Three days blew past pretty quickly and I wasn't able to see Delaney on any of them. The family was keeping me busy as we tried to find out who had set one of our safe houses ablaze. I hadn't had time to even text Delaney during the stressful time and I'm sure she thought that I was a d-ck. The last thing I was trying to do was ignore her on purpose. I actually missed her. During the meetings, I would think about her laugh or her smile and begin smiling myself. Anybody who noticed in the crew would always give me sh-t about it, especially Leo, but I didn't care. I was really feeling Delaney and it didn't really matter what Leo or anyone else thought.

Despite always thinking of Delaney, I knew where my priority was: the family. The past couple of days were tense and almost unbelievable. We had crews set out to try and find out who burned down our safe house and killed a total of seven of our members and two random women. Our crews spied on other gangs that opposed us, but no one found anything. We actually didn't find the culprit until they ratted their own selves out. And when we found out who it was, we couldn't even believe it. It was one of our own men. His name was Phil. I didn't personally know him but he seemed to be known to deal drugs at incredible rates.

Phil gave himself up posthumously. One of our guys found him at his house with a bullet in his head and a suicide note beside him. According to his letter, he was the one who started the fire. He was drunk and playing with lighter fluid and before he knew it he had caused a huge fire. He ended up running out without warning anyone or trying to save anyone. In the letter, he said he was a coward and a fool. He knew that if we found out that we would have to kill him, so he decided to do the deed for us. He said he couldn't live with the guilt and that all he could think about was that he was the reason for his friends' death. It was a tragedy, but I was glad Phil ended things. It'd be harder on the family if we had to kill our own.

Once we got to the bottom of the fire situation, everyone needed a drink so that night we all got drunk in the honor of the victims of the fire and even Phil. The next day, since things were going good, I decided to go out and spend some quality time with some members of our crew. It was Lin, Leo, Rafael and about ten other of our members. We decided to go to our favorite diner together and grab some lunch and have some bonding time. When we got there, I sat at the end of the booth and lit myself a cigarette. "I'm f-cking hungry. The last thing I ate was p-ssy," Leo said with a slight laugh.

I rolled my eyes at her before taking a puff from my cigarette. "I'm still drunk from last night," Rafael replied as he rubbed his temples with his fingers. "Why did you guys let me drink so much?"

"I told you to stop after your eighth shot but you don't listen, chico. I'm surprised you're not somewhere dead right now," Leo told him as she smacked his back. He groaned and put his head on the table.

"Look who it is," Lin whispered to me as she looked directly forward. I looked at her and she had a small smile on her face. Following her eyes, I looked across the diner and found a pair of brown eyes staring right back at me. A grin came on my face and the girl grinned back at me before quickly looking away and going back to talk with her friends. I put out my cigarette and licked my lips as I kept my eyes on her. She was wearing a sassy black baseball cap that read 'petty' in capital letters. The color of her hat matched the ripped, black jeans she was wearing and the tight gray crop top she had on. Even though she stopped looking at me, I kept staring. How could she be so beautiful?

"Hey, Casanova. Eyes off the p-ssy and listen to the the conversation," Leo yelled at me to get my attention. Suddenly, Rafael picked his head up and nearly everyone else turned to look at who I was looking at. With so many eyes on her, Delaney naturally looked my way. She scowled at all the eyes she suddenly had on her and rolled her eyes before continuing the conversation she had with her friends.

"Holy sh-t," Rafael said breathlessly. "Isn't that the girl you're into? I thought she was hot from her Instagram pictures, but f-ck, dude."

"Wait, Andy, you're hitting that," Mason exclaimed. If only he could talk a little louder, I don't think the people all the way in f-cking China heard him.

Mason was that one guy in the crew that never had any idea what the hell was going on. No matter how much I would tell him something, he would always forget or come up with his own rules. He was like a kid with ADHD or something. I swear, he needed to take some kind of medicine to keep his head right.

"She's one hot piece of ass," another member yelled.

"I'd get in that."

"Nice pair of tits. I bet you're laying it on her, Andy!"

My crew were being obnoxious as they butchered me. They were yelling about the things that they thought I was doing to Delaney and I kept trying to shut them up, but they just got louder. It was irritating because I knew Delaney heard every single disrespectful word that they were letting out. The last thing I wanted was her to think that I was like them.

When Delaney and her friends paid their tab and began exiting the diner, the crew began letting out cat calls and whistles. I ignored them and got up from the table to follow the girls out of the door. "Go get her, Andy," one of them screamed. I wanted to f-cking choke every last one of them, except Lin and Rafael. Thankfully, they were respectful.

When I walked out the door, I called Delaney's name but she was walking pretty fast and she didn't seem to have any intentions of stopping. I could tell by her walk that she was upset. Her friends got in their car but before Delaney could even open the door to get in with them, I grabbed her hand.

I knew my crew were staring out of the window of the diner at us, just as her friends were looking at us from inside the car. The only difference was that her posse was looking at us as if they were protective of her, mine was looking at us with amusement.

"What, Andy," Delaney asked with nothing but annoyance. She took her hand from me and leaned back against the car as she crossed her arms.

"I'm so f-cking sorry about them, Delaney."

"Does it boost your ego to tell your friends that you're screwing me when you know you're not? You're a f-cking slimeball and I thought you were better than that. I guess I was wrong. You and your crew obviously lack any type of respect."

"It's not like that. I never said I had sex with you. They assumed that. They started blabbering their loud mouths and I told them to stop. Repeatedly, I told them to stop and I told them that you and I never had sex. They just hear what they want to hear, and they love to f-ck around and be d-cks. They're stupid, okay? I'd never disrespect you like that."

It was true. I didn't like kissing and telling unless it was either to Leo, Lin or Rafael and I barely told them about my encounters. I definitely would never tell a whole bunch of people in my crew about who I was f-cking and how I was f-cking them.

Delaney sucked in a breath and her eyes left mine to look down at the pavement. "Okay, so that explains that, but why haven't you called me or even texted me in days? I know I sound clingy and we're just talking. I don't even know if we're 'talking.' You know what I mean? I know I sound so dumb right now. You probably think I'm obsessed with you or something." She shook her head at herself and mumbled something in Spanish under her breath.

I chuckled before biting my lip. "You missed me?"

She smacked her lips but smiled a little. "I didn't say that."

"You have too much pride to say it, huh?" Delaney looked at me straight in the eyes with her lips pressed together. I cocked my head to the side as I stared right back at her, and she mimicked me by moving her head to the side as well. I laughed softly at her. "Well since you won't say it, I will. I missed you. I know I could've at least texted you but things have been crazy. The last time we spent time together was very special. I had fun and it felt good knowing that you were able to confide in me. And, you know, I think we are 'talking.' But, only if you want to. We don't have to if you don't want to. I mean we can talk and not 'talk' if you want."

Delaney giggled and punched my shoulder playfully. "We should talk."

"Like talk talk or just...talk?"

"Talk talk." We both ended up laughing at how silly we were being.

"Well, since we're talking and we haven't seen each other in a while why don't I take you out tomorrow night? It can be our official first 'outing.'" I didn't want to use the word 'date', it'd probably scare her away or something. "I can make plans. All I need to know is if you're free."

"I'm free," Delaney said simply. There was a honk of the horn and we both looked towards the driver's seat. Tyra was sitting there laughing as Mia was leaning over to press the horn once again. "I think my friends want me to go now. I'll see you tomorrow night."

"Okay."

"Do me a favor," Delaney suddenly asked.

"Yeah?"

"Tell your friends their f-cking testa di cazzos."

I laughed and looked towards the diner as I nodded my head. "Will do." Delaney granted me with a kiss on the cheek before finally getting into the car with the rest of her friends. I slowly turned around and walked back inside the diner to deliver the message to my friends.

-

"So, what was that about," Mia asked as soon as I got into the car. The girls had been nosily peeking out the window at Andy and I talking the whole time. They were pissed off at how her friends were talking about me and I was too. They were f-cking dogs. From the looks of it, I thought Andy was just like them until she pleaded her case. In reality, she was just a victim of asshole friends.

"It was nothing. Her friends are d-ckheads and they were being obnoxious for no reason. It's not her fault that her friends are disrespectful," I announced to the girls to denounce any suspicion towards Andy. I didn't know Andy like that but I knew she wasn't the average f-ckgirl. She had some respect which was rare nowadays. That's why I liked her so much. A respectful gangster. I had all the good and all the bad in one sexy ass package.

"And why hasn't she been texting you, baby girl," Mia continued to pry. She was very protective over me. We both had massive attitudes and hearts of lions. One day, I bet our big mouths were going to get us killed. Luckily, I was getting myself my own little gangster to protect me.

"She's been busy, but she said that she missed me. So, everything's good. She's actually taking me out tomorrow night. So, we should really hit the mall and find me something cute to wear," I hinted subtly at the driver, Tyra. She groaned.

"B-tch, your whole wardrobe is cute. Wear something from your closet," she argued. Tyra, unlike most girls, hated shopping. As me, Mia and Lisa went crazy, she'd sit on the nearest bench and complain about us to her Twitter friends. "Where is she even taking you?"

"That's not the point, Tyra. I want to look good for her. And I'm not sure. She didn't say, but I still need to look good," I continued to stress the fact that I needed some kind of new attire. Wearing new clothes always made me feel like the sh-t. I needed that sort of confidence when Andy took me out.

"Just take us to the damn mall, Tyra," Lisa exclaimed as she scratched at her arms. F-cking drug feen.

"Have you been using," I asked Lisa. She quickly turned her head to me and shook it rapidly. I rolled my eyes at her. No matter what she was going to stay on drugs so I didn't waste my breath. Every time we tried to make her better, she just got worse.

We got to the mall, as usual we hit nearly every store we could find as Tyra chilled in the food court. The goal was to get something casual, but sexy. There was no telling what Andy had up her sleeve so I had to be prepared. We spent hours shopping. Mia was a great help, and she picked me out a cute, bright yellow crop top and a pair of ripped, blue jeans. The jeans were so ripped that nearly my whole thigh was showing on one leg. It was sexy and edgy, but also casual. All I had to do was throw in a matching pair of sneakers.

"Hot mami alert," Mia whispered to me. I looked towards where she was staring to see a girl staring straight at me. She was actually really hot. She licked her lips as she turned her baseball cap backwards. "She has her eyes on you. A nice Latina, you better hop on that!"

"She's cute and all, but I'm talking to Andy."

"Talking to. Keywords. You're not dating her. You're talking to her," Mia pointed out as the girl started walking our way. "Sh-t, she's coming. Let me check and make sure nothing's in your teeth." Mia tried to get me to open my mouth but I shook my head. The girl was staring right at us as Mia prompted me to open my mouth and I kept shaking my head. When she finally approached us, we got into the most awkward stance.

She seemed to not care. "Hey, girls," she said as she specifically stared at me. She had tattoos all over her body and gauges in her ears.

"Hey," I replied simply. I looked into her eyes and I weren't sure if they were real or not but they were f-cking green and gorgeous. I had a weakness for pretty eyes.

"I'll be back," Mia said before casually walking off. She always did that when I started talking to anyone with an interest in me. I could get kidnapped or something on her watch.

"You're gorgeous, you know that? Very nice hips, mami," she said as her hands actually met my hips. I uncomfortably put my hands on hers to push them off. "What's the matter," she asked me as if she was offended that I didn't want her, a complete stranger touching me.

"I just don't know you, fool," I replied as if she was a dumbass.

Her face fell and she seemed appalled that I was rejecting her. "You have an attitude for no reason."

"You put your hands on my hips and I didn't like it so, so what if I had an attitude? What are you going to do about it?" I stepped up towards her. Once again, my big mouth and attitude was probably about to get me in trouble.

"Are you f-cking retarded or something, puta," she asked.

"Is there a problem," a sudden voice popped up. I looked towards it and stepped back from the girl. She wasn't my problem anymore. I smirked as I watched Andy step in the girl's face. She scowled at her for a few moments before turning to look at me. "Is she bothering you, Delaney?"

Wow, my heart was melting. Most girls went crazy when a guy or girl bought them flowers but Andy being aggressive over me drove me wild. She was so ready to f-ck that poor girl up if I told her to. "She was just walking away," I said for the other girl's sake. I didn't want any blood on my hands, at least not today.

The girl looked from Andy and I and it seemed like she didn't want any conflict. She bit her tongue and walked away from us. Andy shook her head as she watched the girl walk away. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. It was really cute of you to step in," I told her with a smile.

"Well from the looks of it, you didn't need too much help," she joked. "I kind of stepped in to save her from getting her ass beat by you."

I laughed at her and pushed her shoulder playfully. She pulled me into a hug and kissed my temple. It was such a sweet gesture, especially for us to be out in public. "What are you doing in the mall," I asked as I looked into her blue eyes.

"Drug deal," she said nonchalantly. She didn't even care to elaborate as if it was an everyday thing, which I guess it was. "What about you, doc?"

"I was just shopping. Now, I'm hungry. I'm probably about to go the food court with my friends. Want to join?"

"Why not?"

-

Are you guys excited about the date?