Chapter 16 #2
“Oh. Word?”
“C’mon, Arris. I know you and you know I know you. You’re not stressed about the money. You’re stressed about the possibility of failure and you’re not going to fail.”
“Yeah, alright.” I stopped at a red light and sank a little bit more into my seat.
“Am I lying?” she asked.
“I don’t know just yet.”
“Okay. Well, all I’m going to say is that you are an amazing tattoo artist. I love you and you can do whatever you put your mind to. You can do something amazing with your own shop but I also want you to know that if you’re not ready, there’s no shame in that. Don’t rush or force it.”
“You know me better than a lot of people, Jayme. Be honest. Do you think I can do this shit?”
She didn’t hesitate. “I know you can.”
“Do you think I should?”
“Yep.”
“Yani, what do you think?”
“I think you should do it. Worst case scenario, you resell the place and may take a little loss but you can never say you didn’t try.”
“Alright. Fuck it.”
“You’re going to pull the money out, baby?” Jayme asked.
“Yeah. I’m going to pull the money out.”
“Congratulations,” both women said.
“Thanks, y’all.”
“Are you sure you don’t need anything?” Dyani asked.
“Just y’all.” I let out a yawn.
“Well my early morning meeting was at eight-thirty so I’m all done now and can move things around if you need emotional support.”
“I’m good. I don’t need emotional support.”
“He’s lying,” Jayme said. “He’s stressed and would love to be babied.”
I snickered at that. “Damn. For real?”
“For real.”
“Then I’m on my way, “ Dyani said. “I’ll see you soon.”
“You don’t have to do that, Dyani.”
“But he would love it,” Jayme sang.
Dyani giggled. “See you in thirty to forty-five.”
“Alright, man.” I exhaled. “I’ll see you then. I’m going to grab this cash, bring it back to Alex, then listen to music and try to get my mind right, but Jayme, I’ll give you a call when I wake up.”
“Sounds good, baby.”
“Alright. See you soon, Dyani.”
“See you soon,” she echoed.
“Alright. Bye. Love y’all.”
I hung up before they responded and before I realized the gravity of what I’d said. I didn’t harp on it or think about it too hard. I just put my music on and made the drive to the bank. If either of my women wanted to address my slip up, we could. I’d stand on it.
Dyani and Jayme were treasured parts of my life and I had every intention of staying with both of them until my dying breath. I’d never be ashamed to say that.
I got the cash I needed and arranged for Alex to meet me at the bank to pay him.
Then, I went home and took a hot shower since I’d been doing all kinds of manual labor while wearing a sweatshirt. I had orange juice and oatmeal while I waited for Dyani. When she got here she looked beautiful as ever in her business attire with all of her hair pulled back.
“Damn. You look good.” I whistled at her in the doorway and she giggled before brushing past me.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” I looked around the living space. “Do you want me to make you a quick breakfast or something?”
“Nah. I’m good.”
“You sure?”
“Positive.” She kicked her shoes off. “I am ready for that nap together though.” She unbuttoned her pants. “Can you get me one of your shirts?”
“Of course I can.”
Dyani shed her clothes as she followed me to my room. She yanked on one of my shirts and we fell into bed together. My body was sore and I was tired but when Dyani hitched her leg over mine I felt like I got a second wind.
“Dyani,” I said her name softly.
“Me too.”
She didn’t even need me to elaborate. She slid closer to me and our mouths met immediately. We kissed each other softly. Dyani rolled on top of me and I let her take control. She lifted up, pushed my boxers down and moved her underwear to the side so she could slide down on to me.
I let my hands roam all over her body while she rode me slowly.
“Fuck. You’re so fucking pretty, baby,” I said softly.
My eyes bounced around from her body to her face, back and forth. I wished I could look at her everywhere at once. Fuck. I wished I could touch her everywhere at once.
Her pussy leaked down my hard dick. Her walls spasmed around me. I let one hand rest on her waist. The other went up and around her throat. She rode me slowly, rolling her hips and letting her head fall backward.
“Arris,” she moaned my name.
“I’m right here, baby. You’re doing so good.”
Her eyes fluttered shut. I let my thumb slide from the front of her neck to her jaw and pulled her head back up so I could still see her pretty ass face. Her mouth slipped open and she let out little gasps as she fucked herself with my dick.
The second she came I let my hand slide to the back of her neck and yanked her down so I could kiss her and swallow her moans. I wrapped my arms around her and held her in place while I started to fuck her from the bottom.
My hands rubbed down her back and to her ass so I could control her hips and have her fuck me back. Her ass clapped against my thighs and she moaned against my mouth.
As soon as she came for the second time, I followed after her. I pushed into her and jerked her down, burying myself all the way inside of her as I came.
We kissed sloppily, tongues running over each other while we cupped each other’s face.
After we came down, we got up, cleaned up and got back in bed.
I cuddled Dyani to me and held her close until we fell asleep.
I woke up in bed by myself four hours later and felt better than I had before. I dragged myself up to go pee and take care of my hygiene needs then headed to the main area.
I had a call from Darryl, but I didn’t bother calling him back just yet.
I knew he’d heard about the shop and either wanted to ask if I needed anything or wanted to put a battery in my back to start knocking niggas out and asking questions later.
Honestly, I didn’t need either of those options right about now.
Dyani was set up at my table with her laptop, holding a bottle of water and working on something while still in my T-shirt.
I walked over and kissed the top of her head.
“Baby, if you needed to go to work, you could have gone.”
“I can work from anywhere, Arris, and I wanted to be here.”
“And I want you to be here whenever you want to be,” I assured her. “Did you eat anything while I was out?”
“Nope. What are you in the mood for?”
“Mexican food?” I offered.
“Sounds good.”
“Do you want to order it or go out?”
Dyani closed her laptop and looked up at me.
“I think we should go out.”
“Alright. Let’s do it.”
We got dressed and headed out. I drove us to a little Mexican spot in the hood and we ate across from each other.
I asked Dyani question after question about what she was working on and she talked to me about Blake and how sweet, funny, and smart he was.
She’d spent a lot of the night before sitting with me and Blake while we were working on a puzzle and Jayme cooked.
It was nice. I loved how much Blake liked Dyani and the way Dyani helped and fed into Blake.
She was already fitting so well into our little family.
Whether she knew it or not, she was a member now and I loved seeing it.
When we finished, we ordered shit to-go too. We dropped the order off to Jayme at the shop then headed to Dyani’s spot. Since she was in the same building as Jayme, it just made sense to me.
Dyani got back to work on her laptop and I sat beside her on my phone and looked up more stuff for the shop. I priced a few different chairs and bulk ordered ink and needles.
We sat in silence for a good thirty minutes before Dyani got a call and hopped up. I watched her talk about art and shit I honestly didn’t understand, but she looked so cute and excited about it that I knew it was either something special to her or about to pay out big.
When she finished, she turned to me with a huge smile on her face.
“Do you want to come to an art gallery with me?” she asked. “It’s an hour drive one way and I’d prefer not to make it alone if I don’t have to.”
“You serious?”
“Yeah.”
“Alright.” I nodded. “Let’s do it.” I hopped up. “What do you want me to wear?”
“You’re cute in what you’re wearing and we’ll be in and out anyway. I just need to see the piece in person to make sure it’s real and they’re pushing it as a rush order. So the sooner I can get to it the better.”
“Then I’m ready when you’re ready.”
“Will you drive?”
“Yeah. I can do that.”
“Okay. Great.” She hopped up and I watched her run around her spot grabbing her purse, some little bag with the name of a gallery printed on it, her shoes, and her cell phone.
I let Dyani pick out the music for us to listen to. We stopped at a gas station for me to fill up and grab quick snacks. We called Jayme and let her know we’d be gone for the next three hours minimum and she said she’d probably have something cooked by the time we got back.
It was interesting watching Dyani do her work.
She found the piece she was supposed to be pricing and we stood side by side while she took it in.
I immediately realized I didn’t have a taste for art.
It just looked like an overpriced picture to me but Dyani seemed happy about it.
She spoke to someone about wanting to check its authenticity and they got two people to carefully take it off the wall.
They led us to a small room in the back and I stayed by the door while Dyani looked at whatever she needed and ran her little tests.
When she finished, she had a huge smile on her face and winked at me, letting me know everything had worked out for her.
We made the slow drive back to the apartment complex with light music playing and Jayme on the car speaker. Dyani couldn’t wait to tell her about what she’d found.