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She climbed out my lap and stood up, fixing the oversized pants she wore. The Margiela Tabis she wore complimented the outfit along with the basic white t-shirt. The pants and shoes were the vision, the star of the show, and the main event.

“I don’t want to ruin Greene’s vibe; do you think you can drive me home? I have Pilates in the morning, and I need to wake up on time for that stupid shit.” She rolled her eyes as she walked to grab her purse.

“Why you got beef with Pilates?”

“Not necessarily the workout, but the studio that I go to. I don’t record anyone but myself and I make sure I edit everyone out if I do catch people.

She literally never allows me to record during class, so I never get footage.

I wanted to wear this workout set that a brand sent me, and actually get content working out in it, and I know that won’t happen… ugh… that shit just blew my high.”

She swung her bag across her body, and then we headed out the studio. Greene and Beans were sitting in her car when we walked past them. Navy said bye to her, and Beans told me that he would catch a ride home with Greene.

He was taking things slow with Greene and I understood why. They were damn near employees, and if shit went wrong, he would have to be around her often. Menace already told them he didn’t want no weird shit around his baby.

Went into a whole speech about how it could fuck with his baby, and none of us felt it was true. Stevie had him reading a shit ton of baby books, so who the fuck knew what was true with their baby?

“Do you just collect different cars?” Navy snickered, as I held the door to my Lamborghini opened.

“Something like that.”

I climbed down into the car and whipped out the spot toward her apartment. I could get to her house with my eyes closed. “Why you so quiet?”

“I don’t know… processing things.”

“Like?”

“Kennedy.”

I looked over at her, confused. “What about her?”

“You clearly care about her. Maybe I’m a rebound or something… someone to take your mind off her.”

“Negative.”

“How are you so certain, Don?”

I ignored her calling me Don. “Because Kennedy is getting married. There is no us, and she lied to me. I’m big on honesty, and she didn’t keep it real with me when I provided a safe space for her to do so.”

“Maybe she was scared.”

I wasn’t trying to hear shit about Kennedy being scared or not knowing what to do. Why would she play with me the way that she did? Give me hope that something could develop only to break me down and nearly bring me to my knees.

“Don’t wanna talk about it, Bleu.”

“K,” she whispered.

When we pulled in front of her building, I got out and opened the door for her. “Mommy, what are you doing here?” she said the minute she stepped out the car.

A woman that she favored, but was a few shades lighter, was standing outside the building with a purse on her arm and a plastic bag.

“Your father is working a double tonight, and we planned to have a sleepover.”

Navy snapped her fingers. “Sorry… I forgot. Were you out here long?”

She smiled and looked past her daughter and at me. “Don?”

Navy groaned and covered her face. “You be talking about me, Bleu?” I teased and tickled her.

“Please don’t flatter yourself… Greene has a big mouth.”

“Avril Perkins.”

I shook her extended hand. “Nice to meet you, Mrs. Perkins. My name is Landon Caselli.”

“Nice to meet you, I’m Landon Caselli,” Navy’s petty ass mocked me, and I laughed, playfully mushing her ass.

Navy had her arms crossed as I mushed her over, side eyeing me because I had manners. “He has manners… that is good. I made enough dinner to share; do you want to come up?”

“Mommy, how you just inviting this stranger into my home?”

Her mother laughed. “He don’t seem like no stranger. That’s a nice car… you sure you wanna leave it parked out here?”

“It’s fine.”

Navy let her mother into her building and held the door opened for me to enter the building behind her.

“Are you seriously gonna come upstairs?”

Navy’s mother went up first to heat the food back up while we stood in the lobby. I leaned over her, backing her up against the wall as she stared up at me. “I’m gonna let you and moms have your sleepover… you owe me food next time.”

“A next time? We keep running into each other by chance, Landon.”

“Then what we gonna do to prevent that? Can’t keep running into you by chance. I’m real intentional with the way I do shit, Bleu.”

She smiled. “Handle your god niece situation, Don. Maybe we’re both not ready for what we think we want.”

I wasn’t going to hold her long, so I decided to let her think that. “Give me a hug before I leave.”

She stood on her toes, pressing her body to mine, and slowly put her arms around my neck. “I can tell it’s been a while since you allowed someone to hug and love on you,” Navy whispered into my neck.

Again, she wasn’t wrong.

I watched as she started walking up the steps backward. “Don’t get all excited because you met my mama.”

“Moms in law is cool. Never really had a mom before.”

She poked her lip out. “Landon, you cannot say stuff like that to me after the moment we shared in the studio.”

“I’m honest, Bleu… strangers, right?”

Navy folded her arms. “You make me wanna give you another hug.”

“Save it for the next time I see you.” I pressed my back against the door, pushing the release button to unlock it.

“Strangers.” She smiled.

Recommendation: Listen to “Around Me” by Brent Faiyaz

After leaving Navy, I headed home to have a few drinks before taking a shower and going in my office.

I worked for a few hours before my eyes became tired, and I leaned my head back in my chair, finally allowing sleep to win this war.

All I dreamed about was her soft lips and how she felt in my lap.

How much I wanted to run that shit back and feel her skin against mine.

It was easy to feel comfortable in Navy’s presence because she was so damn calm.

It never had to be much for her to catch a vibe, and you zoned out right with her.

The weed we smoked only added to the ambiance.

Any time I was around her, it felt like we were in the front seat of my car again, tucked away from everything and everybody.

I could see where she got her calm demeanor from.

Her mother’s vibe was somewhat of the same as her daughter.

It was chill, never having to do too much.

She didn’t make a big deal out of her daughter being with another man.

She allowed her daughter to be grown and live her life, something I respected.

I’ve been grown since the day that Angie left our house.

Menace didn’t handle us with kiddie gloves, and it wasn’t like I had a bunch of rules.

Other than doing good in school, there wasn’t anyone there making sure I did certain shit.

In high school, I had bitches staying the night in my room because Menace was always gone. Kora did her best with keeping an eye on things, but she was busy with her own shit. Zoya wasn’t going to tell me shit.

I did shit just so I could get in trouble.

Be put on punishment and shown that they cared.

As the youngest, I always felt lost in the shuffle.

The sibling they had to make sure survived in the midst of them having their own lives.

Menace taught me a lot of shit, but the nigga was broken for real.

He taught me his version of shit, which is why I had to wash up four times, or my toothpaste was perfectly squeezed with the right toothpaste to toothbrush ratio.

I wasn’t as neat as he was. I could leave a bottle on my desk or drop crumbs without losing my shit.

However, the thought would be in the back of my head, and I found myself up in the middle of the night vacuuming crumbs from lunch.

When my phone started ringing, I got pissed off. “What the fuckkkkkk?”

I was mad at myself because my dumb ass got comfortable in this office chair instead of my bed across the hall. Then someone had the nerve to call me and want to talk this early in the morning.

“Yeah.”

“Mr. Caselli, you have a visitor that wants to come up. Shall I allow them up?” the front desk attendant asked.

I could tell it was the new nigga who didn’t know the rules of calling my personal phone. “You be fucking me?”

The man was too stunned to speak. He stammered, and if I was in front of him, he would have been sweating. “No… sir…I…”

“The only people calling my phone this early be fucking me… that’s you?”

“Oh goodness, no.”

“I’m a bum?”

Now I was fucking offended with him saying, oh goodness, like I was some bum. He should be honored to fuck me if I went that way. “No, sir… I’m just.”

“Send them the fuck up and use the other phone, pussy mouth.” I ended the call and stood up to get a good stretch before Kennedy brought her ass up here.

I had access to the cameras all throughout the building.

Not because I owned the penthouse, but because I hacked into those shits the day I closed on this place.

While he was stammering and sweating on the phone, Kennedy stood behind him with her arms folded, waiting for him to give her the green light to come upstairs.

It was crazy that I had ran into Navy twice and I still didn’t have her number.

I mean, I could get the shit easily, but that was creepy, and I wasn’t trying to go that way with her.

I wanted her number because she gave it to me, not because I went and got it myself.

I wanted the cameras to her buildings because she trusted me to hack her building and gain access, not because I knew I could easily.

The Case Farm fruits and vegetables were delivered, so I grabbed an apple and sat on the counter waiting for the wench to show herself. Bitch hurt my damn feelings and then had the nerve to want to sit and talk about the shit.