Chapter 14
Jalen rolled over in bed, looking at the clock.
It was a little after nine in the morning.
It was a rare day during the week that she was both off from work and didn’t have class.
Kodi had been nice enough to make sure all the girls got up and dressed that morning, and Jalen had let her take the car since she didn’t have plans to do anything but study and do some laundry.
Stretching as she stood, she went into the bathroom, washed her face, and did her facial routine before relieving herself. She washed her hands and decided to lounge around in her pajamas a little longer.
Jalen started by grabbing the small hamper she kept in her bathroom for towels. She carried it out and into the other bathroom, getting the few towels that were in there as well. She placed them by the laundry closet before going and getting the two hampers out of Mikal and the twins’ room.
She then pulled Landon’s hamper out of her and Kodi’s room. The older teenager preferred to do her own laundry. She would say it was because she liked her laundry done a certain way, but Jalen knew Kodi was simply trying to give her less to do.
Jalen put the towels in the washer first, while she sorted the rest of the clothes into the hampers.
Once she was finished, she went to the kitchen to make herself something to eat.
Normally, she would have cooked a few things if she had been cooking for her sisters.
However, she made herself a bowl of oatmeal with fruit in it.
Sitting down on the couch, she turned on the television and was flipping through the channels when she thought she heard her phone ringing. Placing her bowl to the side, she went back into her bedroom, taking it off the charger on the bedside table. She smiled at it before answering.
“Hey, you,” she greeted, returning to the living room.
“Hey, baby.” Came Rohan’s voice from the other end. “Did you get busy this morning?” he questioned.
“Did I...oh. No, I was off this morning, so Kodi got the girls ready and let me sleep in.”
Typically, when Jalen woke up, she would ensure the girls were awake and call to talk to Rohan as she made breakfast for them. It was pretty much at the same time each morning. So, she understood why it would have seemed as if she’d gotten busy.
“It’s nice you got to sleep in. I got a bit worried that something had happened.”
“Nope, all good on this end. What are you up to? How’s work?” Jalen asked, holding the phone between her ear and shoulder, picking her bowl back up.
“It’s a pretty dead day. My team is ahead on the campaigns we’re working on, and I only have one meeting this morning at eleven.”
Jalen swallowed the bite she’d just taken, nodding to herself. “Sounds like a pretty relaxed day. Are you leaving work at the normal time?”
“If my boss lets me, I’m planning on leaving after my meeting.”
“Aren’t you, your boss?”
“You’re right. Guess I’ll be leaving then.”
That caused Jalen to laugh lightly, and she was sure he was smirking on the other end of the phone. Jalen was about to take another bite when she thought of something.
“Well, since you’re leaving earlier, do you want to come over and keep me company until the girls get out of school?”
“I can do that if you’re sure you’ll be comfortable with it.”
“I’m sure,” Jalen responded.
This would be the first time that he was coming to her place.
They had always met wherever their date was to make her feel more comfortable.
However, Jalen didn’t see a reason he couldn’t come over.
They’d been dating for about two months.
Which, honestly, could be classified as one of her longest-running relationships.
“Alright, baby. Send me the address, and I’ll be on my way when my meeting ends.”
Jalen agreed, and they ended the call. She sent him her address, going back to eating her oatmeal and flipping through channels.
Her first load of laundry finished, and she went to switch it out. She typically tried to do laundry on the weekend, but figured this would lessen the amount she would have to do. It piled up, and a week’s worth of laundry with six girls in the house was a lot.
Jalen studied for about an hour for the test she had coming up.
She’d already reviewed the information several times and was confident that she would pass it.
So, instead of the in-depth studying she usually did, she just went over terms that she sometimes got mixed up if she wasn’t paying close attention to them.
Looking at the time on her phone, she saw it was a little after eleven-fifteen. Jalen decided she should probably put some clothes on since she didn’t know what time Rohan’s meeting would end. Going to her bedroom, she continued into her bathroom, to take a quick shower.
Once she was finished, she dried herself off before rubbing lotion all over her body and brushing her teeth. She pulled on a pair of yellow boy shorts with a matching bra before putting on a ribbed gray romper. She then slipped her feet into a pair of black ankle socks.
On her way back down the hall, she stopped to switch more clothes around.
She carried the basket of dry ones into the living room and folded them before taking them into each room and placing them on the bed.
She always had her sisters put their own laundry up.
Jalen felt as if it gave them a sense of responsibility and independence.
Placing the empty basket back on top of the dryer, she went to the kitchen. It was lunchtime, and while she wasn’t particularly hungry, she wanted to cook something for Rohan since he was coming over.
She’d placed some shrimp in the refrigerator the night before to make shrimp pasta. She figured there was no harm in going ahead and making it.
Jalen had the shrimp sauteing when there was a knock at her door. She exited the kitchen and checked the peephole before opening the door.
“Hey,” she greeted, stepping aside to allow Rohan in.
He leaned down and kissed her. When they pulled apart, he pulled a dozen pink roses from behind his back.
“Hey, baby. These are for you.”
She smiled at him, thanking him as she took the flowers.
She closed the door before returning to the kitchen with him behind her, and placed the flowers on the bar for a moment to tend to the shrimp.
Her pot of water was now boiling and ready for the bow tie pasta.
She poured it in, adding a teaspoon of oil to keep the noodles from sticking.
“That smells good,” he complimented.
“I figured since you were coming over during lunchtime, the least I could do would be to make you something.”
Jalen turned towards her sink, pulling a vase from the cabinet under it. She put some water in it before taking her roses and placing them inside. She then set them in the middle of the dining table.
“You didn’t have to do that,” he responded.
“I know, but I wanted to.”
She asked him how his meeting went as she continued to cook. Rohan told her it had run longer than he had thought it would, but it had been productive, and he felt as if they’d get all the company’s future business.
Once she finished cooking, she placed the shrimp pasta into a serving bowl and set it in the microwave. She’d eaten a couple of hours ago, and Rohan had done the same, so neither of them was ready to eat. She figured they could wait a little bit.
They went into the living room and sat on the couch, Jalen tucking her feet under her.
“Do you want to watch a movie?” she asked.
“Sure, baby. What do you want to watch?”
Jalen went to Netflix and chose a horror movie from her saved list. It had been on there for a while, and she hadn’t watched it yet. Mainly because the twins were always around, and she didn’t want them to see it.
She placed the remote back on the table and moved closer to Rohan.
????????????
Rohan tried not to chuckle. They’d been watching the movie for about forty minutes, and from the beginning of it, it was pure gore.
He figured Jalen hadn’t known that when she’d chosen it.
She was currently pressed against his side, her head partially buried in his shoulder as she watched the movie out of one squinted eye.
If she were any closer to him, she’d be in his lap, and well, he was nowhere near opposed to that.
She turned her head, placing it completely into his shoulder as one character on the screen was being skinned.
Rohan chuckled this time, and he tightened the arm he had around her before pulling her into his lap.
She let out a little squeak of surprise but made no protest when he settled her, straddling him.
“If you were going to hide the entire movie, why did you pick it?” he asked teasingly.
“I didn’t know it would be this much mutilation and gore. I’m good with horror movies, but this is extreme. I mean, you saw that girl get mangled and then fed to the other girl,” she replied with a pout.
He leaned in and pecked her lips. “You’re cute.”
“First, you laugh at me hiding away from this bloody, macabre mess, and now you insult me,” she said, still pouting.
He bit his bottom lip to keep from chuckling. “My apologies, gorgeous. I in no way meant to offend.” He then smirked at her. “Though I get a distinct feeling that you just want me to kiss you again.”
Jalen laughed, and she draped her arms over his neck. “You would be correct.”
Rohan molded his lips against hers as soon as the sentence was out of her mouth. She didn’t have to tell him twice. He’d kissed her several times, but he had never kissed her like this.
His tongue slipped into her mouth, and she allowed it to lead hers. The kiss was slow; he was in no hurry, wanting to taste every bit of her. Explore every millimeter with his tongue. Familiarize himself with it, memorize it.