Page 4 of Session 33

Her body went stiff. “I wasn’t staring.” Her voice was a silken, filthy blend of honey dripped over bourbon. She turned to face me, stepping back when she saw how close I was.

I was thrown off for a second and forgot why I approached her. I didn’t expect her to look like she did. She had one of the prettiest faces I’d ever seen—full lips, deep dimples, and cognac brown eyes that could hold you hostage. Her smooth brown skin looked baby soft. She was breathtaking, disrupting my equilibrium.

She tilted her head, giving me a slow once-over that was as deliberate as it was dismissive. “You get a good enough look?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest, her tone dry.

I took a slow step back, taking my time to scan her from head to toe—those thick thighs, red-polished toes, pretty titties—and then back up to her face. She had this sultriness about her. But I could tell by the way she held herself, she wasn’t as confident as she should be.

“Now I did,” I said, flashing a grin.

The look she gave me would have put off a lesser man. She seemed ready to say something, but she stopped when Naomi voice cut through the air, “Angel.” She called.

She rolled her eyes at me before she turned and left me standing there without a word.

My eyes lingered on her ass as she walked away. I guessed Angel was her name. It fit her. I followed a few steps behind her, closing in on my best friend and his girl. Something Angel was…different. I wasn’t sure what, but I knew one thing for sure—this night just got a whole lot more interesting.

Chapter five

I rolled my eyes at the cocky man, letting him know his antics weren’t cute, before walking away.

Naomi saved me from acting out of character in public and cursing him out. It’s not every day a man who looked like him flirted with me—it was flattering but teetering on the edge of disrespectful.

I could feel him watching me as I strutted over to Naomi. She spread her arms. "Hey, Ms. Angel, glad you made it!” She pulled me into a hug, then let go and complimented me again. “And damn, girl, you are slaying in that dress! You're absolutely killing it! Right, baby?" she asked her man. But before he could answer, that voice from earlier chimed in.

"Yeah, she looks damn good, Naomi."

I spun around and rolled my eyes at him harder this time, but his smirk only grew.

"Well, nobody asked you, Cassius. Fall back. She's not for you," Naomi waved him off, pulling me behind her like I needed saving.

“Avoid this one,” she mock-whispered, then looped an arm around him, hugging him tight.

I found it fascinating—how she was quick to warn me off him yet so comfortable in his presence. The contradiction wasn’t lost onme. But I didn’t need her warning—I wasn't too naive to know when a man would be bad for me. And he would be, It was written all over him.

But damn, he was fine. While Naomi hugged him, I took the chance to really check him out. Dude was way out of my league.

He was tall, draped in smooth tan skin, with neatly cut hair and a thick beard that framed his chiseled face just right. He had a thick neck and broad shoulders. His ice-blue eyes, lighter than usual, and his smile showcased perfect ivory teeth against his flawless complexion. But it was the ink covering his arms that really caught my eye. Without all the tattoos, he could pass for a pretty boy. Dressed down in a red T-shirt stretched across his chest and black swim trunks hung off his hips, even his feet were well-groomed in Nike slides.

This man was a problem.

When I finally dragged my gaze back up to his face, our eyes locked. He wore a smug smile that quickly turned into a wicked grin. I looked away, my cheeks heating up. Cassius was fine, and he knew it.

We were both decked out in red and black, you'd think we planned it.

“Naomi, you gonna introduce me to your friend?” he asked, looking down at her with that grin still playing on his lips.

“If you insist,” she sighed, rolling her eyes. “Angel, this is Cassius, but we all call him Cass. And that’s Jonas, my fiancé,” she added, nodding to the other guy. We all shook hands.

“Nice meeting you, Cassius. And thanks, Jonas, for inviting me over,” I said, feeling a bit more at ease.

"You ever played spades, Angel?" Jonas asked. He threw Cassius a pack of cards. I watched him pull the cards out, then flip them through his fingers like liquid silver while staring at me.

I couldn’t look away. with my eyes locked on him, I shook my head. "No, I don’t know how."

Cassius sat down in the patio chair. My middle ended up right in his face.

I felt a flush creep up my neck. If I wasn’t so dark, they’d know I was blushing. Then I remembered my dimples were probably giving me away.

Cassius's grin was a slow-burning fuse. My embarrassment reached its height when, in one smooth motion, he pulled me onto his lap. My breath caught as I realized what just happened.