7. Stoney
CHAPTER SEVEN
STONEY
I pressed dial on Doll’s name for what felt like the millionth time. She had left this morning and went to grab breakfast and never returned. After not hearing anything from her for a couple hours, I went to go look for her. This bitch was playing games on these folk’s island like someone wouldn’t fucking kidnap her ass. The worst just kept racing through my mind and it was driving me insane. She needed to answer the phone and let me know she was all right.
Hearing the door to the suite slam, I jumped from bed and raced toward the front to see if it was her. “Why you haven’t been answering the phone?” I asked her soon as my eyes landed on her.
She pranced past me with her heels in her hand, swinging ’em without a care in the fucking world. “What the hell have you been doing all this time, Doll? You know that something could have actually happened to you.” I grabbed her by the forearm, stopping her in her tracks.
“Calm down, Stoney. I’m fine.”
“I see that much. Where you been?”
“You’re really acting like my mama right now.”
“No. I was just worried sick ’bout you. You’ve been missing for almost ten hours.”
“I was with Scar.”
“Doll, Scar isn’t the best man to be dealing with. You think you went through some shit with Rell, that nigga gon’ walk you like a fucking dog. Don’t let those nice looks, money and diamonds fool you.”
“I’m well aware of his reputation. I’m not looking for love, I just want a good time while I’m here.”
“I know how you are, Doll. You say that now, but you’ll attach yourself later and end up hurt. I really don’t want to see you hurt again.”
Doll spun and faced me. “I’ve changed over the last four years, Stoney. After that shit with Rell, I ain’t tryna attach myself to nobody else. I promise you that I’m good.”
“OK, I hear you. I’d still stay away from him.”
“Stoney, I know yo’ ass ain’t been out this room. Why don’t you go do some exploring or something. I’m ’bout to take a nap.”
“A nap? It’s going on eight at night and you’re ’bout to take a nap?”
“Yup. Trust me when I say I need it.”
My mouth fell agape. “You fucked Scar?”
“Bitch, fucked the shit out of him. Turned that nigga every way but loose.” She pushed my mouth closed by the chin and pranced toward her bedroom.
Doll was right though. I hadn’t really been out the room except for when I was looking for her at the restaurant. Since it was dark, I decided that I’d go out and take a dip into the pool. With what time it was, I was positive there weren’t a lot of people down there. Exactly how I liked it.
I went into my bedroom and grabbed my yellow bikini and slipped it on. I put on my yellow and pink ombre mesh overlay dress and slid my feet into a pair of white sandals. I brushed my hair up into a high ponytail and exited the suite.
According to the brochure, the resort had at least three pools. I picked the furthest one in hopes that I’d be the only person there when I got there. It took me ’bout twenty minutes to make that walk and once I arrived to that end of the resort, I noticed that there was someone already swimming in the pool. It was just us there, which I could deal with. I didn’t have to handle being ’round a lot of people, so I was gon’ take that chance.
I stopped at the edge of the waterfall pool and stood there, observing as he swam back and forth. It was when he lifted his head from the water and pushed his hair back out his face that I realized it was Schizo. That man was the epitome of fine. I had never seen another man like him in my life. His chestnut complexion was everything. Just like Scar, he was covered in tattoos all the way up to his neck. Schizo was etched above his left eye. That man had the perfect set of abs where I could wash my dirty laundry on ’em.
“What are you doing out here? Where’s Kaylan?” I quizzed him soon as our eyes locked.
“I came out here for a swim to clear my head. She’s back at the suite on a Zoom meeting for work. I was tryna stay out the way.”
“You want me to go to another pool? I don’t want to intrude.”
“It’s fine. You can stay. I can use the company.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah.”
Shrugging, I pulled my dress over my head and slowly submerged into the cool water. Schizo’s eyes trained on me ’til the water stopped just underneath my chin.
“Why you out here this time of night?” he questioned me.
“I don’t like people, and I figured the pool would be empty.”
“I peeped that shit ’bout you. You’re always to yourself at work. I like that.”
Though we were a few feet apart, I could still smell his YSL cologne from where I stood. Schizo always smelled good. That was one of the things I loved ’bout him. He was a damn good-looking man. I kinda hated he was already spoken for. It’s crazy for me to say, but I had been crushing on this man ever since I first started working at the hotel three years ago. I never had enough balls to tell him that though.
“How you and your nigga doing?” Him asking me that was a sting to the heart. I had been trying my best to forget ’bout him ever since the incident at Gold Rosé. Wade tried to reach out to me a couple times, but I blocked his number. We didn’t have anything to discuss, especially after that embarrassment. I had been being loyal to someone else’s man. That hurt was something I didn’t want Doll to experience, which was why I tried to warn her ’bout Scar.
That man was nothing but a fine ass ho. Ever since I started working at the hotel, I watched him with several different women. All he was gon’ do was end up breaking her heart and I was gon’ be prepared to shove my foot up his fucking ass, boss or not.
“We broke up.” I turned away from him so he wouldn’t notice the moisture that was threatening to fill my eyes.
“Sorry to hear that. His loss.”
Damn sure was.
I dived underneath the water and swam back and forth across the pool. I would have kept going had I not crashed right into Schizo. His arms wrapped ’round me and he lifted me from the water. Kush escaped his breath when his lips parted and he asked, “You good?”
My eyes searched his dark ones. This was the closest we’d ever been to one another.
“I’m… fine,” I struggled to get out.
Him staring at me like this was wrong. He was ’bout to be married. I had no reason to be this entangled with another woman’s man. I wasn’t ’bout to do this shit to myself again. No.
I peeled away from him and brushed my hands across my head, pushing my wet hair back out my face. “I think I’ve done enough swimming for the night,” I told him and made my way toward the steps.
“Me too.” He exited the pool along with me. I hurriedly grabbed my dress and tugged it down over my head. I could feel his eyes burning a hole in me from the opposite side of the pool. That interaction alone let me know that for the remainder of the trip, I needed to stay as far away from him as possible.
“Stoney?” he called out my name as I got ready to leave the pool area. I stopped in my tracks and faced him. My body crashed into his arms yet again. My heart palpitated. This man was doing something to me. I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs, but I held my composure. God, please give me the strength.