Chapter 9
A few days later
“Y’all, this man said he was infatuated with me and that he hasn’t stopped thinking about me since the fire. He also said he wanted to be my protector.” I gushed, then took another swig of my wine.
“Like, the protector Beyoncé sang about?” Angie asked before laughing.
“Girl, what? Maybe you shouldn’t drink anymore,” Kayla said as she tried to take Angie’s cup from her.
“I’m good. Just asking a question.” Angie shrugged.
We went through two bottles and were on our third when the conversation switched to my and Onyx’s date.
“Sure, Angie. Yes, that type of protector.” I finished my wine and put the cup on the table.
The three of us looked at each other and laughed as we fell out over each other. Clearly, we all had too much to drink. Neither of us had anywhere to go, so we could drink as much as we wanted to. Angie planned on staying the night with us, so she was good.
Spencer sat on his bed, chewing on one of his toys while he looked at us like we were crazy.
Kayla tucked her legs underneath her butt once she calmed down. “How does that make you feel?”
“It made my heart skip a beat and my pussy shudder.” I giggled. “It threw me for a loop because nobody had ever said anything like that after only knowing me for a minute.”
“Maybe he’s the one,” Kayla said with a smile.
Kayla had always been the hopeless romantic out of the three of us. She had her wedding planned since we were in middle school. Unfortunately, she had some bad experiences in love, but she believed her knight in shining armor would come one day.
“Who knows. I do feel different with him than with anyone else. I can’t even explain it.”
My phone rang before either of them could respond, so I got up to get it from the charger.
Nobody called me, so I was curious to see who it was.
I wasn’t on call, so it shouldn’t have been any patients, but I could never be sure.
My parents knew I was with the girls, so I didn’t think it was them.
The phone continued to ring until I picked up.
Instantly, my lips curled into a smile as Onyx’s name scrolled against the screen.
“Look at her all smiley and shit,” Angie whispered as I pressed the button to answer.
“Hello.”
“Miss Maverick. How are you?”
I took the phone from the charger and held it against my ear as I walked back to the couch.
“Heyyy, Onyx. I’m good.” A hiccup escaped, and I quickly covered my mouth. “Sorry.” I covered my face with my hands as embarrassment crept through my body.
Onyx’s chuckle made my insides warm. “You’re good, sweetheart. Were you busy? I don’t want to interrupt.”
I looked at the girls as they stared at me, being nosy. The wine made me feel giddy inside just from the sound of Onyx’s voice on the other end of the phone. I tucked one of my legs under the other and got comfortable.
“I’m okay. I was hanging with my friends.” I dragged the s in friends, and Onyx chuckled again.
“I see. You’ve been drinking, haven’t you?”
“A little.” I giggled.
I thought Angie and Kayla would have left the room to give me some privacy, but I should have known better. It had been a while since I was interested in a man like I was with Onyx, so I guess they didn’t want to miss anything.
“It sounds like it’s been more than a little. I just wanted to apologize again that we couldn’t go out like I originally planned. I’m going to make it up to you.”
I wasn’t sure if it was the wine or if he did it intentionally, but Onyx’s voice was lower than usual. Too damn low and had my nipples hard against the thin shirt I wore. I was sure that if Kayla or Angie looked, they would see just how he affected me.
“It’s okay. I understand how it is when you are a parent.”
We hadn’t had the conversation about Turquoise’s mom yet, but it seemed as though she wasn’t around. Onyx and I were supposed to go out, but he didn’t have a sitter for his daughter. Apparently, her maternal grandmother was acting flighty, and his father and stepmom were out of town.
“Thank you for understanding. I still feel bad about it. I really enjoyed the night we went out, and I looked forward to doing it again.”
“Me too, but we’ll have another chance. What are you guys up to?”
Onyx sounded a little frustrated, so I figured I’d change the subject. I was a little disappointed we couldn’t go out, but I wasn’t mad about it.
“We’re building a new LEGO set I got, and we had dinosaur chicken nuggets and fries for dinner.”
“That sounds fun.”
“It was, but I still wanted to see you.”
I felt that thumping in my pussy again. I leaned my head against the back of the couch and closed my eyes.
“Same,” I whispered, unintentionally.
Could it have been possible to miss someone I only spent time with one time?
“Well, I don’t want you to hold you up from your friends. Plus, the little lady is ready to get to building.” A low chuckle slipped from his lips.
I imagined him kissing me again with those soft ass lips of his.
“Have fun. I’ll talk to you soon.”
For a few long seconds, neither of us said anything. I guessed neither of us wanted to hang up. Turquoise called his name and must have snapped him out of whatever daze he was in.
“Good night, Miss Maverick.”
“Good night, Onyx.”
I hung up the phone and sat there for a moment.
“Aww, you really like him, don’t you?” Kayla asked.
“I do.” I couldn’t help the smile that crept onto my face.
We continued drinking our last bottle of wine and enjoyed the rest of our night, but I couldn’t get Onyx off my mind.
I had finally gone back home after everything was fixed and up to code.
The first couple of nights, I was scared to go to sleep, but after the third day, I took melatonin and slept so much better.
I also felt better having Spencer around because he was trained on what to do in situations like a fire or an intruder breaking in.
Kayla’s house was the only one Spencer knew, but it didn’t take him long to get acclimated to our permanent home.
He had all the same things in my house that he did at Kayla’s.
He even had his own room, even though he chose to sleep in mine.
I had enjoyed having him around. Every day that I came home from work, I would talk to him about how my day went.
I even talked to him about Onyx all the time.
Onyx and I hadn’t been able to see each other since he couldn’t make our last planned date, but we talked almost every day.
I spoke to him often at night, after he’d put his daughter down for bed.
Sometimes he would call when he was on his way to work or on his way home, if I were able to talk. I enjoyed our conversations.
I was on my couch watching television when my phone rang.
Flutters filled my stomach when I saw it was Onyx calling.
“Hello.”
“Hey, Miss Maverick. Are you busy?”
Something about the way he called me Miss made my pulse race. Every time he said it, a wide grin split my face.
“No, just relaxing on the couch, watching a movie. How was your day?”
Spencer was on the other end of the couch and popped his head up when I lowered the volume on the television. Sometimes it seemed like he was more interested in the stuff on TV than I was. He was my first dog, so it was weird to see how he sometimes acted like a human.
“It was pretty good. I actually scored some tickets to a concert, and I was wondering if you would like to go with me.”
I was glad that he was on the other end of the phone and not in front of me, because I would have hated for him to see the panicked look on my face, or the way I rubbed the soft skin on my forearm.
“Are you there?”
I cleared my throat to get the lump out of it. “I’m sorry. Yes, I’m still here. You said a concert? Uh . . .”
“Is something wrong with a concert?”
“No. It’s fine.”
I didn’t want to tell him no, but going to a concert made me nervous.
One time, I went out with a guy who knew I didn’t do well in crowds but still chose to blindside me by taking me to an overly crowded bar.
When I said something about it, he basically brushed me off and told me to get over it.
He ended up having the time of his life, while I had a panic attack and left.
Needless to say, we didn’t talk again after that.
Onyx wasn’t him, though, and my intuition told me I would be okay with Onyx.
“You don’t sound too sure.” He lowly chuckled.
“I’m sure. Yes, I’d love to go.”
We stayed on the phone a few minutes longer while he gave me the information for the concert, then he had to tend to his daughter.
I would overcome my fears and enjoy myself with Onyx. At least I hoped so.