Somee #3
I received a bunch of laughing emojis from the three of them before we moved on to season talk.
Layla never came back to the table, which was fine by me, and the three of us ordered lunch and spent the rest of the afternoon without all the slick comments and negative energy Layla brought.
I could see myself hanging out with Shiya and Zina, but being with them had me missing my girl.
I was going to have to surprise her with a flight to Crescent Falls very soon.
It was after ten when I finally made it back to the house since drinks turned into dinner after Shiya decided we all needed some shopping therapy.
We ended up at Falls Landing, a new outdoor, lifestyle shopping complex still being developed by the Omari Corporation, which led to a very interesting conversation about how fine the Omari men were, followed by links to social media pages.
One was Cress Omari’s and I connected the dots with Liberté Abstraite, which her family owned, and the summer dance classes Rylee was begging to be enrolled in.
There was a 10-screen dine-in premier theatre, a full service hotel, corporate living and office spaces, which offered walkable dining and shopping for its residents.
Everything was planned to be seamless and elite, down to the cozy gathering spaces, outdoor fireplaces, and concierge service.
I would bet everything I owned that the restaurants and cafés out here hired Michelin star chefs.
Places like this made it very easy to embrace the luxurious lifestyle.
There were over six hundred thousand square feet of retail space, which was scheduled to be filled with upscale stores.
Only a handful were occupied as of yet, one of which was Ritual, one of Shiya’s favorites.
I loved their clothes, but did not own one single piece because socks in that boutique were easily a stack.
Trust and believe I didn’t leave Ritual emptyhanded today.
A full day in heels had my arches screaming at me, so as soon as I was inside, the first thing I did was free my feet from the wedges that’d expired several hours ago.
I balanced them in one hand, carrying my shopping bags with the other, dropping both on the leather ottoman in the living room while I was blessed with a sight that warmed my heart.
Ryland was stretched out on the sofa with Rylee curled up beside him. She was in pajamas with a bonnet covering her head while he was in black joggers and a graphic tee. With one arm around Rylee and the other folded beneath his head, my entire soul smiled at how precious this moment was.
There would be a million more like this, but I still felt the need to capture the two of them. I removed my phone and snapped several pictures before I tossed it on the ottoman and leaned over Ryland, brushing my lips over his.
He smiled, holding me hostage before I could escape with a hand behind my neck, bringing me closer and stealing a kiss.
When I was free, his heavy-lidded eyes lowered to Rylee before they were on me as he spoke. “What time is it?”
“Ten something.”
“Today was straight?” he asked, scanning me from head to toe like he would be able to recognize if anything hadn’t been up to standard.
“It was. I like S-H-I-Y-A and Z-I-N-A.” I would fill him in on his little cleat chaser later. “I see Rylee won this round.”
He smirked and glanced at her again. “I’d call it a tie. We were both down for the count. She tried to wait up for you.”
I leaned down and kissed her cheek. “I’ll make it up to her.”
“She’s cool and understands you have a life outside of her. We kicked it today. No complaints. Stop all that overthinking. Being here is not tied to Rylee or me.”
I grinned and rolled my eyes. “I wasn’t thinking that.”
“Yes you were.” He shifted away from Rylee, climbing over her and off the sofa. The minute Ryland was on his feet, his hands cuffed the sides of my neck and his mouth was on me again, only stopping so I could see his face when he spoke. “I missed you.”
“I can tell,” I signed when he stepped away and carefully lifted a sleeping Rylee into his arms. She stirred and shifted, snuggling into his chest, but didn’t wake.
“I’m about to get her in bed. Go head up and bring that so I can see how much damage you did.” He dropped a kiss on my temple and left the living room.
I decided to grab a quick shower, and by the time I was done, Ryland was already stretched out on the bed, down to just his briefs with the remote in hand.
His eyes were on me the minute I entered the bedroom, towel wrapped around my body.
I entered his closet, tossed the towel in the hamper, and pulled on one of his T-shirts and a pair of his briefs before heading to the bed, pausing to grab my shopping bags so I could show him what I’d purchased.
Once I was comfortable straddling his waist, his hands assumed the position, cuffing my ass while I began digging through the bag, showing him everything.
Two pairs of jeans, several graphic tees, a cropped, long sleeve T-shirt with Ritual spelled out in black and gray patchwork fabric letters, two ankle-length casual dresses, and a jean jacket.
I also made sure to visit the kids’ side, purchasing Rylee a Ritual tee that matched my cropped one, gray cargo shorts, and a few graphic tees similar to mine since they didn’t have exact matches.
“That’s all you got?” he signed, glancing at the bags before his eyes were on me again.
“Isn’t that enough?”
“Light work and I see you’re trying to get Rylee’s weight up too.”
“We’re about to be catching flights on private jets. We have to look the part.”
He chuckled and tossed his chin before his hands were moving. “So I heard.”
“Blame yourself, you set the bar incredibly high. I don’t know if I can lower my standards enough to travel with common folks. Slumming it in G-E-N P-O-P feels below my relationship grade,” I teased.
I was blessed with his beautiful smile before he confirmed, “Yeah I fucked up with that but I’m willing to take the L. How you feel about today though? You cool with them and were they cool with you? Because you know I don’t give a damn about any of that if it’s not what you want.”
“I’m still on the fence. S-H-I-Y-A and Z-I-N-A were cool but I had to embarrass your little friend though. If any of the other ones are like her, then it’s a hard pass. That high school clique shit is crazy.”
“My little friend?”
He frowned until I signed Layla’s name, which had him smiling arrogantly and me glaring at him.
“She was a quick nut. That was all. Damn sure not anything you have to worry about.”
“I’m not worried about her. You wanting me here means you’re smart enough to know that me being here means the only place your dick is allowed is in me.”
“So it’s fuck my hands then?”
“If you need your hands, I’m not doing my job.” I shrugged and he chuckled.
“Remember you said that.” His hands moved to grip my ass, so he spoke instead of signing.
“Seriously though, she’s not gonna be a problem.
I forgot that even happened until you brought it up.
Keeping it one hundred, she’s not the only one.
There’s a lot of women who don’t hold space in my head because they aren’t worth remembering.
As fucked up as that might sound, it’s who I was before I had somebody worth remembering. ”
“You got lines like rappers got bars.”
He laughed. “I’m deadass, but other than that, today was cool?”
“It was. I actually got good news too. Toya texted me about a job at Chandler.”
“Word, what’s up with that?” he asked, massaging my ass.
“It’s not in a classroom. The position is an Instruction Coach. I’d be the curriculum expert for my team, doing observations and stuff, but it gives me freedom that being in a classroom can’t.”
“I know you were trying to be everybody’s favorite teacher though. Sounds like that’s more of a management or administration thing and not being in the classroom. You want to do that?”
I grinned at the “everybody’s favorite teacher” reference because he remembered why I told him I wanted to teach. “It’s more money and more freedom. I’m thinking about it.”
He nodded and lifted his hands from me to sign this time.
“You settling just to have a job or you thinking about it because it’s something you want to do?
And before your ass finds its way to your shoulders, I’m only asking because there’s no rush with you working.
If you want to chill, you can. If you want that position or to teach at another school, I’m cool with that too.
All I ask is that the decision is what you want and not what you feel pressed to do because you’re trying to make a point about being on your independent shit. ”
“It’s both. I like working…” I shrugged before I added, “But I also like not having to. This job is like having the best of both worlds. It also gives me access to Rylee because I’ll be part of the teaching staff.
Chandler is a good school, but me being on staff guarantees that it’s a good school for Rylee. ”
“Then take the job.”
“I’m thinking about it.”
“Aight, but right now, I have something else for you to think about.” He flipped us until I was on my back and he hovered above me. With the weight of his dick pressed against me, my thoughts had already shifted to a new topic.