20. Sam
Sam
Between working at the spa, the studio, the police station, and my extracurricular activities with Shadow, I’m drained.
I crave a relaxing night. And by relaxing, I don’t mean being tied up like a pretzel.
Kioni invited me to her neighborhood cookout today.
She said I looked stressed. No, Ki, not stressed.
Overworked and oversexed. Something I never thought would leave these lips.
I’m always satisfied in one way but not the other.
I’m ready for the after-sex cuddles now.
This fucking my brains out and then leaving is for the birds.
I never would have thought I’d miss kissing this much.
Who the hell am I right now?
The sound of a motorcycle has me walking to the window. It’s Ki. She didn’t tell me she was stopping by first. I open the window and she looks up.
“You almost ready?” she yells up.
“Yes. Why?”
She pats the back of her bike. “You’re riding with me.”
“Oh, hell no. I just spent an hour curling my hair and I’m wearing a dress.”
She crosses her arms and tilts her head in amusement. “Are you saying my hair looks a mess?”
It finally hits me that I’ve never seen her with her hair down, and it’s gorgeous.
It’s thick with wild waves and random curls and grazes the tops of her breasts.
She’s wearing a black tank that shows a sliver of skin around her toned middle.
The dark olive green cargo pants are more form-fitting than the black ones she wears with her uniform. Of course I would be overdressed.
“You have natural curls. They stay put better than man-made ones,” I argue.
I can’t hear her, but I know she’s laughing at me by the movement of her shoulders. “I’m coming up,” she says, then disappears.
Her footsteps are light as she jogs up the stairs to my bedroom. She falters when she reaches the doorway. “Red, you’re going to have to change.”
“See? I can’t be riding on the back of a motorcycle like this.” I look down, grabbing the hem of my dress.
“No, it’s because you’re going to be breaking too many necks. You look like a fairy fucking princess and you ain’t kissing no frogs today.”
“And why not?” I tease, knowing there’s only one person I want to be kissing right now.
“Let’s go,” she gripes, grabbing my hand and pulling me along with her. I swipe my purse from my bed as we pass. “You won’t need that.” She takes it from me and tosses it back onto my bed. I grumble, but I don’t argue. Shadow’s dominant behavior better not be turning me submissive.
When we get to her bike, I stare at it like it’s going to bite me and look to her. She smirks and grabs her helmet. “My hair,” I whine, puckering my bottom lip.
“I’m not having that pretty face of yours hurt on my watch.”
“What about you?”
“What about me?” she jokes forcing the helmet over my head.
She steps back and checks me over. “You look adorable.” Her smile has me forgetting about curls getting ruined and kissing Shadow.
“Let’s go.” She smacks the visor closed and swings her leg over effortlessly, seating herself, and offers me her hand.
I smooth my dress over my ass before I sit down.
“Your dress won’t fly up while you are pressed up against me. ”
“Is it too late to tell you I’ve never been on a bike before?”
“Just hold on to me, Red, and you’ll be safe.”
When she pulls out onto the road, I squeeze her tighter, my body clinging to hers for dear life. It’s such a rush of fear and excitement. Every time I begin to relax, she goes faster, forcing my hold to tighten again.
“Doing okay?” she asks when we come to a stoplight, resting her hand on top of my thigh and looking back at me.
I nod, and feelings I shouldn’t have when she removes her hand from my thigh has my stomach fluttering.
Every time she touches me, I feel warm and fuzzy inside.
I’m going to chalk it up to Shadow having me in a constant state of want right now.
I wonder if he’s breaking into my house and pissed to find me gone again.
Ki slows to a crawl, careful to avoid all the people walking on the road.
This must be where the party is. I glance around, curious how many houses are participating.
I’ve never seen a community so friendly and well…
together like this before. They take the meaning of friendly neighbors to a whole new level.
I can barely tolerate seeing Cole every morning, but I think that’s just because he interrupts my morning coffee-drinking session.
She pulls off the road and stops, and I’m snatched off the back of the bike before I can even let go of Kioni.
An embarrassing shriek gets muffled by the helmet. “Ryker!” I shout when I spot his tattooed arms around my white sundress. I turn around and punch him in the stomach. He flexes first, and I have to shake my hand to relieve the ache of hitting a brick wall.
“Just helping you off, sunshine,” he replies, and I narrow my eyes at him.
“I could have flashed everyone my underwear!” I whisper-shout after removing my helmet.
“Oh, I’m pretty sure you did. But no one here gives a shit.”
I look to Ki for backup, and she takes the helmet from my hand and smooths down my hair. Why do I always lean into her when she does things like this? It feels too natural.
“He’s right. No one gives a shit.”
I huff, looking back and forth between the two and wonder why I agreed to come tonight.
“Boundaries,” I tell him. He chokes on a laugh, and she smirks.
“Where do you want to eat?” Ki asks.
“What do you mean?” I look around to figure out where the people with plates are coming from.
“You name it, and someone will probably have it. It’s like a culinary journey around the world on a single street.
You’ll find Filipino dishes, the best Mexican and Japanese you’ll ever taste, and so much more.
Parents, aunties, uncles, and cousins all come to visit and they each make something different.
If you just want some BBQ ribs or a hamburger, there’s basic shit too.
And there are drinks, games, and dancing. ”
A smile spreads across my face. “This is amazing. Which house is yours?”
“I don’t live here anymore, but my mama’s house is down the street. Trust me, if there were a house for sale, I’d be the first to snatch it up. But nobody leaves here unless they are in a casket, and even then it gets passed down to their children.”
“Wait till you try my grandma’s pies,” Ryker pipes up from beside me. No wonder these two are close. They grew up together.
“I want to try everything,” I tell Kioni, and she takes my hand, leading the way to our first stop. The warmth of her hand reminds me of the sun caressing my skin as it rises above the trees to light up the darkened sky.
I love sunrises.
We walk from house to house, mingling and grazing.
I try little bits of almost everything so I didn’t get too full before the end.
Although some things were too spicy for my weak taste buds.
Everyone is so nice and welcoming, and it has me wishing I had bought a house in a different neighborhood.
I chose quiet, and I think a place like this is what I needed more.
When we settle in at Kioni’s parents, her mom insisted I needed more meat on my bones and made me a plate piled entirely too high with BBQ ribs, macaroni and cheese, potato salad, and collard greens.
I smile and accept the stomach ache waiting to happen.
“Ki, I can’t eat all of this. I’m stuffed.”
She chuckles and grabs a rib from my mountain. “We’ll share,” she says as Ryker shoves a fork into the greens.
I lean back, holding my belly, after all three of us finally finish my one plate.
Her mom was trying to kill me, not fatten me up.
Ryker stays sitting next to me while Ki walks around the yard talking with family.
The lights strung around the yard keep the area bright as the sun goes down.
The music is louder now, and more people are dancing than earlier.
“Well, this is fan-fucking-tastic,” Ryker’s sarcastic tone has me looking at him with a puzzled expression. He nods to a pretty blonde.
“Ex-girlfriend?” I question.
“Not mine.”
For some reason, a knot forms in the pit of my stomach
“Ki’s?”
“Mhm. She’s going to be in a pissy mood now.”
I watch their interaction. Ki glances over at us when she spots her ex walking towards her and stiffens when the girl puts her hand on her shoulder.
I’m not sure what comes over me, but I don’t enjoy seeing Ki uncomfortable.
Maybe it’s because she’s always so confident and strong, or maybe it’s because she came here with me, not whoever this girl is.
I get up and beeline straight towards them, stepping in the middle and knocking the woman’s hand off Ki’s shoulder.
“Dance with me,” I tell Kioni. She looks down at me, surprise and curiosity brightening her eyes, and she grins.
“We were talking,” the girl snaps, attempting to shove me out of the way. Ki’s eyes shoot to hers, and she grabs her wrist. “No, we weren’t, and don’t fucking touch her.”
Butterflies tickle my core and flutter like birds on cocaine when she places her hand on my lower back possessively and guides me to the middle of the yard.
“Thank you,” she whispers in my ear.
“You’re welcome,” I reply, my voice shaking. What the hell is happening? Damn it, Shadow. She dips me and my eyes landing on an upside-down Ryker, grinning from ear to ear. Our bodies are as close now as they were on the bike and my heart is pounding too loudly.
“What’s wrong, Red?” she teases.
I clear my throat. “Nothing.”
Her eyes drops to my lips before returning to mine again.
“She’s glaring at us. What you are doing is working.”
She chuckles lowly. “Nothing I am doing is for anyone but you.”
Her warmth is heating me from the inside out. I’m too hot. Too fucking hot.
“I need to use the restroom,” I blurt out.
“I’ll show you where it is.”
She leads me through the crowd and opens the door for me to step inside the quiet confines of her childhood home. I take a deep breath, trying to calm myself.
She steps around me, tilts my chin up, and studies my face. “Are you sure you are okay?”
I remain silent and concentrate on my breathing because her nearness is making it worse.
“Red—” the worry in her tone does something to me, and I cut her off with my lips on hers. They are so soft.
I like soft.
I pull away, my eyes widening. “Ki, I’m so sor—” she smashes her lips back to mine and cups the sides of my face, walking me backwards until my back hits a wall.
I grab her hips to steady myself, my body threatening to dissolve into nothing.
Our tongues collide, and I moan into her mouth, tugging her closer by her waistband.
She abruptly breaks the kiss and rests her forehead against mine.
Our breaths mixing and chests heaving as if we had just been running.
“You can kiss me whenever you’d like, Red, but never apologize for it.” She kisses my forehead, her lips lingering for two heartbeats. “The bathroom is down the hall to the right,” she explains, taking a step back.
I swallow hard and make my way there on weak legs, resting my back against the cool door when I shut myself inside.
Her touch lingers on my skin. I brush my thumb across my lips and close my eyes.
A single kiss and I’m ready to combust. One.
Single. Kiss. For the first time in days, I’m not thinking about my masked orgasm supplier.
The only thing floating around in my mind is the woman waiting outside this door for me.
He can never find out what happened tonight.
If he hurts her, I will never forgive myself.