Page 4 of Out of Bounds (Atlanta Demon Series #4)

“Ain’t no way y’all niggas just showed up to my shit like this!” Deuce fussed when he pulled the front door open and saw Jrue and me standing there.

“Did.” Jrue bobbed his head and pushed past Deuce, making me chuckle.

“Whaddup, bih?”

“Ain’t shit.” He shook his head and slapped hands with me. “Might as well bring yo’ ass in. Look like that nigga done got comfortable and shit.”

“Koya ain’t cook shit?” Jrue asked from the couch.

“Nigga, did Jream cook?” Deuce retorted. When Jrue ain’t say shit, he laughed. “Aight then.”

Walking into the living room, I plopped down beside Jrue and rested my head on the back of the sofa. “We was coming by to see if yo’ ass was tryna go have lunch.”

“Fuck I look like going out to eat with two hard legs?”

“This coming from the same nigga that was mad as a bitch ’cause we went to Top Golf without his ass!” Jrue heckled.

Leaning over, Deuce knocked Jrue’s feet off his coffee table. “That was Top Golf, nigga. It’s a difference.”

“Okay, where the fuck you think we going?” Jrue scoffed.

“Oh, why yo’ ass ain’t just say that?”

“Y’all niggas don’t do shit but fuss. We was supposed to go shoot around, but this nigga claim he hungry now, and we know Jream ain’t feeding his ass.”

“I guess I can go. My wife left the crib early this morning. I ain’t heard from her ass since then,” he fussed.

“She with my wife,” I told him.

Sai slipped out of the crib this morning, leaving my ass in bed with the kids.

Her ass forgot to tell me that she had something to do, so after I made sure everybody was dressed, I dropped them off at my mother-in-law’s.

Jrue and I had planned to go to the rec center to shoot ball, and I knew if I cancelled on him, his ass wasn’t going to do shit but fuss.

“She ain’t told me shit.”

“Sai’s ass didn’t either. I found out after I woke up in bed alone.”

“At least y’all got to see y’all girls. I promise… it feel like I ain’t seen Jream in ’bout two weeks.” Jrue shrugged.

“Fuck she been at?” Deuce quizzed.

“School, I guess. Y’all know she talking ’bout changing her specialty, huh?”

“Nawl.” I shook my head. “Change it to what?”

“Nurse Practitioner.”

“Jream ain’t told me shit,” Deuce added. “Fuck make her wanna do that?”

“Yo’ guess is just as good as mine.” He huffed. “But if she do, she gone have to start all the way over.”

“I ain’t heard nothing ’bout it. I’ll chop it up with her and see what’s going on.”

“Somebody needs to. I’m being real patient with her ass.”

I chuckled. “You gone have to continue being patient. You knew what it was when you pursued her.”

“Nawl, I didn’t, Deuce,” Jrue denied. “That going back to school shit popped up out the blue, and I’m being as supportive as I can, but Jream’s ass ain’t really at the crib to even receive the support.”

That right there was the main reason why I had been hanging with Jrue so tough. Jrue was all for Jream going back to school, but his ass wasn’t prepared to have to take the back seat while she did it.

He was ready for marriage and a baby, and Jream wasn’t. Of course, I knew what was going on because he had confided in me. Deuce didn’t because we all knew he was going to take Jream’s side, even if the shit she was doing was wrong.

“Well, nigga… I’on know what to tell you.” Deuce shrugged his shoulders.

“And that right there is the reason I’on tell you shit. Come on, Dolla. We can leave this nigga right here.”

“You in yo’ feelings, newbie.” Deuce joked. “Nawl, Jream got a habit of getting too wrapped up in shit, and everything else starts slipping. I just got onto her ass not too long ago ’cause the folks from Ma Dukes facility called me and said the balance hadn’t been paid.”

“She told me she paid it.”

“Yeah… after I said something. She claimed she forgot.”

“She can’t be forgetting shit like that. Sai been told her to put it on autopay,” I added.

“Jream don’t be listening to nobody. Then, when I start telling her about herself, I’m the bad guy.” Running his hands over his head, Jrue sighed. “Y’all don’t even know the half.”

“We done had her for years. Believe me… we know.” I laughed. “You’re just two years in.”

Lifting his shoulders in a shrug, he forced out a breath. “Won’t be a third if she don’t get her priorities in check.”

“Yeah, aight.” Hopping off the couch, Deuce shook his head at Jrue. “Nigga just talking. Let me go change so we can hit up Top Golf.”

“Aight.”

Jrue waited until Deuce was down the hall before he spoke up again. “I ain’t with it, Dolla. Like I said, I’m all for her going back to school and shit, but the neglect ain’t sitting right with me.”

“All I can tell you is to talk to her. Sai really wants y’all to come to Bora Bora. Y’all look at her schedule and let me know which week she can take off, and we can make something happen.”

“I’ll get with her and see.”

Jrue was in his feelings, and rightfully so.

I wanted the two of them to communicate better and work this shit out before this small situation grew and turned into something they couldn’t bounce back from.

On top of that, you give a nigga too much idle time, and he’s going to start spending time with somebody else.

I knew how much Jream loves and wants to be with Jrue, so I’m confident that they can fix it.

When Deuce finished changing clothes, the three of us loaded up in my truck and hit the highway.

As soon as we checked into our bays, Jrue ordered a round of shots, and the betting ensued.

Deuce and I were frequent golfers, but Jrue’s ass was just getting his feet wet.

However, you couldn’t tell his young ass that he wasn’t the best. The two of them couldn’t just play golf and enjoy the day; they had to make everything a fucking competition.

I ain’t been doing shit but a bunch of fucking laughing since we got to our bay.

“Dog, shut up and hit the ball!” I shouted.

“Nawl, Dolla.” Deuce shook his head. “Newbie thinks he knows so much. I’m ’bout to beat that ass and send him home to Reba.”

“You ain’t gone beat shit!” Flipping his sun visor backward, Jrue hiked up his shorts and angled his golf club. “Watch this, Dolla.”

The man swung the club, and instead of hitting the ball, he hit air. I almost fell out of my seat from laughing so hard.

Sitting down at the table, Deuce tossed back his shot. “Yep… that swing just told me all I needed to know. Yo’ ass can’t golf worth shit.” He laughed.

Jrue frowned. “I was practicing.”

“Practicing, my ass. Thank God you can throw a ball ’cause if this is what we had to deal with… our asses wouldn’t win no games,” he said just to fuck with Jrue.

“Coming from the nigga who almost got cut from the team…”

“Fuck you, aight.” Deuce flipped Jrue off.

Kovi held off on giving in to Deuce’s contract demands until after Koya and he tied the knot.

As long as it took them to agree, we all thought Deuce was going to be playing for the Dolphins next year.

My ass was happy that they could come to some type of agreement ’cause I couldn’t picture myself stepping out on that field without my nigga beside me.

Everything worked out the way it was supposed to, though, and for now, all was right in my world.