by J Peach
“We about to break this mothafucka in,” he pulled off his shirt and threw it to the floor.
“Aye, P! Come here right quick!” Chris yelled from outside the door.
“Fuck! Let me go put this nigga out real fast. So take yo clothes off, I’ll be right back.” He snatched his shirt up off of the floor and then left the room.
I laid there on the bed laughing at him. With a shake of my head, I pulled off my shirt and then my shoes and pants. I had just flung my clothes over the back of the sofa when a phone started ringing. I noticed the ringtone immediately. Confusion filled me when I saw my old phone on the nightstand next to Parker’s iPhone.
I picked up my old phone to see Martell’s friend Mook’s name flash across the screen. I quickly answered the phone. “Hello?”
“What’s up, baby? Damn, it’s been a long time. It’s nice to hear your voice again,” Martell said from the other line.
I wasn’t expecting him to be on the phone, I simply thought Mook was calling to relay a message. I cleared my throat and got myself together. “Hey, baby, it has been. How are you holding up?” I asked him.
“You know me, I’m good. I miss you. What you been doing? You missed me?” He asked and I could just imagine that crooked, flirty smirk he always wore.
My eyes rolled into my head at his question. “Yeah, I’ve been worried about you. I had been looking for you to pay you your money back, so I called Mook and he told me what had happened with you. To be honest, I thought you would have called me sooner, but I guess you didn’t need anything. How long do you have?”
“Not long, I can’t really get into that over the phone. But I wanna see you, I need a favor. Look, I know this is on short notice, but Mook coming out here Tuesday morning. You think you can move some shit around and get out here to see me? I really need you to do this for me,” he asked. A sigh left my mouth as my hand rubbed my forehead. “Come on, baby.” Martell said.
“Yeah, I can do that. What time Tuesday?” I sighed as I heard Parker talking in the hallway. I got up off the bed and went into the bathroom.
“You still got the key to our spot?” Martell asked.
I nodded my head even though he couldn’t see me. “Yeah, I still got it.”
“I’ight, meet him there around nine in the morning and he’ll bring you to me,” Martell told me. “Angel, I really miss yo ass for real and I can’t wait to see you. You know you’re still my girl.”
Again, my eyes rolled at him. “I know. What you want me to do with your money?”
“Just hold on to it. We’ll talk when I see you in a couple days. I got another call to make before this phone shut off, so I’ll holla at you later, baby,” he said.
“Alright,” I ended the call and sighed. My hands pressed against the sink counter, not knowing why the hell I agreed to see him. Why the hell did I even answer the gotdamn phone? A groan left my mouth. I had already agreed to it so there was no need in pondering over it now. But I did wonder why he wanted to see me all of a sudden.
“Syn, you straight?” Parker called to me from the bedroom.
I turned on the water and slid the phone under a pile of towels on the counter. “Yeah, I am.” I tossed some water on my face and then dried it before I left the bathroom.
After talking to Martell, it literally blew the sexual mood I was in a few moments ago.
“You sure you i’ight?” Parker eyed me up and down.
“Yeah, my stomach just hurt. It’s probably the food I ate,” I lied.
Parker pulled the covers back and waved me over to him. “Come here.”
I walked over and got into the bed. Parker pulled off his clothes and got in behind me. He kissed the side of my head and placed his hand on my stomach, rubbing it.
His actions made me feel like shit because I was lying to him. He was always straight up with me about things involving him and there I was keeping shit from him. Regardless of how bad I felt about it, though, I wasn’t going to tell him about Martell or my going to see him. I highly doubt that he would like that at all. So for the rest of the night we watched TV while he held and rubbed my belly until we fell asleep.
Chapter 8
Angel
I sat at the front desk with the side of my face in my palm. I didn’t know what was going on with me these past few weeks, but I had been feeling so frail. All I’d been wanting to do was sleep.
The front door chimed and a tall slender woman walked in.
“Can you tell Mr. Lawson, I’m here?” She said while fixing the front of her top.
My brow rose at her introduction. “And you are?” It took everything in me not to roll my eyes at her.
She gave a wide smile. “Sorry, Ms. Jackson.”
I typed her name into the computer to see if she had an appointment. She didn’t. “I’m sorry, Ms. Jackson, but Mr. Lawson will be in meetings all day. I can schedule you an appointment with him,” I offered.
“He’s in a meeting?” She asked snobbishly. I opened my mouth to respond and she held her finger out to me. “Don’t answer that.” She was saying while dialing on her cellphone. Her finger nail tapped annoyingly on the counter as she waited for her caller to answer. “Michael! I’m out front but it’s sad to hear you’re going to be in meetings all day.” A pout formed on her full red lips.
I bit into my bottom lip to get myself in control of my actions. I wanted so badly too smash her head onto the countertop. My office phone rang and the red light flashed next to Mr. Lawson’s name. “Yes, Mr. Lawson?”
“Send Ms. Jackson in, please.”
“Sure thing.” I hung up the phone and plastered a fake smile on my face. “He’ll see you now.”
“Thanks,” she snatched her purse off of the counter and made her way down the hall.
“Bitch,” my eyes rolled. A heavy sigh left my mouth as the phone rang. “Good afternoon, Lawson & Smith’s law office, this is Angel speaking, how may I help you?” I answered the phone.
“Hey, Angel. Is Michael in?” I recognized Mr. Lawson’s wife immediately.
“He’s in a meeting right now. Would you like to leave a message, Mrs. Lawson?” I grabbed my message book and a pen, waiting to write down whatever she says.
“Mm, no. I’ll try to catch him later. Do you know what time he’ll be done with his meeting?” She asked.
I sat my pen down and looked at his office door. “No, I don’t. He’s been held up in meetings all morning, so there’s really no telling. But as soon as I see him I’ll tell him you called. I’m writing that down now,” I explained to her.
“Alright. Thank you.”
We ended the call and I shook my head as I pressed the button on the phone to his direct line. “Mr. Lawson, your wife just called in,” I informed him.
“Did you tell her I was in a meeting?”
My eyes rolled hard. “Yes, I did.”
“Okay, hold my calls for the rest of the day.” He quickly ended our call.
“Rude ass bastard,” I mumbled under my breath.
Rebecca Lawson was such a sweet lady and she took way too much shit from her husband. She was a good one because I would pop up on his good for nothing ass.
I looked at the clock to see that it was twelve-fifteen and that giddy feeling grew in the pit of my stomach. My mind quickly reverted to Parker. I didn’t know what it was about him, but he had been making me feel so good since we’ve been in the new house for the past week. I didn’t even think good was the proper word to use.
My stomach grew tight and a smile came to my face as I thought about him. It was a crazy feeling because I still felt like I barely knew anything about him. When in reality, I’ve been learning a lot about Parker personally. He was a great caring man, who had his shit together, one that didn’t trick off with different bitches. I thought that was an amazing quality to him. And the fact he didn’t seem to care one bit about hiding what he felt for me in front of others. Even with knowing all of this about him a part of me was still scared of th
e feelings I’d already started to have for him. I wish I could simply erase all doubt from my mind because deep down inside, I was still waiting on him to mess up. I just felt like it was bound to happen sooner or later.
Even so, I had to admit it was nice waking up to someone. To have amazing sex with a man that I liked and to be held all night made me feel wanted. And then to have him up and cooking me breakfast early in the morning, that was something I had never experienced before. Honestly, I didn’t want it to stop.
Parker didn’t realize it, but he was beginning to spoil me with his actions. He was what a part of me craved for but fought so hard not to have with anyone. Everything he had been doing and saying to me as of late were the right things and they were winning me over. His patience with me was simply amazing. When I lashed out at him about his sister, and even when I snapped at him about leaving me alone for those two weeks, he still had patience with me. However, had the roles been reversed I would’ve said fuck it, I’m done. Parker didn’t. Instead, he continued to have patience with me, not to mention the fact that he fuck’d me something good.
I bit into my bottom lip and smiled. My head shook as I tried to rid him of my thoughts. It was useless. I wanted to be back in the comforts of my bed laid up with him, watching TV.
I glanced up as the front door chimed and a smile came to my lips. Parker strode through the front door and to my desk. He was looking good as ever, dressed down in all black with his black snapback on.
“What are you doing here?” I asked him once he made it to my desk.
“I figured you didn’t eat nothing, so I’m taking you out for lunch,” he leaned over the counter toward me.
With my smile still intact, my neck stretched up and I pecked his lips. “You figured, huh?” I kissed him again and sat back down.
“Shid, how else was you going out? Unless you drove,” his brow rose.
“Shut up. I honestly forgot that I didn’t drive myself,” I laughed as that giddy feeling started to bubble in the pit of my stomach.
“What you smiling about?” Parker reached over the counter and touched my chin.
My eyes rolled as I called into Mr. Lawson’s office, letting him know I was taking my lunch break. “Where you taking me?” I walked around the desk, meeting Parker in front.
Parker wrapped his arm around my shoulder and pulled me into his side as he led us out of the office. “Where you wanna go? This all you right now, I’m just the driver.” He opened my door and helped me in the truck. Once he closed my door, he walked around to his side and got in. He started up the truck and then backed out. Parker glanced at me. “Where we going?”
“Let’s go to Steak & Shake.” I did a quick search for the address on my phone and plugged it into the GPS. Once it put us in route to the restaurant, I pulled off my heels and got comfortable in my seat.
Parker’s hand reached over to me and he pushed the hair from the side of my face. “You look tired.”
“Because I am. I probably wouldn’t be if somebody didn’t wake me up at five in the morning trying to get some,” I looked pointedly at him.
He started laughing. “Don’t blame me. Shid, you started grinding all on my man. You woke him up so it was only right that you put his ass back to sleep. So don’t go complaining. Shid, stay yo ass on yo side of the bed and problem solved,” he grabbed himself and then looked over at me with a smile. The scars on his face stretched.
Parker was just stupid sexy for no reason at all. “My side? That whole bed is my side, what is you talking about?” I laughed with a roll of my eyes.
“And that’s why yo ass get tossed around twice in the morning. My nigga sensitive as fuck, all it take is a little brush and he hard. Yo fault. Aye, I ain’t complaining, tho,” he bit his bottom lip and winked at me. “Not at all.”
I started laughing. I was so giddy at that moment that I couldn’t do anything but laugh as my cheeks pressed into my eyes. “Ugh, stop talking to me.”
“Why? Don’t front on me, Syn. You know yo ass be loving it when I’m digging in yo guts. Shid, from the way yo ass be crying and begging, I bet the neighbors hate yo ass.” He joked with a laugh.
My smile faded and my eyes rolled. “Nigga, I don’t be crying. Don’t front on yoself because you ain’t all that,” I lied. He was that and then some.
Parker came to a stop at a red light and looked at me. “Why the fuck you lying? If I ain’t, then why yo ass be crying don’t stop, ooh, baby, don’t stop!”
He mimicked my voice and I burst out laughing. “Ugh, shut up. I don’t be saying that,” my hands covered my face.
“Yes the fuck you do. A nigga be tired as fuck, on the verge of a nut, and you wanna holla that shit. I be fuckin’ yo little black ass up. What the fuck you said the other morning…” He thought before he started laughing. “Ooh, Daddy, I love yo dick.”
My mouth opened and I felt embarrassed as hell for that slip. I honestly didn’t think he heard me because he never said anything about it until that moment.
“N’all, Syn baby, don’t get quiet. Tell me how I ain’t all that but you love my dick, tho’?” He glanced over at me and started laughing. “Damn, you looked flushed as hell. Yo ass smiling hard as hell.”
I couldn’t stop smiling. I was embarrassed, but I couldn’t wipe the stupid smile off my damn face. “Fuck you, Parker.”
“Fuckin’ me is what got yo ass over there looking like that,” he licked his lips and winked at me.
Reaching over the seat, I hit him. “Leave me alone. Asshole.” Regardless of my words, I ended up laughing. “I can’t stand you.”
He laughed as he pulled up at the restaurant.
***
“How was work?” Parker asked before taking a drink from his shake.
I shrugged before my eyes rolled. “It was… I don’t know. Maybe it’s just me, but I was so irritated. I’m honestly tired of that place. To have to deal with rude ass clients, the boss’ sluts, and then have to keep up a professional attitude has me ready to quit, especially after the little bitch that walked in today.” With my straw, I played with the banana and chocolate shake.
“Then quit,” Parker shrugged as if it was nothing.
“It’s not that easy. I can’t just quit my job. I actually have to put food in the house with that money. And regardless of what you say, I’m helping pay bills.” If it was that simple to leave my job, I would have been done it.
“I don’t see how it ain’t. If you don’t like working there, then why stay? I get you wanting to pay bills, it makes you feel like it’s yours. Fine, you got that. But, Syn, you got me. You don’t ever have to want or worry about shit no more. Whatever you need, I got you—” I started to cut him off, but his hand waved shutting me up. “—regardless of what you say, I got you.”
My lips formed into a faint smile. “Parker, you’re already paying my tuition, I can’t let you take on everything I had. Especially not until I pay you back for my school. Plus, working there will look good on my resume.”
Parker started laughing. “Baby girl, if yo boss got time for sluts then he ain’t really doing too much of shit. Especially if shorty coming to his job.”
I shrugged. “Yeah, he have time for a lot of them while dodging a wife on top of that.” I told him.
Parker’s head tilted to the side. “The nigga married too? Then when do he have time for a client?”
“He have time for them because they be calling and coming in for him and Mr. Smith.”
Parker pulled out his phone and started texting on it. “If that’s what you say then that’s what it is. You should think about going to Brown and West’s Criminal Law. I’m telling you I can have you in there in no time and it’ll look good as hell on your resume.”
“I’ll think about it,” I told him just as our food came.
Our conversation died as we started to eat. I looked over at Parker and just stared at him. I was trying hard to read into his mind so I could get some form of understanding of him, b
ut I couldn’t. He just didn’t make sense to me and I wanted to know why he was trying so hard to help me out other than the fact he liked me as he said. I wanted like hell to believe that, but a part of me was saying it was only part of a game, one that would mess me over in the end.
My eyes went back to my food and I lost my appetite. I wanted so badly to know the real deal. I didn’t want to be caught by any surprises, especially since my guard had begun to come down. I felt it and I was trying hard to keep it, but the little and big things he was doing for me was tearing them down.
“Syn?” Parker’s pointer finger went under my chin and he lifted my head so that I was staring at him. “You good?”
My mouth opened to tell him no and what I was thinking, but the words wouldn’t come out. Instead, my head nodded. “Yeah, I’m good.” My hand covered his. “Tell me about your sister and nephew. What’s the dos and don’ts? Should I dress a certain way? I don’t know.” Parker’s head tilted and his brows rose. He licked his lips and sat his elbows on the table, he continued to stare at me. “What?” I hit his arm. “Stop looking at me like that.” His stare was making me feel uncomfortable and nervous like I had said something wrong.
“You for real never met nobody’s people before?” He asked.
I shrugged. “Yeah. My girl’s folks—”
Parker’s head shook and he cut me off. “N’all, not them. I’m talkin’ ‘bout dudes. A nigga ain’t never took you to meet his fam before?”
“Oh, um, no,” I said shyly. “I don’t date, so I guess the opportunity never presented itself before.” I grabbed a napkin and wiped my mouth before taking a drink of my shake.
“The last relationship—”
I waved him off. “I told you that didn’t count. I mean, I was like fourteen, fifteen, and he was like twenty-three at the time. He couldn’t take me home to his people,” I lied about Martell’s age. I wanted to tell Parker about him, but I didn’t think it was the right time, especially when I had to go see him the next day. Then, it was even worse telling him given Martell’s and my age difference. When I started talking to Martell, he was thirty with a girlfriend. I couldn’t tell Parker that. I didn’t want his view of me to change.