Page 75 of Only for the Week
Amerie’s jaw hits the ground as she watches Janelle’s back disappear around the corner. I step around her, not caring if she sees me trying to catch up with Janelle. Right now, we need each other and that’s the only thing that matters.
She leaves her door open for me as she steps inside, stripping off her rings and earrings but leaving her waist beads on.
I close the door behind me and she grabs my hands, inspecting my busted knuckles. “Come on, Caveman.”
I follow her to her large bathroom where she instructs me to sit on the closed toilet seat. She fills the basin of the sink up with cold water and lays a hand towel inside of it, wringing it dry, and then filling it with ice. Then, she opens the blue box she had with her, revealing it to be a first aid kit.
“J, you don’t have to do that. I’m okay.”
“Shhh. I don’t wanna hear it.”
“You don’t?”
“Let me pour into you the way you do for me.”
She holds the makeshift ice pack to my knuckles, using her free hand to massage my forearm.
“Where’d you get the first aid kit?”
“Javier. The man has everything on hand. How’s that feel?” She gestures toward my hand with her head.
“Stings a little but it’s fine. Nothing I can’t handle.”
“That’s right. Maybe I should call you Hulk instead of Caveman.”
I chuckle. “You can call me whatever you want, J.”
She lifts the ice from my knuckles, tossing it back into the sink, and then she grabs some cream and bandages from the first aid kit, gingerly patching me up. “Mhmm, remember you said that.” She bends down to press a soft kiss against my now bandaged hand and then another one on my lips. “Thank you. You having my back like that when I wasn’t even around means more to me than you will ever know.”
“You never have to thank me for that. You just have to trust me to keep doing it.”
A tear slips down the side of her cheek, so I lift my good hand to stop it and she leans into it. The trance doesn’t last long because she sucks in a deep breath, inspecting her handiwork before grasping my uninjured hand and pulling me into the bedroom. She pushes me down on the bed and crawls behind me, lifting the hem of my shirt.
“You trying to take advantage of me? Because I’ll allow it,” I joke.
“Well.” A slightly warm liquid hits my back as Janelle’s voice tickles my eardrum. “Some kind, considerate, and caring man had some massage oils sent to me earlier so now I’m going to use them to help you relax.”
“Really? That sounds like a guy you should take a chance on.”
“You think so? See, I was kinda torn between him and the guy who puts men in the hospital for talking bad about me. I don’t know, this could be the beginning of my dark romance era.”
“Ohh, I get it. I think you’re confused. You’re thinking those are two different guys.”
She applies a pressure that makes me putty in her hands. I groan with every knot that comes loose under her touch. “They’re not?”
“Nah. They’re clearly the same guy. They have the same motivation and everything.”
“And what’s that?”
“You.”
She meets my eyes in the full-length mirror facing us, smiling shyly. “That’s something to consider.”
“I hope so.” Her hands continue working their magic on me. I start to change the subject several times but keep losing my train of thought the deeper she kneads my skin. “Damn, you’re good at this.”
She hums her agreement.
I use my good hand to reach up and cover her hand on my shoulder, stopping her motion. I can’t think straight with her voodoo hands on me. “You wanna tell me what that was about with Amerie earlier?” The pride I felt at seeing her tell Amerie“no”without any further explanation was next level. I know it’s probably shaking her at her core to be on the outs with her sister, but she did it anyway and stood firm on it.
