Chapter 14 #3
Samari finished the last of her tacos and brushed her hands over her thighs. She kept her head down but couldn’t ignore the weight of Asao’s eyes on her while she busied herself collecting the empty food containers. She organized them, giving herself time to decide if she would hand over the truth.
“Mari, stop pretending you don’t hear me and let me get your pretty face.”
She blushed and her lips curled before she lifted her eyes.
Asao’s were already locked on her face and the way he took her in made her cheeks blaze.
She lifted the soda and hollowed her cheeks, finishing what was left then moving everything to the side before she crossed the room and stepped between his long legs.
When his arms lifted and folded behind his head and the intensity of his gaze locked on her, she worked past the anxiousness twisting in her stomach and pushed through the discomfort.
She was well aware of what he wanted to know but elected to lighten the moment.
Samari didn’t think she could share the details of that night with anyone.
She had never spoken a word about how her trust had been betrayed and she wouldn’t do that now.
She climbed into his lap, dropping her legs wide over his, grateful that the computer chair that barely held his lengthy frame didn’t have arms on the side. She fit comfortably against his body and moved her hips so close that the heat between her thighs made contact with his stomach.
“After everything we did in that booth, I’m pretty sure you know what my song was about.”
She leaned close and brushed her mouth over his, hoping to distract him, but that hope died fast when he repeated her lyrics as if he were the one who’d written them.
“I want your promises as my armor. Shield me from fear, pour into parts of me that I wouldn’t dare. I want your trust in my heart. Give me loyalty, heal damaged spaces that others left in me, I want your vision as motivation. See me for me, when I dream, bring it to life, you’re the high I reach.”
He rapped the lyrics she’d sung. The smooth cadence of his voice and the raspy, late-hour, southern drawl had Samari grinning but it dropped when his eyes demanded answers.
“They’re just lyrics.” She edged away in an attempt to escape but his hands quickly moved to her hips, locking her in.
“You sang that shit like it’s your truth. You gonna tell me who needs to sleep with one eye open or would you rather I start taking muthafuckers down until a confession comes to light?”
“You making yourself my dragon slayer?”
“Isn’t that what you asked me to do when you put them words on paper?”
She pushed the unease down and forced a smile, putting her mouth on his again. Samari was already addicted to the soft warmth and possessive claim his lips had on hers.
“You don’t need to slay my dragons. This…” She paused, allowing her eyes to move around the studio before they were on him again. “Is enough.”
“This isn’t shit but it’s a start because it’s all you’re allowing yourself to want from me.
I’m not gonna blow your mind with what I’m willing and capable of being in your life because you aren’t ready for all that just yet.
” His large hand tattooed moved to the back of her neck, gripping firmly enough to bring her close.
He pushed his tongue into her mouth, demanding a connection with hers, and when he pulled back, Asao let their foreheads touch.
“Tell me when you’re ready, and until you are, I’m gonna be your armor, Mari.
Not a damn thing’s touching you, not even the shit you’re conflicted with in here.
” His finger pressed against her heart then tapped her temple.
He understood keeping shit close to the chest but that wasn’t going to fly when it came to the two of them.
He had to know her doubts and fears in order to cover her.
If she needed time to be open, she could get that, but he wasn’t a patient man.
That time would be limited. Instead of pressing, he shifted the conversation.
“How do you feel about Kolby?” Asao watched her reaction, picking up on the confusion from the question.
“Um why?”
“I want to hire her but I need to know if that’s a good move or not.”
She frowned. “Why are you asking me?”
“Because you know things about her that I don’t.
” He kept his expression neutral, wanting Samari to speak her truth and not just say what she assumed he wanted to hear.
His gut told him that Kolby was solid. She didn’t have loyalty to Cobra but that was to be expected based on how he moved.
Asao determined Kolby’s decisions weren’t a character flaw but more about giving what was received.
He fucked her over so she returned the favor.
“You should hire her.”
“Why?”
“She fought for me when she didn’t have to, and even though she didn’t have the power to fix the fucked up situation I put myself in, she still fought.
I didn’t have a lot of people willing to put themselves in the line of fire for me, so I appreciated that.
It’s not always about the win, sometimes it’s just enough to know someone’s willing to fight. ”
“Aight.” He nodded with understanding. “You cool with Niles managing you until you figure out who you want on your team?”
The question had Samari’s thoughts stumbling in her head. “I don’t need anyone managing me.”
Asao’s head bobbed while he dropped his hands to her thighs and gripped them firmly.
In just the short time Samari had been in his world, he learned that she stayed in her head overthinking shit, questioning and second guessing more than necessary.
She needed physical contact to keep her grounded in the moment.
“You can do that shit on your own but it’s a lot. I want your focus to be on the music. We have less than two weeks before the festival, which means press and…”
“Press? I can’t…”
“Ay, listen. I get that you don’t have a lot of faith in people because the ones you trusted didn’t deliver what they promised. I’m trying to give you space and time to trust that I’m not them. Shit is moving fast, and I get that, but if you don’t trust me, this isn’t gonna work.”
“I really want to but…”
“Nah, fuck them buts. Tell me what you want. If I give you my word that it’s gonna happen, nothing is stopping it. I’m not scared of a muthafucking thing, Mari. Especially not owning the truth. So I’m not gonna lie to you, ever. Tell me what you want.”
She stared into his eyes, accepting the permission he gave her to bring those walls down and expose the things she didn’t want to say out loud because it hurt too much. “I want my career back.”
“Done,” he said with a confidence that made her believe him.
“And I don’t want my career attached to whatever we’re doing or provisional on how things play out between us.”
His expression remained calm but Asao’s eyes blazed with offense at what she was implying. Pussy didn’t move him. He could get bitches to suck and fuck on by just looking their way. The thought that he would hang sex over her head as a condition of anything was fucked up.
He was gonna let her make it though because she didn’t know shit about the man he was or the values he stood on. Samari had been ruined by little boys so having a man in her life was a new experience that she would have to ease into.
“You think I’m the type of man who’s going to put terms and conditions on anything I do for you…as your man?”
She read between the lines and felt the intensity of his words. In all honesty, she knew better, but Asao was hard to wrap her brain around, so she chose humor as a diversion.
“You claiming something I didn’t offer?”
He chuckled arrogantly and she added, “You’re not my man.”
Instead of addressing the bullshit lie she was hustling, he circled back to the question she had yet to answer. “You cool letting Niles step in until you decide who you want on your team?”
“If you trust him, I trust him.”
“Aight bet. I’ll let him know you’re in.”
Her mind was spinning again, and based on the frown that eased onto her pretty face, Asao knew she was overthinking again.
“What’s up, Mari?”
“If you get me out of my contract with Cobra.”
“There’s no if. It’s done.”
She wanted to ask how but decided to leave that for another day. She quickly learned Asao demanding her trust meant that was important. For now, she would give him that. “No contract means no label. I can try to do this myself but…”
“You have a label if you want one, and if you don’t, you have me for whatever you need.”
“What label do I have?”
“Mine.”
His sexy smile had her frowning more. “You have a label.”
“Track Killaz.”
“Wait, you’re turning this into a label?”
“Yeah, Niles got that shit in his head and wouldn’t let it go.
It’s a good look though. We’re gonna keep it homegrown and I’m not offering you a million dollar advance but you get complete control over what you want to do with your music.
I know that’s important to you. If you want a label, you have one. ”
“I’ll think about it. Thank you.” She cuffed his face and kissed him.
“You’re welcome, now let’s get these songs recorded so Niles can get them in rotation before you hit the stage. I want them singing that shit with you next week.”
“Wait, you want me to release those?” She panicked. No matter how many times he’d demanded her trust, she still couldn’t process that this was really happening.
“Yeah, man. The fuck you thought we were doing?” He smirked and his hand was at the base of her neck again, bringing her mouth to his.
Asao understood he had work to do when it came to Samari, but when he said not a muthafuckin’ thing scared him, he meant not a damn thing.
Not even the time he would have to invest to convince her she was now his.