Chapter Three #3
He sucks his teeth. “Yes, stress. I see you, Janelle. I see the toll Amerie’s constant requests take on you. I saw it during the engagement party planning, and I see it now. You give her everything she asks for but who’s taking care of your wants and needs?”
I sigh. “I can’t.” His eyes droop with disappointment and I rush to say more. “I can’t give you the next two weeks. Once all the guests get here it’ll be way too difficult to sneak around. We would get caught and I can’t have that.”
His face lights up with joy and a little hint of mischief. “Fine. Then give me one week. One week so we can go into wedding week with a little less weight on our shoulders.”
I pull at my bottom lip with my teeth, considering his words. This extra week in Tulum is supposed to be all about relaxing before the big day but what if the relaxation I really need lies in the depths of Rome Martin?
“So, you’re suggesting you be my very own stress ball?”
He chuckles and pulls my leg on top of his.
The heat of my pussy is right against his dick.
I let out a moan when I feel him harden against me, the tip slipping between my folds.
He groans and clears his throat. “If that’s what you want to call it.
Be selfish with me. Give me all your yeses this week and I promise I’ll take care of them. And you.”
Be selfish with me.
Can I really do that? Say fuck it to what my sister might think, what my mom might think, and do what I want?
Rome lays a sweet kiss on the side of my mouth, bringing me back to the moment. Morning breath be damned. “So, what do you think? Can you trust me?”
My pussy purrs so loud, it drowns the sounds of my own thoughts but I know the answer is a resounding “yes, ” and I tell him so.
He smiles at my response and crashes his lips to mine. Another otherworldly kiss with this man. It’s becoming addictive in a dangerous way. I suck his bottom lip into my mouth, drawing out a growl from him.
At some point last night, we got caught up.
We were so desperate to link our bodies back together that we forgot all about the condom.
It led to a long discussion about our sexual history, and we made the decision that after experiencing the bliss of having no barrier between us that we couldn’t go back.
We were open about the fact that neither of us has ever felt comfortable enough to do that before but something about him makes me want to jump with both feet.
At least, in the bedroom. It’s turning out to be a very good decision because I can’t stop grinding my pussy on him with reckless abandon.
He reaches between us to spread my folds with his fingers but as two of his fingers enter me, his phone goes off. He ignores it but then it goes off three more times.
“You should check that.”
His breath comes out in a huff. “Yeah.” He doesn’t remove his fingers, though. They continue their slow tortuous invasion. Beneath my lashes I can see him watching me even though he should be looking at his phone. I decide to give him a show and ride his hand while tweaking my nipples.
It looks like it physically hurts him to look away from me, but he only looks at his phone for a brief moment before he turns his body into me and nestles his head into the crook of my neck.
A third finger joins its friends, spreading me wider.
His thumb presses down on my clit while he pumps in and out of me.
Fuck, I never come this fast but I’m already almost there.
He must sense it because he sucks on my neck and reaches behind me to grip a handful of my ass, kneading it and forcing me to bounce harder on his fingers.
“Fuck, Rome!” I shout. My breathing becomes more erratic when he holds up his hand to show his fingers coated in my arousal.
He locks eyes with me as he sucks each of his fingers into his mouth. I grab his wrist to stop him from licking the third finger and his eyebrows pique until I suck it into my mouth. I take my time swirling my tongue around him, enjoying watching his mouth fall slightly agape.
When I release him, his gaze shifts back and forth between me and his finger in wonder. “Fucking menace,” he says in awe. That torn look takes over his face again before he whispers, “I have to go.”
Of all the things he could’ve said, I wasn’t expecting that. I try to reign in my disappointment, but I know I fail when he gives me a sympathetic smile. “Oh okay. But…what about you?” I look down at his dick, trying to poke a hole in my stomach.
He shakes his head. “I’m your stress toy, remember? You don’t have to worry about me.” I want to though. He kisses my forehead. “I’ll find you later, okay?”
“Okay.”
He makes me walk him to the door so I can lock up behind him and before I’ve even gotten back into bed there’s a text waiting from him.
Rome: When I said later, I meant it, J. I know my girl misses me already.
My heart skips a beat.
Me: Your girl? Getting a lil ahead of yourself, no?
Rome: I was talking about your pussy *insert wink emoji* ask her, she’ll tell you we go together
Me: Lmao shut up!
Rome: Guess I’ll have to remind her later
Me: Guess you will
Texts come in from the ladies letting me know they’re officially looking for me but my thoughts keep drifting to Rome, wondering what the hell I’m going to do with him.
“Okay, get closer,” Dani demands, holding her phone up to capture us all in a selfie. We’re all dressed in robes awaiting our spa treatments.
When Dani grew tired of life as a model she decided to move back home to Baltimore and focus on being an entrepreneur and social media influencer. Now, she has deals with numerous beauty, fashion, and shoe brands to promote their products and she also owns a tequila business called Promesa.
The Dahlia Resort offered us a discount on our stay in exchange for her to post about the hotel on all her platforms, so she’s been taking pictures and videos ever since we landed.
Arnold insisted he didn’t need the discount, earning an eye roll from all of us, but Dani told him she was doing it and if he didn’t want the discount he could run her the difference or shut the fuck up. So, here we are.
She looks at the photo and then hands her phone off to us to approve it before creating a post and saving it in her drafts. Never post your location until you’ve already left it is her motto and she’s very strict about that. No one will see a peep from our trip until we’re back home.
“Okay, so after this I was thinking we could go explore the ruins and then run some errands before we meet up with the guys for our night out.” Ri’s voice goes up an octave with every word.
She stomps her feet and claps her hands like she just announced that Yahya Abdul Mateen II is about to come out and do our massages.
Leave it to her to be excited about planning every second of our day.
Dani, Evie, and I share a look then plaster identical smiles on our faces.
“Sounds great, Ri,” I concede.
“Yeah, that’s fine. But there needs to be some food involved between all this activity. I’d hate to ruin the fun with my hangry ways,” Evie teases.
Ri rears back as if she’s been slapped.
“Didn’t you eat at the hotel earlier?”
The hotel offers an American breakfast or a la carte options.
I missed breakfast because I spent my entire morning under Rome and my stomach is trying to make me regret that now.
Thank God the spa left us a fruit platter and champagne to gorge on while we wait or else my stomach would’ve already embarrassed me.
Evie scoffs. “I didn’t realize we were only allowed one meal a day, massa. My bad.”
Ri waves off her comment with a laugh. “Sorry. That was a little OD.” Evie nods. “I’m just stressed about fitting into my dress.”
Her statement confuses me because Ri is a fashion designer. She literally designed and sewed her own dress, measured perfectly to her body, so how she thought she wouldn’t fit into it was beyond me.
“Girl, you made that dress to fit you, not the other way around. Don’t let me catch you doing something stupid like skipping meals on this trip.” Dani points her finger in Ri’s face while she admonishes her.
Ri grabs her finger and kisses it. “Yes, Mom.” Dani wrinkles her nose at her but smiles brightly.
Turning her attention to me, I can tell Dani is in fix-it mode.
“Oh, I talked to Javier, by the way. He told me there’s a boutique in town that’ll have the pink ribbon.
I guess since the warden has us on errand duty today,” she juts her thumb behind her in Ri’s direction before continuing, “we can make our way there.”
I forgot all about that fucking ribbon. “That’s great, D. Thank you.”
“Yeah, thanks, D. Maybe I should’ve made you my maid of honor.”
You could hear a pin drop after she let those disrespectful words fall from her lips.
From the corner of my eye, I can see Evie pulling her micro twists up into a bun and planting her hands on her hips.
Dani keeps her eyes on me trying to anticipate my next move and if she needs to step between us. As if I would ever put my hands on my sister.
I may have wanted to knock her on her ass plenty of times throughout our lives, but I’ve never once acted on it. That’s not our relationship. Our relationship has always been one where I protect her, even though she’s older, and I always bite my tongue even when I disagree with her.
When Charity Watson wanted to fight her in eleventh grade for talking to her boyfriend, I was the ninth grader who stepped in and beat her ass.
The rage I feel with her now simmers just beneath my skin. It lingers just beneath the surface, slowly scorching me from the inside out. But the feeling that closes in around me, wrapping its claws around my neck and squeezing all the air from my lungs…is hurt.
Brutal, gut-wrenching hurt.
The silence stretches between us, every second incinerating yet another thread of Ri’s and my delicate relationship. Looking at the indignant glint in her eye, I fear we may be coming close to running out of threads to fray.
“Hi, ladies, sorry to keep you waiting.” A woman with light brown skin and dark hair pulled back into a long French braid stands in the doorway.
Her eyes have tiny lines around the edges indicating a lifetime of laughter and happiness.
She’s very small overall, standing only at about five-foot-four and very petite, but upon closer inspection her arms are extremely toned.
She looks between all of us with a nervous smile, no doubt picking up on the energy in the room.
“Hi there, it’s no problem,” Dani offers, effectively breaking the tension.
The woman smiles brightly, the lines around her eyes curve even more. “I’m Sofia. I’ll be one of your masseuses today. We’ll get you set up in pairs in each room if you want to follow me.”
Dani chimes in immediately. “I’ll pair with Nelle.”
Okayyyy. Wasn’t expecting that.
Dani locks arms with me. Evie wraps her arm around Ri’s shoulder and leads them in front of us. She looks back at me with wide eyes before disappearing around the corner.
Sofia drops Ri and Evie off in a dimly lit room before walking Dani and I farther down the hallway to a bright white room filled with pink and purple flowers.
“Okay, ladies. You can disrobe and climb under the sheets here. My partner and I will be back momentarily.”
The sound of the sheets rustling on our respective massage tables grates on my nerves. The last thing I want to do right now is waste my time getting a massage when the possibility of me relaxing is slim to none.
“Hey,” Dani whispers. “I’m sorry about that. She didn’t mean it.”
I should’ve known she wanted to be paired up with me to plead Ri’s case.
She’s always been the Amerie whisperer of the group.
It irritates my soul sometimes the way she coddles her; but honestly, it makes me appreciate Dani’s friendship even more because though she may be high maintenance as hell, she’s always down when it counts.
I take a deep breath. “Respectfully, Dani, it wouldn’t matter either way. She shouldn’t have said it.”
“She’s been intense since she got engaged and it’s only getting worse the closer the wedding gets,” she sighs.
“Then she should talk to me or us. I’m her sister, not her punching bag.”
“I think something is going on with her, but she won’t tell me.”
“Well, she better tell somebody. Go sit on that lady’s couch if need be.”
She scrunches her nose. “What lady?”
“A therapist.”
She snorts out a laugh. “Nelle, please.”
Her adorable snort pulls a much needed laugh out of me. “Or that man’s couch or that person’s couch. Just pick a fucking couch.”
Her laugh grows into a heavy wheeze. “Something is wrong with you.”
“Well shit, let me lead the charge to the couches then. ”
“ Oh my God. ” She holds her palm up to stop me from saying anything else as she gasps for air.
Footsteps echo in the hallway and get closer to us by the second.
Dani adjusts her position and I think that’s the end of our conversation, but she turns to me and says one more thing. “I feel you. I’ll talk to her, okay?”
My friend shouldn’t have to tell my sister to be nice to me. That shit is weird as hell, but here we are needing mediation.
“Okay.”
Sofia and another woman who introduces herself as Guadalupe enter the room and tell us all about the massages they’ll be giving us today before getting started.
I want to feel relaxed from Guadalupe’s touch.
I want to soak in the essential oils being used on my skin.
I want to bask in the pampering I’m receiving, but it all just feels wrong.
I can feel Guadalupe working her fingers to the bone trying to loosen the tension in my shoulders, but it’s so tightly coiled it would take the jaws of life to undo.
Or Rome.
Something tells me his touch could easily take away the anxiety wrestling with my limbs.
It was strongly suggested that we leave our phones with our clothes, but I’m wound too tight for this massage so I kept mine with me, hiding it beneath my breasts.
I hear Guadalupe’s heavy sigh when I slip my phone from under me to beneath the table to type up a message.
She knows as well as I do this massage is a waste of time.
Me: So how does this stress relief arrangement work exactly?
The bubbles pop up almost immediately. I wonder what he and the guys are up to. Was he waiting for my text?
Rome: Simple.
Rome: You tell me you need me and I come
Me: And then I come?
Rome: *laughing emoji* Told you it was simple
Me: I need you.
Rome: On my way