Page 16 of Entangled With The Hellhound

“I guess I’m the only one,” I mumble as I walk away.

At this moment, I know that I will not be working with Nia Adkins in the near future. Fame has gone to her tiny brain, and I won’t put up with any foolishness. I tried to be the woman that uplifts other black women, but not to my detriment. I won’t be abused for the culture, fuck that nonsense!

When I make it to the back, where the stations are set up, I see Stone making his way to set. I don’t want to be intrigued by him, but I can admit that I am. That’s the reason I need to stay away from him. I don’t do players, and I should’ve gone with my first mind and walked away from him at that party.

I’m glad I’m not truly invested in this man. I have to keep telling myself it was a one off situation. My hormones got in the way of my common sense, and I won’t let it happen again.

It doesn’t take long for Stone to switch out the motorcycles and the models to change their wardrobe. I touch up everyone’s make-up without any condescending remarks and attitude from Nia, which has got to be a miracle. And I start cleaning up my space so I can get out of here.

It’s been a long day, and this shoot has not been my favorite. I normally work on individuals for events, so photo shoots aren’t really my thing because of the long taxing hours, and the diva behavior.

I was hustling, trying to pack up my things as quickly as I could. While silently thanking the sweet baby Jesus that Karma was too busy to ask me any more questions, and Stone was too busy talking to the photographer to talk to me again. I wasn’t ready to talk to either of them, so avoidance was the way to go.

“What’s the rush, little lamb?” I didn’t need to turn around and look at his face to know he was smirking.

“No rush. I just have things to do.” I lift my shoulders in a shrug as I slow down my movements, but I’m still packing my stuff. Just because he caught me trying to get away doesn’t mean I have to stand here and talk to him.

I feel a large hand on my shoulder, and I look at him without turning completely around. Stone’s gorgeous bearded face crumples into a fierce scowl. I didn’t notice before just how chiseled his jaw is or how his dark eyebrows and scruff bring out his bright blue eyes.

However, I won’t get distracted by his good looks. I need to get away from Stone, and his hotness just reminds me of that fact.

“You act like somethin’ is wrong. What’s up?” He questions, and I just give him a blank stare. I hate when men do shit like this. Do some shady shit, then act like nothing is wrong.

“Nothin’ is wrong with me. Like I said, I have other things to do.” I brush him off easily enough as I finish packing all my make-up into my roller case.

“Hey, Roxy. You ready?” Chase calls from the door.

With everything that has happened, I forgot all about telling Chase I would go for drinks. There’s no way I can avoid Karma if we all go out, but if I stand here, I won’t be able to avoid Stone.Decisions, decisions.

“Yeah, I’m ready. I’ll check ya later, Stone.” I nod to him as I roll my case behind me.

Stone doesn’t say anything, but I can feel his eyes burning a hole in my back. I hurriedly follow Chase out to the parking lot.

“Hey, I actually forgot I have some stuff I need to take care of, but Karma is going. Just tell her I’ll meet up with you guys later.” I lie to Chase as I make a beeline for my car.

I definitely will not be meeting up with them later. As a matter of fact, I plan on avoiding everyone for the rest of the evening.

Chase gives me a little frown, but he nods and says he’ll let Karma know. I smile to myself as I hop into my Honda CR-V and speed off.

“I killed two birds with one stone,” I say out loud as I laugh at the silly pun.

Stone will not make a fool of me. We aren’t even together, and Karma was all up in my business. What would’ve happened if she had known the extent of our interactions. I sigh loudly, and the sound reverberates around the cabin of my car. I flip on the radio and turn it up loud.Maybe the music will drown out my thoughts.

When I make it to my apartment complex, I feel a sense of relief. I know the small drama with Stone isn’t that big of a deal, but it’s been a long time since I put myself out there. All of the shit I had to deal with in my past relationship has left me closed off and scared.

I can admit my self-assurance took a beating after the Raymond fiasco, and it has taken me a long time to gain the little bit of confidence that I have back. Especially now that I decided to work for myself. My family thinks I’m an irresponsible idiot. I’ve tried to prove myself over and over again, but they won’t relent. So, I refuse to let another man shake me. I refuse to let anyone else shake me.

As soon as I step inside my apartment, my phone rings. I sigh because I know before looking at the screen it’s Karma. I let the call roll over to voicemail as I take my shoes off, but no sooner than I get one off, my phone rings again.

I roll my eyes and answer without looking at the screen, “Hello.”

“Hello, Roxanne. It’s Detective Myers. I got your message.”

At the sound of Detective Myers’ voice, I feel stupid again. Here I am proclaiming not to get distracted, and that’s exactly what I did. Raymond Frazier is out and about, and I forgot all about him not once but twice. To be fair, it’s been almost two weeks since I left the detective a message, so it’s no wonder I forgot.

But still, I have to be more careful because Raymond Frazier is detrimental to my well-being. And I fucking forgot about him… again.

“Uh, yeah. Hey detective.” I finally answer after mentally berating myself.