Chapter 22 Ocean
OCEAN
“Oh, wow!” Skye said as she walked into the bathroom wearing a black silk robe, her eyes dancing around the room.
Red, heart-shaped balloons covered the ceiling, while rose petals blanketed the floor. I left a narrow path between them, where dim candles guided her straight to the clawfoot tub waiting in the center of the room.
There wasn’t a thing out of place.
From the time I left Ol’ School’s crib, I’d been on the phone making calls to get everything I needed to make sure my apology was felt.
“You like it?” I asked.
“I love it.”
I moved closer and untied her robe, letting it fall to the floor. “Get in. It’s nice and warm for you.”
She tucked her bottom lip between her teeth. “This is really beautiful, Ocean. So soft and sweet.”
“Like you.” I kissed her forehead and held her hand while she stepped into the tub.
“Oh my God, this feels perfect.”
“Yeah?”
She nodded, then sat down slowly, rose petals and bubbles consuming her frame.
I reached over to the small table that I’d positioned close by, grabbing the glass of champagne and a strawberry.
Her eyes sparkled.
“Is that white chocolate covered strawberries?”
“Yep.”
She sucked her teeth. “You’ve been talking to Nyx?”
“Don’t worry about all that,” I shot back.
She laughed. “I ain’t mad at it. At least you’re trying.”
“I’ll always try with you.”
I slipped the strawberry into her mouth and handed her the glass of champagne.
“I believe you.”
“Good.”
I slid the hair tie from the loose bun that was on top of her head. “You mind if I massage your scalp? I just want to talk for a bit.”
She gave me a stunned look. The same look she’d given me earlier, letting me know she was surprised by my actions.
It really fucked me up that niggas had treated her so bad.
She swallowed back her words and simply nodded before leaning back against the tub. Her eyes drifted closed and I took my time soothing her scalp with my fingertips.
Like always, pleasure escaped her lips, and my dick stiffened.
But now wasn’t the time for that.
As much as I wanted to be inside her, I had to give her something I knew she needed more...pleasure without the slightest bit of pain.
“Today was a pretty chill day,” I said. “I’m sure it would’ve been better if you were with me...but tomorrow will make up for that.”
“Tomorrow? What’s going on tomorrow?”
“You and me,” I said, kissing her cheek. “Well, unless you have something else planned.”
She shrugged. “I mean, I was thinking about meeting up with this guy I met—”
I stopped. “What fucking guy?”
Laughing, she grabbed my hands and led them back to the top of her head. “I’m just fucking with you. There’s no guy.”
“Yo, Skye, don’t play with me like that. You almost got a nigga fucked up.”
“How? There wasn’t anyone to fuck up.”
“Yeah, well, I was going to find someone, and that shit wasn’t going to end well.”
“Trust me, I know better. Anyway, no, I don’t have anything else planned. I would love to spend the day with you.”
“Cool.” I cleared my throat. “Oh, and we’ll make a store run on the way back. I want to make sure you have everything you need while I’m out of town.”
“Out of town?” She sat up, the water that was once covering her breasts no longer hid what my mouth was desperate to suck on.
“Yeah, I’ve got to go check on things at my club back home.”
“Oh.” I could see the disappointment in her eyes, and I wished like hell I could take it away.
“Don’t worry. I’ll only be gone a week.”
“A week? That’s a long ass time.”
“Not really. It’ll fly by.”
“Says who?”
“Me,” I said before leaning in to kiss her again.
Granted, I didn’t really want to go. But handling business back home had always been my number one priority, and I’d been slacking on that lately.
Between trying to get everything together for the reopening here and making sure Skye was good, I barely knew what was going on at my other establishment.
Silence filled the room, and I could tell Skye was in her head about me being gone for a week. But I wasn’t sure if it was because she was worried about me being with another woman or if it was something else.
“I’m going to miss you,” she whispered.
Relief washed over me, grateful that it was the latter.
“I’m going to miss you too.”
“How did this happen between us so fast?”
“I don’t know, baby.” I rotated my fingertips, enjoying how relaxed she looked as she lifted one leg in the air. She watched as the soap trickled down from her knee to her thigh.
“So tell me something I don’t know about you,” she said, looking at me.
“Something like what?”
“I don’t know. Anything. Maybe one serious thing, and one not so serious thing.”
“Hmm, I don’t know. How about you go first. Give me a little time to think.”
“Okay, I’ll start with something unserious. Well, it’s more like a pet peeve of mine.”
I nodded, my hands sliding from her hair to her shoulders, massaging her gently.
“Alright, what is it?”
“I hate the word cock.”
I almost choked. “I’m sorry, what?”
“I hate the word cock. It’s one of the most terrible words in the English language. Hell, if it’s even a word in the English language.” She rolled her eyes. “No man should be walking around calling his dick a cock. That shit is weird.”
“Damn...okay...I wasn’t expecting that. I thought you were going to say some shit like you don’t like the tissue being turned the wrong way, or you don’t like dirty dishes being left in the sink. But no, you’re talking about the use of dick versus cock.”
“That’s because I wanted to make that pet peeve known. You know, just in case some shit like that was in your vocabulary.”
I laughed.
“I’m serious, Ocean. A word like that should never be used to describe that beautiful ass piece of meat you have in your pants.”
“Um...okay. I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone refer to it as beautiful before, but thanks, I guess.”
“That’s because they were probably too busy having it shoved down their throats.”
I chuckled, knowing she was right.
It was rare that any woman had the time to just stare at my shit. If she was staring me down, that meant I had to be doing the same, and I wasn’t with all that.
“Are you saying that you’ve been staring at a nigga?” I winked.
“All the time. I know how long it is. I know how thick it is. I know how it curves just a little right at the tip.” She licked her lips. “I know every fucking thing, which is why I know that it should never be belittled and called a cock.”
Still amused, I shook my head. “Good to know. And you don’t ever have to worry about me using that shit. That word ain’t never crossed my mind.”
“Good. Now, your turn. Since I told you a pet peeve, tell me one of yours.”
I tilted my head. “When someone does something to hurt someone I care about. I’m either going to kill them or make them wish they were dead.”
She cleared her throat, her eyes wide. “Um...okay. I thought we were still doing unserious things.”
“My bad. I guess I should’ve told you where I was headed.”
“No, it’s fine. But in all fairness, I already knew that about you. I’ve seen you in action, remember?”
“Oh, right.” I took a deep breath, trying my best to think of something that didn’t make shit any darker than I’d already made it. Then it hit me. “Green bubbles.”
“What?”
“I hate green bubbles in a text thread.”
She burst into laughter. “Okay, I get that. Thankfully, that’s not a problem between us.”
“Yeah, because we probably wouldn’t be having this conversation right now if it were.”
“Wow! Are you saying that you wouldn’t have kept talking to me if green bubbles had shown up in our chat?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying. That shit hurts my eyes, and no human should be exposed to that kind of toxicity.”
She laughed even harder. “You know what? I’m going to go switch out my phone just because you said that.”
“Okay, play if you want to. Just know, if you do, you can say goodbye to this cock.”
Her eyes widened, a frown forming on her face. “Please don’t ever say that again. It doesn’t even sound right coming from your lips.”
“Don’t bring that green bubble shit in what we got going on and you won’t have to worry about me saying it again.”
“Hmm...okay. I like what you’re putting down.” She pulled my face toward hers and kissed me. “It’s scary as hell, but I still like it.”
“Nothing to be scared of baby. I got you. I promise.”
“I hope so.”
“I do,” I said. “But, hey, what’s your serious thing? You never said.”
“Oh, right.” She leaned back, her eyes looking like they were drifting off to a place she didn’t want to go. “I was raped before.”