Chapter 6
E ven asleep, with her head slumped and her mouth partially open, Truce is beautiful, absolutely stunning. She’s also drunk and even that is cute. After telling me she lives in the East Tower of The Millennium, she buckled her seatbelt, reclined the seat back, and was out. I hate to wake her but we are at her place. Luckily, when I kill my engine, she starts to move. Her head rolls around then she turns to me. Her eyes open slowly.
“We’re here?” she utters and I nod. “Damn! I was knocked out.” After unbuckling her seat belt, she stretches her arms out, drawing attention to her full breasts. Then she raises the seat. When she does, I unlock my door and get out. She’s holding her phone and staring at it when I open her door. “My food is eight minutes out. Perfect timing.”
I assist her out and she’s just as shaky as she had been in Flavor. Those drinks with no food wasn’t the best idea. She’s fucked up so I hold her as we walk inside her building. She nods at security and tells him about her food. He smiles then we walk to the elevators and I press the up button. The doors open immediately and we get on.
“Which floor?” I ask.
“Five. I’m number fifty-two twenty-eight.” The elevator ride is short and she fades more as we ascended. When we exit, her body is slumped into mine and her head is leaning on my shoulder. Somehow, though, she manages to open the door and silence her alarm when we enter. I try to help her onto her sectional, but she shakes her head adamantly. “My bed. Down the hall,” she mumbles.
I practically carry her through the living room, down the hall, and into the last, large bedroom. Just like the rest of her condo, the bedroom is beautifully decorated and clean. Nothing in here is out of place, nothing. There’s a warm and inviting vibe all through her place and I can feel it in her bedroom with all the browns. The bed is familiar too. It’s one of our exclusively crafted king beds with upholstery on the headboard and a sleigh-style footboard.
The moment I place her on it, she reaches up and latches her arms around my neck. Her eyes are partially closed but a huge smile spreads across her pretty ass face. She sighs loud as hell then tries to pull me down on her as she stumbles back on the bed.
“Lay down with me,” she insists.
“Not tonight,” I tell her but it doesn’t stop her.
She falls back on the bed with her arms still attached to me. She tries to pull me down with her again but I resist. As badly as I want her, and I want the fuck out of her, I don’t want her like this. She has to be sober and fully into it when I enjoy her body.
“Rex,” she begs. “I need you to…”
Her drunken words trail off and her arms drop from my neck. She’s out, so I unzip her boots and remove them, then ease her legs onto the bed. She has a few throws gathered at the end of her bed so I take one and spread it across her fine ass body. Every curve is on display as she lays sprawled out. Thank God my big head has some damn sense and it rules my little one because damn.
After kissing her forehead, I grab a pillow and another of the throws then leave her room. The minute I turn the corner into her living room, I hear three fast knocks on the door. I open it and a white bag is on the other side, her food. I bring it inside. Since she’s gone, I place it into her fridge, grab a bottle of water, then walk back into the living room. I remove my shoes and make myself comfortable on her extra-large sectional with a chaise.
Although I manage to doze off, I’m awakened by soft hands on my face. I open my eyes and Truce is standing over me. Her hair is pulled back and she’s changed. Her sweater and jeans have been replaced with shorts and a shirt.
“Go get in my bed. This isn’t comfortable,” she says, sounding more like herself.
“I’m good,” I lie because my damn arm is stiff as hell.
“You’re not. I love this sectional but it’s not as comfortable as my bed.” She snatches the throw, tosses it, then steps back. “Get up. I woke up hungry and saw you still here. Thanks for staying but I can’t have you sleeping out here.”
“You’re going to have to change first.” Her thighs on full display are killing me. The restraint I had earlier is waning fast.
“Boy. Get up.” She blows me off then heads to her kitchen. My eyes follow her ass and thighs as she walks off. I give in and sit up before running my hand up and down my left arm, trying to soothe the numbness. When that doesn’t work, I slowly lift and flex my elbow back and forth until it starts to feel better. “See. That’s why you need to get in the bed. I pulled the comforter back. Get comfortable, but on the left side. Left! The right is mine.”
Her face is beaming as she speaks and she’s breathtaking. Between her beautiful smile, her obvious sober state, and them damn thighs, I know I need to put my shoes on and take my ass home but I don’t. I can’t. The woman who has been living in my dreams for months is a few feet from me, looking edible as fuck and inviting me to her bed. Going home would be stupid as hell. So I stand, grab the pillow and throw, then walk into the kitchen.
“The right side?”
“Don’t play,” she says with a grin. Then, she opens the white food container. “Before I dig into this, do you want some?”
“No. Enjoy your food. I’ll be on the left slide, knocked out.”
I continue to her room. When I enter, I place my cell, wallet, and keys on the small nightstand on the left side. Then I trek to her bathroom and take a leak. There’s a wicker basket on the countertop with rolled up hand towels, so I grab one after I wash my hands. Before climbing into her bed, I remove my shirt then watch, noticing the late time, two forty-eight.
Her bed is as comfortable as it looks and it smells just like her. Deeply, I inhale her sweet scent before drifting off to sleep. I don’t hear her when she joins me sometime later but I feel her. She snuggles her soft body into mine and in my relaxed state, I pull her into me. The sound of loud beeps awakens me a few hours later, immediately followed by her.
“Shit,” she hisses. Then I feel her body shift. Seconds later, the alarm stops and she’s back in my arms but facing me. “Sorry. I meant to cut that off. I’m not opening today.”
“What time is it?”
“Still early. Six-forty. Do you need to go? I don’t want to get you into any trouble with your girl.”
“The only girl in my life is Aryel and she’s with my family until nine-thirty.”
“Then why did you tell me no last night?” she asks, surprising me. I honestly didn’t think she remembered that shit because she was gone.
“Because you were lit. I wasn’t going to do anything with you when you were like that. I need to know you are one hundred percent when I bless your body.”
“I was tipsy, maybe even a little drunk, but I knew exactly what I was offering.”
“You sure about that? Because we ain’t gon’ do no one-night stand.”
“So, you never had a one-night stand?” she asks skeptically, with raised eyebrows.
“Yes, but we won’t be a one-time thing,” I state more clearly this time. Then I pinch her chin between my thumb and pointer finger. “You don’t remember me, do you?”
My question really throws her off because her eyebrows damn near touch this time. “What do you mean?” she asks, puzzled.
“When we first met.”
“Your first time in the restaurant?”
“No. You really don’t know,” I state, although I’ve always suspected she didn’t. The day was so significant for me, but for her it was probably just another Thursday, many years ago.
“I don’t and I’m starting to feel bad.”
“Don’t do that. It was a long time ago.” Her pretty eyes peer into mine for answers so I don’t keep her waiting. “Junior high. You were in eighth grade and I was in sixth.”
“You went to Ridge Pointe with me? I remember Dax but not you. Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I’m sure. I was just about six inches shorter and a hundred pounds lighter.” I chuckle, remembering how little I was.
My brother, Dax, is only two years older than me but that nigga was almost twice my size then. I tried everything but nothing worked. It didn’t help that my mom would say I inherited her build, not my pops’. That shit crushed me. I was scrawny and awkward then. Most people didn’t even know I was his younger brother.
After squinting as if trying to picture me, she asks, “Who was the principal then?”
“Dr. Marks. I was there. Trust me and you saved me,” I admit for the first time out loud. No one knows this story because I kept it to myself and just used it as motivation. “It was the end of the year pep rally. Everyone was supposed to be in the gym but I got held up, literally. Loc, the barber now, and his crew were at me again. This time they thought it would be funny to stuff me in the lockers. It was some real dumb shit. They were pushing me in when you cam?—”
“I was coming from Mrs. C’s office and I saw them,” she interrupts, lowly. Her words slow, processing. I think she remembers. “That was you?”
“Yeah, unfortunately, it was me. You stormed over to them, cursed them out, and helped me out of the locker.”
“And that was you,” she states again with incredulity. “I can’t believe this. That…was…you.”
“It was and I fell madly in love with the girl who saved me,” I say and she smiles. “I was embarrassed as fuck too though. I spent that whole summer drinking weight gain shakes, lifting weights, and going to the boxing gym. I was determined to get bigger and stronger so I could impress my crush. I gained twenty-two pounds that summer and you know what happened with boxing. It broke my heart when I found out you went to live with your cousins in Florida.” Her head drops and so does her smile. “Your cousin was sick or something, right? At least that’s what I heard.”
“Yeah, she was but she got better and I came back home,” she says then sighs.
“I didn’t see you when you returned. Maybe because we were at different schools. I was at Manor Crossing High and you at CF Academy. Plus, I was already competing and focused on boxing. We went our separate ways, but know this, I never forgot the girl who saved me and jump started my boxing career.”
Her pretty smile returns then she laughs. “So I was your crush? I love that. If only I could go back then and know what I know now. My life would be different for sure.”
“Yeah, mine too. I would have manned up and kissed you. Then we would have been going together. We would have spent that summer together and still be together now.”
“Dang! You must be a good ass kisser then if one kiss would have done all of that.”
“Nah. I’mma great kisser and I take my time with both lips.” When my tongue runs across my lips and I pull my bottom lip between my teeth, her eyes practically trace the steps.
“Those are some serious words,” she utters, eyes still on my mouth.
“And I stand on them.”
This time, her eyes lock with mine and she just stares at me for a moment. My hand slides under her shirt and I caress her back. When I do, she inches closer to me. I tilt her head up a little then lean into her.
“Small world,” she whispers, breaking the silence and intensity of the moment.
I peck her forehead then start to pepper kisses down to her nose. My plan is to kiss down her entire perfect, chocolate, thick ass body, acquainting my lips with every inch of her. However, my phone rings with Aryel’s chimes.
“Fuck,” I utter.
“What?” she sighs breathily.
“That’s Aryel. I gotta get it.” I break away from her and roll onto my back. I stretch my arm out and grab my phone from the nightstand. “Good morning,” I answer as I sit up.
“Good morning, Daddy. Auntie say what time you coming to get me?” she asks and I glance over at Truce.
She’s laying on her back with one arm behind her head. Her shirt has lifted and her yellow bra is peeping from underneath. One leg is bent at the knee and the other is stretched out. She looks sexy as hell. Fuck! Girl Scouts this morning is not what I want. What I want is her but I have daddy duties and this is a big day for my baby girl. Cookie day always is.
“I’ll be there at nine-thirty. I have to go home, shower, and grab your uniform.”
“Go home?” my sister’s voice asks. “Where are you?”
“You have me on speaker?” I ask, trying to hide my annoyance because I hate that.
“Yes, sir,” Aryel says apologetically.
“Because I told her to. I wanted to know how long we had this morning,” Lyra snaps.
“We’re making strawberry waffles,” Aryel says excitedly. “I’m making you one too, Daddy.”
“Thank you. I can’t wait. I’ll see you soon.”
“Okay. Love you.”
“Love you too.”
When I end the call, Truce sits up. “You gotta go.”
“Yeah. Daddy duty.”
“I can’t say I’m not disappointed but I understand. I love you two together. At the restaurant, she’s so adorable, especially how she gets all of your condiments before you eat. My team loves her.” She eases off the bed, making this shit real, too fucking real. I gotta go. “Since you’re leaving, I guess I’ll take a bath and start my day.” When she walks into her bathroom, I get off the bed and follow her. She starts the water in her tub then walks back to the sink. I’m standing in the doorway, enjoying my view. She looks in her mirror then turns to me. “Shouldn’t you be asking for my number or something?”
I step toward her then stand directly behind her. I rest my right hand on the sink then snake my left arm around her waist. After looking at us in her mirror, I lean in and kiss the side of her neck. She smiles then rests her head back on my chest.
“I’ll get the number but my priority before I leave is your lips.”
She turns around and we are face to face. Then she latches her arms around my neck. “The way you talked about th—” she begins but my tongue swiping across her mouth stops her words.
I lick her bottom lip and feel her body shift slightly. Then I pull her soft top lip into my mouth and savor it. After giving her two small pecks on the lips, I slide my tongue into her mouth. She relaxes into my body and I feel her lean into me. She accepts my tongue and gives me hers. Slowly, we explore each other’s mouths and lips, acquainting ourselves with one another.
One hand caresses her back and my other moves to the back of her neck to pull her into me more. My tongue assault intensifies and my kiss, our kiss, turns passionate. When a soft, low, sensual ass moan falls from her lips, I feel my dick brick in my pants.
“Fuck,” I groan and break the kiss. “I gotta go.”
“Mmm. I know,” she sighs then places her hands on my chest. “You definitely earned my number though.”
She wiggles out of my arms then rushes out of the bathroom. I grunt and adjust my shit. Then I drag myself out of the bathroom. I have to dip before I get caught up with all things Truce.