Page 111 of Perfect Rhythm

“No, we haven’t. But I’ve heard a lot about you. I’m Skye. Nice to meet you,” she said while grinning.

“Pleasure’s mine. Have you been here before?”

“Yeah, quite a few times. I love their butterfly shrimp basket.”

“Oh, shit, I do too.”

Glad they were wrapped up in their own little convo, I crossed my arms and turned toward Shade, my voice low and firm. “Tell me what happened.”

“Order your food first,” he replied and motioned for the waitress to come over. “We’re ready to order.”

“Sure thing,” she replied. “What can I get you guys?”

Ready to get some answers, I didn’t bother looking at the menu. I just trusted that Skye was right about their food and ordered the same thing she ordered.

The second the waitress was gone, I was back down Shade’s throat. “I’m not waiting until the food gets here. I need to know now.”

“That’s too bad. You’re not getting a word out of me until you eat something.” He glanced over at Skye. “I saw your boy at the studio earlier. We had a little chat about him chilling out. I think I finally got through to him.”

“Good. Because if he keeps acting a fool, I’m going to put a restraining order on his ass.”

“Damn, it’s like that?” Ocean chimed in.

“Hell yeah! He won’t leave me alone, and he’s ten times worse when he’s high or drunk. He gets way too crazy, and he starts doing dumb shit.”

“Oh, I already know. He almost got his ass beat the last time I saw him at my club.”

“What?” Skye questioned, her eyes wide.

“Yeah, he started clowning and forgot who the fuck I was. I was about to remind his ass, but my brother decided to save his life and take him to the crib.”

Skye and I looked at each other, then turned our attention back to Ocean as he filled us in on what happened.

The story was crazy, but I wasn’t at all surprised.

Irritated, Skye changed the subject, which kept us occupied until the food arrived.

“Enjoy,” the waitress said as she placed our plates on the table.

We all rubbed our hands together eagerly and thanked her as she walked away.

As soon as I stuffed the first piece of shrimp in my mouth, I looked at Shade. “Now, what the hell happened?”

Laughing, he shook his head slowly. “Damn, you’re hell, you know that?”

“Mmhmm.”

Finally, he started talking, and I listened intently as he gave me the full rundown, guns and all.

“Oh my God,” Skye blurted, dipping her shrimp in cocktail sauce. “Y’all really pulled guns out on each other?”

I looked back at Trace, aggravated by his part in it all. “What the hell? I thought your job was to diffuse the situation, not?—”

“Nah, I’m supposed to protect my boy. If anyone fucks with him, they getting fucked up too.”

I dropped my shoulders.

Although I was giving Trace a hard time, he wasn’t wrong. But all I could think about was the way things could’ve gone, and that scared me.