Chapter 21 #2
Every second stretched longer than the last. Meadow was close to just curling up and crying. This felt like abandonment…this felt like maybe Brent knew what he was talking about all along and Zaire was too major for a smalltown girl like her…this felt like, go max out his card.
Tia watched her from the kitchen island, chin in her hand. “You wearing out that path in my rug, girl. Sit down.”
Meadow ignored her, dialing one more time. “He always answers…always.”
“Except when he’s winning national tournaments,” Tia said, popping a grape,
“that ended hours ago!”
Blain looked up from the counter, trying not to smile. “He probably doing sponsor dinners.”
“And interviews,” Tia added.
“And media, ” Blain responded playfully, winking at his wife getting up to head into the kitchen.
“And photos.” Blain went on.
“Y’all are made for each other.” Meadow waved her middle finger between Tia and Blain.
Tia tapped her chin. “Oh, and probably has to shower.”
“I don’t care!” Meadow snapped. “I just want to make sure he’s okay.”
From the corner of the sectional, Brent sipped his drink like he was watching a show.
“I mean…he could be okay, or he could be busy celebrating with somebody else,” Brent fanned the flames of doubt running through her head.
Tia threw a coaster at his forehead. “Stop instigating. Damn.”
Meadow glared at Brent. “Why are you even still here?”
“My brother,” he shrugged, “and you’re fun to watch when you’re stressed.”
“Boy, go-”
“Hey!” Tia shouted. “No fighting in my rich house.”
Meadow dropped onto the couch, pulling the plush throw blanket around her shoulders. “This is stupid. I’m acting stupid.”
Tia sat next to her. “You’re acting like somebody who cares about somebody.”
“That’s worse.”
Tia laughed. “Not really.”
Meadow stared at her phone again. The worry twisted her stomach into knots.
Why wasn’t he answering?
He always answered her.
Even if he was in the shower…even if he was on the green…even if he was supposed to be asleep.
Tia nudged her. “Breathe, babe.”
“I am breathing.” Meadow’s brows set in a straight line.
“No, you’re not.”
“Okay but I’m trying.”
Blain walked by. “Want a shot?”
“No…yes…” she groaned. “Lord, I’m embarrassing myself.”
Tia grinned. “It’s adorable.”
Brent muttered, “It’s chaotic.”
Meadow threw a pillow at his head. “Shut up!”
Tia placed a hand on Meadow’s knee, grounding her. “He’ll call.”
“How you know?”
“Because he’s Zaire…and I believe he loves you.”
Meadow pressed her lips tight, eyes stinging.
Tia tried to pull the group into other conversations, even tried to lighten the mood by playing music knowing her girl loved to get up and dance.
But not tonight, Meadow had allowed a man to consume so much of her that she didn’t even want to do the things that made her happy.
That reality gutted her to the point of her needing to go lay down.
Meadow didn’t even realize how tired she was, until her head hit the pillow in the guest room.
It was dark when Zaire stepped out of the SUV.
He approached the house quietly, hoodie up, duffel slung over his shoulder.
Tia cracked the door open before he could even knock. She whispered, “She’s in the guest room.”
Zaire’s jaw flexed. “She cried?”
“Not big tears, more like…frustrated tears.”
Zaire felt bad but he was so desperate to see her face.
After the game, everything moved faster than he could breathe. Cameras were in his face. Commentators shoved mics under his chin. Reporters tried to twist his words into drama. He answered what he had to answer, ignored what he didn’t owe, and dipped the minute the league released him.
He didn’t even change out of his tournament gear…didn’t shower at the facility…didn’t even grab a plate from the post-game spread.
His mind was locked on Meadow and getting to Emerald City.
Before Meadow got on the plane, Zaire had her give him Blain’s number. Meadow didn’t understand why Tia’s number wasn’t good enough until Zaire explained that as a man, he would prefer to speak to the man of the house.
So, he’d made plans on coming the night before and Blain said everything was cool. Zaire had even booked a luxury hotel suite for them to spend the last night in Emerald City, but after bad weather and flight delays, it was too late to drag her out the house.
“Let me show you where her room is,” Tia smiled, loving the way he showed up for her girl. It reminded her of her own love story. Blain was a show up and show out kind of man.
Zaire nodded before following her up the stairs and down the hall. She stepped to the side to let him in the room.
Tia grinned behind him like a gremlin. “She is about to act a fool.”
“Tell Blain, I appreciate him,” Zaire said with his hand on the doorknob.
“Don’t hurt her too bad.” Tia wagged her tongue making Zaire chuckle lowly.
The door eased open.
He stepped inside the room, his duffel bag hitting the carpet with a soft thud.
The moment he saw her curled up in bed - mouth slightly open, one sock on, one sock missing…warmth eased its way into his chest.
He walked over, slowly. Kneeling down, he brushed his lips against her cheek first, then her chin, and then the corner of her mouth.
Meadow stirred.
“Brent, if you don’t get out my fuckin’ room-”
Zaire froze mid-kiss. “Aye cuh.”
Her eyes snapped open.
Everything in her snapped awake. “Zaire?”
He grinned, pulling his hood back. “Who the hell you think you was kissing?”
Meadow launched herself at him so fast he caught her on instinct, arms locking around her thighs as she wrapped herself around him like she practiced it.
“Oh my God! What are you doing here?!” she gasped, hands cupping his face.
“Surprising you, baby.”
“I called you all day!”
“I know.”
“Why didn’t you answer?!”
He kissed her nose. “’Cause I wanted to see this reaction.”
Meadow hit his chest three times. “I was worried!”
“I’m sorry, baby.” His voice dropped. “I’m here now, though.”
All the anger and second guessing she felt earlier melted away just from his presence alone. She wanted to hate herself for feeling so damn gullible because for all she knew, Zaire could’ve just left from being with the next bitch… he had the money to do it.
Still, his presence was one she wanted to bask in.
So, she pressed her forehead to his, breathing shakily. “I watched you today…”
Zaire stilled. “Yeah?”
“I watched you from the second they showed your name to the moment you won.” Her voice was soft but still raspy from sleep. “You looked…calm, focused. like you belonged out there with all those people doubting you.”
He swallowed, staring into her eyes, outlining her lips with his eyes.
“You were beautiful,” she whispered, “and strong, and I swear I felt every swing in my chest. I was yelling at the TV like you could hear me.”
He closed his eyes as her words sank deep within his chest. If she kept talking to him like this, he had no choice but to fall in love.
“I’m proud of you,” she said, “not because you won, but because you didn’t fold. You didn’t let them pull you off your game. You showed up exactly how you said you would.”
He opened his eyes slowly, looking at her like she’d handed him something sacred.
Meadow cupped his cheeks. “I’m so fuckin’ proud of you, Zaire Cooks.”
A raw, gut twisting feeling flickered across his face.
He pulled her closer, voice rough. “What you trying to do with those words?”
She smiled into his mouth, rocking her hot center against him. “Get fucked.”
His mouth swallowed hers and his hands roamed up her nightgown, exhaling when he realized she had panties on. If she didn’t, she would have to explain where they were when she was sleeping in another man’s house. He finally sat down on the bed with Meadow straddling his lap.
“This what winnin’ do to you?”
Meadow shook her head. “This what you do to me.”
Meadow reached up and cupped his face, her thumbs smoothing over his jaw. She watched every part of him…his eyes, his breath, the way he swallowed hard, the way his shoulders finally dropped like he’d found the only place he cared to land.
He dragged his fingers down her cheek and spoke without thinking. “You want kids?”
Meadow blinked, stunned. “What-”
“Answer me.”
She searched his face, her breath stalling in her throat. “Umm…yeah… one day.”
His hand slid to the side of her neck, squeezing it lightly. The feel of his rough hands unraveled Meadow.
“You want my babies?” His voice was calm, his gaze steady. “Little Black babies with curls and a smart mouth like you…little golfer babies who know they somebody because we gon’ teach them.”
He pressed his forehead to hers, his breath flowing over her lips.
Meadow’s nails curled gently grazing the sides of his face, pulling him closer. “Zaire…”
He brushed his nose against hers. “Tell me.”
She tried to breathe through the knot forming in her chest. “I…don’t know if we’re even…”
His hand slid behind her thigh, pulling her a little closer. “Marai…” He moaned it like only he was allowed to. “Stop playin’ with me. Tell me.”
Her lips parted…her eyes softened…all her walls loosened under the weight of him. “You asking me that right now?” she breathed, fingertips smoothing over his hairline.
“I’m asking you exactly when I want to know,” he answered, voice low and sure. “I just flew across a few states ‘cause I needed to see your face. You think I’m not serious?”
Her chest rose, her breasts pushing into him.
He kissed her jaw, then the corner of her mouth and then her cheek.
Her breath shook when he got to her ear. “Tell me if you want a future with me.”
His hand tightened gently on her hip. “Tell me if you want a family with me.”
He paused, eyes locked with hers. “Tell me if you want my babies.”
Meadow stared at him, unblinking.
The tournament glow still sat on his skin, his eyes darker than usual, his voice warm like something that belonged to her even if neither of them had said it out loud.
She dragged both hands down his face, thumb brushing his bottom lip. “I didn’t expect you to ask me that,” she breathed. “But…yes, I want that…with you.”
Zaire didn’t move at first.
He let her words hit him, let them sit there.
Then his eyes closed, and a warm, rough sound slipped from him as relief filled him.
Zaire kissed her again.
Meadow’s hands roamed his back, gripping the hem of his hoodie as if she could pull him even closer.
When he finally pulled back, his mouth hovered over hers. “That’s all I wanted to hear,” he breathed, the words sliding from his chest like they’d been waiting. “I’m not askin’ out of nowhere. I know what I want, and I know who I want it with.”
Meadow swallowed hard, her voice trembling in her throat. “You sure?”
“I ain’t never been more sure about anything in my life,” he assured her.
She brushed her lips against his again, softly but fully covering his, and he pressed his forehead to hers one more time. “We gon’ get there,” he added, thumb tracing her jaw. “Not today…not tomorrow…but one day? You gon’ be the mother of my kids.”
Meadow choked on her own breath, her eyes glassing over.
She lifted her bottom up, just enough to pull his dick out of his pants.
“That’s what you on?”
“Let me handle that,” she snickered, but there was no humor in her voice.
Pushing her panties to the side, she sank down on him slowly, inch by inch until he was snugly inside of her. “Ooouuu,” Meadow whined, lifting her nightgown over her head.
Zaire’s hands immediately went to her breasts, squeezing and tugging at her hard nipples.
Music from the house surround sound filled the room and had Zaire’s girthy dick not been planted inside of her, she would’ve laughed at Tia, knowing this was all her doing.
Zaire was amused and happy that he could fuck Meadow like he wanted too without her screams filling the hallway. “Ride this dick…it’s yours right?”
“Mmhmm.” Her head fell back from the pressure. “Yes!”
“Then show me somethin’…don’t get up there acting cute. Put that pussy on me, baby.”
Meadow loved a challenge. Placing her hands flat on his chest, she lifted her knees in the perfect position to bounce on him even though he was too deep inside of her already.
Zaire slapped her ass a few times, egging her on. His eyes rolled into the back of his head and his lip tucked into his mouth. She was riding him so good, his toes curled in his shoes.
Meadow leaned forward, her tongue snaking around his ear before she said, “Talk to me…tell me how good I feel.”
“Criminal,” he grunted, thrusting his hips up.
“And what else?”
“Like heaven.”
She sucked on his neck hard enough to leave a mark. “Keep telling me…cause you feel…” she moaned. “You feel how deep you hitting it?” Her lips pressed into his ear. “That’s exactly where I want you.”
“Fuck, baby,” Zaire was losing his mind. He locked his arms around her waist and fucked her faster…harder, chasing his nut.
Her hips rolled slow, finding his rhythm before he even set it. Every time he exhaled, her body answered with a deeper grind.
Zaire’s fingers locked around the back of her thigh, pulling her open until her gasps stuttered and her legs shook against his sides.
“Uh, uh, uhhhh!” She crooned against the slow jams Tia was blasting. “Baby…”
“Yeah, let me feel you…open that pussy up for me.”
“It is!” she yelped when his finger slipped in her ass. “Zaire! Oh my God!”
“You want everybody to know how good I fuck you? Huh? You want them to know what this dick does to you?” he bit the side of her face, his own release on the edge.
“No!”
“Then shut the fuck up and take this dick. You the one who hopped your ass up there like you’re grown.”
Her hands shook on his chest, not because she was scared, but because her body was working overtime trying to keep up with his pace. “Yes, baby…I’m gonna be quiet for you.”
Hungrily, Zaire kissed her, never missing a beat with his assault on her pussy. “I love you, Meadow.”
She choked, her eyes popping open.
“Yeah, cuh,” he smirked, those perfect white teeth brightening the room. “I love you.”
Meadow came so hard, tears fell from her eyes and her pussy rained all over his dick.
The feel of her releasing had him doing the same. Zaire exploded inside of her, leaving the both of them slick.
Lifting up just a little, he kissed her again, whispering the words into her mouth. “I love you, Meadow.”
Her tears exploded as she tucked her face into the crook of his neck.
His hands smoothed her back. They stayed like that all night, falling asleep in the most uncomfortable position though neither of them cared.