Playin' Hard (Original version)

Twenty-five

"You look amazing," he said, standing back and admiring my attire.

Troiann and I'd gone to Cleveland that morning to go shopping for something to wear. We both purchased strapless dresses. Mine being a little bit risqué, navy blue and see-through at the sides, calling for no underwear on my part. It was something I wasn't used to wearing, but once I tried it on, Troiann said it was the one. She sent a pic to Tremaine and he'd immediately co-signed.

I got dressed at Troiann's house, knowing full well that one look at the mesh on my dress and the way it hugged my body would've sent my father into a conniption.

I patted Omari's chest. "Thanks."

"Dance with me?" he asked, leaning close to be heard.

Tremaine pushed him back a little. "Nah, bruh, I got this."

That was another thing; Tremaine had his big brother moments. If a guy approached me and he wasn't a Balla, Tremaine was quick to send him walking. In his defense, half the guys at After Hours were just out to get it, not that I needed Tremaine to voice what would've been my words.

"Stop it, Trey." I went and accepted Omari's offer and Tremaine found another girl to dance with.

I went and danced with Omari, finding him to be the polar opposite of Tremaine. Omari was respectful, never roaming over forbidden parts of my body, not that Tremaine ever did either, or groping me close. He kept it light and I liked that.

When it came to Jay-Z's verse of the song Omari rapped it to me, putting on Jay's swagger and making me laugh but also gush at how sexy he looked being cocky.

He wanted to see all the shit that he'd heard so I danced more into him and he accepted, holding me close into him and dancing on me back. It was new and different but fun.

By the time the song ended I definitely needed to sit down and cool off.

Omari led me to the bar and bought me a soda and we sat side by side, turned into each other, talking.

"How was basketball yesterday with the boys?" I asked, looking over and noticing Chris sealing the deal by getting the blonde's number.

Omari gave me a small smile. "I'm a little rusty. I definitely didn't play as much as I should've this past summer."

"You said you ran track, so I'm guessing you're a better runner than baller, huh?"

Omari agreed. "Yeah, but I wanna get better, I have something to prove. Your friends love talking shit by the way."

I could only imagine which of my friends he was referring to.

I gathered my hair into a bundle, picking it up off of my neck and fanning myself. "They'll get over it soon."

Omari watched me, eyeing my hair. "I like your hair, especially the red."

"Thanks. It's new for me, I liked it before, but this is nice too."

"Before?"

"I usually wore it kinkier than straight. Back when I used to dance I didn't see the point of straightening it to just let it get frizzy."

His brows rose with interest. "Wait a minute, you used to dance?"

I laughed. "Not like a stripper or anything. More like contemporary ballet. I even won our talent show at school last year."