9. River #2
“Then that’s all that matters. I have to go. I ordered a car to pick up my mom and Rylee. They should be here about six, and I made dinner reservations at—”
“No. I want to make dinner for them tonight. You can take them to dinner tomorrow if you want, and I’ll stay here with Rivvy.”
“Why do you keep trying to exclude yourself from plans with my family?”
“I’m not, but—”
“I gotta go, E. I’ll change the reservation to tomorrow, and you’re coming with us.”
I leaned down and kissed her lips as if I’d done it hundreds of times, then left a kiss on Riverlynn’s forehead before tickling her stomach and causing her to giggle.
On my way to practice, I couldn’t stop thinking about last night. Erissa took my dick like it was what she was born to do . . . no running, no pushing me away, and no whining about it being too big. I almost always had to go easy on these hos.
Every time we came, I told myself I’d let her rest, but somehow, my dick kept finding its way inside her. The best part was how willing of a participant she was. Her pussy stayed wet, and her legs stayed open.
The sound of my ringing phone filled my car, and when I looked at my dashboard display, it was Jaxon. I answered it on the second ring.
“Wassup?”
“You headed to practice?”
“Duh, man. Wassup?”
“I knew your ass didn’t check your text messages. Practice is canceled. The storm caused a power outage, and it hasn’t been restored.”
“What about the generators?”
“Nigga, I don’t know, and I didn’t ask. I’m about to hit the weights if you want to slide through since you’re already out.”
“Bet. I’m on my way.”
I made a detour and headed toward Jaxon’s house, arriving about twenty minutes later. On the way to the back of his house, I scrolled through my texts, stopping on the one I’d received hours ago, canceling practice.
Apparently, the power in our practice facility had gone out, plus everything within a five-mile radius. They didn’t know when it would be back on and were working on a practice plan for tomorrow.
Jaxon must have been notified by his security cameras that I was approaching, and he opened the door before I could ring the doorbell.
“Wassup?” he greeted, stepping back to give me room to enter.
“I just read the text. Good looking out, man.”
We headed downstairs to his basement. I could’ve worked out at home, but if I went back there now, I wasn’t sure I could keep my hands off Erissa.
“I guess the storm was much worse on that side of town,” he said.
“Yeah.”
I could barely remember the rain from last night because I was preoccupied. When I thought about what had my attention, I couldn’t stop a smile from forming.
“Fuck you smiling at?”
“What?”
“You over there grinning like a damn weirdo. You good?”
“I’m better than good. Let’s get this workout in.”
For the next hour, nineties Hip-Hop music played in the background while we worked up a sweat. Aside from letting each other know when we needed a spot, we didn’t talk much.
“Is water cool?” he offered on the way to the fridge.
“Yeah.”
I sat on one of the benches and wiped my face with my towel. Jaxon tossed me a bottle of water, and I downed it in a few swings.
“What’s on your mind, man?” he asked.
“Nothing. About to head home and make the most of the rest of my day. My mom and sister will be here tonight.”
“What you got planned?”
“Erissa insisted on making dinner tonight, so I’ll have to switch the reservations for dinner at Elm Street Blues to tomorrow night. On Sunday, we’ll probably have brunch somewhere and drive out to the beach. They leave Monday afternoon.”
“Your nanny is cooking for your family?”
“She cooks all the time.”
“A nanny and a cook all rolled up into one, huh?” he questioned suspiciously.
“I told her she doesn’t have to cook, but she enjoys it, so who am I to stop her? She can cook her ass off, too, and the meals are healthy.”
He looked at me with squinted eyes, but I ignored him while I changed into a dry T-shirt I’d found in my workout bag.
“You fucked her, didn’t you?’
“Man—”
“Don’t even lie. You’re fucking the nanny.”
“I’m out. I’ll see you tomorrow. Thanks for the workout.”
I headed toward the stairs, which led to the door.
“Ah, hell. You done messed around and fell in love.”
I stopped and turned around, wearing a frown.
“What are you talking about?” I questioned, wondering how he concluded that I was in love.
“When a nigga stops bragging about his conquests, it’s usually because he’s in love, or falling. Which one are you?”
“Mind your business. Erissa ain’t like the women we usually hook up with. She takes good care of Rivvy, and I don’t want you to get the wrong idea about her.”
“Damn. It sounds like you’re already sprung. Her pussy must be good as—”
“Aye, chill, man. Don’t speak on her like that. It’s disrespectful, and I ain’t with that shit.”
Jaxon held up his hands as if he were surrendering and took a few steps back.
“My bad, man, but you can admit you’re feeling the nanny. Ain’t shit wrong with that. Hell, she may be the one.”
I wasn’t prepared to admit to anyone that Erissa had my feelings in very unfamiliar territory, so I played it off.
“I won’t say all that, but she’s cool, and it seems like taking care of people makes her happy. I’ve never had anyone take care of me besides my mother, so this feels different.”
“This could get real messy if you’re not careful.”
“I’m always careful. I’m out.”
“Damn. I can’t get no invite to dinner this time?” he shouted to my back.
“You can come through if you want. The driver should be dropping them off at about six.”
“Bet. I’ll see you later.”
Usually when my mother came into town, she cooked and insisted I invite some of my teammates over. I hung out with Jaxon, Boris, and Desmond the most, so I usually invited them. I wouldn’t be surprised if all three of them showed up tonight, even though Boris and Desmond weren’t formally invited.
I thought about Erissa on the ride home, wondering if things between us would be awkward. This morning she didn’t want to look at me because she was feeling a way about the lines that we’d crossed.
We didn’t have time to discuss her feelings, but if she thought last night was the beginning and the end of whatever this was between us, she’d better think again.