6

sierra checks the time for the fourth time in the last ten minutes, as if the constant checking will make time speed up. the quicker cole gets here, the quicker she can leave and come back home.

"whats up with you," deja asks, looking up from her phone at sierra. both herself and jasmine have sensed that she's been off since last week. deja liked to say that it was after the club that changed, but the fact that she even suggested them to go was even stranger, so she knows it's been awhile now.

"you're acting weird," jasmine chimes in, scrolling on her phone. sierra scoffs at their tag team and shakes her head.

"nothings wrong. i just want to leave," she replies. deja gives her a look that makes her hold her arms out to the side. "what?"

"you can talk to us," jasmine says, putting her phone down and looking over at sierra. the two girls sit on the couch while she stands in the kitchen behind a counter. the space between them feels metaphorically on point, and it bothers her. she feels like she's been keeping a lot of things from them that she shouldn't be, but she's trying to figure things out for herself.

her two friends look at her expectantly, eyes wide and waiting. sierras eyes ping-pong back and forth between the two girls, everything she's been keeping from them threatening to get blurt out, right now.

she opens her mouth to speak, but is interrupted by her phone ringing. cole. she sighs and answers, putting him on speakerphone. "yeah?"

"i'm outside."

"cool, we'll be out in a second," sierra hangs up and looks over at her friends. "i promise i'll tell you guys later. lets just get there so we can come back."

jasmine and deja exchange a look before getting off of the couch. it makes sierra feel incredibly left out, but she knows it's her fault. she had several chances to be open and tell her friends what has been happening with jack, and whether or not she thought their influence was good isn't the point. she still could have mentioned it.

the three girls leave sierras apartment. cole stands outside of his matte black g-wagon, dressed in a nice pair of pants and a white, short-sleeved turtleneck. "damn, yall look good," cole says, pushing off of his car and meeting them halfway. he hugs each of them individually, his embrace with sierra very brief.

"you too, cole," deja says—practically purrs. her eyes say more than she does, and she's brushing past him before he can respond. sierra raises her eyes in surprise and relief—at least she knows that cole won't be after her tonight. but she didn't expect deja to have a thing for cole.

jasmine and sierra share a look before walking over to the car. cole pulls the back door open for them and they slide in while deja sits in the front. he get in and they pull out of the parking space and sierra crosses her legs and looks out of the window as they drive down the road.

jasmine glances over at sierra and furrows her eyebrows in confusion. she gently kicks her with her heel, and sierra turns to look at her. "hmm?"

"you good?" jasmine asks, cutting her eyes towards cole and reverting them back to her friend. sierra let's out a breath and nods her head to the left. i'll tell you later. jasmine nods and settles back into her seat, nothing but the low music and deja and cole's voices filling up the car.

-

sierra, deja, and jasmine huddle in a bathroom stall, the quietest place in the entire building. the moment they made their greetings, jasmine claimed that she had to use the restroom, and cole didn't question it when she grabbed the two girls and took them with her.

"spill."

sierra sighs and crosses her arms over her chest. her friends look at her with mirrored stances and similar looks on their faces. "okay. jack hit me up a few days ago," she starts. jasmine gasps and dejas jaw drops.

"no fucking way—and you didn't say anything?" deja asks, hitting her on the shoulder. sierra rolls her eyes and looks away from them. this is what she was afraid of, the excited reactions that only make her want to be excited, too.

"what did he say?" jasmine asks, and sierra tells them, keeping her voice low as she hears women come in and out of the bathroom. she tells them about his phone call on tuesday, their link on wednesday, why she saw him at the club on friday, and him coming over the next day. sierra tells them that she told jack that she would consider getting back together with him, and really wants to.

"so are you going to?" deja asks, a thoughtful expression on her face. jasmine doesn't say anything, but her face is concerned.

"i don't know..." sierra says, gathering her hair at the base of her neck before letting it all go. she expected them to tell her to jump on it and get back with him, but instead they're asking her what she wants. and she doesn't know what she wants, at least long term, in the slightest. she knows that she wants jack, but shes not sure if it's for one night, or for forever. "i mean, i miss him. but i don't know if i can do all of that."

"well, whatever you decide, we're here for you. always," jasmine says, grabbing her hand. sierra squeezes and grabs deja, bringing the three of them impossibly closer in the tiny stall.

"i love y'all," sierra mumbles into their shoulders as they hug, rocking back and forth causing their heels to click on the linoleum.

"i love you both too, but it smells like shit in here," deja says, pulling away. she unlocks the stall and they shuffle out, earning weird stares from other women at the sink. sierra rolls her eyes as she passes, and they manage to make it out of the bathroom without anybody saying anything.

they walk back into the "not-a-party-party" and find cole amongst several rappers; everyone you could imagine. lil baby, lil durk, lil yachty, and everyone in between crowds the inside of the room. it's not the first time sierra has been in rooms like this, but it is still quite exciting to see these people up close.

sierra slides behind a few people and retakes her seat on the couch, pulling her friends down with her. cole stands off to the side, his back towards them. "now what?" sierra asks, leaning into deja.

"uh, try to have fun?!" she says, looking at sierra like she's stupid. sierra rolls her eyes and crosses her legs at the ankles. "or try to get one of these rich niggas to take you home." deja adds, lowering her voice to a whisper. sierra looks around the room at the men present. a lot of them are fine, but she isn't actively looking for someone. plus, she's not good at one night stands.

"oh, he is fine," jasmine says, elbowing deja who elbows sierra.

"who?"

jasmine points across the room with her chin at a tall dreadhead with tattoos. chains hang from his neck and diamonds bling in his ears. sierra raises her eyebrows. "go talk to him," she encourages.

"i might," jasmine says. he's definitely jasmines type—she likes the pretty boys with interesting hobbies, if you know what i mean. "how i look?"

"bomb, just need more gloss," deja says. sierra nods agreement and jasmine pulls a tube of clear lipgloss out of her purse and slides it over her lips.

just as jasmine gets up to make her move, she freezes. she looks back at sierra, and back at the man approaching their section. "sierra," is all she says before she sits on the opposite side of her, placing sierra in the middle as if jasmine and deja are protecting her.

sierras lips part and she crosses and uncrosses her legs. she should have known that he'd be here, of course he would be. his video is one of lyrical lemonades most viewed projects. and it's not like cole and jack are friends, or anything. sierra should have known that he'd be here regardless—it would have made a better excuse for her to not show up.

jack and sierra make eye contact, and he licks his lips and sends her a cocky smile that makes her roll her eyes, but her insides are doing flips. he knows that he still has an effect on her, he knew the moment she came to his section at the club that the feelings she claims that are gone, are still there.

sierra straightens as jack starts to walk towards them, bracing herself against her friends. at the last second, he takes a left and disappears out of her sight. sierra scoffs and shake her head. "wow," she mumbles.

"girllll," deja says, dragging out the L and pulling on her ponytail. "he different, chile." she says, laughing to herself. if deja was sierra, they'd be back together in a hot minute after that.

sierra doesn't say anything, just searches around for him. her eyes find him twenty feet away talking to cole, his back towards her. she watches their interaction anxiously because she knows that he's bound to walk this way to leave, and she's not sure if she's supposed to ignore him or speak, given their previous interaction.

jack greets everyone around cole and makes his way down the line. he shakes up lil durk and his friends, but makes it quick. he continues his rounds with one group on his mind.

"ladies," he says, nodding his head as he approaches sierra and her friends.

"jack," jasmine says. he gives her a polite smile and focuses his eyes on sierra. jack makes a show out of checking her out. he drags his eyes up and down her body twice, making her stiffen snd avert her eyes.

"y'all have a good time tonight," he says, but his eyes are focused on sierra. none of them say anything back, they just sit in shock while sierra ignores the heartbeat in her chest and between her legs.

sierra walks over to the bar and takes a seat on the stool. she told herself that she wasn't going to drink tonight because she has work in the morning, but she cant get herself to relax after jack came up to them thirty minutes ago. she hasn't been able to focus on anything but him since, her eyes tracking his every move. she broke her promise when she got jealous after seeing him talk to a girl at the party.

waiting for the bartender to come over to her, she toys with the necklace on her neck. she's not supposed to be acting this way over jack, not supposed to be drinking for any reason over him, but so far she's done it twice.

"funny seeing you here."

sierra freezes at his voice and sits up. she hears him take the seat on her left, but she can't see him because she's facing the opposite direction. jack drums his fingers on the counter, as if summoning the bartender over to their area. "what can i get you?" he asks jack.

"bourbon—what you drinking?" he asks, gently tapping her back. sierra does a half turn, enough so that she can see jack and that the bartender can hear her.

"alize, please," she says. the bartender nods and starts making their drinks. "thanks."sierra says drily, spinning back around.

"for real, sierra?"

she full body sighs and spins around to fully face him. "thank you, jack." she says, tilting her head to the side mockingly. jack laughs and shakes his head just as the bartender slides their drinks to them. they both thank him at the same time and sierra inwardly rolls her eyes.

jack takes a sip of his drink while keeping his eyes on her. sierra looks into her glass, debating whether she should risk drinking before going into work.

she looks up, feeling jacks stare. "what?" she asks, mugging him. he only smiles a big, million dollar smile that will forever give her butterflies. she actually rolls her eyes and puts her cup to her lips to hide her smile.

"so whats up with you and cole?" he asks nonchalantly.

"what about it?"

"that your man, or what?" he asks.

sierra smirks at him and takes another sip of her drink before saying, "if that was my man, would i be sitting here, talking to you?"

jack tips his drink at her. "fair enough," he takes another small sip of his drink and sets it down. it's sierras turn to eye him. he wears a silk, maroon button up underneath a simple black suit. the first few buttons are undone, revealing a simple diamond necklace. sierra drags her eyes down the length of his shirt, imagining herself unbuttoning the rest of them. the alize is definitely taking over.

he catches her staring, but she doesn't look away. instead, she finishes the rest of her drink, not realizing that she had even finished it. she planned to only drink half. "thanks for the drink," she says, sliding off of the bar stool. she adjusts her dress and steadies herself before starting to walk away.

jack gently grabs her wrist, halting her movements. she looks down at his hand and up into his icy blue eyes. he doesn't let go. "you enjoying yourself?" he asks, glancing down at her lips. sierra shrugs. "you wanna get out of here?" jack asks.

sierra licks her lips and glances around her. she didn't want to come here in the first place, and she doesn't have another way home besides cole, and it's his party. she also doesn't want to take an uber this late, so she nods her head. jack smiles and points in the direction of her friends with his chin. "i'll be outside," he says. sierra nods again and he lets go of her wrist so she can walk away.

her head feels foggy as she walks over to where her friends are sitting. "i know that's mothafuckin' right!" deja says, clapping her hands together. jasmine gives her a look, but a smile tugs at the corner of her lips.

"i need my purse," sierra says, licking her lips to bite back the smile that desperately wants to reveal itself. deja hands holds out her purse, but snatched it back when sierra reaches for it.

"we'll need details. all of them."

sierra nods, smiling despite herself. "i know," she says. deja gives her back her purse, and sierra thanks her before giving them both a hug. "text me when y'all leave."

the girls promise to and sierra pulls away to go say goodbye to cole. she feels guilty for leaving so soon, and with jack, but she just can't be here any longer, not with the way jack is making her feel.

"hey," sierra says, tugging gently on coles sleeve. he turns away from his conversation with a smile on his face and pink cheeks. sierra smiles at the sight of his happy face, but it quickly falls as she remembers what she's about to say. "i'm about to head out. i'm really proud of you, by the way."

coles smile doesnt falter. "thanks, si. and thanks for coming—i know you have to work in the morning," he says, pulling her into a hug. sierra gives him a kiss on the cheek as she pulls away. "i'll get you girls home safe tonight, too."

"thank you, cole."

he nods and sierra beelines for the exit, dodging passerby's and corners. jack waits out in the lobby, leaning against the wall but he stands up when he hears the click of sierras heels. "ready?"

sierra nods, and jack leads her out into the night.

——

don't drink and drive yall

also lmk when u find the references ;)