Page 76 of Mister President

“Can I show you?”

“Show me. Make this pussy squirt.” As soon as the words left his mouth, I squirted. His arm wrapped around my waist, and he kept me bent as he filled me with deep strokes that had me gasping and cursing all in the same breath. “Yesss, Mandy. Give me that shit, bae.”

I reached between us and pushed him out to stop the liquid from pouring out of me. He sat down, and I straddled him. Our arms wrapped around each other, and he buried his face in my neck.

“Finish me,” he commanded.

“Yes, baby.” I agreed, squeezing my walls against him as I rode him, not stopping until we both came.

Two Weeks Later

My mama wasmad at me. When she came to get my baby, she barely spoke two words to me. She’d found out Elias and I were back together, and she was upset I didn’t tell her. It wasn’t my intention to hurt her feelings, but I did what I felt was best. The last thing I wanted was for her to say something to make me doubt my relationship.

I didn’t want her to have that kind of power over my mind, but I’d been taking what she said as law for years, and that was a hard habit to break. When I felt like enough time had passed for her to have made it home, I called her. It took her so long to answer I thought her voicemail was going to pick up, but eventually, her dry voice came blaring through.

“Why do you have an attitude?” I asked, keeping my voice light.

“Because I had to find out you were back with your baby daddy through the grapevine. Why didn’t you tell me you and Elias were back together?”

As I stepped into my furry Crocs, I released an annoyed breath. Even though I knew that was why she was upset, to actually have to have this conversation was blowing me.

“Honestly, Ma, because I didn’t want to hear your mouth. You always have something negative to say, and I’m really happy to be back with him.”

“And you couldn’t just say that, Amanda?”

“If I would’ve, what would have been your response?”

She didn’t respond right away. After sucking her teeth, she said, “I would have told you if you had to hide it to be happy, it wasn’t going to last.”

“And that’s exactly why I wasn’t going to tell you,” I said before laughing, and she joined in.

“Do I make you feel bad about your life?”

Her question caught me off guard as I walked down the hall. Elias and I were going shopping for Christmas decorations toput up whenever EJ’s grandparents let him come back home. I’d been spending so much time at his place that I was considering selling my home. I wanted to keep my penthouse for weekends though.

“Sometimes, most times…yeah. I know it isn’t always intentional but that doesn’t make it easier to swallow. You can be very pessimistic, Mama.”

“I’m not a pessimist; I’m a realist.”

I rolled my eyes because of course she would say that. Since I didn’t feel like going back and forth with her, I just remained quiet.

“I took pride in us having the kind of relationship where you could come to me about anything,” she continued. “I’m sorry if you felt like you couldn’t share this with me because you thought I would rain on your parade. That’s never my intention. I’ve always wanted to prepare you for all outcomes—good and bad.”

“I know, and I appreciate that. It just seems like most times you only focus on the bad. It’s like you talk negative stuff over me. If I come to you hopeful, you drain that. So many good things have been happening in my life lately that I wish I could share with you, but I haven’t because I don’t want you to make me feel like they can’t come to fruition or like I don’t deserve them.”

She released a shaky breath. “Wow. I don’t know what to say.”

“That’s a first.”

That made her laugh, lightening the mood. “I love you, Ma, and I know you and Daddy love me too. Can you just agree to not give me advice unless I ask for it, and if I do, can you try to be more positive?”

“I can do that.” She agreed just above a whisper, which was different for her. Usually, her voice was loud, hard, and firm. Hell, everything about her was loud, hard, and firm. She wasone of the strongest women I knew—the kind who commanded attention whenever she walked into a room. Seeing the shift in her demeanor made me feel like she was being genuine, which I appreciated.

“Thank you, Mama. I love you, and I’m sorry if me keeping this from you hurt you.”

“I love you too. I know I probably didn’t raise you in the most conventional way, but I did what I felt I needed to do to protect you, Manda. These men will drain you dry and then leave you because you’re empty. They’ll use you, manipulate you, drive you crazy, and then leave you because you’re insane.” She sighed. “The things I went through before I met your father changed me, and I guess I just wanted to help you avoid that if it be at all possible. I wanted you to know their ways and their games so you could play.”

“I know, Ma. And it did help a lot. I will never forget what you’ve taught me, but not all things apply. Going forward, I just want to give and receive love freely. I don’t want to always have a guard up, because the same guard I used to keep pain out was also making it impossible to let love in.”

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