SECRETS SPILLED
Twyla glanced around at her friends before flopping back on the sofa. She sucked in a breath before releasing it audibly, sighing loudly and dramatically so that she could be heard over their conversation.
"I love him."
There was a beat of silence, and she tried to peek at the other occupants of the room without moving her head, but she couldn't see anyone without sitting up.
Vanessa snorted.
Seraph snickered.
Sierra screamed.
"Bitch, be serious!"
"Welp," Twyla muttered, "that's one less bridesmaid." Nodding to herself, she lifted her phone to her face and pantomimed crossing Sierra's name off a list as she dragged her finger across the screen.
"Bridesmaid?" Sierra screeched. "I said be serious, bitch!" The humor in Sierra's voice took the sting out of her words but Twyla paid her no mind regardless.
Shrugging, Twyla set her phone on Vanessa's coffee table next to her half-empty glass of the cherry soda and whiskey cocktail she'd been sipping on and looked over at her friends with an unperturbed expression.
The four of them were spread out around the spacious living room of Vanessa's downtown loft apartment, clad in pajamas, gorging on Golden bowls and mini veggie pies from a popular West African fusion restaurant in Montrose, and gossiping.
"Should I wear a white dress or go with something less traditional?"
Seraph gaped at her before turning to Vanessa.
"Why is she like this?"
Shaking her head, Vanessa sighed. "You know she's a damn Pisces."
Snapping her fingers, Sierra sucked her teeth. "That's right! Queen of Delusion over here is planning a wedding after one date!"
Ignoring them all, Twyla picked up her phone again, fingers tapping against the glass.
Leaning over the edge of the sofa, Seraph peeked at the phone over Twyla's shoulder.
"Girl, what are you doing now?"
"Downloading a language app so I can learn Spanish."
A sharp scream came from where Sierra was perched on the beanbag.
"You'd better be lying!"
"Absolutely not," Twyla uttered thoughtfully. "I need to get fluent asap so when he takes me to meet his mother I can communicate in her native tongue. She'll love that."
"I cannot with you!"
“You outta be too sore to think this hard,” Vanessa snickered. “I must’ve missed it when you got here but I peeped you limping from the bathroom.”
Seraph starting cracking up. “She was definitely limping! I immediately knew what that meant.”
Sierra slid her a knowing grin Seraph’s way. “Yeah, I bet you do know what that means. Having flashbacks?”
Laughing, Seraph rolled her eyes. “Bitch, are you having flashbacks?”
Sierra shrugged. “Shit, I might be.”
The laughter that filled the room warmed Twyla’s heart.
She loved that her friends held space for her, even when she was being a little extra.
And she could admit that after going more than two years without even entertaining a date, her exuberance over Arturo could appear…
concerning. However, they just didn’t understand that this wasn’t her being dickmatized—this felt divine.
She felt as if her soul recognized Arturo from the first time they’d met eyes, and now that they’d slept together there was an undeniable bond there.
“So, what did your mom say when you got home this morning?”
Looking up from her food, Twyla met Seraph’s gaze.
“Thankfully, she wasn’t there. She got off work at seven but I was already home and in my bed by the time she walked in the door at eight.”
“Oh, that’s perfect!”
Sierra and Vanessa echoed the sentiment.
“How is that gonna work? If you and Mr. You Feel Like Mine get together, how will you keep her away from him?”
Twyla frowned. Seraph’s follow-up question wasn’t a bad question, but it did take her mind somewhere she didn’t want to go.
“Uh…” She trailed off, not even sure how to answer that. In truth, despite all of her future planning, that was a scenario she hadn’t considered. In her fantasy world, the two don’t even exist in the same timeline.
Vanessa stood up. “Uhn uh! Now, I know you just heard Sierra telling the girl to be serious! Why you wanna ask her some shit that’s sending her right back to delulu land?”
Laughing, Seraph nodded her head in concession. “You know what? You right.”
The conversation shifted to Sierra and her boyfriend Devin and Twyla took the opportunity to shove any thoughts of her mother and Arturo being in the same room out of her mind.
Two days later there was a soft knock on the open door of her classroom about half an hour before her lunch period.
When she looked up and noticed Arturo standing there, a wide smile came across her face and there was nothing she could do to contain it.
Not that she wanted to. Just seeing him in the doorway made an effervescent sort of giddiness bubble up inside of her.
Pushing back from her desk, she stood and walked toward him, scanning the room as she went.
While most of her students were focused on their work and not her visitor, several pairs of eyes were locked on her visitor.
She stepped over the threshold out into the hall and for a moment they simply stood there gazing at each other.
Arturo's bottom lip was pulled between his teeth, and Twyla couldn't help the extra sharp cheddar cheese of a grin on her face.
It wasn't until one of Twyla's students coughed that she snapped out of her reverie.
"Um…"
Arturo chuckled and shook his head. "Forgive me. I'm sorry to interrupt."
"It's okay. What did you need?"
"You."
And just that fast, a steady thumping took up residence between her thighs. Her northern lips parted and she felt her face heat. It didn’t matter that she was still sore from their weekend rendezvous, she was ready to go again.
"When?"
His lips curved upward, painting his face into the picture of self-satisfaction. "Today. For lunch."
Tongue pushed between her teeth, Twyla immediately imagined herself as the exact meal he needed. Apparently, her thoughts were written all over her face because Arturo's eyes gleamed as he took a step toward.
"I love where your mind went, but put that tongue back in your mouth."
Not a single shred of shame on her, she did as she was told and grinned at him.
Amused, he shook his head. "You're dangerous, you know that?"
"Nah," she drawled coquettishly. "I don't know anything about that. Now if you're not trying to eat me for lunch then what about it?"
He shook his head again, his smile proof that he wasn't put off in the least.
"I want to have lunch with you, at the sandwich place across the street."
"Oh." She was a little disappointed but smiled at him anyway. "Yeah, I'd like that."
Laughing, he nudged her chin with the side of his knuckle. "You're a greedy girl, aren't you?"
Eyes on his, she licked her lips. "Insatiable, actually."
He quirked a brow. "I would like to take you on another date firs—"
She interrupted him, her voice lowered. "You can fuck me tonight and take me on a date tomorrow.” Before he could part his lips to speak, she continued on.
“Every Sunday, the Browntown Weekly publishes a list of things to do in the city for the week.
Find us something—it can be whatever you want and I'll do it. But fuck me first. Okay?"
His grin was wide and pleased. "Yes, ma'am. As you wish."
Forty-five minutes later they sat thigh-to-thigh at a tiny square table with sandwiches, chips, and two glass bottles of Mexican Coke in front of them.
"What are your plans for spring break?" Arturo asked. His elbow was propped on the back of her chair, his fingers lightly caressing her neck.
She shuddered, blew out a breath, and looked at him. His face was impassive, as if he had no idea what he was doing to her. As if it wasn't his intent to stoke the still-present fire burning inside of her for him.
"Going on a cabin trip with my family."
Using his thumb and middle finger, he began massaging her neck. "That sounds lovely."
Trying not to moan, Twyla nodded. "Mmhm. We take a family vacation every year and I always look forward to it."
"Do you have a big family?"
"No. Maybe."
"Which is it?"
"I—I can't think straight when you're rubbing on me like that."
He removed his hand from the back of her neck while simultaneously grabbing her chin with the other and pulling her face to meet his.
Sealing his lips over hers, he immediately licked into her mouth and the moment their tongues touched Twyla melted into a puddle of useless flesh.
His firm hold coupled with his sure kisses sent Twyla into a tailspin.
He ended the kiss with an audible smack and wink.
"Eat your food, Twyla. You'll need your energy."
The "for tonight" was silent but she heard it loud and clear.
They returned to their meals, eating in companionable silence.
When they finished, Arturo headed to dump their trash while Twyla headed to the front, intending to wait out on the sidewalk for him.
As she stepped over the threshold, she paused right outside the door when she heard her name being called from behind.
Looking over her shoulder toward the voice she’d know anywhere, her eyebrows shot up when she saw her mother walking toward her with a bag of food in her hand.
Holding the door open, she waited for the other woman to reach her before stepping out of the door way and allowing the glass to swing shut.
After quickly flicking her gaze back into the restaurant where she saw Arturo making his way to her, she wrapped her mother in brief a hug.
"Hey, you. What are you doing here?"
Linda smiled and held up the bag in her hand. "I'd planned to surprise you with lunch, but it seems like I'm too late."