Lighter Shade of Brown (Urban Fiction) BWHM

Lighter Shade of Brown (Empress 1st Draft)

"I'm going to pass, Taz," Cleo held eye contact with him. "And when I say pass. I mean I want to put eighty on pass."

Taz laughed and shook the dice. "You're mouthwatering, Cleo." He tossed the dice in the circle without looking.

"Pass." Putt yelled.

Cleo grinned continuing to hold Taz's gaze. "I won't to put it all on pass, Putt."

Taz raised an eyebrow, "Damn again, Ma?"

Cleo lifted her chin. "You heard me." 

Once again he tossed the dice in the circle without ever taking his eyes off of Cleo.

"Pass." Putt yelled from the side lines.

"Damn you lucky." His smile grew wider. "We need to hit the casino."

"So what you gone do now, Cle?" Putt called out.

"She's gonna call it." C's slid his arm around Cleo's waist and tugged her back to his side. "We need to bend a couple of corners."

Putt pushed a stack of folded twenties into Cleo's hand. She looked up at C's. His face was a mask of hard plains, giving nothing going on inside of his head away.

"Shit, C's," Taz laughed. "If I would have known you was done entertaining I would've insisted on you joining the game so I could take your money."

"Yeah? One day you'll get that chance." C's guided Cleo back across the street.

"Promises, Promises." Taz called after them.

Cleo pulled away from C's. She walked around to the passenger door of the car and got in, closing the door behind her. A moment later C's slid into the driver's side. He pulled a swisher from his pocket and a half of ounce of weed. The weed was a seedless sticky loud green that looked like baby poop.

He tossed the weed and blunt in her lap. Without saying anything Cleo began to bust down the blunt. She knew C's was pissed. He had told her on fifty-eleven different occasions to keep her distance from Taz. But that was easier said than done. Taz always seemed to know where to find her. Every time she looked over her shoulder she half expected to see him there. But she didn't mind. Hell she wanted to see him there. She liked him. Taz reminded her of C's, but wilder, and in that respect he excited her.

"I thought I told yo' ass about, Taz?" C's backed the car out of the driveway.

"Yeah you did," Cleo said as she licked the edges of the now empty blunt.

"Oh so you playing opposites?" He angled the car around and threw the Chevy in drive.

"I didn't know he was over there when I crossed the street." Cleo shrugged. "I just wanted to get in on the game. Made a hundred and sixty dollars too."

C's glanced over at her with a smirk on his lips, "If you wanted to shoot dice all you had to do was say so. You know I don't mind taking you and Ant's money."

"Yeah well you were busy with, Toya."

"Tahjra."

"Whatever." Cleo passed him the weed and the blunt.

C's placed his hand on her thigh. "Why you trippin'. You know you too young for me."

C's pulled the car into the parking lot of the corner store.

"What, and she ain't?" Cleo folded her arms across her chest. "She a fuckin' year older than me C's."

"Yeah, but she acts..." C's threw his hands up, almost as if he was trying to find the right words in the air.