BEANS
PRESS PLAY
After a three-hour drive back to Covana, I finally made it to my crib, which was closer to campus.
I couldn’t believe what the day held for me.
It felt like a test. It was the universe against me, trying to knock at the door of evil.
It was damn near two in the morning, and although I should be calling it a night, the thought of me leaving shit how it was with Piggy fucked with me.
I pulled my phone out and scrolled until I came up on her name.
I hit dial and waited for her to answer.
When she picked up, the sound of her soft, sweet voice, it made me feel something.
“Braylen?” she called out. “Is something wrong?”
I sat back on my couch as I let her voice soothe me. “Nah, I’m good. Were you asleep?”
I could hear her moving around, “Yeah, it’s like two in the morning. I have an early class, but you know that.”
I ran my hand down my leg. “I want to see you. Come over.”
“No.”
“Why?” I asked.
She sighed loudly. “Because you don’t get to pick and choose when you do and don’t want to deal with me.”
I knew she was still upset, but I wanted to try to fix it. “Let me make it up to you. Come over.”
She gave me a sarcastic laugh. “You can’t be serious.”
“I am. Come on,” I asked again.
“But I—”
“See you when you get here,” I told her and hung up, so she didn’t have time to say no.
I hurried to get up and clean myself up. When I heard a knock at the door, I glanced at my watch and saw it had been twenty whole minutes. I opened the door to see her standing there, wearing a blue bonnet, an oversized Treasure of Doom shirt, and sweats. “Not the bonnet,” I joked.
She gave me a half smile as she looked up at me. “You made it seem like it was important, so why not come as I was?”
I stepped back and let her inside. Piggy had been to both my cribs plenty of times. In fact, she had been the only female I allowed in my personal spaces. She made herself comfortable on my couch as I sat beside her. I flicked at her shirt, “You love this damn game.”
She shrugged. “Yeah, and you love being an asshole, but I bet you don’t want to talk about that.”
I shook my head. “You got jokes.”
She shifted her body to face me. The smell of her sweet perfume wafted to my nose, making my body react. If it were up to me, I would have her ass tied up somewhere, devouring her until the sun came up, but I knew that she wasn’t ready.
“I don’t have jokes, I’m serious. I’ve been knowing you for what I consider a long time, and there are things about you that still seem hidden. Instead of expressing yourself, you take it out on the world, me included.”
My intentions had never been to take shit out on her; however, she had been caught in the crossfire.
I stood up from the couch, went to the back, grabbed something, and came back.
“I’ll tell you what, since you like games, I have one for you.
Every time the dice lands on two, you can ask me anything.
For every time the die lands on three, I can ask you anything, and for every time the die lands on six, I get to do what I want to you, deal? ”
She burst into laughter, “No, because that means you can torture me, and I have to submit.”
My tongue slid across my lips. “What’s wrong with that. My torture is good, I promise.” I winked.
I could see her wheels turning. “Fine.”
I handed her the die before sitting next to her. She shook it in her hand and rolled it.
Five.
I glanced at her before picking up the die and rolling it.
Two.
She smiled. “Why Beans? The name? I never got a chance to ask. I’ve always gone with it.”
I ran my hand through my scruffy beard. “Because Braylen died when something else came of me, and only you can call me Braylen; no one else gets that pass.”
She snatched up the die, bit into her bottom sexily, and rolled it.
Two.
Shit! “I feel like you're cheating,” I told her.
She fell back laughing. “It’s in the stars, baby. You’re fucking with a gamer.” She shrugged.
As soon as she snorted, I shook my head, “That’s why I call you Piggy. It’s always been that laugh. Pretty ass,” I said to her.
There were a few seconds of silence between us. It was in moments like this that only Braylen existed. I could see her eager to ask me another question. “Why did you stand me up?” she asked seriously.
I ran my hand through my locs. “I got caught up in something, and I couldn’t make it. I meant to call you, but I was busy. I fucked up,” I told her.
I could see her staring at me curiously. It was her eyes that did it for me. I snatched up the die and shook it in my hand as I stared at her. I released it onto the table. It teetered from side to side.
Three.
My eyes slowly landed back on her. “Can you handle a man with a dark side?”
She awkwardly smiled. “How dark?”
I stood slowly as my eyes lowered to her.
I grabbed a blunt I rolled before she arrived from the table and lit it.
I walked over to dim the lights low. I watched as the delicate Piggy slowly became nervous.
“As in lurking around just to be in your presence. Sinking my teeth into your neck just enough to draw blood. Feasting on your pussy until my appetite is satisfied. Making you cum on command. Ripping a nigga’s head off for absorbing your air,” I finished.
Her tongue gently escaped her lips as it glided across her plump lips. “If I’m into said man, then yes. I can handle it, but he won’t know unless he tries.”
I nodded as she quickly picked up the die and dropped it back on the table. I snatched the cuffs from my shelf.
Eyes on me.
I smirked. “It’s going to land on six,” I mumbled.
Six.
Her eyes darted up at me as I dangled the cuffs in one hand and pulled my blunt from my lips with the other. I could see her swallow deep. “What do you want to do?” she muttered.
I didn’t bother to say another word as I made my way toward her. She was trying to play it cool, but I knew she was petrified. As she should have been, it was time to feed the beast. “Hands,” I told her.
“Wait!” she shouted. “What will this lead to? What is the outcome of all this? Huh? Because, as bad as I want to continue this game, if my feelings are going to be destroyed, I quit, and God knows I never quit a game.”
I froze.
She threw her hands up. “Tell me. I swear, if you don’t say something, I’m leaving.”
“I have no answer to that. I-I,” I paused.
My brain was saying let the fucking wall down, but I couldn’t. Before I knew it, she had stood from the couch. “I’m leaving. I can’t do this shit,” she said before walking past me and out the door.
“Fuck!” I shouted.
The moment I heard her car speed off; my anger grew.
My nose flared, and tension built within me.
I turned and stormed down the hall to my office.
I sat down and started thinking about what was holding me back from giving her my all, and the only thing I could think of was one person, Fiona, because she had destroyed me.