Chapter 21
VEGA
Essence had been fucked up about work for the last couple of days, and I’d been trying to get her out of her funk.
The fact that she cared so much about the lives she was taking care of only made me look at her with another level of admiration, but I didn’t want her to internalize the shit she had going on at the moment.
I knew we had the charity coming up soon, but I still wanted to do something nice for her, and I figured it would count as one of the dates her ass was always talking about.
I sat at the foot of her bed, tying my shoes when her small feet came into view.
“Valentino, where are we going again? I kinda don’t want to be around too many people right now.” She fussed as my eyes roamed up her body.
I’d told her to get dressed, and the knitted see through crop top and matching nude linen pants had me wanting to change my mind about taking her outside. She had her French manicured toes out, looking suckable, and I made a mental note to put them in my mouth later.
“We won’t be. It’s gon’ be chill. I promise.” I stood, pulling her thick ass o me and grabbing a handful of her ass.
“Get off me, boy!” she shrieked, swatting me off as I sucked on her neck.
“Ayite, ayite! You lucky I’m not tryna be late, or I’d be pulling yo’ ass right back in this lil ass bed,” I told her, backing away.
“Uh, that’s a king-sized mattress. It’s not the manufacturer’s fault you’re so damn beefy.” She frowned, snatching up her small clutch.
“Oh, you think I’m beefy, huh?”
“I’m not bouta play with you.” She bit back a laugh as I flexed. It felt good to see her actually smiling, and I hoped by the end of the night I’d get a whole lot more.
“Come on, man.” I feigned hurt, swallowing her small hand in mine.
She giggled as I dragged her little ass out the house and down to my car, helping her into the passenger side before pulling off.
As usual, I had some low R&B playing. She snapped her fingers and sang along to the Isleys while I navigated us to our destination.
I already knew she wasn’t feeling being around a bunch of people, and I wasn’t trying to share her anyway, so everything I had planned was going to include us being in our own bubble.
When I pulled up at the lakefront, I could already see her getting all tense, and I brought her hand to my lips, causing her eyes to land on me.
“Trust me, sweetheart.” Getting out, I went around and helped her out, holding her hand in mine. We walked along the grassy area until the lights from a clear tent became visible, and she side eyed me hard. “Come on, girl. You said you ain’t want crowds. Well, it’s just gon’ be me and you.”
“Awww, baby!” I could see her getting ready to cry again as she took in the setup.
Inside was an air mattress and pillows surrounding two silver colored trays.
Unzipping the side, I held the flap so she could go in first, and I struggled to get my big ass in behind her.
She was already sitting down and opening the trays, eyes gleaming when she saw the meal I’d gotten for us.
It was some of the best barbecue in town with spaghetti, greens, and potato salad as sides.
They’d even added peach cobbler for dessert, and as soon as she opened it, the scent filled the tent, making my stomach growl.
I’d been so busy planning that I hadn’t ate shit all day, and I knew I was ready to tear that shit up.
Pulling the ice bucket from the side, I held up a two liter of strawberry pop like I was one of those niggas who poured wine at restaurants, and she cracked up laughing. “Can’t have barbecue without the pop, sweetheart,” I told her, filling up two glasses and handing one to her.
“Awww, you thought of everything. This is sweet!” she gushed, making my face ball up.
“I ain’t sweet, girl. I’m romantic.”
Again, she let out a giggle that had my chest getting tight. “Okay it’s romantic.” She leaned over with her lips poked out for a kiss, and I sucked her lip hungrily before pulling back.
“Stop, man, before I say fuck this food, and I’m hungry than a bitch already.” I licked my lips, head already thinking about me feasting between her thighs.
Lately, her pussy had been extra wet and inviting, and it was hard as hell to stay from inside her, but I didn’t want it to be about that tonight. Real shit, I was just trying to enjoy her company and forget about the shit we both had going on.
“That’s you, I’m chillin,” she said, using my own shit against me, and I chuckled as we both dug in.
Just like I knew, the food was good as fuck, and after we’d cleaned our plates and I got rid of the trash, I pulled out a deck of cards. “Ohhh, you really tryna turn this into a barbecue, huh? What you wanna get your ass whooped in? Spades? 21?” She sat up excitedly while I shuffled the deck.
“What you know about 21, sweetheart?” I teased, and she playfully cracked her knuckles.
“I can show you better than I can tell you.”
Nodding, I started dealing. “Ayite, it’s a bet, and don’t be crying when I spank that ass like you normally do.” I looked up to see her blushing, but she played it off.
“I never cry, baby. I throw that shit back. Now, come on. I hope you’re not a sore loser.
” She grinned mischievously, and three games later, I was still trying to catch up.
Shorty was a fucking ringer for real and showboating like a muthafucka.
Every time she won, she’d start twerking and sticking her tongue all out.
“Ayite, ayite, let’s play something else,” I said, interrupting her mid victory dance, and she fell back into her pillows, laughing.
“Awww, it’s okay, boo. I might let you win something tonight.
” The double meaning in her words coupled with the look she was giving almost had me second-guessing pulling out the dominos I had stashed.
“Oooh, you really wanna be on a losing streak, huh?” she mocked, stretching and tossing her hair over her shoulder.
“That’s what you think, sweetheart, but I’m bouta tap that ass for real now.
” I set up the dominos for us and prepared to take her down.
This time, we landed on a tie, and she was still gloating like she had won each round.
“I ain’t think you were so damn competitive, girl.
Next time, we’re playing for sexual favors. ”
“And I’m gon’ win then too.” She gloated as she washed the dominos for another game.
We played a few more rounds before the sky started darkening, and more people began to arrive. Ashley, the girl from the Custom Dates website, was right on time to come pack everything up, and I took Essence’s hand so we could move on to our next activity.
We made our way down to the waterfront, where a small yacht waited. As soon as she saw that muthafucka, she was backing away and shaking her head emphatically. “Come on, sweetheart. I got you,” I told her, but she was hesitant as fuck.
“I don’t even know how to swim, Valentino!” she whined, and I couldn’t help laughing at her dramatic ass.
“I’m gon’ be right there, and the captain is on here, too, so you’re straight. You think I’d let some shit happen to you?” I almost laughed at the look of doubt on her face, but her resistance loosened, and she took timid steps toward me.
“See, come on.”
We finally made it on board, and I led her to the bench on the back of the boat.
She enjoyed that shit for all of five minutes, though, before she was feeling sick as hell.
I had to get the man to turn right back around, and even when she was walking to the car, it was on shaky ass legs, and eventually I had to pick her up.
She looked drunk as hell on the ride, and I reached over, rubbing her stomach as I drove.
I didn’t miss the look on her face when I did, though.
It was a mix of surprise and contentment, and she settled back into the seat, resting her head on the head rest. By the time we made it back to her crib, though, her symptoms had subsided, and I spent the rest of the night between her thighs.
After spending so many days getting Essence back right, it was back to the fucking grind.
As usual, there was bullshit waiting. Just like my pops said, Lucas was looking for an apology and his winnings, but he had me fucked up.
The nigga was lucky he was able to walk away with all his limbs after the shit he’d pulled.
If I gave his ass shit, it was going to be the same as the other players, and definitely not an apology.
He could kiss my ass if he thought I was apologizing for shit, and I was ready for all the smoke if need be.
Besides, I had bigger shit to worry about than that nigga’s hurt feelings, like the folder that Tray had sent over that was on my desk.
I’d gone over each picture and all the information inside, and I couldn’t lie, Sosa had been right.
Everything pointed to Jordan and his gang of friends being the ones who robbed my shit, but while he wanted to move on them, I was holding back.
For one, I wanted my money, and since none of them nigga were spending or even looking like they had been around that much money, I was trying to hold out until we could locate it.
The second issue was that there were only four niggas still in the folder, meaning that if there was another one, he’d either ran off with the money or he was hiding out with it somewhere.
Both of those scenarios had me even less inclined to move too quickly.
Besides that, I knew Sosa’s hotheaded ass just had a hard on for that nigga Jordan.
I wasn’t about to let his feelings fuck with our funds, so we weren’t moving until we had more.
“I fuckin’ told yo’ ass! Now, let’s move on them niggas!” Sosa was amped up, and I had to let him down with a shake of my head.
“It’s too soon. We don’t even know where the money at.”