“I can’t move that fast in these heels,” Yoshi said, nearly twisting her ankle trying to keep up.

“Yoshi, I just stomped that nigga out and I’m packing,” he said, raising his shirt. “Now, unless you wanna go to jail or risk that dude waking up and trying to tear ya fucking head off, you better keep moving.”

After weighing her options, Yoshi kicked her shoes off and did as she was told. Something about watching Jah move through the dark corridor, pistol in hand, turned her on. It took a lot of guts for the youngster to run up on a dude like that in the club. Men had fought over Yoshi before, but never to defend her honor. If nothing else, Jah had gained her respect that night.

“Jah, what the hell was that all about?” Yoshi asked, tripping over something she couldn’t quite see.

“That nigga threw a drink on you,” he said, helping her to keep her balance. “He’s lucky I didn’t kill his ass for it.”

“Jah, I appreciate you looking out, but I’m hardly worth you catching a body over.”

“Why not?” he asked seriously. “Listen, Yoshi, I don’t know what the deal was with you and duke, but I wasn’t gonna fall back and let him do that. No woman deserves that kind of treatment. Especially my…” Jah stopped himself.

“Your what?”

“Nothing, let’s just keep moving.” Ignoring the questioning look Yoshi was giving him, Jah continued to the end of the hall. When they got to the fire door, he listened momentarily before opening it. When he was as sure as he could be that there was no one outside to ambush them, he pushed the door open and they were finally greeted by the night air.

“What the hell are you two doing sneaking out of the fire exit?” Billy asked, approaching Yoshi and Jah.

Yoshi sighed. “Girl, you don’t even wanna know.”

“Yoshi, I’m sorry I wigged out on your friend. Its just that—”

Yoshi cut her off by placing a finger tenderly over Billy’s lips. “You don’t have to explain anything to me, Billy. I talked to Marcus and he’s cool.”

“I still feel stupid. The first time I get around a good-looking guy, I go all psycho on him. I should go back in to apologize.” Billy started for the entrance, but Yoshi stopped her.

“Another time, sweetie,” Yoshi said, pulling her in the other direction. “The party is over.”

“What the hell happened in there?” Billy asked.

“I’ll tell you when we get in the cab,” Yoshi said, pulling out her cell and placing it to her ear. “I’m about to hit Rhonda and tell her that we’re getting the fuck outta here.”

“You do that. But before I go anywhere, somebody is gonna give me an explanation.”