” Rolling my eyes, I gave my attention back to the asshole.

“Can I please get what I came over here for, so I can go? I wanted to spend my day off in peace; not engaging with my nasty coworkers and rude-ass niggas?—”

“Who the fuck you calling rude?” He stepped toward me, causing my breath to catch.

“Watch your muthafuckin’ words when you talk to me.

” Dropping his eyes to my mouth, he licked his lips slightly before reaching up to place his fingers under my chin to lift it.

“Then again, we can go to my office and put these lips to work if you want to make it up to me.”

Slapping his hand away from me, I stepped back and mugged him. “Don’t touch me. You don’t know me.”

“I know that if you’re anything like your homegirl…” He thumbed behind him at a fuming Nessa. “You might be a lil’ thief and need to perform a lil’ lip service to afford my shit. You fine as fuck, too, so I might give you the dick if you suck it good enough.”

Whap!

“Have you lost your damn mind!” I seethed, garnering the attention of the other customers. Amelia came running over in an instant. “I don’t know what or who the fuck you think I am, but I am not one of them ! You can’t go around talking to people like that!”

As he eyed me, his eyes darkened. Rubbing his hand over his bottom lip, he chuckled at the speck of blood that lingered on his thumb. “You know you done fucked up, right?”

“Fuck you!” I screeched while reaching into my purse. “I don’t want shit out of this cheap-ass store.” Pulling out a small stack of money, I threw it at him, hitting him in the middle of his forehead. “I got my own money, nigga. I don’t need to steal or perform ‘lip service’ for a damn thing.”

Pushing my purse strap up on my shoulders, I turned on my heels and pushed past the people who gathered around.

I’d never been so mortified in my entire life!

I didn’t know who that man was, but if this were his store, he’d never have to worry about me coming back again.

He better hope I don’t call the Better Business Bureau on his ass!

As I stepped away from the sidewalk, I could hear the door to the store chime.

Glancing over my shoulder, I locked eyes again with the asshole of the century.

There he stood with his arms crossed, mugging me as if I were the one who had wronged him.

Giving him the middle finger, I got into my car and decided to go home.

What should have been a peaceful day of shopping, pampering, and relaxation had turned into one that I’d be pissed about for days to come.

Fine or not—no man was ever going to disrespect me without consequence. That tall-ass nigga had me fucked up.