#teasertuesday : let me in...

Hi friends! Figured I’d hit y’all with a lil #teasertuesday action on today! Release date is still TBD, but just know it’s a-comin’! Enjoy!

I didn’t need him for backup, but I definitely wasn’t just going to leave him in a very nice car in this unfamiliar neighborhood by himself. Who knows what would happen if a trigger happy cop on patrol just happened to breeze through? An extreme thought, but I preferred to be safe rather than sorry when I had the opportunity to control the narrative. I walked up and saw an ornately carved lion head knocker decorating the door. I used it, knocking three times before I stepped back with hands in my pockets as we waited for her to answer the door. A few moments passed with no indication that she was coming to answer the door. I stepped off the small porch that was in front of her house to peer into the front window. There were slivers of light coming through her blinds, so I assumed she was home and walked back over to the door. This time I noticed a doorbell that I’d missed the first time and pressed that instead of using the knocker again.

“Say, maybe we shoulda called first?” Pharris mused.

“Perhaps, but we were already in rotation, so I mean…” I trailed off, when the door finally opened and Jayde peered from behind the massive teal door.

Her eyes were narrowed in confusion that quickly turned to recognition as she looked me directly in the eyes and stepped from behind the shelter of the door. Despite being completely sleep rumpled, she was still bad as hell in a tank top and itty bitty shorts that showed off her dope ass frame.

“Can I help you?” she asked, leaning against the door, annoyance clear on her face.

“Hey…I was…we were wondering if you had a few spare minutes. To discuss some business?” I said, gesturing to Pharris who’d backed a little off the porch once Jayde appeared.

“How did you even know where…I am going to kill Ny,” she gritted out before addressing me again, “I thought you said that whatever business you had with me before was dead now. What was it you said…my overinflated ego had you fucked up? Or something to that measure? Nah, I’m good Nikolas. Y’all have a good night,” Jayde said before stepping back and closing the door to her home.

“Jayde, please. Give me five minutes, that’s all I ask. I think this could end up being mutually beneficial to us both if you’ll just hear me out. I…admit that I didn’t exactly handle my approach in the right way when I first thought of you for this opportunity, I’ll own that. But…if you think I’m about to get on bended knee and ask you to work for…no…with me, then you’ve got another thing coming. I think your talent is rare—top notch, bar none—but I’m not exactly the type of man who will grovel over a simple misunderstanding. Now, with that being said, can we bug you for no more than five minutes or nah?”

“I’m not exactly dressed for company,” she said.

I chuckled, “We’ll give you a few minutes to make yourself presentable, so long as it doesn’t cut into my promised time. C’mon…I can see it in your eyes that you’re intrigued by what would bring me all the way over here to bother you tonight? I actually went to the Shamrock first…but clearly you weren’t there, so I had to use other means. By the way, you all right?”

Looking at Jayde a bit more closely, her eyes were reddened and a little puffy, not completely due to being asleep before we arrived unannounced. Her nose was also pretty red as well and she’d rubbed it a couple times while I was giving my little speech.

“Allergies,” she groaned, “been kicking my ass all week and today I finally let them win. Thanks…for asking.”

“You’re welcome. So…you gonna let us in or nah? It’s a little breezy out here,” I joked, giving Jayde the same smile I’d laid on her homegirl earlier.

Only this time I received the desired response, even if only for a split second. Jayde quickly schooled her features into a mask of nonchalance, but for a moment a faint blush of red covered her cheeks as she bit down on her lower lip. Wordlessly, she unlocked the storm door, and then backed into her townhome waving us through the entrance.

“Well I’ll be damned. That shit really worked,” Pharris muttered under his breath, following me into Jayde’s place.