She's Gotta Have It: A Hood Love Story Read Online Free PDF Page B

asking to hang out Josalyn, he’s not proposing.
    Me: Nothing.
    I finally replied.
    Cassian: Cool, I want you to come to the studio.
    Me: Really? I may distract you. lol
    Cassian: Yeah girl, lol. Yeah you might distract me, but I'm willing to take the risk. So you down?
    Me: I guess.
    Cassian: Cool. I will pick you up in thirty minutes!
    Me: Okay.
    I immediately hopped off my bed and walked into my closet. I was dressed for the day already, but now that I was seeing Cassian, I needed to change. I felt bad that I was excited to see another man that wasn’t Craig. I always felt like I was cheating on him when I was attracted to someone else. That’s probably why I hadn’t had sex with anyone else either.
    I decided on some skinny jeans and a layered spaghetti string strapped top. I left my hair down, as is, and then put on some hoops and sandals. By the time I was dressed, Cassian texted me and let me know he was outside waiting. I ran to the kitchen, grabbed a water bottle, and then left to go outside.
    An all-black Range Rover was parked outside, and the passenger side window rolled down as soon as I neared it.
    “What’s up lady?” Cassian flashed his perfect smile. I could smell grape Kool-Aid, which I assumed was his air freshener.
    “What’s up?” I blushed and tugged on the door handle.
    Once we got on the road, he turned on some music, which surprisingly wasn’t his.
    “I see you’re not one of those musicians who only listens to themselves,” I half joked.
    “Yeah, I’d rather listen to other shit. I hear my stuff all day, so no need to play it during my relaxation time,” he nodded as he played with his chin hairs.
    He was wearing an oatmeal colored thermal, light blue jeans, and oatmeal colored Nike Roshes. His cologne smelled really good, and I recognized that it was Jazz Club by Maison Margiela.
    We finally made it to a condo complex in North Hollywood, and I was confused. I thought he was taking me to his studio. I hope this isn’t a ploy to get in my panties , I thought to myself. He pulled into the parking garage, parked, and then shut the engine off.
    “I thought we were going to the studio?” I said as we got out of the car. I was starting to wonder why I agreed to go somewhere with a complete stranger. Please don’t rape me , I chanted in my head as I discreetly checked my purse for my mace.
    “This is my studio lady. I have an in-home studio here, because I like that if I’m working late I can sleep here,” he smiled at me and I knew he could tell I was suspicious of him.
    “Oh,” I chuckled as I followed him to his door.
    When we walked in, there were three guys and two girls on the couch chilling.
    “Hey y’all, this is Josalyn,” Cassian said and introduced me to everyone.
    I took a seat by the two girls, and they both flashed me a smile so I did the same. Cassian made me a drink, and then made sure I didn’t need anything else before going into the booth. I bobbed my head up and down, and made conversation with one of the girls as we listened to Cassian record a couple tracks. Her name was Taniya, and I found out we were the same age.
    “So are you Cassian’s girl?” she questioned me with the raise of an eyebrow.
    “No, we are just friends I guess. I just met him actually,” I replied.
    “Oh, okay. Well I think he likes you. He doesn’t bring girls to the studio,” she nodded.
    “No, he doesn’t even know me well enough to like me like that,” I shook my head nonchalantly. On the inside, I was twerking.
    “You know in Steve Harvey's book, he said men know immediately if the woman is the one,” she joked, or at least I assumed she was joking.
    We laughed in unison, and finally Cassian was coming out of the booth. His producer turned on some music by Problem and Iamsu, and everybody started to relax.
    “Come sit over here Josalyn.” Cassian bit his bottom lip and lightly patted the couch cushion next to him. Taniya nudged me, and I smiled before getting up to