Rhonda stood off to the side, looking like she wanted to be sick. This was hands down one of the finest men she had ever laid eyes on, but instead of her finding out how he liked his dick sucked, the stranger had passed her right by and was all up on Billy’s dyke ass. She couldn’t make the connection right off, but she headed over to where they were standing to find out.

Billy closed her eyes to make sure she wasn’t seeing things, only to open them and find out she wasn’t. His breath smelled like apple tarts and Billy found herself suddenly craving sweets. “How’re you doing, Billy?” Marcus asked, standing close enough for Billy to feel his body heat.

“Hi,” she said, trying to keep her nervousness from showing. Rhonda and Reese were staring at her, making the situation even more awkward. At the barbecue she had been confident, but in closed quarters she was choking.

He leaned in close enough to Billy’s face to where their lips almost brushed. “Twice in the span of a few days has got to mean something.”

“It means that the world is too small.” She placed a hand against his chest to define boundaries.

“Marcus, get up off my cousin.” Yoshi swatted his arm playfully.

“Yoshibelle, what’s good?” He hugged the smaller woman. “Cousin, huh? I should’ve known that you two shared genes.” He eyed Yoshi playfully.

Billy looked from Marcus to Yoshi, and her face flashed defensiveness. “You two know each other?”

“Marcus works over at Shooter’s. You know I do them every other weekend,” Yoshi said, as if she should’ve known that.

“Oh,” Billy said, trying to hide her embarrassment.

“I should be asking where the hell the two of you met.” Yoshi shot Billy an accusing look.

“At a barbecue,” Marcus spoke up. “Billy and I had a mutual friend and some common interests.”

“Billy, you ain’t gonna introduce your peoples to your friends?” Rhonda butted in.

Billy shot her a look, but didn’t press it. “Marcus, this is Rhonda and that’s Reese.” She nodded to Reese, who finger waved.

“Hello,” he said politely, nodding at each girl. “So,” he turned back to Billy, “since you haven’t accepted my invitation to a drink at the club, could I buy you one here?”

“No thank you,” Billy said, ignoring Rhonda, who was motioning for her to say yes.

“Damn, you’re hard as nails,” he said, frowning a little. “I don’t want much from you, ma, just some conversation. As a matter of fact, bring ya homegirls. I got a table upstairs.”

Billy looked at Yoshi, who nodded in approval. Reese just had a silly grin on her face, while Rhonda looked away. “A’ight, we’ll come up for a minute.”