12. Can You Keep Up?
Can You Keep Up?
KYIRIS
Iparked in a parking garage Tobias suggested that was within walking distance of the spa and made my way up the block.
I usually didn’t give room to make up after an error with me, especially not with men I wasn’t actively dating.
However, I liked that Tobias was on it as soon as the opportunity presented itself for him to try again.
I mean, although we hadn’t made it to our first date, I had him to thank for meeting Mehki and having a few interesting encounters thereafter.
Thinking about Mehki caused a slow grin to spread across my face.
Lowkey, I was fighting the urge to text him just to say something smart for the hell of it.
But I knew that would lead to conversation, and he’d already proven that if he said the right things, I could be easily swayed out of plans to be around him.
And I wanted to give Tobias a fair shot, so I kept it pushing.
The closer I got, the more impressed I became.
Nestled between two luxury apartment buildings was one of those spas that you’d consider a hidden gem due to the location.
I walked up to the red door with the words Luxury Day Spa written in gold acrylic letters and pulled it open.
“I got you, Ma,” a voice said from behind me as a hand reached above mine.
I glanced back to find Tobias standing there with a smile that got him out of more trouble than he probably would admit.
“Look at you being the gentleman,” I said, walking inside.
“Always. Plus, I know I gotta be at my best to make up for last week.”
“Not at your best, just better than last time.” I smirked.
“I’m on it,” he replied.
I found myself judging the comeback, reassuring but weak at the same time. Mehki would’ve… I cut off my internal thought before I could complete it. I had no business thinking about Mehki.
“I booked us an hour couples massage. That cool witchu?”
“Yeah. That’s fine.”
“Aight, bet.”
The receptionist greeted us with a nod and a warm smile before checking us in.
Soft music played throughout the place as she led us to the back, through a dimly lit hallway.
This was the one thing most spas had in common, lights low and everyone speaking in hushed tones, like volume was against some unspoken rule.
“You can undress in the private bathrooms here.” The woman pointed out to us. “There’s a brand-new robe and slippers for you. This is your room.” She opened a door to a nice sized room that smelled like eucalyptus with two beds inside. “Your masseuses will be in shortly.”
“Thank you,” Tobias spoke on our behalf.
The woman nodded in response, and we stood in the hallway a few seconds, him staring at me like he didn’t know what to do next.
“This is the part where we go change, Tobias.”
“You right.” He chuckled nervously. “I’ll meet you in there.”
“Okay.” I turned into the bathroom labeled women and locked the door behind me.
As I went to undress, my phone rang. With my jumpsuit sitting on my waist and titties exposed, I reached in my bag to pick it up. It was Amil calling.
“Hello?”
“Bitch, why would you leave us at the table with the couples?” she complained.
“Yeah, got us looking like the odd balls out,” Ebone said in the background.
I chuckled. “I told y’all something came up.”
“Still trifling. I just called to tell you that.”
“I’ll make it up to y’all. Right now, I gotta go,” I said, rushing them off the phone.
“Whateva, ho, bye!”
Shaking my head, I continued to undress. Slipping into the terry cloth robe that sat neatly folded on a chair, I slid my feet into the slippers and gathered my things to step out. Walking across to the room we were set up in, Tobias was already inside, speaking at a low volume on his phone.
“Yeah, it’s a good deal. I told Murda that yesterday. He got some big shoes to fill.”
I quietly stepped around him, setting my clothes and purse down, before making my way over to the other massage table.
“Aye, let me holla at you in a few. I got someone in front of me that requires my full attention,” he said smoothly.
Only it sounded like he was trying to be smooth to me versus just being that. Still, I smiled, not letting my face show my internal thoughts.
“Don’t let me keep you from your business,” I said, making sure my robe was tied tight before climbing up on the table.
“Nah, I let business keep me from you the last time, and you curved me. Can’t let that happen again.”
Smirking, I shrugged. “That shit stung, didn’t it?”
“Hell yeah. Especially when I’m used to being the one doing the curving,” he said cockily.
“Oh, yeah?” I questioned.
“Not like that.” He backed down a little, letting the air out of my excitement.
I loved me a cocky nigga. I’d given him an opening to pop his shit, and he missed the mark.
“Again, let me apologize for that too.”
“All good. You’re making up for it now. Plus, one too many apologies gon’ start making me think that you’re not genuine.”
He smiled genuinely. “Fair.”
“This is nice, by the way,” I commented.
“Yeah,” he replied, looking around. “I looked up the best spas in the area, and this one had the best ratings and reviews.”
“What made you pick a spa?”
“Just wanted a relaxing vibe forreal. Figured after you’ve fed your body, I can help relax it.”
I nodded slowly. “This was strategic. I like that. I like thoughtful men,” I admitted.
His brows lifted, his chest poking out a little. “So, I’m earning a few points?”
“A couple.”
“Gotta start somewhere.”
Just then, there was a knock at the door. Tobias gave the okay to come in, and two women walked in wearing scrubs with glasses of cucumber water.
“Here you are,” one said, handing a glass to me then the other to Tobias. “You ready to start?”
I nodded, taking the water and placing it on the small table next to me.
The lights were too dim to see anything other than the cucumber floating at the top, so I opted out of taking a sip.
Changing positions, I laid flat on the bed, placing my head in the headrest, and let the masseuse do her thing.
For the first few minutes, I focused solely on relaxing.
I didn’t try to spark any conversation, leaving space for Tobias to do the same.
The steady pressure of the woman’s hands as she kneaded them into my back worked out knots I didn’t even realize I’d been carrying.
Between that and the eucalyptus filling the room, I felt every ounce of tension dissipate from my body.
The next thing I knew, I was knocked out, only waking up once the alarm signaling our time was up went off.
My masseuse gave my back a light pat after pulling the sheet up over my body to cover me. “All done,” she said politely.
I was the first to sit up, then Tobias did the same, stretching like he’d been sleep as well.
“I ain’t gon’ lie,” he admitted, “a nigga was knocked out.”
“So was I.”
We both laughed, standing and slipping our feet into the slippers.
“I might have to start coming once a month forreal. I be on the move so much, I never notice how tense I am,” he said, rotating his shoulders.
“Sometimes, you gotta treat yourself. Relaxation is the best treatment.” The word treat made me think about Mehki. My nipples hardened involuntarily as my thoughts drifted off to the backseat of his car.
“You good?” Tobias asked.
“Yep,” I replied with a smile.
“You drifted off for a second there.”
“That relaxation will do that to you.” I laughed, playing off the fact that my mind was in a whole other place.
“I figured.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I know you already ate and all, but you have any plans after this?”
“I don’t. Do you?” I threw the ball back in his court.
“You wanna slide by the studio wit’ me?”
“The studio?” I repeated.
“Yeah. I have a new artist recording today. I wanna see how the session is going and figured I’d bring you along to get a peek into my world.”
I grinned. “You gon’ let me get in the booth?”
“Shit, if that’s what it takes to get you to come wit’ me, I’ll let you lay a whole track down.”
I laughed genuinely. “Okay. I’d like that. I like seeing people in their element. It’ll tell me a little more about you.”
He cracked a smile. “Let’s get dressed, and I’ll take you to your car. Then, you can follow me there.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
After getting dressed, we walked out front where he left a $100 tip for the masseuses and made an appointment for himself for a later date.
On the way to the parking garage, we started up a conversation about his journey in music that began as a child and how his family didn’t see him being where he was today.
He expressed that while he didn’t have as much support at home in the beginning, it didn’t stop him from putting himself in different rooms and seizing opportunities whenever they came.
And I listened, nodding at things I agreed with and giving him props when he mentioned an accomplishment.
Still, my mind somehow wandered off to Mehki and how we’d gotten to know each other over breakfast. How our banter was never ending and how his admission of his polyamorous lifestyle didn’t steer me away. If anything, I kind of took it as a challenge.
“You drifted off on me again,” Tobias said as we reached the parking garage.
“I did,” I admitted with a light giggle. “Bad habit of mine. I was listening though, I promise.”
“Mhm. You got your ticket?”
Reaching down in my purse, I pulled it out. “Yep.”
“Aight, cool.”
We handed the attendant our tickets, and he requested that they park my car near the booth so that we could pull out at the same time.
Once we got our cars, we took the short drive to the studio, which wasn’t too far from the spa.
He paid for my valet parking, and we headed inside.
In the lobby, Tobias used his fingerprint to get access, and the security in front greeted him with a familiar nod.
We stepped onto an elevator and rode it up to the 4th floor.
I hummed the acoustic version of Yung Miami’s Spend Dat that played inside, fighting the urge not to sing the lyrics myself.
“You wanna sing that shit so bad, don’t you?” he pointed out, and I laughed.
“Dance moves and all, but you haven’t earned that side of me yet.”
He nodded, holding the elevator door once it opened on our floor.
Stepping off, I followed him around the corner, and there was the studio, covering half the floor.
The music couldn’t be heard from the hallway, but from the bobbing heads I could see inside, I concluded that whoever was in the booth was doing their thing.
“Come on,” he said, taking my hand in his without my permission.
It wasn’t in a possessive way. He did it like the action came natural to him. Only it wasn’t. There was no spark, not like when Mehki stood behind me at the club, wrapping his arms around me like second nature. I made note of it and proceeded to walk behind Tobias.
“Wassup, y’all?” he spoke to the room as the person manning the soundboard turned the music down.
There was a total of six people in the room, including us, and then there was the girl in the booth. Everyone spoke back to Tobias, two of the men dapping him up and the females giving light hugs.
“This is Kyiris. Kyiris, this is the team.” He introduced me, still holding my hand.
I pulled it back, using it to wave at the people. “Hey, team.”
Leaning over, he whispered in my ear that I could take a seat wherever, while he went in the booth to talk to the artist. I nodded and found an empty chair in the room.
The women gave fake smiles, while the men admired me openly.
I returned a polite smile of my own, but while theirs said they were silently trying to figure out where I fit in, mine said unfuckwitable.
I watched Tobias in the booth, coaching his artist, before stepping out and talking to the guy at the mixing board.
By the way he moved, it looked like he not only knew what he was doing but took pride in it.
I listened to the artist record an R&B record from start to finish, with Tobias giving his input every now and then but also leaving her to do her own thing.
He took feedback from his team, showing his leadership skills.
He also knew talent because the girl could sing.
I admired that. Purpose looked good on a man.
And by the way he engrossed himself in the moment, I knew this was his arena, similar to Mehki when I was with him at the demo site.
After about an hour, everyone dispersed, and he stepped out to take a call.
As I sat there looking around the room, my phone vibrated. It was Mehki calling on FaceTime.
Connecting my AirPods, I answered. “Hey. You gotta make it quick. I’m in the studio,” I said with a straight face, doing my best to hold in my laugh.
“You a rapper now?” he questioned, smirking.
“I do a little bit of everything,” I countered.
He chuckled. “Yeah, everything except answer a nigga’s texts. I almost said fuck it and not even called.”
I smiled into the phone and unconsciously bit my lip. “So, why did you?”
“’Cause I wanted to hear your voice, fine ass girl. Where you at forreal?”
“The studio.” I flipped my camera, so he could see the room.
“Wit’ who?”
“Oop, you being in my business is wild.” My comeback was slick, but I was cheesing on the inside. ‘Cause yes, be in my business like you like me.
“Send me your location.”
“You send me your location.”
“If I send it, you gotta come to me.”
“What if I don’t wanna come to you?” I challenged.
“You do. The smile on your face told on you.”
“Ain’t nobody smiling,” I argued, tucking my bottom lip in my mouth before my emotions could betray me again.
“You are and don’t even realize it. I just shared the location. I’ll see you soon.”
He ended the call, and Tobias walked back in a second later.
“So, what you think?”
“I think you’re really good at what you do. Your artist is good too.”
“I appreciate that. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
I let out a fake yawn and stretched my neck.
“You tired?” he asked.
“A little,” I lied. “Been up since early this morning. I think I’m gonna head out.”
He nodded. “I feel you. You think we can do this again another time? Well, it don’t necessarily have to be the studio or a spa. Whatever you wanna get into is cool with me.”
I smiled, standing from my seat. “Hit me and I’ll make some room for you if time permits itself. Today was cool though.”
“It was,” he agreed. “You need me to walk you out?”
“All good. I remember how to get to the elevator. Enjoy the rest of your day.”
“You too, beautiful.”
Leaving the studio, I made my way to the elevators, pulling out my phone once I got on. Checking the thread with Mehki, I saw that he’d sent his location like he said he would. Grinning, I sent him a message.
Me: On my way. And not because I wanna see you.
B.D.E: I know… You on your way ‘cause I said so. Drive safe.
My pussy instantly juiced up, and I’d decided right then and there that Mehki would be the birthday tonight.