“Thanks. I really appreciate this.”
I kept one hand on my dick and reached for the towel with the other. Turning around, I took the towel and attempted to wrap it around my waist. It must have been a hand towel, or one meant for small children because I couldn’t get the two sides to meet. I could almost hear Jade snickering behind me. I bit my tongue to hold back my retort. Not only did she treat me like a dog by instructing me to stand by the door, but she also had the nerve to laugh.
I could care less if she saw me naked; getting to Lashawnda was a priority.
“Thanks.” I snatched the key from her outstretched palm and headed for the door.
“Anytime,” Jade responded when the towel slipped.
Fuck it! If she was looking at my naked ass at this point, it wasn’t that big of a deal. She wouldn’t be the first woman to see me naked. I walked out of her apartment without another word. I strode briskly toward Lashawnda’s door, with the key in one hand and the towel fisted tightly around my waist. The elevator door dinged, and an older black couple stepped off. I wanted to curse Jade, but her little hand towel was a big lifesaver no matter how small it was.
I smiled awkwardly at the couple and speed walked around them. When I got the Lashawnda’s door, I waited for them to pass so I could open it. But to my surprise, they didn’t pass, but instead came and stood right behind me. It was then I noticed how much the woman looked like Lashawnda.
Shit, these are her parents! Could this night get any worse?
“Who the hell are you?” her father asked authoritatively.
“Hello, Mr. Price. My name is Sean Colcord sir. I’m your daughter’s boyfriend,” I answered quickly.
I should be shaking this man’s hand, not hanging on to this little scrap of material for dear life. This entire incident was going left, quick. If he didn’t think I was disrespectful, he must think I’m a damn lunatic.
“My Lucky doesn’t have a boyfriend,” Mr. Price retorted, looking at me from head to toe. His voice sounded like an old engine, revving up for destruction.
Mrs. Price saw her husband was getting angry and stepped in hoping to diffuse the potential bomb ready to explode.
“Sean, I’m Lashawnda’s mother.” Mrs. Price had a soothing voice, and she extended her hand but quickly drew it back upon noticing my predicament. “Are you the young man that works with her?” she asked.
“Yes, ma’am. I’m the Lab Manager for Dr. Barnes.”
“Why are you walking around my daughter’s apartment building with no clothes on?” Mr. Price questioned loudly.
“It’s a long story, sir. I’d much rather let Lashawnda explain it to you, so as not to embarrass us both. But, right now, I need to get inside, because she’s standing outside on the balcony,” I said, hoping Lashawnda didn’t think I had left her stranded. This whole ordeal with getting the key and running into her parents felt like it had taken forever.
“What!” Mr. Price exclaimed. “My baby is outside in this rain, and you are standing out here running your mouth.” It wasn’t a question, so I didn’t bother to reply. “Elizabeth, give me that damn key.” Snatching the keys from his wife’s hand, Mr. Price unlocked the door.
I could see the faint silhouette of Lashawnda’s body through the glass door leading out to the balcony when I stepped in. I rushed inside, unlocked the door, and I pulled her inside. She was shivering when I wrapped my arms around her frame. Heedless of her parents, I had forgotten about the towel as it became a wet heap at our feet.
Lashawnda buried her face in my chest; running her hands over my arms and back to absorb my body heat. Her complaint of being sore early had vanished because I could smell her arousal. Her scent combined with the rain was fucking intoxicating. We were in our own world until the voice of her father broke through.
“Lashawnda Price! You better have a damn good explanation for this little stunt.”
Pulling her head away from my chest, Lashawnda looked past me to the booming voice.
“Daddy!” Lashawnda shrieked, with her eyes bulging out and her mouth hung open in fear.
CHAPTER 25
LASHAWNDA
I would gladly tumble down a thousand flights of stairs. I would gleefully slip on a wet bathroom floor for hours on end. I would rip every shirt I owned on random hooks in the office for the next fifty years. I would spill hot, cold, or even lukewarm coffee on myself for the rest of my life if the floor would just open up and swallow me whole at this very moment.
How could this perfect weekend with my boyfriend end on such a wretched note? I tell you how—because it’s me. Nothing I do falls into the category of being normal. I trip, slip, and stumble all over the place, and still I don’t get things right.
I couldn’t move much less think straight. The multitude of emotions pulsating within the room was more than I could stomach. My father’s consummate rage, my shocked embarrassment, my mother’s grave foreboding, and finally Sean’s tranquil tenacity.
I was holding onto Sean like someone stranded in a tiny raft during a tsunami. The anger in my father’s eyes was the 100-mph wind that was threatening to smash us against the rocks. If the situation were happening to someone else, I would have laughed at the analogy I was creating in my mind.
I looked at my mother; surprised to see an apologetic smile on her face. I smiled back; showing her appreciation in advance, because I knew she was going to have my back in the devastation about to occur. I looked up at the man who had come to mean so much to me. His face was calm and serene, a complete contrast to my own. He was quickly becoming my world.
“Young man, I would highly appreciate it if you wouldn’t show my wife and myself your assets.” My dad’s stern voice boomed.
“I’m very sorry, sir.” Sean pressed his lips together.
I was shocked to find him turning red in the face from trying to suppress his laughter. I glared at him, this was not the time to be laughing. Nothing was amusing about our predicament as far as I was concerned. We were standing butt naked in front of my parents. My mother has seen my man’s ass. I scrunched my face up at him and gave him a chastising look.
“It’s going to be okay.” He reassured while rubbing his thumbs across the apple of my cheek.
“Now turn around. I need to bend down and grab this towel, and I know you don’t want to flash your parents.” Nodding, I slowly turned using Sean’s body as a shield. I was never more thankful for him being such a big guy. Sean plucked the wet towel from the ground; taking hold of both sides he covered his backside.
“Lashawnda I think you have some explaining to do. Come from behind that young man and tell me what’s going on here,” my dad demanded.
Sean's facial muscles twitched with him holding in his laughter.
“Stop it. It’s not funny.” I mouthed. I put my hand on the skin over his hip bone and pinched it between my fingertips; causing his shoulders to shake even more.
“Would you like me to move?” he asked quietly.
“No!” I breathed out in panic.
“Lashawnda!” my father said again.
“Phil, I think she’s trying to hide her assets from you as well.” Before I could answer my mother’s voice broke through. If there was anyone in the world that could soothe my father, it was her using that calm voice.
“What…her assets? What are you talking about Elizabeth?” My dad looked from my mother, to a naked Sean, and then back at my mother again.
“Dear, it seems as though we’ve interrupted a lover’s weekend between Lashawnda and Sean,” she answered casually.
“Sean, please take Lashawnda into the bedroom so you all can put on some clothes. I’m sure my husband is about to show his behind and I’d rather that not be the first introduction you have to this family.” My mom intervened.
She dropped her purse on the side table in the living room and walked toward the kitchen, leaving my dad standing with his mouth agape following her with his eyes.
“What da hell? Lucky, i
s ya nekkid?” Reality finally hit my dad, and he sounded as country as ever. Usually, that southern drawl was slight, but at this moment my dad's voice resembled that of his relatives still living in Arkansas.
“Sean, honey do you drink tea?” Momma asked.
“Yes, ma’am,” he replied in his sweetest momma’s boy voice. I caught his eye and looked at him questioningly. He shrugged his shoulders in response.
“Lashawnda, I know you do,” she said, smiling at me. “Go on and get dressed.” She urged when we hadn’t moved.
“I love your mom.” Sean looked down at me and smiled.
“I know. Me too!” I replied.
“Okay, you go first. Turn around, and I’ll follow close behind you.” When I got into place, Sean pressed his pelvis into my backside and bent down close to my ear. “See just like yesterday morning in the bathroom.”
I covered my mouth to stop myself from erupting with shocked laughter. As a unit, we walked out of the living room and down the hall into the bedroom.
As soon as Sean crossed the threshold and closed the door behind him, I threw my body on the bed and covered my head with the pillow, letting out a scream deep into the mattress. He stood with his back against the door, watching me. My feet flailed back and forth on the bed as I shook my head. Sean walked over and sat next to me. He rubbed his hands up and down my back to soothe my frazzled nerves.
I could hear Momma moving around in the kitchen and wondered what my dad was doing. Hopefully, he had calmed down.
“Hey, c’mon let’s hurry up and get dressed,” Sean said.
I let out a string of incoherent words into the pillow.
“I’m not fluent in pillow talk,” he replied.
“You’re very good at pillow talk.” I let the thoughts of us making love this weekend ease my agitation.
“Why thanks,” Sean answered amused. “But, we still have to go face your parents.”
“It’s not my parents that I’m worried about, just my dad. The first time he meets you, we’re naked in the living room about to go at it. That’s not the way I wanted to introduce you to my family, Sean.” My voice was uncharacteristically whiny even to my own ears. Lord, when did I turn into this kind of woman?
“Wait, you think they just walked in on us?” Sean stood up from the bed and rubbed his hands through his wet hair. “After I got down to the bottom floor I ran into one of your male neighbors who regretted not having his camera to capture my nakedness. Then I went to Jade’s door, and she made me stand in the foyer like a dog because she didn’t want to get the carpet wet. By the way, I don’t like her. She gave me a child’s bath towel to cover up with and its hot pink.”
He shook his head and began pacing back and forth. I had never seen Sean in such a state of aggravation. I pressed my lips together to stifle my laughter. My poor boyfriend looked like he was going to throw a tantrum. The amusement from earlier had faded and now the reality had set in.
“Sean why are you getting so riled up?” I asked, already knowing that he was embarrassed about making such a bad first impression with my parents. Sean completely ignored my question and kept on ranting.
“To top it all off, I see these two people getting off the elevator. I figured they’d just give me a dirty look for literally showing my ass. If I’d known they were your parents, I would have hidden out in Jade’s apartment until they left.” Sean paused after that statement. “Scratch that I would have run downstairs and asked ol’ boy in the stairwell for refuge.”
Without another word he looked at me briefly and then stormed into the closet to grab some clothes from his gym bag. I swore I heard him mumble something about my father and bad impressions. He tossed the wet towel that Jade had so graciously given him and I got a view of his firm backside.
I was still sitting on the bed looking like a deer caught in the headlights when Sean put on his boxer-briefs and sat next to me. He used a towel to dry my back and shoulders. Then he placed the towel over my head and rubbed it vigorously. Because of the rain, my hair was stringy in some places and matted in others. He did nothing to help by drying it with the towel.
“I must look a fright.” I tried smoothing down my hair.
“You’re as beautiful as the day I first laid eyes on you.” If it weren’t for the fact he was looking at me with those adoring green eyes, I would have thought he was just trying to bamboozle me.
“Can’t we escape out the bedroom window?”
“Not a chance in hell, sweetheart.”
“But, you made it down without any trouble the first time.”
“Yeah, but with your clumsiness, you’d probably end up cracking your skull. I just got you, woman. I plan on keeping you for myself for a long time to come.”
“Fine.” I pouted, playfully sticking my tongue out at him.
Sean ran his fingers through my tangled locks trying to separate some of the knotted strands. My body felt alight with energy. The thrill I got whenever I was around this man was too intense to quantify. He was pure magic. This moment was perfect. I didn’t care about timelines. I knew what I felt for him. I had gone and fallen in love with Sean Colcord.
“I...”
“Lashawnda, the tea is ready! You guys hurry up.” My mother’s words interrupted me from the other side of the door.
“We’ll be out in second,” I yelled. I looked at Sean and kissed him hard on the mouth. “When they leave we are going to finish that conversation we started out on the balcony.”
I walked into the closet and picked out a pair of jeans, t-shirt, and underclothes. I was about to step into the bathroom for privacy when I caught Sean’s eyes on me. I dropped the clothes on the bed and began dressing. Sean came behind me as I was about to snap the prongs on my bra together. His large hands took over doing the job. When he finished, he placed a loving kiss between my shoulder blades.
“We are definitely finishing that conversation. There are a few things we need to get cleared up.” He quickly got dressed; neither of us wanted to delay the inevitable any longer.
☙☙MV❧❧
Sean walked out of the bedroom first, pulling me reluctantly behind him. I think he kept a firm hold on my arm so I wouldn’t try to make a run for it. When we stepped into the living room, Daddy was pacing in front of the faux fireplace, and Momma was sitting on the love seat. I walked around Sean and properly greeted them, kissing my mother on her cheek and hugging my father
“Momma, Daddy, this is Sean Colcord.” I went back to Sean and held his left hand. “He and I have been dating for about three months now. Sean, these are my parents; Phil and Elizabeth Price.”
Sean walked over to Momma first and kissed her on the cheek while shaking her hand. “It’s a real pleasure to finally meet you, Mrs. Price. Thank you for the tea.”
“Same to you, dear.” Momma kissed him on the cheek as well.
Sean then walked around the couch to face my dad. Poor guy looked like he was walking to the guillotine. My family was everything to me. If my dad didn’t approve of me dating Sean, then we were going to have a sticky situation on our hands.
“Mr. Price, it’s an honor to finally meet you, sir. Lashawnda speaks very highly of you.” Hands outstretched, Sean stood in front of my father with a bit of trepidation. The two men were almost the same size. My dad was slightly shorter than Sean, and age had diminished his once burly frame, but he was still a very formidable looking man.
“It’s nice to meet you, son.” The tension immediately left Sean’s body as the two men shook hands.
“Thank you, sir,” Sean responded with a nervous smile and a nod. I slipped my hand through the crook of Sean’s arm and pulled him to sit on the couch.
“Sean, tell us a little bit about yourself.” Momma encouraged, not giving us a moment to breathe. She set a small tray with a teapot of mint tea and some sugar cookies on the coffee table. I’m not even sure where she found the cookies. Knowing her, I would get a text at some point about having eatables for guests.
<
br /> “Well, ma’am, I work at H&G. That’s where I met Lashawnda. It’s been four months since I started, and I really like managing the lab. Before then I worked as a post-doc at the University of Miami, College of Medicine. I’ve got a Ph.D. in neuroscience. I’m not sure where I want to go with my degree.”
I placed a hand on his shaking knee.
This entire experience must be nerve-wracking for him. I was not looking forward to meeting his mother.
“This isn’t a job interview, sweetheart.” Momma laughed at Sean’s nervousness.
“Sorry.” Sean rubbed the short hairs on the back of his head. The exposed skin around his neck and shoulders flamed red with embarrassment.
“I don’t remember being this nervous when I interviewed for graduate school.” I reached out and grabbed his hand and placed it on my lap. The comforting gesture was just what he needed because his leg stopped shaking.
“Okay. I was born here in Florida. My mom raised me by herself after my dad passed away. I’m an only child. I like being outdoors, can’t cook that good, and I really like your daughter.”
Momma and I both smiled. She even said a little ‘aww’ at his shy admission. But Daddy still hadn’t warmed up to Sean yet.
“And, you’ve been taking good care of my daughter?” she asked him.
“Yes, ma’am… the best I know how. This is actually my first relationship.”
“Really? A handsome young man like yourself has never been in a relationship before?” she asked, giving him an all too knowing look.
I could see the look of regret on Sean’s face for his admission. Daddy folded his big beefy arms across his broad chest as if waiting for an explanation. I was biting my bottom lip so hard I was bound to eat right through the flesh.
Sean looked like he wanted to cut out his own tongue, and I was compressing the veins and arteries in his fingertips from holding his hand too tight. I forced myself to relax my hold on him slightly.
“Yes, ma’am. I was very focused on school.” Sean looked at me apologetically.
Over the Hedge Page 22