Chapter 22
Jalen was a bit nervous as she pulled up to Vivian’s house.
She hadn’t let her sisters spend the night at someone’s home in a long time.
It wasn’t that she didn’t trust other people; she was cautious.
It was also the day after Christmas. She’d had to work on Christmas Eve and day, so they’d celebrated when she’d gotten off the night before.
Her sisters were excited about their gifts, and they’d even gotten Jalen a few as well. Even though she’d explicitly asked them not to. She should have known that with Kodi heading the charge, that would not happen.
“Listen,” she started, turning in the driver’s seat to look at the four in the backseat. “Do not go in here and give Vivian any problems.” Her sisters nodded.
“We’ll be fine, Jalen,” Kodi spoke.
“You know you don’t have to stay,” Jalen informed her. She had no problem letting Kodi stay home by herself.
“And miss out on all the fun?” Kodi questioned. “Ms. Vivian said something about homemade cookies, and I’m here for it.”
Jalen laughed before she opened her car door and slid out.
If she were being honest with herself, she knew that part of her nervousness stemmed from the fact that she would spend the night with Rohan.
It wasn’t the first time, but she hadn’t stayed with him since then, and they would spend the entire day together.
Vivian had asked that she drop her sisters off at noon because the older woman had an entire agenda planned for the next forty-eight hours. Once she had dropped them off, she’d go to Rohan’s house from there. She’d asked him if that was alright, and he hadn’t had a problem with it.
Jalen helped the twins out of the car and handed each of them their backpacks. Kodi had helped the younger three pack and knew that the twins more than likely insisted on having their separate backpacks, while Kodi, Landon, and Mikal brought one small suitcase with their things in it.
Jalen waited behind her bunch as Landon rang the doorbell, and no sooner had her little sister dropped her finger was the door swung open. Alynn stood there with a smile on her face.
“Hi!” she greeted excitedly, bouncing from foot to foot. Vivian came down the hallway behind her.
“Hey girls,” Vivian greeted, placing her hands on Alynn’s shoulders, moving her backward. “Please come in.”
They all stepped over the threshold, and Alynn immediately asked if she could show the girls where they would sleep and give them a tour of the house, which Jalen would be lying if she said it wasn’t a beautiful house.
“Are you sure you’re okay with having them for two days? I can come pick them up tomorrow,” she said, turning her attention from the retreating backs of her sisters, who’d all said a quick bye to her before following Alynn.
“Nonsense. I have a list of things planned for us. You just enjoy some you time,” Vivian responded. “Are you planning on doing anything?”
“I’m going to hang out with Rohan.”
Vivian smiled at her. “Well, I hope you both have fun. You want to stay for a bit?”
She thought about it. She knew her three youngest sisters were probably already engaged in whatever it was they were doing.
So, she wouldn’t interrupt them. Especially since this was the first time that the twins would stay away from home.
Jalen didn’t want to let them think about it too much and end up crying.
“No, I’m going to go while Nathan and Omari are occupied,” she told her. “Thank you, and Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas.”
She went back to her vehicle and slid behind the wheel, waving to Vivian before pulling off.
She would ask Kodi how Alynn and Vivian liked the Christmas presents they picked out for them when she picked them up.
That had been another reason she had decided not to hang around.
Vivian had been adamant that they not get her anything for Christmas, but they had anyway.
Jalen had never believed in allowing someone to get you something and not reciprocating.
That was just the person she was. Vivian had gotten her and her sisters something.
Rohan had dropped them off when he brought over the ones he’d gotten for her sisters.
It was then that he informed Jalen that if she was free when the girls would be at his mother’s house, he would like for her to come over and the two of them to exchange gifts then.
Driving to the other side of town, she pulled in behind Rohan’s car almost twenty minutes later. She let out a slow breath. She was nervous, and she knew she shouldn’t have been considering she’d been to his house before.
However, this was different. Jalen knew what these two days could bring, and she wasn’t opposed to it.
Rohan had been nothing but a gentleman with her.
Respecting the fact that she hadn’t been ready to have sex with him, while still pleasuring her twice when he’d received nothing in return.
She planned to fix that during her visit.
Getting out of the car, she grabbed her bag from the trunk and went to the front door. She only had to wait a few seconds before the door was swung open.
“Hey, baby,” Rohan greeted as he leaned down to kiss her.
“Hey,” she responded as they pulled apart and he took her bag from her.
He stepped aside and allowed her to walk in, closing the door behind them.
“Let me put this in the guest room for you,” he said, and Jalen swallowed before she slowly shook her head.
“No, put it…in your room,” she told him.
She watched as his eyes trailed over her. More than likely, to make sure that was truly what she wanted. He nodded at her a few seconds later.
“Okay. Make yourself at home, and I’ll be right back.”
Jalen entered the living room, slipped her shoes off, and sat on the couch. There was a movie that was paused, and she figured he’d been watching it when she’d arrived.
Rohan joined her a few minutes later, handing her the remote. Jalen noticed that whenever they spent time together, he always allowed her to choose what they watched or did.
“We can keep watching this if you want to,” she told him.
“I don’t mind us watching something else,” he countered.
She bit the inside of her jaw. “Can I ask you something?” When he nodded, she continued. “Why do you always let me choose what we do?”
“You take care of your sisters all day long. Which means that, mostly, you’re doing whatever it is they want to do or need to have done. I do what I want all the time. So, when we’re together, I want you to do things you want to do.”
Jalen leaned over and kissed him because his consideration was sweet, and she hadn’t thought about it that way.
She wasn’t even sure if she were dating anyone else; they would have thought about that either.
That he wanted to make sure she got to do things she wanted to caused her chest to tighten.
It was always little things like this that she appreciated far more than anything else.
“So, we can watch whatever you want to watch,” he told her. “Or do anything else you want to do.”
She pressed play on the remote, deciding to finish watching the movie on the screen.
The doorbell rang, and she leaned away from Rohan’s side as he went to answer it. She’d been at his house for several hours, and it was going on eight o’clock. He’d asked her a little while ago if she wanted him to cook, and Jalen asked if they could just order takeout instead.
They’d placed the order forty-five minutes ago. So, she figured it was their food arriving.
He returned a moment later to the entrance of the living room with the bag in his hand.
“Do you want to eat here or in the kitchen?” he questioned.
“I can come in there,” Jalen responded.
Rohan smirked at her. “I’d rather you come here.” He ran his tongue slowly over his lips. “But I’ll wait and have that for dessert instead.”
It took her only a few seconds to understand what he was saying, and she swallowed slowly. She didn’t know what she was supposed to say, but was glad that he continued talking, and she didn’t have to speak.
“We can eat in here,” he said, walking over and retaking his seat.
As they ate, they continued watching the current movie. Once they were finished, Rohan volunteered to take their trash into the kitchen, and Jalen stood as well, deciding to go take a shower.
She was going through her bag that he had left by his dresser when he came in.
“I’m going to take a shower. Can you tell me where your towels are?” she asked.
“They’re on the shelf.” He inclined his head towards his en suite.
“Okay. I’ll grab some and use the hall bathroom if you want to use yours.”
He shook his head. “You can use this one. I’ll use the other one after locking up,” he stated before exiting the bedroom.
Jalen went into his bathroom. It was the first time she’d been in it. The bathtub and shower were separate, and the shower reminded her of the kind you find in hotels that were open on one end. She placed her things on the countertop before reaching in and turning the shower on.
As the water heated, she removed her clothes and placed them in a neat pile in front of the sink. She grabbed her body wash and body scrub after grabbing a towel and stepped into the shower.
She enjoyed the spray of the showerhead and made a mental note to ask him what kind he had. She wouldn’t be opposed to changing the one in her bedroom. However, while she enjoyed it, she didn’t want to stay in too long.
Once she finished, she stepped out, dried herself off and moisturized, then wrapped the towel around her waist. She grabbed the clothes she’d taken off and peeped out of the bathroom door.
At some point, she thought she heard Rohan enter the bedroom a few minutes after she’d gotten into the shower.
However, he was not there at the moment.