Page 38 of Grown Folks Confessions: Black Lush

“We’ll do it,” I told her.

“That’s great news. I told my business partner that you boys may have some skeletons in your closet, but when it comes to pleasing a woman, you lot make it all about her and her pleasure.”

I didn’t miss the slight smirk from Demetrius at the fact that Jade unknowingly echoed what he’d just told us.

“On the off chance you’d say yes, I already ran the background checks, so you’re all good to move forward. Even you, Cease,” Jade teased. “So now all I need each of you to do is sign this contract and fill out a First Come Fuck form so I can assign you your first member upon the grand opening next month.”

“First Come Fuck,” Midas repeated. “I like it.

“Wait, so we rotate partners?” Alessandro asked.

“Bruh, quit sounding so nervous,” I mocked. “Askin’ questions like you scared of having too much pussy.”

Alessandro waved me off as the others laughed. “Man, shut the fuck up with that bullshit.”

“Usually, we don’t rotate often,” Jade explained. “But for this series, it’s special circumstances, so you won’t just have one partner. Safe sex is a must though! No diving raw under any circumstances. Every woman signing up for one of you shouldn’t be denied the opportunity, am I right?”

“Shit, we dick on standby for real,” Cease pointed out, motioning for the pen. “Rio, hurry the fuck up so I can sign this form. A nigga was locked up too damn long not to turn down some shit like this.”

“Do ya girls know you’re asking us to do this?” I asked when it was my turn to sign.

The sly look on Jade’s face made me want to take back my question. “If you’re asking if a certain bestie of mine knows that the man she accidentally married once who also knocked up her high school arch-nemesis is one of my top recruits, then yeah, she knows.”

Damn.Good thing my cousins knew of my marriage sham with Layla already. I slid the contract to Midas, who was the last to sign, ignoring the chuckling from my cousins.

“Matter of fact, I knew there was something I left out,” Jade continued, snapping her fingers. “Since she’s worked with Black Lush before and she’s one of my closest friends, Layla will be designing the fuck-me rooms for the Naughty Novice Holiday series. She’s pretty set, but the problem is for the final details before the launch, she must team up with an actual tattoo artist to make sure we’re good to go. Ares, since you have the most experience with opening a shop from the ground upandyou also worked with Black Lush before, I figured, who better to help her lay a final eye on the details than you.”

“Midas can do it,” I told her.

She shook her head. “Nope. Midas doesn’t live in Chicago and that’s the first launch of this new experience. Matter of fact, right now, you’re the only one of your cousins who lives in Chicago, but I’m thinking if one of y’all don’t mind the short drive, I can have you do some fantasy work in both locations, starting with Chicago.”

A couple of my cousins mentioned they would be cool with that.

“And, Ares, if you really don’t want to do it, I have another option. A contractor who helped design a tattoo shop on the north side of Chicago last year. He has a great eye too.”

The hair on my arms stood to attention because I had a gut feeling I knew who she was talking about. Regardless, I asked, “Who is that?”

“Gary,” she answered. “He went to high school with us.”

I know who the fuck Gary is.

“Yo, ain’t he that dude who wears that little ass braid in the back of his head?” Rio asked, to which I grunted in agreement. “I ran into him last year at a concert and he still be asking about Layla’s ass even though I heard they went on a few dates and he fucked up his chance.”

“He bored the shit outta her,” I answered, showing my cards. “He wanted her ass in high school, but when he got his chance a few years back, he was too damn boring for a feisty woman like Layla.”

The room was quiet, everyone looking at me with laughter in their eyes.

“No need to get riled up,” Jade stated, gathering the signed contracts. “As I figured, you’ll assist Layla with the final details, and I’ll tell Gary thanks, but no thanks.”

I didn’t say shit else the rest of the time Jade discussed the next steps.Damn. What the fuck did I get myself into?I hadn’t seen Layla in a while, and whenever we went to events and parties that our mutual friends threw, we argued.

A lot.

To the point that sometimes, friends didn’t invite us to the same shit anymore. To be honest, the only reason I pushed her buttons was because seeing her was too hard, especially when I had been trying to make it work with Audrea. Now I had to work closely with her, too? I sunk down in that desk chair, mentally preparing myself for seeing her again without our friends as buffers.

“You good, man?” Midas asked, breaking my thoughts.

“I’m good,” I lied. “Real good.”

---