“Oh, fuck me.” Then she hangs up.
I laugh, pulling the cell away from my ear.* * *Raven: Lose this number, asshole.* * *Me: I shall do no such thing. Marry me.* * *Raven: Die in a ditch.* * *Me: With you by my side.* * *Raven: Fuck off.* * *I send her an emoji smiley face, and she doesn’t reply to me for the rest of the day, even after I send her many, many eggplant emojis.“No way, just leave her alone.” Tracey hits me again.
I grab my arm and stare at her—she packs a punch. “Don’t think I won’t tackle you, woman.” She hits me again before she walks off.
Storm sits opposite me trying to contain her smile—she’s Echo’s girl and they fucking suit each other so well.
“I can’t wait to meet her,” Storm says.
Echo laughs beside her. “She was always too young. What happened?” Echo asks.
Tracey comes over carrying drinks and kicks my feet off her coffee table before handing me one.
“She was too young, now she isn’t,” I say with a shrug.
“Please, she’s my friend. And you only notice her now because she is all woman.” She indicates to her tits talking about Raven.
Oh yes, I saw them all right. The same way I did all those years ago when she was underage.
“We have a rule… no hitting on each other’s friends,” Tracey says.
“I seem to have lucked out in that one, considering I only ever have men as friends...”
She laughs. “Did you only just work that out?” She laughs harder. “I made that deal with you for the sole reason of Ariel. I knew she liked you. And I didn’t want you fucking up my best friend.”
“I’m a gentleman.” Everyone starts coughing and choking. “I am, you fuckers. I always call the woman a cab. Always pay for it. Always tell them I won’t be calling again.”
“Oh, what a gentleman you are, because every woman wants to be treated as a plaything and then dismissed.” Tracey hits me again.
“Would you prefer I lie?”
Tracey shrugs her shoulder. “Sometimes a woman needs to have hope, and you don’t give them that.”
“So, I should lie to Ariel and tell her I want more than her body?”
Tracey’s jaw hits the floor. “Don’t you dare.”
I smile at her. “See, my way is way better.”
“How about you just don’t go near her?”
I lean forward on my elbows. “Now, why would I go and do a thing like that? Sometimes the forbidden fruit tastes so much sweeter.”
“She hates you,” Tracey states as everyone else around us stays quiet.
“Angry sex is the best sex. You should know that, sister.”
Storm coughs, making us turn to face her. “How about cake, we all like cake.” She tries to change the subject.
“I like cake,” Echo says standing and pulling Storm up with him. “I’ll take any cake you make, or don’t make.” They walk out without even saying goodbye.
“Why must you make my guests leave?” She sits opposite me.
“I did no such thing. They’re gone to have sex.”
Tracey goes quiet before she looks back at me. “She’s an adult now, so you have every right to chase her. But if you fuck our relationship up again, I’ll cut your throat while you sleep.” Tracey likes to threaten bodily harm all the time.
“She’s an adult now, remember that. What happens between her and me has no bearing on you and her.”
She shakes her head. “You’ve messaged her already, I take it?”
I nod my head. Of course, I have.
“And?”
“And what? You don’t want to be involved, so stop asking me questions.”
“Touché.” She sips her drink as we sit in silence.
Tracey and I have always been close. Even when we annoy each other, we’re close. Which is saying a lot considering how Echo and his brother are, and they’re twins. Tracey and I have a few years difference between us and I speak to her almost every day, sometimes more often.
Standing up, I kiss her on the head before I walk away saying over my shoulder, “Love you.”
“I know,” is all she says back. She’s going through a lot right now, and the only person she can get angry with is me. So, I take it because her girlfriend couldn’t take Tracey’s crazy ass if she saw her at full swing, whereas I can.
She wants a child.
They can’t conceive.
Nothing I can say will help, and she won’t take my money to help either. So, instead, I take her verbal diarrhea and simply smile and kiss her goodbye each time.
It’s what family does for each other.
Standing on Raven’s doorstep, I ring her, hoping she’ll answer. She doesn’t, my call is rejected straight away. I smile despite myself knowing that the game she’s playing she won’t win. I’m a master, and I have my way almost every time.
Mark my words, soon she will be putty in my hands.