by B. Love
Usually confident, Leigh was a ball of nerves as her finger hovered over Ransom’s number in her phone. She hadn’t seen him in a month, which was the longest they had ever gone without talking to each other. Seemed he’d been trying his very hardest to avoid her, being sure not to show up at parties or sets he figured she may have been invited to. Though she was able to function without Ransom, Leigh simply didn’t want to.
Her life went on without him, but she couldn’t deny that it was better with him in it.
He’d had her blocked for so long Leigh had been aching to hear him call her name. At this point, all she had was videos in her phone to listen to and remember his voice by. With it being Valentine’s day, she hoped he would be in a good enough mood to unblock her. That hope shattered when she called and it went straight to voicemail again.
Leigh groaned as she got out of her custom colored lavender Range Rover. Slamming the door behind her, she headed for the front doors of her strip club — Diamonds and Girls. Throughout the day, the club was just a normal bar. As soon as the sun went down, that changed. Leigh had always been a fan of all forms of dance, but she knew how lucrative exotic dancing could be after her sister Trinity started working the pole.
The moment Leigh had a few hundred thousand dollars saved, she immediately wanted to invest in a legal business that would return profit quickly. Because of the influence Trinity had in her life, she decided to open the club in her sister’s honor. Now, Trinity made her money running the place instead of dancing.
Stepping into the dimly lit club, Leigh made her way directly to the bar. She paid close attention to the floors, stages, and lighting, making sure everything was decent and in order for later that night. Holidays were always big nights for them, and Valentine’s day damn near topped them all. There would be tons of single men and couples floating in, and Leigh had her best girls lined up to entertain them for the night.
As she sat at the bar, Leigh released a loaded sigh. She knew that she probably wouldn’t be so stuck on Ransom if she would have been the one to cut things off. But when he did it, he’d taken a certain amount of power away from her that she desperately wanted to get back.
“What’s up, boss lady?” Ronica greeted, making her way back behind the bar.
Leigh smiled genuinely at the sight of her. “Shit, what’s up?”
Ronica shrugged as she placed the bottles of Tito’s that were in her hands down. “Can’t call it. What you doing here?”
“Hell if I know,” Leigh answered honestly with a chuckle. “Let me get a shot of E&J.”
“Got you.”
While Leigh waited, she scrolled social media until a group text came through. It was Drecco, asking who all would be coming through to the set he was having later that night. Last time Leigh checked, Drecco was fucking off with three or four different women. Knowing him, he’d cut them all off a few days ago just to avoid having to buy them anything today. Instead of replying right away, she waited to see what the rest of her siblings that were included in the group chat would say.
“You got any plans for tonight, Roni?”
Ronica smiled softly and shook her head as she placed the shot in front of Leigh. “Nah. I might work a double and see if I can spot somebody in here.”
“Shit, you just might. We’re going to be packed.”
“I already know. What about you? You and Ransom doing anything special?”
Leigh knocked the shot back and asked for another. This time, she requested the apple flavor.
“Nah. He cut me off.”
Ronica’s mouth dropped and eyes widened as she clutched her chest. “What! Oh no! I’m so sorry.”
Shrugging softly, Leigh lowered her head as Ronica grabbed the apple-flavored Brandy.
“It’s cool. Well, it’s not, but it is what it is.” Pushing hair behind her ear, Leigh knocked the second shot back and asked for a third.
“Is that why you’re here? I could tell you were down, but I definitely wasn’t expecting that to be the reason. You and Ransom seemed inseparable.”
Honestly, Leigh thought they were, too. She thought about her answer before she replied. There wasn’t a woman in her life that she felt super comfortable talking about Ransom with. Christian would tell her she was crazy for letting him go, and Maria would say fuck him, get money. Her mother would tell her to do whatever it took to make it right, but their relationship was odd. Most times, Leigh ended up doing the opposite of whatever Porsha told her just to spite her… when she’d be the one who would end up suffering.
Maybe it would have been nice to talk to a normal woman who didn’t have the issues she and her sisters had. Ronica grew up in a two-parent household. Both of her parents were still alive, married, and happily in love. Ronica seemed to have a good amount of self-esteem and love within herself… so why not?
“Yea, I guess. I really didn’t want to be home or working, but I’m trying to keep myself from pulling up on his ass.”
Leigh chuckled softly, even though she was dead serious.
“What happened? If you don’t mind me asking.”
“We’ve never been in a committed relationship, but Ransom has always been committed to me. I had sex with another man, and he cut me off.”
“Damn.”
“Right.” Leigh downed her third and final shot. “And I don’t blame him for it at all. He’s made it clear what he was willing to tolerate and what he wasn’t willing to tolerate. For some reason, I felt like because he claimed he loved me, he would basically put up with my bullshit.
But Ransom has always had standards and boundaries. I guess he just finally got sick of my ass crossing them.”
Ronica pouted as she put the bottle of E&J back. “So what are you going to do? Just let him go, or are you going to fight for him?”
“I don’t know. It’s been a month and he hasn’t reached out yet, so I feel like he’s moved on. Or maybe he’s waiting for me to really put forth effort. I don’t know. Usually, Ransom says exactly what he means, so I think he’s really done with me. But I just find that hard to believe.”
Leaning against the bar, Ronica sighed as she remained silent for a few seconds. “If y’all weren’t in a committed relationship, you technically weren’t wrong. Ransom has to take responsibility for putting himself in the position to be hurt by you.” Leigh nodded in agreement. “But… if you truly cared about him, you wouldn’t have done something that you knew would hurt him. That was selfish as fuck. And again, you’re single, and you’re entitled to be that way, but you can’t expect him to deal with the shit.”
“You’re right,” Leigh confessed, voice and spirit tired as she scratched her eyebrow. “You are absolutely right. And I legit feel like a dog-ass nigga waiting until after I’ve hurt him and lost him to truly value him.” She chuckled softly as she pressed the home button on her iPhone to look at the picture of her and Ransom on her wallpaper. “I’ve always known what I’ve had in him, you know? But I just… felt like… love would make him stay. I know that sounds even worse…”
“No, that’s totally normal. When we love a person, we expect them to put up with our shit. And we’re human, so we all have shit. We just gotta own it and try our hardest to use that shit to fertilize some beautiful flowers. It’s really a matter of what you want, though. If you know for sure that you aren’t going to do right by him, let him go and move on.
But if you feel like you’ve truly learned your lesson and you’re willing to do whatever it takes to get him back and do right by him… I would say give it one last try. One big grand gesture like in books and movies. If he accepts it, great. If not, move on.”
Leigh nodded as she considered Ronica’s suggestion. Everything she’d said, honestly. If it took committing and not having sex with other men for Leigh to have Ransom back… she would do that with no hesitation at this point. It took Ransom leaving, but Leigh was finally ready to give him the commitment he’d been asking for. And as she hopped down off the barstool, she pr
ayed she wasn’t too late.
“One big grand gesture like in books and movies.” Leigh scoffed. “Fuck have I gotten myself into?”
Licking her lips, Leigh looked herself over one last time in the mirror. Her hair was pulled back into a slick, low ponytail… because Ransom loved when she wore slick, low ponytails. Simple, soft glam makeup covered her face, along with a nude matte lipstick. She was dressed in a yellow crop top that had her C cup breasts sitting up pretty, along with some high-rise light-colored jeans that accentuated her round ass.
Leigh looked over at the gift bag she had for Ransom, along with the teddy bear, then grabbed her black peacoat from the back seat. She put it on, then walked to the passenger side of her car. As she grabbed the bear, Leigh smiled. Ransom always gave her a hard time about the fact that she never slept without her Build-A-Bear teddy. She’d caught him staring at it several times… sometimes in disgust because of how much she cuddled with it… other times in infatuation.
As if he wondered if it held some type of magical powers that allowed her to sleep peacefully after the crazy shit she did, dealt with, and thought about on a daily basis.
She grabbed the bear and the bag and headed for his front door. Leigh kept telling herself that if he didn’t want to have anything to do with her, it would be on her and that would be okay, but that wasn’t really the case. If Ransom turned her away, his action would stab her heart just as piercingly loud and deep as her yellow stilettos stabbed the concrete.
After ringing the doorbell, Leigh took a step back and inhaled a deep breath. This was truly it, and she was having a hard time coming to grips. She chuckled softly and shook her head. The sound of the door unlocking caused her to lift her head quickly and swallow hard. She switched the piece of gum she was chewing from the left side of her mouth to the right as her grip on the bag and bear tightened.
Ransom opened the door, Leigh inhaled a deep breath that she held as she took him in. His light, yellowish-brown, tattoo-covered skin. Muscular build. Tapered fade. Smooth face. Looking at his soft, pink lips caused Leigh to lick hers as she released the breath she was still holding in. Time had been good to Ransom. Really, really good.
He smiled softly at the sight of her, and it widened a little when he noticed what was in her hand.
“What you doing here?” That voice. That booming, deep voice. He didn’t even have to be speaking loudly for his voice to possess power.
“You have me blocked, so I had to pull up.”
Ransom’s smile widened. “I didn’t get you anything,” he confessed, motioning towards the bag with his head.
“I didn’t come here for anything but you.”
A few seconds passed before Ransom opened the door wider and stepped to the side. Her smile turned into a huge grin as she stepped inside. Unable to resist, Leigh took in a huge whiff of his cologne. The Jimmy Choo Man Intense cologne was actually quite mellow. Very masculine and sexy… able to pull you in.
The closer you got, the closer you wanted to get to inhale it. On one inhale, you’d smell citrus. The next, spice. It was truly a combination of everything that made a men’s cologne nice.
Instead of going right in and heading for his living room or bedroom, Leigh waited for Ransom to lock the door and lead her in the direction he wanted them to go. She followed behind him slowly as he led her to the living room. The moment she stepped in and saw that he’d removed the two pictures of them he had on his TV stand, her heart dropped. Not wanting to let it get to her, Leigh squeezed her septum and inhaled a shaky breath as she turned her back to the TV.
“I don’t really feel comfortable accepting that,” Ransom confessed as he sat down and grabbed the remote.
“Why not?”
“We’re not together. We’re not even speaking right now.”
“That doesn’t mean you can’t accept my gift to you.”
Leigh extended her arm and held the bag out in his direction. Ransom looked from it to her face before leaning forward and taking it. Pulling the bear to her chest, she held it tightly as he opened the contents of the bag. A wide, genuine smile covered his face at the sight of the confirmation for season pass tickets to both the Memphis Grizzlies and Tennessee Titans games, along with hats and shirts for both teams.
“This is love, Leigh. Thank you.”
She nodded as she took a small step in his direction. Handing him the bear, she declared, “I love you.”
His eyes narrowed and head flinched back. Poking his cheek with his tongue, Ransom sat back in his seat as his eyebrows bunched together.
“I know you may not even believe me, but I do. I’ve… always loved you. I was just too afraid to. Too afraid to tell you. Every man that I’ve loved has hurt me, left me, or used me. And what we had was so good, I didn’t want to risk it by saying those words. But I…” Ransom stood quickly. So quickly, Leigh had to take a step back to avoid being trampled by him. His penetrative gaze and stature hovering over her caused her to lose her train of thought. Shaking her head, she forced herself to focus. “I love you, and I want to be wi—”
This… he… was all she could think about. All she wanted. And as Ransom covered her lips with his… he was all she would ever need. His eyes caressed her with lusty, invisible fingers before he picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder. As he carried her to his room, Leigh held onto him tightly, giggling at the feel of his hand slapping her ass.
As soon as Ransom tossed Leigh onto his bed, she fought a shiver of desire that floated through her. Though, at this point, there was no need for her to try and downplay just how much she wanted him. How much she’d been yearning for him.
Ransom unbuttoned and unzipped her jeans, tugging them down with gentle force. She quickly released her breasts from her shirt, needing nothing to be left between them. As he went to work removing her bra, she began to push down his sweatpants and boxers. His dick broke free, causing saliva to build within her mouth immediately. Looking up at Ransom, their eyes remained locked before and after he pulled his white t-shirt over his head.
“Say that shit again,” he commanded, voice thick and laced with lust.
Leigh wrapped her slender hand around his erection as she professed, “I love you, Ransom.”
His eyes closed and head tilted, and Leigh wondered if it was because of her words or the warmth of her mouth covering the head of his dick. She lingered at the tip, wanting to make up for lost time. Leigh loved having him inside of her mouth. She craved pleasing him just as much as she craved being pleased by him. Maybe that was why there had always been such passion between them — their exchange had always been a fair, selfless one.
Taking him as deeply into her throat as she possibly could, Leigh worshipped him with her mouth, sucking and licking with devout desire. Holding the back of her neck, Ransom slowly began to fuck her mouth as his eyes opened, though they remained low. Biting his bottom lip, he stifled quiet moans and groans as their eyes remained connected.
“Fuck,” he groaned, throbbing at the feel of her cheeks tightening around him. Her mouth had produced enough saliva for her to stroke him with her hand as she took him deeply into her throat. Though his pleasure was evident, Ransom gently pushed her away. “Get on your hands and knees,” he ordered, stroking his shaft.
She was mesmerized, dickmatized. And finally able to admit… in love.
Getting into the position he requested, Leigh gripped his sheets immediately at the feel of his tongue sliding between her folds. Ransom spread her ass cheeks, showing love to her asshole that had her breathing growing short before sliding his tongue up and down her opening and taking her clit into his mouth. His sucking caused moans to release as she pressed herself into him.
“Oh my God,” she moaned, eyes rolling into the back of her head as he alternated between tongue fucking her opening, licking between her hood, and sucking her clit into his mouth. Leigh had no idea how he knew she was so damn sensitive to the combination of those three movements, but every time he did them
with his mouth or fingers, her orgasm was soon to come. Chuckling softly, Leigh braced herself as her body began to tingle. His finger slipped inside of her as he caressed her clit with his tongue, gently pulling her first orgasm out in a month. Well, her first orgasm from a man. She’d been pleasuring herself with her fingers, vibrator, and fuck machine… but nothing compared to Ransom.
She expected Ransom to enter her immediately, but he pushed her a little further into the bed and laid her flat on her stomach instead.
“Sit that ass up like you know I like,” he requested, smacking her right ass cheek right afterwards.
Arching her back, Leigh lifted her pelvis off the bed slightly. She braced herself for his entrance and the pleasure that was about to fill her. Slowly, Ransom made his way inside. So slow, she lowered herself back down to the bed completely as she moaned. This was the longest they’d gone without each other since they started messing off, and Leigh hadn’t realized how much her body had to adjust to his length and thickness. To his curve.
“Sit that ass up before I cuff you and put a pillow under you, Leigh,” he warned, to which she arched again.
The position gave him perfect access, not just to the pit of her pussy, but every ridge of her G-spot as well. Every time he entered her, Ransom snatched her breath and had her clenching the sheets and his dick with her pussy. She’d never been one to run from dick, but in this position, she questioned it. The strokes Ransom delivered were so intense, her lips were trembling as her body tingled. Burying her head, Leigh began to slowly rock back and forth, throwing every stroke he gave back. But that only added to her pleasure, and soon, had her paralyzed.
“Aaahh fuck,” she whimpered, before chuckling.
Ransom groaned as he pressed her back further into the bed, creating a deeper arch in her pussy. Her orgasm consumed her and had her moaning his name. The more her cream cascaded against his shaft, the slower and deeper he stroked — sending ripples of sated satisfaction down her spine.