24. Sonny
Sonny
I had surely passed whatever socially acceptable time there was to watch someone as they slept but I don’t give a damn. She looks peaceful, her beautiful face calm and relaxed as she sleeps.
Before Laila, I didn’t know I could be so addicted to someone’s presence.
It had been like this before when we were just friends, when we hadn’t crossed the line in the sand that she had drawn all those months ago.
But now that she was mine? That feeling has only amplified and when she isn’t around I want her to be.
I’m not sure why my body refuses to rest after staying up late going round after round, lost in Laila, but after only a couple hours I’m wide awake.
The clock on my nightstand tells me that I only have about an hour until I’m supposed to get up to meet the guys to play ball.
I already turned off the alarm I had set when I realized that no amount of counting sheep, or pretending to sleep, would actually help me to fall back asleep.
Laila shifts in her sleep, going from her head resting on my chest to lying on her other side facing away from me.
I take this as my opportunity to get up.
I know that the chances of me unintentionally waking her up continue to increase the longer I lie in the bed awake next to her.
I ease out of the bed and walk out to the living room.
I don’t bother to turn on any lights and instead let the moonlight and my knowledge of my place guide me to my piano.
It is far too late, or early depending on how you think about it, to play anything but working on lyrics felt better in front of my piano than anywhere else.
I grab my journal and my pair of over ear headphones to listen to the beats and lose myself in the words. I’m so absorbed in what I’m doing that I don’t notice Laila until she’s sliding onto the piano bench next to me.
I pull the headphones off and place them on the little table next to my piano.
“Hey you,” Laila murmurs.
I place a small kiss on her lips. “Hey yourself. I didn’t wake you did I?”
“No, I have a hair appointment in a little bit so I had an alarm set,” Laila says, yawning. “What are you working on?”
“I was working through a new song and then I have a meeting with Morgan after I get back from the gym to talk about all the promo and events she thinks I should do before the release of the album.”
“Ooo fun. Is there anything solidified yet?”
“We’ve started doing a schedule for social media posts, there's a couple interviews and she also wants me to have an album release party. We’ve also started planning some small events, pop ups in different cities, but for small groups to listen to some songs.
“I think those are all great ideas. You’ve talked about wanting to really connect with your audience and show them more of who you are and all of that will definitely help accomplish that.”
I smile. “I agree, all of this has definitely been a labor of love, but I think I might actually like the result once it’s all said and done.”
Laila wraps her arms around my neck and places a kiss on my cheek. “I know you will.”
I wrap one arm around her waist and pull her onto my lap so she’s straddling me. One of Laila’s hands travels down my bare chest and rests right above my heart. In my attempt to not wake her I didn’t grab a shirt to put on.
“Do these have a meaning?” Laila asks, her eyes still focused on the ink.
Her fingers are lightly running over the tattoo on the left of my chest. The only ink on my body, because nothing else has made me feel strong enough to want to have it on me for forever.
Two lines of six numbers, small and simple, exactly how I wanted it.
Laila’s eyes are focused on watching her finger as she traces the numbers but I still look at her as I respond.
“They’re dates that had a significant impact on me. The first one is April 17, 2019. The day my dad died.”
Laila’s fingers stop moving and she snaps her head up to look at me.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”
I shake my head. “There’s nothing to apologize for.”
“And the other one is -”
“October 22, 2020,” Laila interjects.
I nod. I can see the wheels turning as she processes the date, trying to figure out why it’s there with the other one.
“The day I met you.”
At my words she goes still, staring at the tattoo until her eyes flick up to mine.
“What? What do you mean? When did you get these?”
The words tumble out of her mouth, one after the other.
“A couple months after my tour ended. I wasn’t in a great place mentally.
I felt like I was almost in mourning after everything that had happened.
But I couldn’t get the girl that reminded me that I wasn’t the arrogant asshole I was allowing myself to become, out of my head.
She gave me the push to start living for me and I wanted to always remember that day. ”
“I-I don’t know what to say,” she says.
I take her fingers and bring them up to my lips, pressing a soft kiss to them. “You don’t have to. I’m all in with you, and this tattoo now has even deeper meaning for me because of it.”
“But this just started. How can you be so sure?”
I hear the fear in her voice.
The doubt.
The hesitance.
I reach into the pocket of my basketball shorts to get my phone. I’m not sure if it’ll be enough to get her to understand the depths of what I feel for her, but I know there’s no better way to tell her than through this.
“I want you to hear something,” I say.
I navigate to my email and click on the most recent file that Blue sent me after our last session. I click on it and set my phone down on the music stand, the song starting to play.
This song took me months to write, longer than anything else because I couldn’t find the right words.
I couldn’t capture the extraordinary emotions that were deep in my chest. Until it all just fell together.
A song about love and hope and finding yourself while falling fast and hard for an incredible woman.
The last notes of the song fade out and the room is blanketed in silence again.
“This is the first love song I’ve ever written about someone in particular,” I pause.
“It’s about you. I know I said that I would go at your pace, and I’m still committed to doing that, but I never want you to question how I feel about you Laila.
I’m not asking you to be where I’m at, all I’m asking is for you to trust me. ”
She flicks her eyes up to meet mine and I see all of her, the depths of herself that she keeps locked away, laid bare for me to see.
Laila shifts subtly, a gentle rock forward of her hips, and I watch as the look in her eyes transforms to lust.
I lean forward and press my lips to hers, a gentle press that quickly turns frenzied. Our tongues duel as the intensity of our kiss continues to rise. Laila grinds into the growing swell of my dick and a deep low groan escapes my lips.M
y hands travel under the hem of the oversized shirt Laila had thrown on and cup both of her breasts, running my thumbs over her hardened nipples causing her to shudder. Laila pulls at the shirt, tugging it over her head and tossing it somewhere on the floor.
I take a moment to take her in, the swell of her breasts and the softness of her stomach, her beautiful body bare on top of me. The sun is just starting to rise and it covers her skin in a beautiful glow.
I dip my head and take one of Laila’s nipples into my mouth. She places her hand on the back of my neck, holding me to her as I lick and suck and tug on her breast. I switch to the other breast giving it equal treatment drawing a pleasure filled whimper from Laila.
I release her nipple with a satisfying pop and kiss my way back up her body, easing my way up her shoulder and neck until I capture her lips again.
She starts to writhe under me and I adjust her slightly so she’s no longer sitting on both of my legs but now just one.
I break our kiss and watch as Laila grinds her pussy on my thigh, her eyes closed, one arm braced on my shoulder, using me to get the friction she’s seeking.
I hum. “There you go baby. Use me.”
After a few more rotations of her hips, her movements slow and I grip her thighs, holding her as I stand and walk back to my bedroom.
I place her down on the bed and spread open her legs, my thumb finding her clit and applying firm pressure.
She squirms and tries to back away from me, but I place my other hand on her hip and hold her in place.
I press two fingers to her entrance and her wetness allows them to glide right in. I start moving them in and out of her slowly, pulling them nearly all the way out before sinking back in to my knuckles.
“More,” Laila whines and I oblige, increasing my pace and causing her pussy to tighten.
I curl my fingers up, caressing the inside of her pussy and I feel as she reaches closer and closer to the edge.
“That’s it, baby girl,” I say. “Make a mess all over me.”
Seconds later she erupts, her body jerking as her orgasm rips through her.
I ease my fingers out of her and pull my shorts and boxers down together in one swift motion. I place my hands under Laila’s thighs and tug her to the edge of the bed.
I rub the head of my dick through her slick folds before I push into her, the blissful warmth and wetness of her pussy greeting me. I lean down to place a kiss on her lips. As we pull apart Laila whispers, “I do trust you.”