Page 41 of Mister Artist

But seeing him standing at my door with a bouquet of red roses made me believe there was hope for us after all.

“Hi.” I spoke, cheesing harder than I should have.

“Good morning, good morning. I know we’re going to see each other at work, but I wanted to discuss this with you off the clock.”

“Okay. What is it?”

“Why did you come back home, Mal? Honestly. And why did you apply to my firm?”

Since we’d made some progress, I decided to be completely honest. “I meant it when I said I wanted to support you, but I also applied because I wanted to be close to you. I missed you, Neek. I regret losing you, and I was hoping if we spent enough time together… maybe you’d want to give us another chance.”

“And what about your brother?”

My eyes rolled as I smiled and took the roses from his hand. “Malik has his wife and kids. I’m not letting him stand in the way of my forever. I love him and don’t want to come between the two of you, but I’m in love with you, and I really want to be with you.”

He chewed on his cheek before chuckling and shaking his head. “I talked to him about us, and he approves. So if you’re serious about this, you’re mine. We can date and take our time, but from this day forward, you’re mine, Malorie.”

“I would like that,” I almost whispered as I blushed. “And I promise you don’t ever have to worry about me not choosing you again.”

That caused him to close the space between us. Neko lowered himself and connected his lips with mine, then picked me up and wrapped my legs around him. After closing the door, he pressed me against the wall.

“I wanted our first time after all this time to be more special than this,” Neko muttered against my lips. “Real romantic shit.”

A sniggle escaped me before I licked the center of his lips, busying myself with unbuttoning and unzipping his suit pants.

“We can do that the second time. Right now, I want you to fill my pussy up and show me just how much you missed me.”

Neko granted my demand, swiftly entering me and going so deep I cried out. My nails clawed the back of his neck as I bit down on my bottom lip and whimpered. The depth of his dick was one challenge to master but combined with him brushing against my clit and alternating between licking and sucking myneck and nipples, I couldn’t contain my pleasure. I was sure everyone on my hall heard me, and with how good it felt to have my man back inside of me, I didn’t give a damn… at all.

Later that Evening

My firstrealdate with Neko had been perfect. At the start of dinner, he made his intentions with me clear. Then, we went to the museum and ended our evening with drinks. As we walked the concrete path hand in hand by the beach, we talked about our wants and needs. I felt like I was on a cloud finally being in a relationship with Neko.

I felt safe with him because of the effort he had put forth tonight to ensure he was who I needed and could give what I wanted. I didn’t think anything could make me love this man more, but his intentionality tonight was it.

30

Neko

That Weekend

When I toldLaura I wanted to talk to her about the change in me and Mal’s relationship, I wasn’t expecting her to want to meet at my parents’ house. Apparently, she’d been talking to Mama about me and Malorie’s relationship status and Pops wanted to talk to me man to man. As comical as the situation was, I went with it. I knew since the moment I told him about Mal’s desire for guidance ten years ago that she’d become like a daughter to him.

For the occasion, I stopped and grabbed lunch for the trio of elders so I wouldn’t show up empty handed. If anything, I thought Pete would be there, but he stayed home in Memphis because he wasn’t feeling well. After knocking, I let myself in and made my way down the entry hall toward the dining room. I figured they’d already be there awaiting my arrival, and I was right.

After giving Mama and Laura hugs and kisses on the cheek, me and Pops hugged. The ladies wasted no time getting the sandwiches, fruit, and chips I’d brought over set up.

“How are things going, son?” Pops asked, handing me a beer after he returned from the kitchen with some napkins.

“I can’t complain at all. Things have finally started to slow down at the firm now that we’ve hired some extra people, so I’m able to cut my hours back some.”

“Just in time for your new relationship, huh?” Mama teased with a knowing grin.

“I’m not too proud to admit having some extra time to spend with Mal makes not working as much a plus.”

“Speaking of which, I’m glad you called to talk to me about your intentions with my daughter,” Laura said as she sat down. “I told you a while ago that you had my approval to be with her, but I knew it meant more to you to get that from Malik.”

As the rest of us took our seats, I agreed. “Yeah. He’s been like a brother to me since we met. It was never my intention to hurt him or come between them, but Mal has always been it for me.”

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