Chapter Five
Janelle
L ast night was unbelievable and unforgettable.
Letting, no, demanding Rome make me come in the middle of the dance floor where the lights could’ve come up at any moment to expose us is the most reckless thing I’ve done in a while.
It was also the most freeing. I knew Rome would not only get me where I needed to go but also keep me safe while doing it.
When he made a show of using his arousal-covered finger to stir his drink, I almost dragged him to the bathroom to finish what we started.
Instead, I watched him go to the bathroom alone before I went to the ladies’ room and got myself together.
We spent the rest of the night dancing with each other and everyone else; except it didn’t escape my notice that Ri kept herself and Arnold in their own little corner.
She seems to have fed into our mom’s bullshit notion that I am hung up on her soon-to-be husband and wants to keep me away from him.
What does it say about our relationship that she thinks I’d actually try something with her man?
Do I seem like that kind of person?
I purse my lips at my sister’s obvious mistrust, but then a still sleeping Rome pulls me in closer to him and the warmth of his body takes away the tension in my bones.
We stayed at Mystical Nightclub until they closed at three a.m. and Rome wasted no time coming to my room after we all separated. I have no idea what time we went to bed but I’m too wired to attempt to sleep now.
Careful not to wake Rome, I turn in his arms so I can take him in fully.
His lashes are impossibly long; each one is perfectly curved.
His right eyebrow has a slight kink in it.
It’s a minor imperfection that only adds to his overall allure.
His bottom lip is only slightly bigger than his top lip, moisturized and ready to be kissed.
I almost want to reach my hand up and trace them, but I don’t want to risk waking him.
When he’s awake, Rome has a menacing look to him.
The sharp lines of his jaw and harsh eyes make him look sexy as hell, but also like he might kill you if you cross him.
Sleeping, though, he looks so peaceful. Gentle even.
He looks like mine.
“You got your fill? Or should I turn to give you another angle?”
I jump at the sound of his voice and slap him in the chest when he opens his eyes, wiggling his eyebrows at me.
“Ass. How long have you been up?”
“You mean how long have I noticed you staring at my skin like you wanna wear it? A while.”
I playfully shove him in the chest again and try to roll away, but he grabs me by the waist and holds tight. “I can’t stand you. You should’ve told me to stop being a creep sooner.”
“Nah, I like when you look at me.”
Sleeping with this man was a terrible idea. Not only does he have a stroke game that will have you sitting in the bushes outside his house waiting for him to show his face, but he says things that feel real and permanent.
It’s not. This is a fantasy we’re selling each other.
He is a damn good salesman though.
“Let me find out you’re needy.”
“And if I am? What you gonna do about it?” He nuzzles his head against my breasts while massaging my hip dimples.
It’s hard to think straight with him clouding my space like this so I change the subject. “Do you have to sneak out soon?”
“Nope. I’m free today, and so are you.” He slides out from under the covers and heads to the bathroom. I lean forward in the bed so I can peek into the bathroom to see that he’s using the spare toothbrush provided by the hotel and helping himself to my toothpaste.
“How you figure that? You know Ri probably has our day planned down to the minute. I gotta ask her for bathroom breaks.”
He doesn’t answer for a while, the sounds of water running and him brushing his teeth filling the room. When I hear the sink turn off, I get up to head in and brush my own teeth and I find him scrubbing his face with a washcloth and my face cleanser. He sure got comfortable in my space very fast.
“I figure that because whatever plans you have today, I need you to get out of them.”
Scoffing, I step by him to grab my toothpaste from the edge of the sink.
He meets my eyes in the mirror and I’m taken aback by the lack of humor I see on his face.
His eyes are low and his jaw is tight. He’s serious?
“Rome, how the hell am I supposed to get out of whatever Ri has planned today? I’m the maid of honor, that’s not a good look. ”
“What did I ask you to do when we first agreed to do this whole thing?” He motions his hands between us.
My mind flashes back to the morning after our first night together. It feels like weeks have passed since I turned my life upside down for him instead of mere days. Chewing on my bottom lip, I let out a sigh. “To give you all my yeses.”
“And that I would take care of them and you. Right. So, you know I wouldn’t ask you to do this if I didn’t have your best interest at heart.”
“I know.”
“Then can you please just trust me?”
I do trust him, completely, and that terrifies me because it’s not in my nature.
My dad taught me to never give anyone my trust until they’ve earned it, so how the hell is it possible that Rome could have earned my trust in three days?
Sure, I’ve known him for almost two years before this trip, but this is the first time we’re really spending extended periods of time together, alone.
I’m confused as hell and I don’t know what to make of the man in front of me, but I find myself walking past him to grab my phone anyway.
Me: I need y’all to do me a favor
Evie: It’s so early for favors
Me: Girl you think it’s too early for everything
Evie: And yet you ask anyway
Dani: No you bitches are not blowing up my phone
Evie: Blowing up your phone? It was four texts.
Dani: One is too many. The vibrations are so loudddddd Dramatic when I’m barely conscious
Dani: But what you need Nelle?
Me: I need Ri interference
Dani: What you mean?
Me: I can’t handle any outings right now I just need a day of silence
Evie: Omg love her down but she will have to pry my cold dead body out of this room if she wants to do stuff today I’m not with it
Dani: LMAO I feel that my battery is all the way dead
Evie: Let her spend some time with her man and leave us be
Dani switches over to the group chat with all four of us on it to ask Ri to pardon us from activities today and Ri reluctantly agrees. I could’ve texted her myself but I knew it would go over better coming from anyone but me.
Satisfied with my efforts, I turn to Rome with a wide smile on my face. He looks good as hell leaning against the bathroom doorjamb in nothing but his briefs shaking his head in utter amusement.
“You good?”
“I’m great. So, what are we doing with all this free time?” I start to saunter toward him and he meets me halfway, dropping his lips to mine in a sweet kiss.
“You’ll see. Now get dressed. Wear a bathing suit.” He turns his back to me and starts pulling on the clothes he wore last night. “I’m gonna go shower and grab my stuff, but I’ll meet you back here in thirty.”
Hold on, get dressed? Wear a bathing suit? When he demanded I free up my day, I assumed he wanted to spend the entire day in bed. I wasn’t expecting an outing and now I’m even more turned around.
It’s risky because after I just made a big deal out of wanting to stay in all day to the girls it would be wild for me to get caught out and with Rome no less, but the idea of spending quality time with him outside of these four walls has a whole stampede of elephants running rampant in my stomach.
“Umm, okay.”
“No questions?”
“Were there supposed to be? I thought you told me to just trust you.”
“I’m just impressed you’re listening. Let me find out you’re a good girl after all.”
Heat rushes to my core, leaving me breathless. “Keep playing, you’ll find out what a good girl I am.”
His gaze travels the length of my body so painstakingly slowly I can feel all the womanism jumping out of my skin.
He lets out a sarcastic huff and bends down to grab my bag. He claims to have already packed it with the essentials at some point this morning. I’m convinced the man never sleeps. “Thirty minutes, Janelle.”
“Favorite animal.”
As promised, Rome came back to my room after thirty minutes and led me to one of our rental cars. We’ve all typically been riding bikes into town since it’s not far, so the fact that we’re in the rental means we’re going farther than the hotel-provided bike rentals would take us. What is he up to?
We’ve been driving for the past ten minutes, and I’ve been asking random questions to keep from asking that exact question.
“A giraffe,” he says after a moment.
“Aww, forreal? Giraffes are cute. Did you know that giraffes are the tallest terrestrial animal?”
He laughs and drops his hand to my thigh. “I didn’t know that. Look at you coming through with the animal facts.”
“Had to show you I’m more than just a pretty face.”
“I think I knew that already, Dr. Cross.” I smile at his jab. “Okay, what’s your favorite animal?”
“Oh, easy. Turtles.”
“Turtles? I wasn’t expecting that.”
“Turtles are probably one of the most adorable animals to exist. Especially sea turtles, their shells are so beautiful.”
“And hit me with an animal fact because I know you want to.”
“Oh, well, I fuck with sea turtles heavy because they’re loners. They actually rarely interact with each other unless they’re mating and I respect that, because if you’re not clapping these cheeks why are you in my space?”
“Wowww, you said close the door on your way out.”
“Periodt. Not you, though. I might like you in my space just a little bit. For now.”
“Only a little bit? I gotta work on that.”
“There’s always room for improvement.”
“Noted. Do you consider yourself a loner forreal? You don’t come across that way to me.”