Page 56 of Malachai
“Wanted to surprise you,” Cooly replied smoothly. His eyes dragged slowly over my sports bra and tiny shorts before coming back up to my face. “You look good again today.”
Diamond laughed under her breath. “Boy, you are not subtle.”
Cooly ignored her and stepped closer, his hand brushing my waist as he moved past me, his fingers lingering against my bare skin.
I stepped back. He frowned.
Diamond wandered over to one of the poles, spinning lazily around it. “This setup is way better than the one at Velvet.” She climbed smoothly, then dropped into a slow, controlled split on the floor and looked up at me with a grin. “You still got that fire, Midnight?”
I shook my head, smiling. “I’m happy to see you, but I’m not getting on the pole today. Where’s Malik? I thought y’all were glued at the hip.”
Diamond’s expression dropped. She did another quick spin on the pole before dropping down to the mat. “We broke up. He took over his brother’s club and let that little bit of power go straight to his head. Started acting brand new—talking to bitches like he was God’s gift, staying out all night, moving funny with money. I ain’t got time for that. Cut his ass loose.”
“Damn,” I murmured. “Sorry to hear that.”
She shrugged. “I’m good. Better off.” Diamond hopped up and dusted her hands. “Take me to the beach. I drove past it on the way here. I need water, sand, and a strong drink.”
I nodded. “Let’s go. Wait for me. I’ll be right out after I put some things away and lock up.”
They stepped outside.
I pulled out my phone, my thumb hovering over Malachai’s name. Then I thought better of it. Maybe my two worlds were better left apart.
Chapter 29
Indigo
The sun was melting into the Gulf, turning the sky shades of vibrant orange and pink. We had been on the beach for hours and were deep into our second bottle of tequila, the two of us sprawled on a big blanket with sand stuck to our skin and music playing from someone’s speaker down the shore. Cooly was sitting farther down, watching the waves on some contemplative shit. The crowd had thinned out.
Diamond nudged me. “So… be honest, Indigo. You like Cooly? You want him?”
I nearly choked on the shot I was taking. I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and laughed. “No. I find him attractive. But I find a lot of men attractive. He’s a friend.”
I looked over at him. He was shirtless, wet from the water, with sand clinging to his hair. He looked like the cover of a street-lit novel. A small, reckless part of me regretted never fucking him once.
Diamond grinned, leaning in closer. “He told me the whole story when he came looking for you. How you ran away from your husband, ended up in New York…” She glanced over at Cooly, who was watching us quietly from a distance. “Cooly’s cool, Indigo. Patient. Loyal. Why not start over with him? You can come back to New York. I miss my friend.”
I stared out at the crashing waves, the tequila making my thoughts slow and heavy. “It’s not that easy, Diamond. Malachaiand I… we've got history. A lot of ugly, messy, bloody history. I was content in New York doing what I was doing, but now that I’m back, it just seems like some spiteful shit I did.”
Diamond nodded like she understood, but I caught the quick look she shot Cooly. She wasn’t being obvious about it, but I saw it. Had he told her to ask me?
“History is just that—history,” she said softly, squeezing my knee.
Cooly stood up and came over. “Let me grab us some food before y’all get too drunk to eat.”
He walked off toward the boardwalk. Diamond waited until he was well out of earshot, then leaned in again. “Just think about it, girl. A man who crossed state lines looking for you, who’s willing to wait… that’s rare.”
“Did Cooly ask you to say something?”
“No,” she spit out fast as hell, and I knew instantly she was lying.
I took another long drink, letting the burn settle in my chest. “I hear you,” I said, not bothering to call her out for pushing me toward him.
About twenty minutes later, Cooly came back carrying a paper tray of fresh shrimp, still steaming and smelling like garlic and lemon. He dropped down right beside me on the blanket, crowding my space. He picked up one of the large shrimp, peeled it carefully, and held it to my lips.
“Open,” he said quietly, his voice a low rumble.
I hesitated for half a second, then let him feed me. His fingers brushed against my bottom lip, his eyes locked on mine the entire time. The gesture felt way too intimate.
