Page 22 of Certified Pressure 3
I laughed low and kissed her cheek anyway. “You somethin’ else, girl.”
The TV played in the background, but I wasn’t hearin’ it. I was too busy thinkin’ about how we even got here.
The truth was, them weeks a nigga had been missin’ from the mansion, I was in her city. I ain’t mean to disappear like that, but once I started spendin’ time with Toni, I couldn’t pull myself away. She opened her world to me, and even introduced me to her people. Some of ‘em was cool as hell, showin’ me love just off the strength that she vouched for me. Some of ‘em… I could tell she ain’t rock with too heavy, and it ain’t take long before I found out why.
She told me about what she been through. How family that was supposed to protect her had violated her instead. She opened up to me about how that pain shaped her, but it never broke her. She didn’t cry when she told me, but just laid it out like it was her truth and she wasn’t ashamed. That shit made me wanna hurt somebody for her, but at the same time it made me respect her even more. She was real about her scars, and I ain’t never met a woman brave enough to be that open.
And in the middle of all that darkness she still laughed. She still cussed me out when I beat her at spades. She still danced wild in the livin’ room when her cousins turned the music up loud. She still cooked me plates that had me eatin’ like I ain’t never had food before. She gave me her world uncut and unpolished, and it was the most alive I felt in a long time.
It wasn’t just her vibe, though. Toni was a rider. If I was tired, she rubbed my back ‘til I fell asleep. If I was stressin’, she told me I would figure that shit out and she meant it. She was loud, she was bold, but she was also soft in ways she didn’t even know, and when it came to that body? Man… this woman had some good ass pussy. It was that gushy shit that made nigga forget time. Itwas that pussy that made me look at her after and think about how I never wanted to be without her.
I looked down at her now, layin’ across my chest with her bag of chips on the nightstand, her lashes low as she chewed, and I felt that same wave of love wash over me.
“Lo?” she said quiet, like she wasn’t sure if I was even listenin’.
“Yeah, baby?”
“I really do love you,” she whispered, her eyes still on the TV. “I just… I just hate the way this shit came out. I don’t wanna lose Kash as a friend, and I don’t wanna have you and Pressure beefin’ like this.”
I rubbed slow circles on her back and kissed the top of her head. “Ain’t nobody losin’ nothin’. Kash gon’ be fine, and me and my cousin gon’ figure it out. We been close since diapers, and I don’t want this shit comin’ between us either. But I ain’t gon’ deny my heart of what it want. And my heart want you. That’s just what it is.”
She finally looked up at me, her eyes shiny like she was holdin’ back tears but smilin’ at the same time. “You know how to say some shit, Lo.”
“I ain’t said nothin’ but the truth,” I told her.
She sighed, laid her head back down, and I felt her body relax against mine. She trusted me, and that meant everything.
We cuddled up, the TV glowin’ across the room, and I kissed her slow, lettin’ her know without words that she was mine. She curled into me, the snacks forgotten now, and I held her tighter. On the outside I was calm, playin’ my part as the man who had everything under control, but on the inside my mind kept driftin’ back to how Pressure got in my face in that damn kitchen.
Me and my nigga was really standin’ chest to chest, ready to throw away a lifetime of family for a woman he didn’t even wanna be with.
This was my cousin, my right hand, my muthafuckin’ day one, the nigga I been runnin’ with since before we knew what money and loyalty even meant, and it felt wrong as hell for us to even be in this position. I never meant to betray him. Truth be told, I ain’t even have eyes on Toni at first. She was just one of the Diamonds, and I stayed out the way ‘cause that whole setup was his lane, not mine.
It wasn’t until shit got down to Ka’mari, Kashmere, and Pluto that I even started talkin’ to Toni more. At first it was just simple conversation, her jokin’ with me, me slidin’ her some weed and watchin’ her light up and laugh. That’s where the chemistry crept in, and I didn’t even realize how real it was until it was right in front of me.
Then came that night in the movie room. We messed around, and I ain’t gon’ front like it wasn’t some of the best sex I ever had, but it was more than just that. When I found out Ka’mari was the one who recorded us, and she left, I remember standin’ there feelin’ like I had a choice to make—let her walk away like she ain’t mean nothin’, or chase after her ‘cause I knew what we had was bigger than just some accident. I couldn’t just let her go. I had to follow her, and learn her for real. And once I spent time in her city and really got to see who she was and where she came from, I knew I couldn’t let her go again.
So yeah, me and Pressure standin’ off in that kitchen hurt. It burned me up inside to feel like I crossed a line with the same cousin I would die for, but I couldn’t deny my heart either. Toni was mine now, and I wasn’t lettin’ her slip away.
I looked down at her again, her lips parted, and her breath slow and even as she drifted off against my chest. I knew right then, there wasn’t no turnin’ back. She was it…my rider, my peace… my new everything.
And no matter how long it took, Pressure was gon’ have to understand that.
It was almost afternoon and a nigga was hungry but it wasn’t for no breakfast. What I wanted was layin’ right here in my bed with her leg cocked over the blanket, that wild red wig slid half off the pillow and her lips parted like she was dreamin’ somethin’ sweet.
I slid under the blanket, my face already pressin’ against the heat between her thighs. She moved before she even opened her eyes like her body knew me better than her mind did. I kissed her soft at first, lettin’ her wake up slow. Then I ran my tongue over her pussy lips and started suckin’ her clit, slidin’ two fingers inside.
“Mmm,” she moaned, her voice rough from sleep, her hand pushin’ down on my head. She rubbed the top of my waves, tellin’ me without words she wanted me to keep goin’.
I gripped her thighs and went messier. I spit on her pussy and licked it back up, gettin’ it all over my face. Her moans got louder, her hips liftin’ off the mattress every time I dragged my tongue from her hole up to her clit. I sucked it between my lips, flickin’ my tongue fast until she damn near screamed.
“Baby…” she moaned.
I wasn’t stoppin’ for nothin’. My face stayed buried under the blanket, my tongue writin’ my name on her until she started shakin’.
Every slurp was sloppy under the covers, messy as fuck, and I ain’t give a damn. All I wanted was Toni on my tongue and her body shakin’ off every lick I gave her.
Her thighs clamped around my head tight, squeezin’ my ears, her nails scratchin’ my scalp like she couldn’t handle it but didn’t want me stoppin’. I groaned low, lettin’ the vibration travel through her clit, and I pushed my tongue deeper just to hearher cry out. She was runnin’ from it, twistin’ in the sheets, but I had her pinned, my hands locked on her thighs keepin’ her wide open for me.
