Page 8 of All This Love
It was still very early and very possible that he was hiding his red flags well. I could worry about that later. I deserved to have some me time and enjoy myself. Thanks to Ivan’s no good ass, I was basically a single parent that had to bust my ass to work hard and take care of my daughter financially. He didn’t even help out physically. Everything was on me. Thank God, my daughter had a grandmother that loved to spend time with her and didn’t make me feel guilty for needing breaks sometimes for a mental reset. I loved my daughter, and I’d love to have a son one day, but I’d never again have a child blindly with a man that I barely knew. Sometimes, it wasn’t even safe to have a child with a man you thought you knew.
As predicted, Onyx rolled a strike, and it was my turn again. The game was almost over, and I hoped the night wasn’t going to end just yet. I had worked all day and was tired, but I would rather spend a little more time with Onyx than sleep. He had to be something special if I was choosing him over going to bed early.
“Game over you won,” I stated with a sarcastic eye roll once I was done with my turn.
“What do I win?” he asked me with a grin.
“You get to open my car door when we leave.”
“You not shit,” he laughed. “I had fun though. I like hanging out with you. Next time I might even give you a boring basic date like dinner. Something that you like.”
Crossing my arms underneath my breasts, my brows hiked as I studied his handsome face. “Who said there would be a next time?”
Onyx moved closer to me with a gleam of mischief in his eyes. “I know there’s going to be a next time. If I’m lucky, next timewill be tomorrow night. I want to get in all the time I can before Lil’ Mama comes back.”
There was no need to pretend that I didn’t want to have dinner with him because I did. I still had to play it cool, however. “We might be able to make that happen.”
“That’s what I’m talking about. Treat yourself. Don’t cheat yourself.”
I pushed him playfully, and he ambled toward the bar to pay our tab. Aside from bowling, we had drinks, wings, loaded tater tots, and fried pickles. I used the bathroom while he paid and when I left the bathroom, he was leaning against the wall waiting for me. His head was down, and he had one foot propped on the wall as he looked through his phone. With a lick of my lips, I admired his physique. Onyx was so fine, and his body was sick. I kept meaning to ask him what his workout regimen was. Since having Angel my stomach wasn’t as firm as I wanted it to be, and I kept telling myself that I needed to make the time to work out.
I got a decent amount of exercise from running in behind and taking care of a toddler, but I needed to step it up a notch. In the car, Onyx reached over and turned the volume of the radio down before glancing over at me.
“What do you think of me so far? As a person?”
That wasn’t a question that I’d expected. “Um, I enjoy your company. So far, you seem like a nice, mature, respectable guy. Why do you ask?”
“Because I’m about to ask you a question, and I don’t want you to look at me different afterwards.”
My guard went up immediately, but I played it cool. I was going to give him the benefit of the doubt, but if he asked me something crazy, I was going to curse him out. “And what would that question be?”
“It’s way too early for me to be around your daughter. I know that, and I don’t have a problem with it. But she’s not at home,and I enjoy your company. I’m just not ready for the night to end, and I wanted to chill for a bit. But I don’t want you to think I’m on creep shit.”
I smiled and shook my head. “Boy, you had me thinking I was going to have to curse you out. If the question is, can you come inside once we arrive at my place, the answer is yes. But I do have mace and a gun.”
Onyx tossed his head back and laughed. “I gain nothing by bringing any kind of harm to you. I’m not even a sucka like that.”
I gave a brief nod because I believed him. That was rare for me because I didn’t trust shit. It was almost a month before I let Ivan know where I lived. Looking back, I should have never told his lame ass where I resided, but that was water under the bridge. Ivan had me fooled at first, but he still didn’t give me the vibes that Onyx did. I didn’t get the feeling that he was being fake. Then again, one could never really know for sure.
Onyx and I ended up on my couch watching a movie. My feet were in his lap, and he was massaging one of them. It had been a long time since I had male company, and I was actually kind of nervous. Even though he stressed that he didn’t want to come off as being on creep shit, there was a chance that Onyx would make a move. And if he did, I wasn’t sure that I’d turn him down. While I wasn’t exactly interested in casual sex, I was tired of waiting for Mr. Right. I needed my back cracked. I was a grown, consenting adult, and as long as we used protection, it would be fine. I knew I wasn’t a hoe, and he should know too but if not, oh well. I was human. I had needs.
“Let me know if you get sleepy. I don’t want to keep you up too late.” Onyx looked over at me with heavy lids. As he spoke, he added a little more pressure to the bottom of my foot, and his hands felt so good kneading my skin that I had to swallow down a moan.
“Will do.” Biting my bottom lip, I contemplated making the first move. Would that make me desperate? What if his dick was small? I mean sex wasn’t everything. And size wasn’t the only thing that mattered, but was a handsome man with money and a small penis ideal? Then again, Ivan’s dick wasn’t small, and he was still a lame ass deadbeat. I’d take a small dick over another him any day of the week.
“Am I the only woman in Golden Waters that you’re entertaining? I mean, it doesn’t matter if I’m not. I’d just like to know.”
“Entertaining?” his voice held an amused tone. “Nah. I haven’t even been in town that long. When I’m not handling business, I’m either with family, or trying to steal some of your time. Niggas in Golden Waters are slipping. You should be a housewife. Just making sure home is straight, and the baby is good. You’re too pretty to be out here grinding like a nigga.”
That got a snort out of me. “Sounds nice. I mean, honestly, I like doing nails. I also like making my own schedule. I just don’t like being afraid to turn down clients because I need the money. There are days that I’m away from my baby for twelve hours. But even if I had a provider, I’d probably still at least do nails part-time. I like making my own money. And my man won’t have to do everything. Even if I just use my money for myself, the house, and my daughter.”
Onyx’s hand left my foot and moved up my leg. “The lame niggas get all the good baby mamas.”
I chuckled while trying to ignore the way my body was heating up from his touch. Fuck it. I didn’t care about coming off as desperate. “I’m sure I’ll be sleepy soon, so if you were going to make a move, now’s the time to go ahead and do it.”
A lazy grin lifted Onyx’s cheeks. “I thought you’d never ask. Come here.”
He gently pulled my arm, and I sat up. Moving over, I straddled him as my heart beat wildly in my chest. It was too late to turn back. Onyx peered up at me with his hands resting on my waist. “You so damn sexy,” he whispered.
