Jones
For the next couple of weeks, the Humanity for Community project, along with a mountainside mansion that Bright had me working on, kept me too busy to really fuck around in the streets of Jackson Falls like I had been doing.
Not that I was still trying to do that. I wanted to lay low, and working like a Hebrew slave helped with that effort.
My life was work, Butterscotch Café, home, and on Sundays, I actually took Church up on her invitation and ate dinner with the fam at Bayliss and Alisha’s house.
Between Brewer, Alisha, and my aunt Beverly, the food was always the highlight of my week.
I tried to stay both as far away and as close as I could to Church’s little fine ass, if that made sense. When she was around, I tried to be around, but not in an obvious way, not in a creeper way. I just wanted to be next to her.
Ever since that night at her crib, with her feet in my lap, the scent of her skin, and way she carried herself, .
. . I was fucking cooked. She had me out here like a horny middle schooler with his first crush.
I wanted her. But I felt like I couldn’t really pursue her until I got on her level.
Taming my dick was just the first step. I’d started to get serious about my search for a piece of land a week or so earlier, connecting with my realtor every time he thought he had something I might like.
I was finally ready to make an offer if I found the right spot.
Since Lex’s birthday was one day after mine, I agreed to hang out with him the Friday before. The two of us walked into Waterfalls together. I would’ve expected him to arrive with his girl, but once I stepped inside the bar, I understood why he rode with me.
There was one section of the space that had been cordoned off.
It was decorated with blue, black, and white streamers and balloons.
A banner overhead read, “Happy Birthday Jones & Lex.” And it looked like every Jackson Falls resident under the age of fifty was standing there, lifting a glass toward the door where Lex and I stood.
“Damn,” I muttered, sincerely surprised and caught off guard.
Mari rushed over and threw herself into Lex. He caught her up in a hug and gave her a kiss on the lips. “Are you surprised?” She wiped the traces of her lipstick from his mouth.
“I’m surprised. You got me.”
She turned to me. “Are you surprised, Jones?”
“Hell yeah. There was no way I was expecting all this. I was expecting to come have a drink or two with my cousin.”
“Well, welcome to the turn up. Now you can have a drink or two with all of us.” She gave me a sad face. “And I apologize in advance that I couldn’t keep . . . certain people from showing up. Word gets around in a town as small as Jackson Falls.”
That was the understatement of the century.
“No worries.” I waved the idea of unwanted guests off with my hand and followed the two of them toward the bar.
My eyes immediately went on a search for Church.
I found her sitting at a table with her sisters.
Before I even thought about it, my feet started moving in that direction.
The beeline I was making toward her was interrupted when another body slid into my path. “Happy birthday, Jonesy.” Jenna wore a sultry smile, and her eyes were so low that they were barely open.
I had to smile at how high she obviously was. “What’s good, Jenna? I see you’re turnt as hell. You been here that long?”
“Nah. Me and Ky was pre-gaming.”
“You and Ky been spending a lotta time together.”
Her eyes twinkled. “That’s my woman. We’re tryna see where it goes.”
I grinned. “That’s what’s up. That’s cool for y’all.”
“We still party, though. She knows I can’t let go of the dick completely, and she’s not jealous or stingy. If you ever wanna . . .” She gave me that sultry look again.
“Nah, I think I’m straight. I’m out here working my ass off. Only thing I been partyin’ with at night is the bed.”
“Oh, not Church? I thought, for sure, you two would hook up.”
I shrugged my shoulders. “Too busy makin’ moves to chase women. Even ones as beautiful as Church.”
Jenna looked thoughtful. “Yeah. I would love to get my hands on her.”
I screwed up my face. “What? You can’t stand her. When Kylena was talking about having a foursome, you were pouting your ass off. Talking about you didn’t want Church there.”
“I didn’t want her there with Kylena’s tongue ring on her clit.
I want her there with my face in her pussy.
Ky’s greedy. There probably wouldn’t be any of your girl left for me.
I want her to myself first. I want the chance to turn her pretty ass out.
Then I would invite Ky to the party. Then the two of us could make her part of our . . . throuple.”
I laughed aloud. “Shit, the three of y’all? Y’all would be unstoppable. Every dude from miles around would be tryna party with the three of y’all.”
“Nah. Church is for me. Me and Ky would party. I would keep Church for myself.”
I gave her a look. “Possessive ass,” I joked.
She giggled. “You’re right. Church looks like her pussy tastes like peaches, though. I would be greedy and selfish over that.”
My eyes went over to where Church still sat with her sisters. “You ain’t lying,” I said before I thought to edit myself.
She giggled again. “If you get a shot at it, at least let me know how it tastes.”
“Hell naw.” We both laughed, then I gave her a quick hug.
“Thanks for coming out.” I continued to make my way to Church.
“What’s good, Collins? Bailey? Perkins?” I went around the table and gave each of the women a hug.
They each wished me a happy birthday. When I got to Church, I just stared at her momentarily.
She looked good in some type of little black top that barely covered anything and a matching black miniskirt. “What’s up, lil’ mama?”
She stood and gave me a real hug, and I loved that shit. “Happy birthday, Jonah.”
When she released me from the hug, I immediately caught her hand in mine. “Say, have a birthday drink with me.”
She hesitated for a millisecond until one of her sisters spoke up. “Have a birthday drink with the man, Churchy,” Bailey said as one hand rested on her pregnant stomach. She used the other to make a “shoo-shoo” gesture toward the bar.
Church easily slid her hand from mine as we made our way through the crowd. “You knew about this?”
She gave me a grin. “Of course, I knew about this. Everybody in Jackson Falls except you and Lex knew about this.”
“What’re you drinking?” I asked once we made it to the bar.
“Pretty Mama.”
I nodded. “Yeah, you’re definitely pretty, mama.”
She laughed. “You’re so damn corny, Jonah. It’s the name of the drink I want.”
“Straight up? It’s called Pretty Mama? What’s in it?”
“Tequila, hey!” She stuck her tongue out and pretended to twerk.
I had never seen that side of her, but I liked it. “You drink tequila?”
“I guzzle tequila,” she assured me. “Anyway, it has tequila, agave nectar, and watermelon juice.”
I ordered the drinks then handed hers to her once it was ready. She held up her drink for a toast. She looked at me, her eyes serious. “Happy birthday, Jonah. May this trip around the sun bring you more than you ever hoped for and all the blessings you can withstand.”
She clinked her glass to mine while I stood there stuck at her words. Nobody had ever given me a birthday wish like that. “Thanks, Church.”
“You’re welcome.”
We stood there, side by side, sipping our drinks, until somebody started a line dance. The entire bar practically fell into step. We spent the night drinking, dancing, laughing, and shooting the shit.
Both Collins and Bailey were pregnant, so they cut the night short, with Perkins agreeing to drive them home. Church had ridden with Mari, but Mari planned to end her night with Lex, so I offered to drive Church home.
Since she was pretty much twisted, I was the only person Mari trusted to drive her.
Truth be told, I was the only person I trusted to drive her home.
I knew I wasn’t on no creep shit. I didn’t know what those other niggas were on.
I already knew Jenna was looking for a chance to fuck Church.
I wasn’t putting anything past the thirsty ass dudes still hanging around Waterfalls.
As far as I was concerned, they had been watching her a little too closely for my comfort, even before she was drunk.
Once I got her in my truck, I headed back toward town. Waterfalls was actually in Chinook Woods, so it was a little bit of a ride.
“Jonah?”
“What’s up?”
“I’m not drunk.”
Drunk people always wanted to tell you how drunk they weren’t. “I know. You’re feeling good.”
“I’m feeling hungry as hell.”
I chuckled. “Why you ain’t eat nothing at Waterfalls? The buffet had wings, fries, and nachos.”
She shook her head vehemently, then seemed to think better of it as she reached out, grabbing for the door handle. “Whoa,” she muttered.
I fought back my smirk.
“I’m not drunk,” she repeated.
“I know,” I repeated.
“Anyway, the last time I ate at Waterfalls, I got sick. I couldn’t get off the toilet for hours.”
I laughed, mainly because I knew there was no way sober Church would’ve ever shared that with me. “Word?” I managed to get out.
“Word.” She took a beat. “I don’t know why I just told you that. I know you probably think I’m drunk.”
“You had, like, seven drinks. I wouldn’t hold it against you if you were a little bent.”
“I actually had three drinks. The rest of those were just for show. I had the bartender put juice, grenadine, and carbonated water in my glass.” She giggled. “But I am a lightweight, so those three drinks have me flying. But I’m not drunk. I’m just . . . tipsy.”
She was well past tipsy, but I would give it to her that she wasn’t falling-over drunk. “You got food at the house?”