Chapter 17
“Oh my God,” I huffed, trying to catch my breath as I collapsed on the bed. I ran my hands from my belly to my breasts, tweaking my nipples. My body was still vibrating from the intensity of my orgasm. “That felt so…” I shivered. “So good.”
The first time Lamar and I’d had sex, it was an unexpected, lust-fueled quickie in the woods.
The second time, it was passionately rushed in my bedroom prior to the party.
So, when he woke up and found me caressing his face, he pulled me close.
His hard dick pressed up against me, and seconds later, our clothes were off, and we had been slow fucking and kissing leisurely.
“You take care of me in a way that I’ve never experienced before,” I confessed softly. “I feel you everywhere.”
“All I want to do is take care of you.” Lamar kissed from my belly to my neck before hovering over my face. “I know I said perfection doesn’t exist. But that was before I had your pussy.”
I giggled, pulling his lips to mine. “I can’t believe you picked me up and did all that.”
“I can’t believe you thought I was going to drop you.”
“I weigh a good amount.”
“And I deadlift six hundred pounds.” He dropped a peck on my lips. “You’re light work.”
I’d never been called light before. I’d been big my whole life, and I had to admit it felt nice to feel so dainty with him.
My entire childhood, I had been one of the biggest kids in my grade.
In college, I dated a string of average-height, skinny men before marrying an average-height, skinny man.
I’d never been manhandled before. I’d never had someone make me feel weightless.
I’d never been picked up and fucked against a wall, let alone above the bed.
I’d never felt like the extra fat on my body was the thing that prevented me from being beautiful.
But it definitely kept me from being seen as desirable in Chance—at least openly.
The mean girls targeting me and making me public enemy number one made it difficult to make friends, let alone date.
Antagonizing me with fat jokes was par for the course, but there were boys who would steal glances and try to proposition me when no one was around.
So I knew my weight wasn’t the sole issue.
But that environment had kept me from ever asking a man to pick me up, spin me around, and handle me like I’d just been handled.
And there’s no way I can go back.
“How much time do we have?” Lamar asked. “If I weren’t rushing to get to your place after practice, I would’ve remembered to grab my ties and really give you a demonstration.”
With the biggest, goofiest grin on my face, I giggled. “Lamar—”
My words were interrupted by a knock at the door.
I scrambled out of the bed, wrapping myself in the sheet. Looking over my shoulder, I saw Lamar was covering himself with the comforter.
I cracked the door, smiling when I saw Aaliyah. “Heyyyyyy.”
“Hey,” she said distractedly. “We have to be gone by noon. The cleaning crew is here.” She swept her eyes down my sheet-laden body. “I’ll have them start downstairs.”
“We’re packing up now.”
She gave me a look as she walked toward the stairs. “Mm-hmm.”
Laughing, I closed the door and spun around.
“We have to go,” I announced.
Lamar took a shower while I quickly packed, and then he packed while I showered. We were walking out of the bedroom thirty minutes later.
“Are you hungry?” I asked as he opened the door of his SUV for me.
He grabbed my ass as he helped me inside. “Hell yeah.”
I waited until he walked around and climbed in the driver’s side seat.
“Do you want to find a place that is more of the vibe of the place you took me to in Spring Hill? If so, we could go back to my place, and I could change.” I gestured to my jeans and T-shirt. “Or do you want to eat something right now?”
“Let’s eat now, and then we can change and go somewhere nice for dinner.”
I nodded. “Okay, I know just the place.”
I hadn’t had beef in a month, so I gave him the address, and then I sent a text to my aunt with a photo attached.
“I have to make a call,” I told him. “Do you mind?”
He reached over and squeezed my thigh. “Nah, you’re good.”
I went to my aunt’s contact and then pressed the button.
“Hello?” she answered.
“Aunt Addy!” I greeted her. “How are you?”
“I’m good now! I’ve been wondering how the party went, and I’ve been waiting for a picture of you and your date.”
I glanced over at Lamar and smiled. “I sent you a picture. Check your phone.”
“Hold on.” Seconds ticked by and then she gasped. “You look beautiful! And that’s Lamar?! Goodness gracious! You two look good together. When I told you to get back on the horse, I didn’t realize he’d be a stallion!”
I burst out laughing. “That is a wild thing to say.”
“I can’t wait to meet him.”
“I’m sure he’d like that.”
“And I haven’t seen that smile on your face in a long time. Maybe on your graduation days. But it is really good to see you smiling like that. You just look so happy! Everything you’ve been through … you deserve to smile this big and be this happy. I know y’all had a good time!”
“We did! It was a great party and”—I looked over again—“I had a great date.”
He smiled as he switched lanes.
“You two look good together,” Aunt Addy stated. “Is that still your friend, or is he your boyfriend yet?”
There was no way I could answer the question. I tried not to smile, but I couldn’t help it.
“We’re actually in the car now. Heading to get lunch,” I answered, hoping she’d get the hint.
“So, you stayed the night together? This is getting serious! Tell him I said hello!”
I snickered and changed the subject again. “How are you feeling?”
“Tell him! Would you really deny me—”
“Oh my God,” I complained with amusement. I turned to Lamar. “Aunt Addy says hello.”
“Hey, Aunt Addy!” he said loudly.
“You heard him? Now, how are you feeling?” I repeated the question.
“He’s got a nice deep voice, don’t he? Got some bass to it.”
My eyes started watering from holding in a laugh. “How. Are. You?”
When she finished laughing, she answered, “Oh, I’m fine.”
“I need more information.”
“You didn’t give me more information,” she teased.
“Aunt Addy!”
“I’m fine. I’m tired,” she sighed. “Monica is in the kitchen preparing lunch. I’m going to find a movie. There’s not much to tell. Your parents are coming by tonight to get on my last nerve.”
I laughed. “Not on your last nerve!”
“I love them. I appreciate them. But yesterday, Richard decided he was going to tend to my yard, and he completely destroyed the flowers I planted in the back—”
“The rosebushes?” I interrupted, shocked.
“The rosebushes!” She sucked her teeth. “They didn’t even have the opportunity to grow in good.”
“Oh no! I’m sorry!”
“He didn’t mean to do it, but…” She sighed. “Fortunately, that’s the last cut for the season. But I can tell you about all this later.”
“It’s not a problem. If you want to tell me about it, I want to hear about it.”
“You said you were in the car with that handsome man, so get off this phone with me and enjoy him. Tell him I said I look forward to meeting him.”
“Aunt Addy—”
“Jazmyn, sweetheart, live your life. I’m fine. You have fun on your date. I love you. Bye!”
“I love you, too. Bye.”
I ended the call, slipping my phone into my handbag.
“Aunt Addy said she looks forward to meeting you,” I informed him.
“When you talk to her again, tell her I look forward to meeting her, too. How’s she doing?” Lamar asked.
“She says she’s fine.” I planned to check in with Monica to verify, but I didn’t mention that. “Thanks for asking.”
He grabbed my hand and kissed it.
“How’s your family?” I wondered, shifting the focus.
When we arrived at Al’s Diner, we ordered cheeseburgers and fries.
We sat across from each other and talked about music.
We argued over lyrics and the lyrical prowess of different artists.
After leaving, we walked up the street. We listened to the songs we’d discussed in the diner while I showed him parts of Richland.
He was a step behind me, and when I stopped to point out something, he gripped my hips, pulling me into him as he listened. Feeling his fingers flex against me had my stomach quivering in excitement. I looked up and over my left shoulder.
My heart skipped a beat.
I loved the way that man looked at me.
“Are you paying attention?” I asked, trying not to smile.
“You’re beautiful,” he commented. “So I’m a little distracted. But I’m listening.”
With a giggle, I rose up onto my toes to kiss his lips.
Once he slipped his arm around me, we continued the tour.
“This is it,” I remarked after we’d made it to the park on the other side of the downtown area. “I don’t think I was ever meant to be in a small town.”
“I don’t think you were either.”
“I got here twelve years ago, and it was like…” I gestured around. “I was finally home. I knew it was the place for me. That’s why I built a life here after graduation. I found my place. When I met Aaliyah and Nina, I knew I’d met my people. So that’s why I’m still here.”
“Would you want to stay here permanently?”
“I would. Unless there was a really, really good reason for me to go elsewhere.” We turned and started walking back toward Al’s Diner. “Is Baltimore like that for you?”
He shook his head. “Nah. The only thing that’s like that for me is football. I mean, home is home. Spring Hill is where I was born and raised. And Baltimore has been cool for the last few years. But if I’m playing ball, I could make almost anywhere work.”
“So, you’d move to Wyoming if they had a team?” I asked, picking a state randomly.
“If that was the only place that I could play, hell yeah. And crazy enough, that could happen.”
My eyebrows shot up. “What?”
“You can be with one team for one week and then be across the country with another team the next week. As long as you get released early enough in the week, another team can pick you up for the practice squad.”