Page 39 of Grown Folks Confessions: Black Lush

Midas shook his head but didn’t call me on my bullshit. I may or may not have ended the night in bed googling what kind of grown ass man still wore a goddamn braid in the back of his head.

fifteen

Grown Folks Confession #15: Once I started paying less attention to what people say and more attention to what they do, I began to see the whole truth in their character.

LAYLA

“Have you lost your mind?”I asked Jade, fuming in the passenger seat of the Lexus SUV she was driving. “I said I would be willing to work with Midas, not Ares.”

“Oh, hunny, thou do protest too much about working with your ex-husband,” Jade teased. “Is there a chance you’re still in love with him?”

“Hell no!”Uh, duh!“I just don’t want to spend the next few days or weeks arguing while I work out the final design details. I need peace in order to be inspired.”

Jade laughed. “Who are you trying to fool, friend? You won the Netflix reality competition, only to turn around and do such an amazing job with Nevaeh’s client, that you booked hella jobs and she even wants you on another huge project soon. On top of that, your IG and TikTok followers went through the roof, and you post daily on both platforms. The last thing you are lacking is inspiration.”

Although it always felt good to have your friends hype you up, the fact that she was trying to call me out was less than ideal right now. In about five minutes, we’d be pulling up to the Lush Lounge where Ares was probably already parked outside waiting for us to arrive.

When Jade had approached me about not just designing a First Class Fantasy or Black Lush set like I’ve done in the past, but instead, an entire venue for her next naughty lounge, I jumped at the idea. After winning the competition and working in London, I had been very smart with my money to avoid running into any financial issues like I had with the money my aunt left me.Not that losing that money was entirely my fault.

Jade had been in Chicago for the past month prepping for the launch, and even though I knew she’d been working with Ares on the design of the place, I was under the impression that for the décor, I’d be working with Midas who ran a tattoo shop in Detroit. Had I taken one millisecond to think about how sneaky Jade was, I would have realized she was setting me up.

“Midas is a great tattoo artist,“ Jade stated. “But Ares has the most experience and he’s the only Hood involved who worked with Black Lush before. Plus, he’s been to First Class Fantasy New York.”

“I know, I know,” I mumbled, looking out the window as we neared the historic Bronzeville neighborhood, affectionately referred to as Chicago’s Black Metropolis. Jade had gone back and forth with were to open the lounge, especially with the fact that another sex club called The Mating Lounge was also in Chicago and was owned by Black Lush.

After she talked to the Black Lush team and recognized they appreciated her vision with First Class Fantasy presents Lush, she realized the more the merrier. If Vegas could have dozens of strip clubs, why couldn’t Chicago becomethedestination for sexual exploration?

Having hers be positioned in the cultural hub for Black businesses was a huge plus. It was the perfect location for an underground membership sex lounge for the south side of the city, and I was ready to see the place thrive.

As we pulled up to the building that would lead us to the underground lounge, my breath caught in my throat at the sight of a jean clad and Tims wearing Ares leaning against his silver Audi Q5. He’d gifted the car to himself last year for his birthday after his Tattoo sprinter service took off to another level. He even had more celebrity clients than he could count since folks preferred the privacy his sprinter offered. He hadn’t told me any of that, but our friend, Tone, had.

Damn, I’ve missed him.Did he have more muscles? He looked more muscular since the last time I saw him six months ago. Either he was in even better shape, or I had neglected my pussy for far too long.

“Looks like someone’s happy to see her partner for the next couple weeks.”

I tore my eyes away from Ares to roll them at Jade. “I just haven’t physically seen him in a while, that’s all.”

“He’s not with Audrea anymore, just so you know.”

I shrugged. “What do I care?”

She smirked. “Is that the same excuse you have for why you’re wearing your black lace fuck ’em dress? Oh, I’m sorry. I mean your I-don’t-care dress?”

“Fuck you,” I muttered, stepping out of the car to get this shit show on the road, slamming the door on her laugh as I did so. The more time I gave myself to sit there and contemplate approaching him, the more I’d lose my nerve. And I really did want to see him, despite all the fussing at Jade I’d been doing.

In short, dick made me weak.

Not just any dick though.Hisdick. The man that even after our annulment was finalized was still the man I wanted to be with more than anything.

There was nothing I hated more than not having control over my body or thoughts because I was consumed by … dick. Especially when that particular part of the male anatomy didn’t deserve my undivided attention when I had shit to do, money to make, and bills to pay.

But I dared any woman to take one look at Ares Hood and tell me how she got through the damn day without thinking about all the ways he would pleasure her body.

My heart was beating out of my chest as I stopped in front of him, both of us observing the other in a way we hadn’t in years. There was so much I wanted to say. So many things I wished to tell him. Like, when we had been at Cheyanne’s place a couple years ago and he did a dance when he finally won a spades game, little did he know, I let his team win because he’d always sucked at spades.

Or when we were at one of Meeka and Tone’s day parties, I’d left my car outside their place earlier that day to take a train into River North for an interior design client meeting and avoid traffic. When I walked back that Saturday afternoon, I noticed he was parked outside and he appeared to be talking to himself. The thing about Ares was that he couldn’t whisper for shit and his window was cracked, so when I got closer, I was able to hear the pep talk he was giving himself to enter the party.

He didn’t know how to see me without pulling me in for a kiss. He’d just had his son, Ajax, and even though I’d heard him and Audrea were rocky, he was still with her. For some reason, I hadn’t wanted to tempt either of us because lord knows I wanted to kiss him, too. So instead, I hid, called Meeka, and told her I had too much work to get done, then I waited for him to enter before I went to my car.

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