Against the Odds (Book 2)

♡ Chapter XIII ♡

Kaid and I had been hanging out at my place for the past few hours, playing video games until I realized I needed to get some stuff for what I had planned tomorrow night. Now, it was seven in the afternoon and we'd been in this store longer than I anticipated.

  Grocery shopping had always been somewhat therapeutic for me. A prolonged moment of silence and focus for half an hour or so outside my house. Kaid was ruining this usually soothing time.

  "You two legit aren't official?" He retorted, staring at me with his eyebrows raised.

  I shook my head, bringing my folded arms down on the handle of the shopping cart as I focused on the shelves on either side of me, searching for some peanuts. "That's what I said."

  "With the way you're always up under each other?"

  I didn't respond, busying myself with snatching a can of cashews, then peanuts. We exited the aisle and I led us to the produce section.

  "Motherfucker, are you listening to me?"

  I hummed as I grabbed a small container of grape tomatoes, eyeing them through the plastic. I put three of them in my cart before reaching for a regular tomato, weighing it in my palm. I bagged five of them and put them in the cart. I headed over to the cooler where all the vegetables were.

  Kaid stopped the cart with a hand on the front of it.

  I stopped and stared at him blankly. "What the hell is your problem?"

  "Right now? You."

  I couldn't help but laugh. "What do you want from me?"

"I want you to actually listen to me speak," he emphasized. "Or answer my questions, damn."

  I frowned. "What's so important that I have to stop shopping to listen to you?"

  He placed his other hand on the cart. I stared at them, then back up at his face.

  "I get that y'all got the hots for each other or whatever, but you sure you wanna get with her weeks before you hop on a plane?" He cut me off before I could remind him that me and Red were going to be in New York anyway. "Yeah, yeah, you're both going to the same city- but, bro... you're literally about to be in college? In New York. And you want to be in a relationship?"

  His interrogation made a lot more sense now. I crossed my arms, amused despite what he was getting at. But still a little irritated. "Are you insinuating that me, a black man, would ever cheat?"

  He returned an unamused stare. "Nobody said nothin about cheating. I'm saying, do you want to be locked down in a relationship with a city flooding with pussy?" he finished his retort in a low whisper and his eyes wide.

  I tried not to let my distaste show at his words but I could feel myself grimacing. I shook my head. "You don't know me at all do you?"

  Kaid didn't back down. "Well enough to know that you have a quicky at the bar every few weeks to get your dick wet. And on the clock too!"

  I glanced around us and glared at him when a woman who was walking by obviously heard us and was giving us the most disgusted expression she could muster up.

  "Are you fucking serious?" I hissed.

  "Fuck that lady, she don't know us."

  I let out a shocked laugh, palming my forehead. I dropped my hand back to the cart's handle. "Get out of the way." I tried running him over, but the fucker was strong.

  "Okay, okay," he rushed out, "my bad, that was fucked up. I'm just looking out for you."

  "Nigga, how the fuck you looking out for me by telling me not to get in a relationship because I won't be able to fuck everything that walks?"