Page 34 of Sugar Baby
One Month Later
Late April
My baby had been working himself to the bone. He was having early mornings and late nights, which made me grateful I’d moved in with him because I hardly ever got to see him. I loved feeling the bed dip from the weight of his body in the middle of the morning. I loved feeling him wrap his strong arms around me. I loved the sigh of relief he released before kissing the back of my head and telling me it wouldn’t be like this always.
Today was the first day all week that he was able to sleep in, and I wanted to make the most of it. I made steak, eggs, and fried potatoes and onions for breakfast and planned to serve it to him in bed. Once I had everything theway I wanted it on the serving tray, I grabbed the hot sauce and ketchup then headed upstairs. At the sight of me, he put his bible away and smiled.
“Morning, pussy cat.”
“Morning, bae. How’d you sleep?”
“I always sleep well now that you’re here.”
“Good,” I cooed, putting the tray across his lap. I gave him a quick kiss before running my fingers through his hair. A true sign of him being busy was the state of his hair. That seemed to be the only time he let his braids get old or missed his line-up appointment with Rhakeem.
“I’m going to wash your hair when you get done eating,” I told him, making my way to the other side of the bed.
“Thanks, Suge. I’ve been so busy I haven’t even been looking at it because I knew I couldn’t take care of it right now.”
“I got you,” I assured, climbing into bed.
“You’re not going to eat?”
“Nah. I’m meeting Rittany for lunch. She said there’s something she wants to discuss with me.”
“You know what it’s about?”
“Not yet, but something is telling me it’s about a job opportunity she mentioned last week.”
“Cool. Speaking of job opportunities, I guess that’s a good place for me to tell you why I’ve been so busy lately,” he said, slicing his steak. “I’m making moves to get out the game. Keem is going to take over in the next year or so and I’ll be completely legit.”
“That’s great, bae! Right?”
Cash laughed as he nodded. “Right. It’s by choice, not by force. I’m over the duality of my life. And after that shit happened with Reek, I just can’t deny that I’m over it. I’mready to start the next phase of my life.” He made sure to look at me when he added, “With you.”
“I love the sound of that,” I said, cupping the back of his neck before giving him a kiss.
As he ate, we made plans of how we’d celebrate him going legit. At the top of the list was traveling. When he was done, I did what I said I would and took care of his hair. I washed it and gave him a deep condition and hot oil treatment though he swore he didn’t need all that, but that didn’t stop his ass from being so relaxed he fell asleep. Afterward, we chilled in the living room while I gave him his signature small plaits.
I couldn’t stop staring and smiling when I was done because he looked so damn good. Those lazy eyes. That cashew brown skin.My man, my man, my man!
I staredat my best friend like she was speaking a different language. Hearing her say she was going to move were foreign words coming out of her mouth. While I felt like this was what she wanted to talk about, I didn’t know it involved her moving to a different city. Rittany was a nurse, and she only worked three days out of the week, which was why it was so easy for her to help me with my catering gigs.
“No,” I decided before taking a sip of my mimosa.
“No?” she repeated with a chuckle. “What do you mean no?”
“No, you can’t go. I hear you saying the job in Virginia pays more but no.”
“No?”
“What’re you? A parrot? No.”
“Sugar Baby . . .”
“No.”
With a sigh, she stood and came to my side of the booth. She took my hand into hers as I avoided her eyes.
