15. Ozyris Brentley #2
“You look good,” I told her. “You look real nice. And you smell good too.”
“Thank you.” She leaned in. “So do you.”
“Listen.” I put my hand on the bar behind her so I could get closer without the music eating my words. “I been trying to give you space on purpose. I ain’t wanna be all up on you all night with the cameras and everything else going on. But I been wanting to talk to you.”
“Okay.”
“And I know we can’t really talk in here…but I wanna see you after this.”
She pressed her lips together and looked up at me. “Maybe.”
“Maybe?” I laughed out loud.
“Yeah, you heard me… maybe,” she said again and walked off, ass just sitting up and jiggling every which way in that little-ass dress.
Damn.
I stood at that bar for a second before heading back to the section.
By the time I got back to the couch, the DJ had switched to something down South and dirty, and Nourah was bent all the way over in front of my brother, going crazy. PB had his cup up in the air, enjoying the moment.
Noree was hyping Nourah up, hollering, pointing at her, screaming, “Ayeee!”
I looked at Gin, who looked like she wanted to say something but didn’t. She rolled her eyes, and I grabbed what was left of the bottle, taking it to the head.
When the song switched, Noree sat down next to her sister, who was fanning herself with a napkin and trying to catch her breath.
“Girl, I’m hot,” Nourah panted. “I’m out of breath. I need water.”
Noree reached into the bucket, passing her sister a water.
“Bruh, you good?” PB asked, and I nodded. “You sure? You been eyeing shawty all night.” He smirked.
I leaned in and said, “She wanted distance after that shit with Gin, but I’ma make sure she leaves with me.”
PB dapped me up. “Yeah, handle that.”
The lights came on at two thirty. My security started clearing a path and moving my section out through the back.
I walked out hand in hand with Gin, just to make sure the cameras at least caught some shit they could clip and run with for the blogs, but I put her ass in a black truck and sent her on her way.
Fans screamed my name as they walked past. I was now leaning on the Sprinter van, waiting.
Noree and her sister walked up. She made eye contact with me for a second and went to get on the van, but I grabbed her hand.
She turned around and looked at me, confused.
“Ride with me.”
“Ride with you?”
“Yeah… ride back to the hotel with me,” I said. “I wanna talk to you.”
She looked back at her sister, who was standing behind her.
Nourah waved her off. “Girl, go ahead and go.”
Noree stepped down, and Nourah went to get on the van herself, but before she could get all the way up the step, PB came through and caught her arm.
“You hungry?”
“Hell yeah, I’m hungry,” she said fast as hell. I laughed because she was funny as hell.
“Waffle House?” he quizzed, and she nodded.
“Hell yeah!” Nourah damn near yelled it, and both of them fell out laughing while he helped her back down and off the Sprinter steps.
The sisters looked at each other and had one of them conversations girls be having without saying a word.
“Alright,” Nourah said. “I’m about to go get some food with him. You good?”
“I’m good. I’ll see you back at the hotel.”
They hugged, and then Nourah left with my brother.
I held my hand out for Noree, and she smiled before accepting it. I walked her to a black truck. The driver opened the door for us, and I helped her inside.
The car doors closed, and for a minute, neither one of us said anything. I was leaning back against my door with my arm up on the headrest, and she had kicked her heels off onto the floor and turned sideways in the seat with one knee up, facing me.
“So, what you wanna talk about?” she asked.
I paused, taking a moment as the driver pulled off.
“First thing, I wanna say I’m sorry about how everything went down earlier.”
She waved it off. “You good. It’s not like you told her to walk up on me and start with me.”
“Still.”
“It’s fine, Ozy. I may be quiet most times and let things slide for the most part, but my mouth can get a lil’ reckless when it needs to. I tried to avoid everything, even throwing the cake on her, but she was doing the most.”
“I like that, though. Speak yo’ mind at all times.”
“Well, speaking of speaking my mind… I have a question.”
“Aight… what’s up?”
She took a second. I watched her pick at the hem of her dress while she figured out how she wanted to say it.
“So, I’m not trying to be that person,” she started. “I’m not trying to be insecure or sound crazy. But some of the stuff Ginger said got to me a little bit. I’m being honest with you.”
“Okay.”
“Because, unfortunately, I always end up with the short end of the stick.” She looked out the window instead of at me. “The whole friend zone thing. Or being the woman a man wanna love on and fuck on behind closed doors but won’t be seen with in the daylight because he embarrassed of my body.”
I ain’t say nothing. I just let her keep going.
“And I give my relationships my all. Every time. Because I don’t know how to be nothing other than real with people.
That’s just how I’m built. It’s just that a whole lot of men ain’t real with me.
” She finally looked back over at me. “So, when she said you brought me to the back because you ain’t want me out in public, I need to know. Is there any truth to that?”
I sat with that one.
“To a certain extent,” I said.
Her whole face changed. She sat up off the seat and looked at me like I had lost my mind.
“Hold on.” I put my hand up. “Let me explain before you go off on me.”
“You got about ten seconds.”
“You know about my situation with her, right?”
“No, Ozy, I really don’t know anything about that situation,” she said. “I told you I heard a rumor, and you said to believe it… that’s it.”
So, I told her the whole thing, or as much of it as I could without getting into paperwork.
I told her me and Gin were under a contract.
Not a relationship, a contract, put together by people way above both of us, with stipulations in it about appearing as a couple in public.
Certain events. Certain outings. Shit like that.
So, until the shit was up, I had to comply. It was business.
“When I brought you to the back, part of that was the contract. I can’t be photographed out in the open with another woman right now without it blowing up something I signed my name to. That part is real, and I ain’t gone sit here and lie to you about it.”
She was listening. Not saying nothing but listening.
“But that ain’t the whole reason, and it ain’t even the main one.” I leaned forward a little bit. “I also don’t like nobody in my business, and with the hectic day I had at that damn shoot, I just wanted to unwind and chill with you and only you.”
“Okay… I’ll take that, but… how much longer is the contract?”
“Three months. Then it’s null and void, and I ain’t renewing it.”
She nodded slowly, taking it in.
“So, the answer to your question,” I said, “is I ain’t never once thought less of you based upon your body. That thought ain’t crossed my mind one time. Not once.”
“Okay.” Her voice was quieter now.
“I would never do you like that. I wouldn’t do nobody like that.
” I looked right at her when I said the next part because I needed her to actually hear me.
“I ain’t never dated a bigger woman before.
That’s the truth. But that don’t mean I ain’t open to it, and it damn sure don’t mean I’m sitting over here trying to hide you.
Your body is beautiful. You beautiful. I fuck with you. ”
She smiled, and she tried to hide it by looking down, but I caught it.
“Well, thank you. I appreciate that.” Then she cut her eyes back up at me. “I just needed to know. ’Cause I’d hate to have to cut you.”
“Damn.” I threw my hands up. “Don’t cut me, love. I ain’t no steak.”
She fell out laughing, and I joined in. I felt like I could really be myself around her. Shit was crazy.
“You had a good time tonight?” I asked her.
“I did. I really did.” She smiled.
“Good.” I shifted over closer to her. “’Cause it’s something I been wanting to do all night.”
“What?”
“Kiss them pretty lips again.”
I slowly leaned in, and she pulled back just a little. Not a lot. Just enough for me to notice.
“You don’t wanna kiss me?” I asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Why don’t you know?” I was confused.
She was quiet, and then she said it real low. “I’m scared.”
“Scared of what?”
“You.”
We were close enough now that I could feel her breathing. Her eyes were moving all over my face, looking for something.
“Don’t be scared of me,” I told her. “It ain’t no reason to be.”
“I don’t wanna get hurt, Ozy. I don’t even know what this is. It’s been two days, and… we’re moving fast.”
“You don’t know how to just live in the moment?”
“Not really,” she said, and she laughed a little bit at herself, but her lips brushed against mine. “I’m trying, though.”
“Well, hear me and hear me clear, Noree… I want you,” I said. Then I kissed her.
It started soft. Just my lips against hers, slow.
She kissed me back, and then I felt her hand come up behind my neck. It got deep.
I had one hand on the side of her face and the other one at her waist, pulling her against me, trying to close the gap between us.
I don’t know how long it went on. Long enough that when we finally pulled back from each other, both of us were out of breath.
The truck was dark. The only thing lighting up her face was the streetlights coming through the window, and she was still looking at me with her hand at the back of my neck.
Neither one of us said anything.
We ain’t have to.