Chapter 4
Chapter Four
Iturned…or at least attempted to. Something was weighing heavily on my legs. I groaned, trying to move my leg again.
“Be fuckin’ still.”
My eyes popped open. I wiped the sticky, wet crust out of my eyes and saw Shad lying on me. I mean comfortable too. His long body was sprawled out on the couch, and his upper body was on me., arms on either side of my legs, one underneath. He was on me as if I were his woman or something.
“What the hell?” I exhaled. “Can you get up?”
The last thing I remembered was us watching all the Home Alone movies last night. Shad smoke blunt after blunt alone. Now that I think of it, I probably caught a damn contact high and fell asleep.
“Shad!”
“What?” he barked back as if I was the one in the wrong. As if I was the one who was on top of him.
“I gotta pee!” I screeched. “Move!”
Huffing and grunting, Shad rolled over to the side, his face now against the back of the couch. He mumbled something, but I couldn’t understand a word he said. My legs ached from his heavy ass. I tossed the blanket off my leg and onto his face and stood.
I wanted to look outside to see if it was possible that the snow was melting and I could go home, but first, I had to pee.
Shuffling to the bathroom, I handled my business.
After washing my hands, I brushed my teeth and fixed my hair a little bit.
There wasn’t much I could do with it since I didn’t have a brush and edge control.
I’m glad I wasn’t on any medicine that, in order for me to live, I’d have to take it every day, because then I’d just be dead.
Peeking out the window after leaving the bathroom confirmed it. The snow hadn’t let up, not one bit. The snow was covering the window. All I saw was white. This wasn’t good.
“Snow melting?” Shad asked, walking over with one hand in his joggers as he adjusted himself. He was still shirtless.
“No,” I mumbled. “This is crazy.”
“Awww, karma came back real fast on yo ass when you threw my shit,” he teased, heading toward his room. “Karma knocked you in the back of the head.” Shad walked down the hallway laughing like a damn hyena at his own jokes.
“Fuckin’ lunatic,” I mumbled.
I sighed, entering the kitchen. I was so big on Christmas. I loved the decorations, the carolers, the pine scent, the whole nine. My apartment was decked out before Thanksgiving with a big, fat tree in the corner covered in lights, ornaments, and tinsel. Shad’s place had no…soul.
I opened the fridge, stomach growling. I scanned the contents, trying to figure out what to cook.
French toast sounded amazing right now. That was one of my favorite breakfasts when I did have time in the mornings.
Sprinkled with powdered sugar, but I knew this nigga didn’t have that in his kitchen.
I felt a pang of homesickness as I moved around, so sharp it almost took my breath away. My eyes watered, and I swiftly wiped them with my arm. I wanted my bed. My own couch. My clothes. My fuzzy bear slippers. My own shit.
I smelled Shad coming back down the hall before I saw him. His body wash was intoxicating, even on my body.
Shad clapped his hands together. “What’s on the menu, love?”
“Love?” I snickered. “Boy, that doesn’t even sound right coming out of your mouth.”
“Aight. What’s on the menu, bitch?” My eyes narrowed. “Is that better? Hell, I was trying to be nice to yo ass.”
“Well, don’t,” I said, turning from him. “Especially if that shit is just forced.”
“I want to ring yo fuckin’ neck.” My breath hitched when I felt Shad on my backside. His dick was pressed into my back. Heavy. Long. Thick. That’s what it felt like. “You like to argue, huh? You like make-up sex? Rough shit? Lemme guess…you like that pussy ate as an apology?”
A shiver ran through me, and I hated myself for that.
I hated how my knees attempted to give out on me, and I had to hold on to the counter.
I hated how my clit began to throb, and the seat of the boxer-briefs Shad had lent me was now wet.
My nipples were pebbling under the thin fabric of his shirt. I needed space. I needed his ass to…
“Move,” I croaked out, swallowing. “Move back.”
I was trapped between the counter in front of me and the wall of muscle behind me. Instead of moving as I asked…instead of obliging, Shad pushed into me further, his breath tickled the back of my neck.
Shad took a step back, letting out a low, dark chuckle. “I bet that pussy leaking. That pearl throbbin, ain’t it?”
“Fuck you,” I said through gritted teeth.
I was pissed off. Pissed that he played me and pissed because my body had reacted to him how it did, and I was heated because his body was no longer on mine.
Shad slapped my ass lightly and asked again, “What you cookin’?” He hopped on the counter, long, hairy, tatted legs hanging.
“French toast, eggs, and bacon,” I answered from a dry throat.
“Bet.” Shad rubbed his stomach as I cracked eggs with a shaky hand. He was making me nervous. “Can you go play the game or something?”
A sheepish grin spread on his face. “I make you nervous, bookie butt?”
I stopped what I was doing and almost cracked my own smile. Instead, I gave Shad a nigga, please look. He jumped down, and before he walked away, he smacked me on the ass again.
“That thang jiggles perfectly, Miss Daee. Oouwee.”
It was getting boring. The snow wasn’t letting up at all, and from what the news alert just said, it was dangerous even for the snowplow operators. The weather had dropped very dangerously, and all I could do was sit here on my phone, sleep, and possibly play the game if Shad let me.
Yawning, I sat up. “Do you have games? Uno? Monopoly? Charades?”
Shad, who was sprawled out on the opposite end of the couch instead of his normal spot on the beanbag, glanced away from his game to answer me.
“I have Uno cards that were left here by my sis.”
Shad chuckled. “You gon’ play by yo’self? I’m in the middle of a mission, baby.”
I rolled my eyes. “We can play later.”
Shad licked his lips and peered at me with a look in his eyes.
“We can play later…only if we play strip Uno.”
“Strip Uno?” I asked. He nodded slowly. “What the hell?”
“You lose, you take off a piece of clothing. Common fuckin’ sense, Daee,” he grumbled.
I looked down. “I only have on a shirt, bra, and your underwear. That’s not even fair! Not only that, why would I want you to see me naked, Shad? “
A brow raised. “Because the way I smelled your pussy earlier, I know you do.”
My face heated. I’d showered after breakfast just for that reason alone. Months of not being sexually active were easy for me, but the moment Shad pressed up against me, I was ready to fold like a lawn chair.
“It smelled good.”
I covered my face with my hands and stressed, “Oh my gaaaaaaad. Can we change the subject because…”
“You shy, Daee?”
“No! This is just going left.” I nervously laughed.
Shad squeezed my foot, smiling, then focused back on the game. My phone ringing in my hand gave me the perfect reason to hop off the couch for some space and privacy.
“This is my mama,” I rushed out, scurrying off.
“Tell Mama I’m taking good care of our baby!” Shad hollered out a second after I connected the call.
“Who the hell is that?” she questioned. “That was a male voice I heard, Holidaee. You told me that you were at a friend’s house. Safe!”
“Mom…I am twenty-six years old,” I had to remind her. “And I am safe.”
The line grew quiet, and then I heard a sigh.
“Are you sure he’s not standing right there with a gun pointed at your head, making you say that Holidaee. If he is, blurt out my favorite color.”
I wanted to shout out green just to rile her up, but Mama might not can handle a joke like that. I knew she wouldn’t.
“Mama…” I giggled. “I’m okay. I promise.”
“Holidaee…Don’t get pregnant.”
I covered my mouth in shock.
“Mama…I’m not even having sex with him,” I whispered. “I’m just here for shelter. That’s it, that’s all. I sleep on the couch. He sleeps in his bed.”
“What type of man doesn’t give his bed up?” she squawked.
“He did offer. I declined,” I laughed. “You don’t sleep in everybody’s bed.”
“I raised a smart girl.”
“You did, mama.”
“Well…” she started.
“Well, what?” I asked, wondering what was about to come out of my mama’s mouth.
“How does he look?” she whispered.
I covered my mouth to muffle my giggles. “Really, mama?”
“Yes,” she hissed. “Is he handsome? Ugly?”
I darted my eyes over my shoulder to make sure Shad couldn’t hear me, then said, “He’s definitely not ugly. Far from ugly. Handsome.” Thuggish ruggish bone, I wanted to add, but mama would flip out.
“Lord, don’t come back pregnant, Holidaee, for real. I know it may be hard to resist his charm, but please. I’m not ready to be a grandma.”
“And I’m not ready to be anybody’s mama. I promise I will not leave his house pregnant, Mama. I said I wasn’t fuc- messing with him anyway,” I assured her.
“Aye! You ready to strip for daddy?” Shad yelled out, which prompted me to end the call. Mama was on the verge of screeching something out when I hung up.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” I groaned out. “My mama heard you, Shad. Now she probably thinks I’m being a damn freak over here.”
He chuckled, sauntering past me. I stood in place, in disbelief that he could be that damn childish while I was on the phone. I took off in the same direction and stopped when I was about to enter his bedroom. Loud peeing had me pausing, spinning on my heels, and heading back to the front.
Moments later, Shad emerged holding a box of Uno cards in his hand.
“Leeeeet’s get naaaaaked,” he sang out.
I snorted and reared my head back. “You may be better at 2K, but Uno…Nigga, that’s right up my alley. We need to put on the same amount of clothes, too, Shad. No cheating. I’ma go put on the clothes I came over here in.”
I took off down the hall with him telling me that I was cheating. He was full of shit, but I was about to have fun with his ass. Shad was getting ass naked. I mean, dick swinging. I was gon embarrass his ass in the worst way.
Both my socks were off. Both of Shad’s socks were gone, along with his sweats. He had the nerve to have ball shorts under them and tried to call me a cheater? Tuh.
I had a red Draw Two card left in my hand, and he had two cards. It was his turn. My leg was shaking underneath the table. The card on the table was a red three. If Shad puts another red card down, I could Uno out. Hopefully, he didn’t change the color.
His eyes narrowed on me and then the single card in my hand as if he had laser vision. Slowly, Shad removed one card from his hand. A fuckin’ Draw four.
“Uno,” he drawled out with a smile. “Blue.”
Huffing, I drew the four cards and placed a blue five down. That’s all I had.
“Uno out muhfucka!”
He slammed the card down and licked his lips. “Take some off, love.”
Pissed that I lost this round, I stood from the chair. I removed my pants. My ass and most of my thighs were covered by one of his shirts. When I showered, it was his shirts I asked for. They were comfortable…and smelled like him.
Though we met on bad terms, I was taking a liking to Shad. He talked shit. So much shit, but I kind of liked him. When he wasn’t talking shit, he was charming. He had a beautiful ass smile. He’d shown me his diamond grill. That shit made him more attractive and more…thuggish.
I loved me a thug ass nigga.
Don’t get me wrong, a man who wore a suit and tie and got up to go to work every day was attractive, but if his ass didn’t come with tattoos under that suit, I didn’t want him.
That was just my preference. If the nigga didn’t put me in my place when I needed it, but let me handle him as if he was pillow soft, I didn’t want him.
I couldn’t stand a nigga who let me run all over him.
Tell me to shut the fuck up, but still give me flowers.
Choke me while sliding in and out of me.
I needed a nigga that would talk me through an orgasm.
All those things…I knew Shad would do.
Shaking my head, I got rid of those thoughts, shifting in my seat. I didn’t know too much about this nigga and was wondering how it would be in a relationship with him. That really had me wondering… Why was he single?
Shad was busy shuffling the deck of cards. His brows were furrowed with a blunt dangling between his lips as he focused. He was high twenty-four seven, and if he wasn’t knocked out, he was digging for snacks in his kitchen.
“Why are you single?” I blurted out.
“Who said I don’t get bitches?” he shot back.
“That’s not what I asked.”
“Oh.” Shad laughed. “Who said I’on have no bitch?”
I rolled my eyes for the millionth time I’ve been here.
“I’m content with how I live. I move how and when I want to move. I fuck when I want to fuck. I’m good on the title,” he muttered as he gave each of us ten cards. “Does that answer your question, nosy?”
“So, you think having a female slows you down?” I pressed, ignoring his question.
Shad looked at me with low, red eyes. “Why are you single? Ain’t no nigga called yo’ phone yet.”
“Maybe he texted me,” I laughed. “I never said I was single.”
“Bullshit,” Shad scoffed. “My lady wouldn’t be in no damn storm- rain, sleet, or snow, delivering no food. You needed the money that badly?”
“I did,” I said proudly. “What job do you have? You hit the streets every day, huh?”
“Yeah, when I was in high school,” he told me, frowning. “I drive for UPS.”
My brows lifted and my head slightly tilted as I imagined his tall, sexy ass in a brown uniform. I clenched my thighs, and when I met Shad’s stare, his low eyes held amusement.