Right as Reign Read online

  The moment of silence lasted for only a moment. Looking over at Reign, whose eyes were fixed in front of her, Marcy ran a hand over her hair. “Rae,” she called.

  “Yeah?” Reign answered, unenthused.

  Marcy smiled. “You didn’t comment on my new hair.”

  Reign’s eyes widened slightly as she kept her stride. “I saw it.”

  “I know you saw it, heffa, but you didn’t say anything about it.” Marcy flung hair over her shoulder. “I wanted to try this color. What do you think?”

  Reign looked at Marcy, fixating on the blond, bust length wand curls on her friend’s head. She then zoned in on the smile plastered to Marcy’s smooth attractive, brown face. “I umm…” Reign rubbed her forehead. “I’d rather not say,” she slowly drew out.

  “Come on, be honest,” Marcy pressed.

  “I don’t like it.”

  Marcy’s head jerked back. “Well damn!”

  Reign shrugged. “Sorry, but I don’t.”

  “What’s wrong with it?” Marcy harped, grabbing a lock of curls.

  Reign stared at Marcy’s hair. “Is it a wig?” she asked, tucking some of her own hair behind her ear. Marcy nodded. “Yeah, I can tell. It’s just not working for you.”

  Marcy abruptly stopped walking.

  Baffled, Reign halted her own steps. She faced Marcy, raising an eyebrow. “Why are you stopping?” she asked, impatient. “If you’re going to walk with me, you need to keep up. I have to get to work.”

  Marcy folded her arms, frowning down Reign’s length.

  Reign squinted her eyes. “Something the matter?” she challenged.

  “I don’t appreciate your response,” Marcy barked, upset.

  A perplexed glare masked Reign’s face. “I’m sorry, did you not ask me what I thought?” she threw back. “Was I supposed to lie to you?” she added when Marcy rolled her eyes.

  “Whatever, Rae,” Marcy grunted, putting a hand up. “Just because you don’t experiment with your hair, doesn’t mean that you get to turn your nose up at me for experimenting with mine.”

  Reign’s eyes widened; her mouth opened slightly, but nothing came out. What in the entire fuck is happening right now?

  Marcy sucked her teeth. “My stylist is booked solid for the next few weeks, so I did this myself, and I thought that I did a good job,” she pouted. “I felt cute earlier, and now thanks to you, I no longer do.” Her lip curled in disgust, “Way to ruin my day bestie.”

  Reign’s confusion turned to annoyance. Not only had Marcy gotten angry over an opinion that she asked for, but now she was throwing herself a pity party and accusing Reign of ruining her day; the whole thing was ludicrous.

  Reign shook her head with vigor, an attempt to erase the last few minutes from her memory. “Marcy—I don’t have time for this shit, I have to go,” she dismissed, sauntering off.

  Marcy eyed Reign’s departing figure with wide, stunned eyes. “Seriously? You’re just walking off without an apology?”

  “See you later, Marcy,” Reign threw over her shoulder, continuing her quick pace.

  Reaching the designated floor, the elevator door opened. Stepping out, Reign’s high-heeled pumps clicked along the hardwood floor, her pace quickening. Entering through a set of glass doors, Reign glanced at her watch.

  “Yeah, you’re late,” a female voice said, stopping Reign in her tracks.

  Reign looked in the person’s direction. “What are you talking about Ava? I’ve got like ten minutes,” she asked the statuesque, dark skinned woman standing a few feet away.

  Approaching Reign with two coffee cups in her hands, Ava Williams let a giggle come through. “I know, but for you, that’s late. You’re normally here a half hour early.” She handed Reign one of the cups.

  Reign gestured to the cup now secure in her own hand; she smiled a grateful smile. “Thank you.”

  Ava smiled back. “No problem.” She pointed to it, “It’s a caramel latte.”

  “You’re a life saver,” Reign praised, walking towards her office with Ava following in stride. “I spilled the damn coffee that I’d made at home on myself like an idiot. Then I was going to grab some on the way here, but I got sidetracked while walking with Marcy—”

  “Ugh,” Ava grunted, rolling her eyes. Just the mere mention of that woman’s name irritated her.

  Reign shot Ava a stern look. “Come on now, don’t be like that.”

  “Rae, you already know how I feel about that girl,” Ava sneered. “I’m in the office, so I’ll refrain from calling her what I really want to.”

  “She’s dating your brother,” Reign reminded her.

  A frown formed on Ava’s beautiful face; she scoffed in the process. “Don’t remind me.” She ran her hand over her black, naturally curly hair that fell past her shoulders, moving a few tendrils away from her eye. “I still have no idea what he sees in her.”

  Reign just shook her head. The bad blood between Ava and Marcy had been brewing since their college years. She had hoped that since they were all in their thirties, the two women would put their differences aside. But from the moment Marcy had begun dating Ava’s older brother two years ago, the feud had intensified.

  “You’re too beautiful and fabulous to be spiteful,” Reign chortled, opening her office door.

  Following Reign inside, Ava let out a huff. “Fine, I’ll stop…for now,” she promised, standing in front of Reign’s desk.

  “I appreciate it.” Reign set her latte and purse down.

  Taking a sip from her own coffee cup, Ava pointed to Reign’s laptop. “I saw your email about the two new manuscripts that came in,” she mentioned. “Up late again, huh?”

  Reign chuckled, “As always.” She turned her laptop on. “I was finishing up a sample edit when I saw the confirmation emails from the clients—both are fiction. One needs a developmental edit; the other, a line-edit.”

  Ava’s eyes lit up. “Nice.”

  Reign smoothed her hands down her dress before sitting. “I’ll handle the one that needs the developmental edit.”

  “I’ll take the other. I just finished a project yesterday, so my load is light.” Ava smiled. “I commend you for always taking on the hard editing projects. Let’s face it, some of the stories that come through here need your creative writing mind, and not someone who’s simply good with grammar and punctuations.”

  Reign shook her head. “Be nice,” she warned.

  “I’m just saying.” Ava placed a hand to her chest, “This is coming from someone who can’t write a book to save her life. But I can correct punctuations and weed out redundancies like nobody’s business.”

  As an English major in undergrad, Ava had excelled in everything her curriculum threw at her, yet creative writing was something that she always struggled with.

  Reign on the other hand, excelled at creative writing; had since Ava had known her. It was something that Ava had always admired about her.

  “I bet you could rewrite some of these books in your sleep…” Ava smirked. “Should you ever get any, night owl.”

  Reign chuckled, “Funny.”

  “You have talent, sis,” Ava added, proud. “That’s why you’re the supervisor.”

  Reign offered a slight smile. “I appreciate that.”

  Upon graduating college with her degree in English, Reign had quickly landed a job as assistant editor for a well-known editing firm. Proving to be a talent in her field—with her exceptional skills, impeccable work, and creativity—she’d been promoted from editor to lead editor in under five years. When her former supervisor retired from the company three years ago, Reign was an automatic replacement for the position. She now successfully managed five editors, including Ava, who had joined the company two years after her.

  Reign grabbed her latte. “By the way, that edit you did on that romance novel
la last month—the author changed the entire story and now needs it redone.”

  Ava covered her face with her hand, groaning in the process. “God—I hope she changed the name of that protagonist while she was at it,” she grumbled. “No matter how many times she wrote it, I just can’t picture the name Bartholomew being moaned during those sex scenes.”

  “Will you stop it?” Reign demanded, fighting to keep a straight face.

  Humored by her own words, Ava dissolved into laughter.

  Succumbing to giggles, Reign pointed to her door. “Go do some work, silly.”

  Chapter Two

  Fingers flying across his phone screen, Troy Donovan typed out a text before looking over at the man next to him. “How often do you lift?” he asked.

  Chase Williams pulled on his weightlifting gloves. “I try to aim for a couple times a week,” he answered, nonchalant.

  Troy nodded. “I’ve been wanting to step my weight game up, but I prefer running.”

  “To each his own, I guess.” Chase placed a plate on the bar. “But you could do both if you really wanted to.”

  Troy shrugged, but didn’t give the comment a response. After a moment, a smirk crossed his face. “I’m surprised you’re even at the gym today. Didn’t you just get back in town today?”

  Chase cut his eye at Troy. I really wish you’d stop talking to me, so I can work out in peace, he thought.

  Chase hadn’t been to his home gym in a while, due to being away on a work trip. Now back in town, he’d decided to pay the place a visit. He certainly didn’t expect to run into Troy; someone whom he wasn’t fond of, yet tolerated. “I got back last night actually,” Chase clarified.

  “Oh okay,” Troy replied. “You were gone for about two weeks this time, huh? Last time it was what? A week?”

  Chase fixed Troy with a stern, skeptical gaze. “Why is it that you seem to know every time that I’m out of town?”

  Troy once again shrugged, sending another text. “You know the girls talk.”

  “I guess,” Chase dismissed, shaking his head slightly. As a sought-after architect, Chase traveled often for work, sometimes for weeks at a time. He went to place another set of plates on the bar, but the person walking through the gym’s entrance caught his attention. “Speaking of the girls,” he mentioned to Troy, gesturing to the woman approaching. “Here comes one of them now.”

  Troy glanced up from his phone. Seeing his girlfriend, he offered a head nod.

  “Hey you,” Reign greeted, setting her gym bag on the floor.

  “What’s up?” Troy gave Reign a quick, one-armed hug, before returning his focus back to his phone.

  Reign tightened the cap on her pink water bottle. “How was your day?” she asked Troy.

  Eyes still locked on the screen, he shrugged slightly. “It was fine,” he blandly returned.

  Reign stared at Troy, though he was paying her no mind. “Oh…okay,” she muttered. She took a deep breath when he didn’t speak further. “My day was fine too,” she hinted. “In case you were thinking of asking.”

  Troy flashed a quick look her way. “You say something, babe?”

  Reign quickly shook her head. “No, it was nothing. Don’t worry about it.”

  Noticing Chase standing there, her eyes widened slightly. In trying to get her boyfriend to engage with her, Reign had unintentionally ignored Chase. She offered him a warm smile. “I’m sorry, hi Chase,” she greeted him. “It’s good to see you.”

  Chase had been a silent spectator to their lackluster exchange. When Reign spoke to him, he looked at her, smiling in return. “It’s okay,” he assured her. “It’s good to see you too.” He gestured to her black active leggings and matching tank top. “I see you’re all ready to work out.”

  Reign set her water bottle on a bench and adjusted her ponytail. “Yeah,” she confirmed. “I missed the gym yesterday because I got off work late.” She placed her hands on her hips. “I refused to miss today. Especially after all the cake that I ate at work earlier.”

  “Was it somebody’s birthday?” Chase asked.

  “No, Ava just bought a big ass cake for no damn reason,” Reign grunted. Chase laughed. “Chase, your sister is out of her mind.”

  “That, she is,” Chase chortled.

  Troy shoved his phone into his gym bag before grabbing it from the floor. He placed his hand on the small of Reign’s back. “I’ll see you later, babe.”

  Reign looked up at him. Standing at five-foot-eight inches tall, she was used to looking up at Troy’s six-foot-three figure. “You’re finished?”

  “No, I actually never started… Something just came up, so I have to go,” Troy explained.

  Reign frowned slightly. “Where are you going? You’re supposed to help me, remember?”

  “I know, but I have something that I need to take care of.”

  Reign turned away from him, slowly shaking her head in the process.

  “Rae, come on don’t act like that,” Troy said, tone condescending. “I’ll see you later. We’re supposed to be doing this double date thing, remember?”

  Reign faced him. Despite Troy’s cavalier attitude, Reign had a reason to be disappointed. This marked the third time this week that Troy had blown her off. Yet she didn’t want to argue; instead she offered a bitter smile. “Yeah, I remember. See you.”

  Troy gave Reign’s lower back a light tap, then put his hand up at Chase. “See you later, man.”

  “Later,” Chase dryly threw back.

  As Troy made his departure, Chase eyed Reign, who was removing hand wraps from her gym bag. Though she’d jerked the items from her bag, hinting frustration, her face was void of emotion. “Everything okay?” he asked her.

  “Sure,” she abruptly answered, wrapping one of her hands.

  “Doesn’t seem like it.” He leaned against the weight machine.

  Reign let out a frustrated huff when she messed up her wrapping. “Damn it!”

  Chase held his hand out. “Let me help you with that.”

  “It’s fine, I got it,” she bit out.

  “Reign,” he called, stern.

  She looked at him.

  Chase stood just as tall as Troy, but that and the fact that both men were handsome, was where their physical similarities ended. While Troy’s light brown complexion matched Reign’s own, Chase’s complexion was several shades deeper. He kept his facial hair short and groomed; Troy elected for a clean-shaven face. Due to his weight training, Chase had defined muscle tone, compared to Troy’s slender, athletic frame.

  “Just let me help you with it,” Chase insisted.

  Rolling her eyes, Reign placed the wraps in his outstretched hand. “Okay.”

  Letting out a slight chuckle, he began wrapping her hand. “Always so stubborn.”

  “Yeah, I know,” Reign agreed, solemn. She exhaled deeply. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to come off—bitchy.”

  “You weren’t,” he promised, fastening it in place before moving onto her left. “So…is everything good with you?”

  “Everything is fine,” Reign answered.

  Chase gave a slow nod. “You remember that I’ve known you a long time, right?”

  Reign stared at her hand as Chase continued to secure it. “Yes Chase, I do.”

  “Which means that I have a pretty good idea when you’re downplaying.”

  Her eyes shot up, holding a narrowed eyed gaze on Chase. “How was Georgia anyway?”

  Chase glanced at her, then shook his head. “I’ll fill you in at dinner later… Nice deflection attempt though.”

  Reign couldn’t help but giggle a bit. “Fine…” Her face relaxed. “But really, I’m okay, it’s nothing important. I’m just…a little frustrated because Troy was supposed to help me practice my kickboxing.”

  Chase frowned slightly. “I don’t tak
e Troy for the kickboxing type.” Laughter filled his voice, “To be honest, he doesn’t look like he can fight at all.”

  “He’s not, but I started again, and he promised to help me practice when I didn’t have class. Holding the pads, steadying the boxing bag, and such.” She let out a quick sigh. “I know, it probably sounds like I’m overreacting… Apparently I do that a lot.”

  “No, it doesn’t, and you don’t,” Chase soothed, finishing up. “You’re entitled to feel how you feel.”

  Reign just shook her head. Not according to Troy. She closed and opened her fists a few times. “Thank you,” she said, grateful.

  “No problem.” Chase rubbed his chin. “It’s great to hear that you’re back at it though. The boxing I mean,” he beamed. “You plan on getting into the ring?”

  Reign frowned. “Hell no. I’m not trying to damage this face.”

  Chase let out a laugh.

  “No, I just got a little bored with my normal workout routine, so I figured I’d go back to it,” she explained. “It’s been a few years, so I’m sort of rusty.”

  Chase put a hand up. “I’m sure you haven’t lost any skill,” he assured. “Once you know, you know.”

  She ran a hand along the back of her neck. “If you say so,” she chortled, feeling a bit better. “Anyway, thanks again for your help.” She grabbed her gym bag from the floor. “I better go grab a locker before they’re all gone.”

  “No problem.” Chase watched as Reign turned to walk away. “Hey.”

  Reign turned around. “What’s up?”

  “I can help you train today if you want.”

  “No Chase it’s fine, you don’t have to do that,” she protested. “I have class tomorrow anyway.”

  “I don’t mind,” he insisted. “Marcy stood me up for our workout, so I have the time.”

  Reign let out a laugh. “Are you really surprised that she stood you up?” she wondered. “Marcy hates the gym.”

  Chase laughed with her. “No, I knew she was only trying to be nice when she offered to join me.” He folded his arms. “So, what do you say?”