Page 24 of Ms. V's Hot Girl Summer

Now that was his “don’t play with me” tone, and there went my brain, ready to fantasize again. That little rumble when he said Ms. V…mmmmm.

“Then hear away!” I whirled around and threw my hands up. At this point, I felt out of options. My own flesh and blood had put me in this situation. Damn me for thinking gentle parenting was the way to go; those two needed less communication and more fear. Great, now I sounded like their father.

“Let’s go to the Airbnb,” Orlando said, his tone changing once more to conciliatory.

“No.” I didn’t know what was wrong with me, but at this moment, this man was paying for all that had gone wrong today. It wasn’t fair to him; this wasn’t like me. Well, the new me, but I had zero ability to regulate my thoughts and emotions right now. He was encountering a version of me I thought I’d left behind: passionate, impulsive, risky Trinidad. Hot Girl Trinidad. Sizzling Trinidad, like Miranda still called me. That Trinidad had a lot of fun, but she also got into a lot of trouble.

“I really don’t want to do this, but more neighbors are peeking out the windows now, and soon they’ll call the police on us.” Back to the rumbly warning. And what didn’t he want to—” Up you go.”

My body flew. That is the only way I can describe it. This lean baby man-child picked me up like a sack of rice and placed me comfortably on his shoulders.

Air deserted me.

I was dangling, face near his scrumptious ass, while my legs swayed in front of him. I should kick him in his most vulnerable place. I should press a kiss on his back. I should lie still and let him have his way with me.

Just as the last traitorous thought invaded my brain, the owner of the blue house came out, a cute little old Black lady with a concerned look.

“Are you alright, miss?” the lady asked.

Finally, it all clicked, and I calmed down enough to think things rationally.

“Oh yes, yes, this is my friend Orlando. We always play roughhouse. I’m sorry, but we are both on vacation brains and should be more mindful,” I explained, voice strained from the awkward position I was in.

Whoosh! Air sailed through my locs, and my eyes watered as Orlando swiveled to face the old lady.

“That’s right, so sorry, ma’am, we promise to act with more decorum moving forward. Thanks for your understanding.” Orlando was back to talking normally, but the heat of his lean body seared mine; I felt every syllable, every rumble.Everywhere.“We’ll leave you to it.”

Orlando ended his charming entreaty and finished it with a friendly swat on my ass. The feel of his palm against my sundress would be engraved in my memories forever. What was meant to be a quick swat became a full-blown exploration of my behind; he even massaged it a bit before letting it go.

First, I would teach this man-child about enthusiastic consent.

Second, no moan would escape my mouth.

The walk to the house was quick; after all, I had only passed three houses before stopping. Orlando refused to drop me off until we crossed his threshold. His eyes were leery on me as I fixed my hair and dress once I was back on firm ground.

“You should have—”

“That wasn’t right; I shouldn’t have swatted your…your posterior area. I meant to put the lady at ease and wasn’t thinking straight, but that is no excuse. You’ve never consented to my touch like that.”

Oh. No lesson needed, I guess.

“Yes, well…next time, just ask.”

What the hell? Next time, just ask? What, who? I was broken. That’s what was happening. I was broken. My twins, and Milton, and my ex and this man-child, they had all broken me.

“Oh…it’s like that, Ms. V?”

Oh, see, I hadn’t seen this Orlando, and I wasn’t ready for him. Confident, flirty Orlando was dangerous to my senses.

“Let’s stay on topic, please,” I grumbled. Annoyed, my nether parts wanted me to flirt back.

“This is the topic, Ms. V. Enlighten me. What will next time look like? I want to be prepared.” Orlando sat on one of the love seats. His toned thighs appeared slowly as he spread, finding a comfortable sitting position. The circumference of said thighs felt incongruent with the rest of his lean body, but somehow, it all worked. I was ashamed to admit I got a little giddy when he finally found his comfort. That leg spread looked promising. “Ms. V?” A thread of surprised amusement and simmering heat accompanied his words. De-escalation was required. STAT. I was not about to convert into Hot Girl Sizzling Trinidad with this man. Oh no.

“You need me to find your daughter whom you lost.” I plopped myself on the opposite couch, wanting to dissuade him from any other thoughts. His eyes seared me from top to bottom, then settled contently on my face. A girlish sigh escaped me, and we both froze.

“Are you…” Orlando leaned over, pressing his elbows on his legs. The predatory air surrounding me reminded me for a second that, no matter how much I wanted to think of Orlando as young, he was still a man. And I was reacting too much to this man while trying to get back to who I hoped to be MY man.

“I am fine. I am so sorry. This has been a very chaotic day. I just… I just want to go home. And I am the person who usually has the answers, and right now, I am running out of them.”

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