Chapter 9
When I opened the bathroom door and stuck my head inside, Jiselle was beneath the water spray. I took a shaky breath. I wasn’t sure the last time I’d been this nervous in my entire life but I walked over anyway. I knocked lightly on the door and she slid it open.
“Hey,” I said softly.
“Hi.” She grinned. “Come on.”
I swallowed and stepped into the shower.
Even though I’d already seen her naked, my eyes slowly trailed her. I wanted to commit every inch to memory.
“You’re fucking ethereal.”
“Oh yeah?” She crossed her arms over her chest.
“Yeah.”
“Definition?” She blinked up at me, and for some reason, the way she’d asked made a smile cross my face.
“Too perfect for this world.” I settled my hands on her waist and let my thumbs circle her wet skin.
“I’m not perfect by a long shot, Kiano.”
“You don’t see yourself how I see you, how Stone sees you.”
“Apparently not.” She exhaled. “He really likes me,” she added.
“I can tell.” I exhaled. “Do you like him?”
“I think so,” she admitted.
“So, what? This was a one-time thing to get me out of your system?”
“Don’t flatter yourself, Kiano. You were never in my system,” she deadpanned.
“Ouch.” I grabbed my chest in feigned hurt.
She smirked. “I’m glad that you’re here though.” She moved closer to me and pressed our wet bodies together. “Can I ask you something?”
“Yeah. Let me hear it.”
“Stone wants to be with me. He’s said that and I believe it. What do you want from me?”
“The same thing he wants.”
“To date me?”
“To take care of you,” I corrected. “I’d take such good care of you, Jiselle.”
“I do cam work,” she blurted.
“Meaning?”
“I’m not exactly the kind of woman men want on their arm to ‘take care of’.” She made air quotations.
“What does that have to do with me?”
“So, you don’t care?”
“Not even a little bit.”
“Okay. Well, I’m not going to get rid of Stone for you,” she said plainly.
My eyes searched her face.
“Would you get rid of me for him?”
“I haven’t decided yet,” she admitted.
I had to respect that at least she was honest.
Respecting her honesty didn’t mean I was okay with her answer.
If she said she wanted to date us both until she decided who she liked more, that was cool.
I could date her better, treat her better, and eat her better.
There wouldn’t be a competition. Shit. Unless she told me she was cutting me off completely, I could navigate anything else.
I only needed one foot in the door and she was giving me that, whether she realized it or not.
The hardest part was already out of the way for me.
“I’m not asking you to choose just yet, Jiselle,” I said.
“Yeah. I know. You couldn’t make me even if you wanted. I mean, you can choose to walk away and leave whenever you want, but that’s on you. You control what you do, not what I do.”
I nodded.
I liked this version of Jiselle more than the version I’d met when we were younger. She’d changed a lot and it was for the better. She had confidence and seemed sure of herself in a way a lot of women I met didn’t.
“I ain’t running from a lil friendly competition.”
“So you’re going to let me have my cake and eat it too is what you’re saying?” She lifted an eyebrow.
I nodded and leaned down to kiss her.
“Yeah. I could be down with that,” I said against her mouth and kissed her again.
She didn’t respond, just turned around and let the hot water run down her body before maneuvering out of the way to get caught in the spray. Jiselle washed my back and I ran my hand up and down her body before we climbed out.
We toweled off side by side and Jiselle provided me with a toothbrush so we could go through her bedtime routine together.
“I’m pretty sure I may have basketball shorts you can borrow,” she offered.
“So Stone keeps clothes at your house?” I asked.
“Nah. He keeps clothes in his truck.” She lifted an eyebrow. “Why? Y’all want to share a drawer while you share me?”
“Maybe,” I deadpanned.
She giggled. “Honestly, I think y’all may like each other if you hung out without his dick in your mouth.” She smacked my ass. “Come on.”
The way she’d breezed past that wasn’t lost on me but I was cool with it.
I liked that she didn’t seem to care about me liking men. Shit. It looked like she enjoyed it, the way she’d moved my head around and moaned above me.
I’d slept with men before. This wasn’t anything new, but I couldn’t lie, it was different being with Jiselle and Stone at the same time. It was better than anything I’d ever experienced.
When we walked out, Stone sat at the foot of her bed, texting.
“What do you want to eat?” Selle asked. “Fried rice and premade wontons?” she guessed without giving either of us a chance to answer. “I’m on it.”
I chuckled and shook my head while she sauntered out of the room.
“Don’t fight or fuck in my room!” she yelled after a few seconds.
This time Stone was the one to chuckle.
My eyes washed over him.
“And roll me a joint!” she screamed.
Stone tossed his phone onto the bed and stood. He walked over, grabbed her weed and everything he needed to break it down and roll it, and sat back on her bed. I watched while he worked.
We just existed in silence, and when he finished, he admired his work then exhaled and looked at me.
“You gon’ have to kill me if you want Selle to yourself,” he said simply.
“Likewise.”
He lifted an eyebrow.
“I’m good with what happened tonight but—”
I cut him off. “Everything that happened tonight?” I asked.
“Ask what you’re trying to ask, Kiano.”
“You bisexual or what?”
“Nigga, are you?” he countered.
“Yeah,” I said simply. “I am.” I walked over, jerked the blunt out of his hand, and plucked up Jiselle’s lighter to light it and take a drag. I blew the smoke into his face. He looked up at me. I grinned. “You let me be your first? That’s sweet.”
“Fuck out of here.” He pushed me in the chest and I stumbled back half a step before I laughed loudly.
That was interesting to me, that Stone had never been with a man before. It hadn’t seemed like he hated it and I could admit I thought he was a good looking man. If Jiselle welcomed him back into our bed, I’d be cool with that.
The time I’d just spent with the two of them had been the most fun I’d had since college.
As long as Stone stayed out of my way when it came to Jiselle, I’d let him stay around. Shit. I was living my bisexual dream with a man who looked like Stone and a woman as perfect as Jiselle.
I took another hit of the blunt then offered it to Stone. He hit it while we held each other’s gaze. Then he pushed up and we wordlessly headed to the kitchen where Selle stood at the stove, music playing from the speaker on her cabinet.
“Did you guys figure it out?” she asked.
“Figure what out?” I countered.
“Whatever you two needed to discuss in regards to…” She gestured around vaguely. “All of this.”
We looked at each other.
“Yeah. We figured it out.”
“Good.”
Stone held her blunt toward her and she took it directly into her mouth.
“Do you need help with anything?” I asked.
“Nope. I’d actually appreciate it if y’all sat down out of my way.”
“Done.” Stone lifted his hands in surrender.
We sat at her island, both on the same side so we could watch her as she cooked, and I could get used to this. Easily.
When she finished, Stone hopped up. Instead of moving to the opposite side of the island to sit beside her, he grabbed one of the chairs from that side and moved it between us.
Jiselle had made chicken fried rice and plated it with several wontons she’d pan fried and set bottles of water in front of us before she took her seat.
No matter what she said or what wall she tried to put up, she was nurturing.
She had that shit inside her. She just needed the right man to cultivate a space where she felt comfortable sharing that all the time.
I nodded after my first bite and Jiselle slightly turned in my direction.
“So Kiano, what do you do?”
“What?”
“Well, you know what Stone and I do. What do you do?”
“I work at an IT company.”
“Elaborate.”
“What do you want to know, Jiselle?”
“That can mean anything. Do you fix computers or set up televisions or what?”
“Nah. I work in computer and technology security, basically making sure high stakes companies like banks and shit don’t get hacked.”
She nodded.
“So you followed in your parents’ footsteps?”
“That’s right.”
“Do you like it?”
“Yeah. I like it.” I took another bite of food.
“So, you’re a trust fund baby?” Stone asked.
“Yeah.”
He nodded but didn’t comment. I looked back at Jiselle.
“Do you like what you do?”
“Bartending or cam work?” she asked.
“Both?”
“Yeah, honestly. I do.”
“Good.” I glanced at Stone. “What about you? What do you do and do you like it?”
“It’s cool. I mean, working at the bar is nice because I get to see this brat almost every weekend.” He nudged his head toward Jiselle. “Working at the mechanic shop is nice too. It’s something I really like doing so I don’t really have any complaints.”
“That’s cool.” I nodded.
Jiselle picked up a wonton and took a bite.
“Do you still talk to my brother?” she asked after a moment.
“Nah.”
“Okay.” She nodded.
“Even if I was still talking to Rene, I wouldn’t be bringing you up, Jiselle. I don’t pillow talk to mothafuckas and I damn sure ain’t reporting what my grown ass does to another nigga for their stamp of approval.”
“I like that.” She yawned and stretched. “Are y’all staying the night?”
“Yep,” Stone answered so quickly they both laughed and she fell into his side while she snorted, making me laugh too.
“I’ll hang around if the offer is on the table.”
“Okay.”
I had a meeting in the morning and it was already late but I refused to let Stone get extra time with my woman that I wasn’t a part of. It was bad enough that they worked together.
She plucked her phone up to change the song playing.
Stone and I checked our respective phones and Jiselle danced slightly in her seat while we ate.
When we finished, Stone and I both gravitated toward the sink.