Chapter 10
Adora
As he talks, I try hard not to stare but damn.
How can I not look? Xai is fine as hell and is too handsome.
He’s that kind of handsome that would make me circle the block if he were standing outside.
It doesn’t hurt that he’s charming as hell too, saying all the right things.
While I have zero recollection of sending him the text to get him here, I’m a hundred percent glad I did. Thank you, prosecco.
Being all grown and fast, I lied to the girl earlier at the spa about being familiar with the wine.
Today was my first time having it and the two glasses I had put me on my ass.
I was dizzy as hell walking into my treatment and I felt tipsy.
But then the strangest shit happened, as fast as I’d gotten tipsy, I sobered up just as fast. Not even an hour after my second glass, I started to feel like myself.
I fully enjoyed my treatments then brought my relaxed ass back up here to shower and take a nap.
I can’t lie; I was apprehensive at first when I heard him say his name through the door but I pushed it aside.
I’m glad I did too. This is nice, real nice.
I haven’t been alone with a man like this in too damn long and he’s the perfect man to break my drought.
Our text convos were cool and our first actual convo on the phone last night had been even better. But this? This is perfect.
After taking another sip of my drink, I finally answer him.
“Ridge Pointe, yes, but in tenth grade, my momma moved me to CF Academy. She wanted me to stay out of trouble. The problem is I ran right into trouble there. I met the girls’ dad there my senior year.
He wasn’t in school. He had already graduated from Manor Crossing the year before but was there for a game. You probably know him,” I say.
“I might but I don’t want to talk about him,” he says with no emotion. “All I need to know is you’re not fucking with him no more.”
“Definitely not. That’s been over,” I assure him.
“Good, ’cause you gotta know I’m feeling you,” he says with his mesmerizing eyes locked on me. If his words didn’t convey his sentiment, his eyes surely do.
“What about you? There’s no woman out there waiting on your call or waiting for you to come home?” I ask because I’m feeling him too and I’m not trying to get caught up in some shit.
“Waiting for me to come home? Hell nah. Waiting on my call? Shit. I can’t say that for certain.
But I can say there isn’t one waiting because I have her expecting me to call.
There’s only one woman I want to call, to call me, talk to, and be around and she’s right here looking sexy as hell in some big ass sweatpants,” he says and I feel his words permeate my damn skin.
It's crazy how I had convinced myself that I was cool without a man. After almost five years of accidental celibacy, my mind and body had somehow tricked me into believing I didn’t need one.
Between my toys and fingers, I took care of business when needed, but nothing replaces this—true male energy. Nothing.
Xai’s presence fills the room, crowds it, and smothers me in the most intoxicating way. His words, the way he looks at me, all of him exudes sex appeal, a slight dominance, and pressure. Shit! I haven’t felt this in too damn long, even when Rush was out and I was with him. He never had this.
Intrigued and a little nervous, I sit up, finish my glass, and quickly refill it. I need to break his hold over me and catch my damn breath.
“You finished eating?” I ask as I start to recover the platters. If he isn’t, he is now. My nervous energy needs to be expended and putting this food up is the only thing I can think to do.
“Yeah,” is all he says before killing his drink.
He refills his glass halfway while I gather the platters and take them into the kitchen area.
As soon as I’m in there and away from him, I take a deep ass breath and sigh lowly.
When I’ve regained a few ounces of my composure, I grab two small bottles, one bourbon and one cognac, from the bar, and walk back into the living room.
He’s off the floor and seated comfortably on the sofa.
“Bourbon or Yac?” I ask while holding the bottles out to him.
“Bourbon is good but I can really drink this.” He nods to his glass on the table. “Unless you want me to fuck with both. You trying to get me drunk?” he asks and his eyes scan my entire body as he does.
“I don’t know. Maybe,” flies from my lips before my mind processes my words.
When his eyes stretch and a tiny curl lifts his lips, I realize I can’t take my words back and honestly, I don’t think I want to.
I don’t know exactly what I want right now, at this moment, but I do know I’m enjoying this closeness with him and I’m not ready for it to be over.
Right as I hand him the bottles, I hear my phone.
It’s the girls’ FaceTime tone. “That’s my babies’ tone.
Give me a minute. There’s ice in the fridge,” I say before dashing to the bedroom.
As soon as I’m inside, I grab my phone off the nightstand and answer them.
Romi’s sweet but sleepy little face fills the screen.
“Mommie, I wanna go home,” she says before I can speak.
“I’m picking you up tomorrow after breakfast. Aren’t you having fun with Auntie and Jazzmyn?”
“Yes, ma’am,” she says while pouting. “But I wanna see you. You home?”
“No. I’m still at the hotel but we will all be home tomorrow. All you have to do is go to sleep, and when you wake up, you’ll see me in a few hours.”
“I not sleepy though,” she says and I smile. Her eyes are barely open and she’s rubbing them as she speaks. If she lays down, she will be knocked out in minutes.
“I think you are. We can lay down together on the phone till you go to sleep,” I say and her somber face lights up.
“Okay,” she says and my view changes to the ceiling. She’s moving. “Auntie, I’m going to bed with Mommie. Good night,” she says.
“Good night, sweetie,” I hear Kandi say as Romi moves.
When Romi enters Kandi’s guest bedroom, she says in a low voice, “Averi sleep. She left me up.”
“It’s okay,” I whisper back. “Put the iPad on the bed then get in,” I tell her. When her pretty face is back on the screen, I see she’s laying on her side. “Let’s say your prayer.”
With her sleepy eyes closed tight, Romi utters, “God, I count my blessings. One-two-three-four. My mommie, sister, auntie, and more. Thank You. Amen.”
“Amen,” I repeat. “Keep your eyes closed and we can go to sleep.”
“You sleepy, Mommie?”
“Yes, baby. I am,” I embellish. She merely nods then snuggles her hands under the side of her face.
The iPad falls over and my view changes to the bed.
Not even three minutes later, I hear her breathing switch to a low hum.
She’s asleep. “I love you,” I utter barely above a whisper before ending the call.
When I end it, I see I have three missed text messages. They are all from an unknown number. My gut tells me it’s either Rush’s stupid ass or his family but I check anyway.
107-688-2713: Unblock Rush!
107-688-2713: It’s an emergency.
107-688-2713: My auntie needs u.
The audacity keeps fucking audaciting with Rushmore and his family.
They are as dumb, loud, and delusional as him, especially his mother.
She condones all of her son’s bullshit and will even participate in it.
This emergency shit isn’t new either. He wants his way and thinks this will get me to respond. It won’t.
I don’t have a clue whose number this is and I don’t care either.
Just like all the others who texted or called, I delete the message thread then block this number too.
After placing my phone on do not disturb, I take a deep breath and head back out to the man who already appears to be a thousand times better than Rush.
Xai is still on the sofa, looking just as sexy and handsome as he was before, just more relaxed.
There’s a new glass on the table with a few cubes of ice in it and one of the bottles, well, some of it.
He’s in the space I want to be. Anxious to get back in our comfortable, flirtatious, and feel-good vibe, I join him on the sofa, closer this time, and kill half of my drink.
“Your daughters good?” he asks with what sounds like true concern.
“Yeah, my baby just missed me and needed to talk to me before she went to sleep.”
“Four and six, right?” he asks and I smile.
“Yes. Romi is four and Averi is six. I was talking to Romi.”
“I bet they are as beautiful as you.”
“Oh, more. They are gorgeous, my two little heartbeats,” I say and my entire body warms at the thought of my girls. “Can I ask you a question?”
“I thought that was what we were doing?”
“You’re right; we were,” I say then shrug. I also grab my glass and finish my drink. For a second, I debate refilling it but the second is fleeting and I do. The last time I’ve been even close to inebriation was before my girls. So why not get fucked up?
“What’s up?” he asks.
“It’s nothing serious. I’m just trying to figure out why you’re single,” I admit, and to my surprise, he chuckles a little.
“I mean…I just am. I’ve been working on getting my second location, dealing with Kadean and all his shit, just busy. No time for a relationship. I dealt with women but nothing or no one who required my time and effort,” he says, then shrugs.
“Time and effort?” I question, intrigued with his choice of words.
“Yeah. Relationships, real women, they both require time and effort. If a man ain’t giving that, he’s not all in. He’s just dealing with a woman and that’s it. But that’s them, not you. I’m here with you because I want to give you my time and make all efforts needed to make you mine.”
That damn energy!