Nova
I was sure Jaxson was asleep but I was too afraid to check, thinking he’d pop right up the second I budged. I had been laying there for a solid fifteen minutes, his little head resting on my chest and the book I had read three times through still propped in front of us. And my forearms were aching as I tried to keep the book open just in case he just so happened to miraculously be awake. But the position was also enough to keep me still so I could process what had gone down in the kitchen.
It was supposed to be innocent. A friendly hug to have some fun and solidify the beginning of our summer long friendship. But the innocence was long gone once I groaned in response to the smell of his cologne, secretly enjoying the feel of his thick fingers on my ass even though I had told him to quit.
The truth was, I needed him to quit, finding myself way too close to encouraging him to dig his fingers a little deeper to lift me onto the counter and have his way; dangerous ass territory. I was already planning on putting Trevante to use, but for some reason, it didn’t seem to compare to the dick print Guy had put on display by accident. Well… not exactly by accident. Just like I had reacted to the hug, he had to, in the most impressive way possible. And now I couldn’t stop thinking about it, thinking about him, as I tried to plan my grand exit of getting from up under his child.
Maybe if I just take a peek...
The door creaked open and I cringed, assuming that was all it took for him to wake up.
“Damnit, Guy!” I shouted internally, my eyes tightening as he used his regular voice to assure, “It’s okay, Nova. Once he’s out, he’s out. You don’t have to sleep with him on the first night.”
I rolled my eyes at what I could tell was another one of his sly jokes as I looked down to Jaxson and slowly slid from under him. He shuffled a little once his head hit the pillow, but quickly went back to a still slumber. Then I pulled the cover over him, giving him a proper tuck before I slid past his bigheaded father out of the room.
“Hey, what about me?” he asked, stopping me dead in my tracks.
The moment suddenly felt like deja vu of our initial meet-up as I slowly turned around, crossing my arms over my chest to ask, “What about you?”
“Can you read me a bedtime story and tuck me in too? Can I fall asleep snuggled against those…”
There was no use in holding back my smile as I cut him off. “You waste no time, do you?”
He shrugged, his smile crooked as he stroked his beard. “I thought about it, but couldn’t find good reason to now that you’re pretty much stuck with me.”
Even though I knew he was right for the most part, I couldn’t help but clarify, “I’m not really stuck with you. We’re just sleeping in the same place.”
His eyebrow piqued as he leaned against the wall and asked, “Oh, we are? Where exactly is that place? My room or yours?”
“Oh my God. Do you ever stop?” I asked, rolling my eyes while also being thoroughly entertained by his antics.
And he only added to that when he shrugged again and replied, “Not ‘til the sun comes up.”
“Seriously!”
“Shit, I am serious!” he shouted back, peeking into the room at Jaxson to make sure we hadn’t woke him up as we shared in a laugh before he continued, “Okay. I’m just messin’ with you, beautiful. I was just coming to relieve you of your duties. It’s only day one and I already appreciate you more than you’ll ever know. We appreciate you.”
I brushed him off like it was nothing, quick to insist, “Jaxson makes it easy. He’s such a sweetheart.”
Guy nodded to agree. “Yeah, he’s a good kid. But anyway, let me give you some space before you get tired of our asses already.”
“You know… it’s actually nice to have some people around for a change. Multiple people to cook for, someone to look after. I’m so used to being by myself that having company is kind of… refreshing,” I admitted, the words leaving my lips before I could realize how lonely it probably made me sound. But it was the truth, especially with David being away and my family spread out all over the country meaning I only caught up with them on major holidays.
Thankfully, Guy didn’t pick fun at my circumstances, choosing instead to reply, “It’s only refreshing until you come home from a long day at work and still gotta do all this same shit. The cooking, the cleaning, the bathing and bedtime stories. Then if you got a shorty you’re kickin’ it with, you gotta find a second wind to give up some dick. Shit is exhausting.”
For whatever reason, that made me laugh as I told him, “I suppose I can imagine that.”
“But… you do what you gotta do, even if that means letting her ride herself into an orgasm while you just lay back and watch like a lazy ass nigga,” he replied, licking his lips as if he was already imagining me doing just that.
Or maybe it was me imagining it.
Jesus, Trevante is about to get that work tonight!
I gnawed at my lip, focusing on my toes as I ran them through the plush carpet while also picking up on the fact that, “This sounds like it’s a pretty routine thing for you.”
Once again, he only shrugged. “Peak single fatherhood if you ask me.”
Single fatherhood? So baby mama really is just baby mama?
It was almost embarrassing how much that small tidbit of information made my heart race even if that hadn’t been what he said directly. And it didn’t even affect me no matter how much my nerves might’ve been thinking otherwise according to my body’s reaction. But since it wasn’t even appropriate for me to care to ask, I decided to excuse myself.
“I’m... gonna get to bed. It’s been a long day,” I told him, thinking about faking a yawn to go along with my act.
And maybe I really should’ve since he didn’t look convinced, taking a step towards me and completely dominating the space when he said, “Nova, it’s like 8:30. You can’t tell me you’re really about to go to bed already.”
I had to tilt my head back to meet his eyes, finding them surprisingly soft, warm, as I said, “That’s exactly what I’m telling you, Guy. I’m… tired. From traveling all day and such.”
His laugh caught me off-guard as he ran a hand along his mouth, pursing his lips together before he replied, “I can take a hint, Nova. You ain’t tryna kick it with your boy, get to know each other on some new homie shit. I got you.”
For whatever reason, I jumped at the opportunity to defend, “It’s not that. I mean, you’re obviously an interesting person, but…”
“Gotta go tell your boyfriend goodnight, right? I hear you, girl. Do your thing.”
“It’s not that either…” I muttered more to myself than him, my annoyance growing as I thought about the fact that I hadn’t heard from David again.
It almost seemed as if Guy knew it too, taking completely advantage of that fact when he offered, “So let’s chill. Have a little drink on the balcony or somethin’. Kick off the summer right with a toast.”
I toyed with the idea in my head, knowing time spent with Guy more than likely meant my crush growing exponentially. But something about the kindness of his eyes along with his intentions of kicking off the summer right spoke to my heart, giving me the courage to agree, “One drink. That’s it.”
“One drink, straight,” he tossed over his shoulder as he headed towards the kitchen.
He was already digging through the liquor cabinet by the time I caught up to him and shouted, “No way! One drink straight is like three drinks mixed.”
“Come on, lightweight. Time to roll with the big boys. Put a little hair on your chest,” he insisted with a grunt that made my nose flare.
“First of all, that’s gross. Second of all, I have an early morning with Kaylin tomorrow. So one drink, mixed.”
He nodded, but his expression read otherwise, as if he still wasn’t interested in taking my word. And since that was definitely something I’d have to keep an eye on, I watched closely as he pulled both dark and light liquor from the cabinet, lifting them in the air as if to ask me which one I wanted. But when I pointed to the light liquor, a bottle I assumed to be vodka or maybe even tequila, he put that one away and kept the dark liquor in his hand.
Asshole.
He grabbed two glasses from the cabinet, filling them with ice before setting them down on the counter next to where I was standing. And as he filled one glass with straight liquor and put half liquor half apple juice in the other he said, “Alright, fine. But don’t ask for a sip of mine when you’re barely buzzin’ from your regular ass baby drink. Got me using Jaxson’s juice cause you can’t handle a real drink.”
I tossed a hand his way as I screeched, “Shut up! But I promise I won’t. Drinking after strangers is disgusting.”
“My mouth is as clean as a dogs, Miss. Nova,” he replied convincingly with a smile that had me taking a full gulp of the drink he had just slid my way to calm what shouldn’t have made me feel a way.
But of course I felt a way.
While I was sure the alcohol probably wouldn’t help my cause, I took another sip before finally telling him, “That only makes my point more valid.”
“Yeah, you sayin’ that now…” he muttered, though everything about me heard him loud and clear.
Still, I acted like I hadn’t when I grabbed my glass and followed him out onto the balcony, resting my elbows against the ledge as I looked out to the bay just as a ship was passing through. And once again, while I found myself observing the surroundings, I could feel Guy watching me intently as if he was already seeing beyond my outer layer. Then again, that also could’ve been the only thing he saw, even when I broke the silence to acknowledge, “It really is beautiful out here. A beautiful scenery, beautiful energy...”
“Beautiful women,” he interjected.
“And men,” I added quickly, mostly to challenge him.
But somehow he managed to make me feel silly for saying anything at all when he let out a soft chuckle before stepping closer to me to say, “I don’t think your nigga would appreciate you checkin’ for other men out here, Nova.”
I wanted to roll my eyes at the thought alone. But since I knew that would’ve only set off an alarm of something being wrong, an alarm I was far from ready to address, I only shrugged when I replied, “I can look at men without screwing any of ‘em. And let’s be real, I’m sure he does the same with women.”
Out of my peripheral, I could see him nodding to agree as he matched my stance, leaning against the ledge and taking up more space than reasonable before he asked, “Why didn’t he come out here with you?”
It was almost ridiculous how annoyed I became from the question. Not because of Guy’s curiosity, but because of my uncertain state with the person who he was talking about. But once again, I tried to play it cool when I answered, “He’s uh… working. Out in L.A. And Kay’s not too fond of him anyway so…”
He chuckled again. “Kay’s not fond of a lot of people, but it’s usually for good reason. What’s her gripe with your ol’ man?”
“I’d rather not go there,” I replied as plainly as I could, setting a boundary without giving too much away.
And I was grateful when he only nodded again, taking a cool sip from his drink. “I can respect that.”
“But I also noticed that she seems to have a gripe with your baby mama...” I trailed as I turned away from him to hide the fact that I was blushing from my own teasing like an idiot.
“I’d rather not go there,” he said mockingly, my eyes flying back his way just as he was taking another sip of his drink through his own laugh, not even fazed by the sting that probably would’ve knocked me out.
“I guess I should’ve saw that one coming, huh?” I asked as I watched him the same way he had been watching me while he looked out towards the water.
He kept his eyes there when he smiled and answered, “You started it. But actually, I don’t have an issue going there. Jaxson’s mother and I get along great. We do right by Jaxson as you can tell, and it’s all love.”
His explanation seemed reasonable - ideal, even -, but for some reason, I couldn’t shake the fact that it still wasn’t adding up in my head. So instead of letting the confusion linger, I relied a little on liquid courage to ask, “If it’s all love then why didn’t she come out here with you boys? Seems like the perfect family vacation.”
He shrugged, his neutral expression not giving anything away when he replied, “She might come out to visit. Already claimed to be going through Jaxson withdrawals, so we’ll see.”
I expected his response to put me at ease one way or another. But it only made me even more confused since it didn’t exactly lend itself to clarifying his relationship status with her.
“Why do you even care so much about his relationship status with her?” I thought to myself just as Guy was reminding me of my own when he asked, “You think your ol’ man is gonna slide through? Make the coast-to-coast trip to see his lady?”
Instead of staring at him, I brought my eyes back to the drink in my hand, hoping the lingering ice cubes would help me come up with a plausible answer. But the only thing that came out was the truth when I replied, “I… I don’t know. We haven’t talked about it. And he wasn’t too thrilled about me coming down here in the first place.”
“I can imagine that. I mean, this city is a pretty happenin’ spot. All this hot, sexy, sensual air around, not to mention you out here lookin’ fly as hell. Then you pile that on top of the fact that we’re surrounded by a bunch of niggas who might be ugly in the face but all have decent enough bank accounts to get your attention, and yeah… I’d be worried if I was him too.”
I shook my head at his comments, crossing my arms over my chest as I asked, “What’s a relationship if you can’t trust each other, right?”
“Now that I can drink to,” he said, lifting his glass my way for a clink that I met before we both took a quick swig.
My gulp was barely down my throat by the time I added, “And besides, I’m sure Jaxson’s mother feels the same way about you being out here surrounded by women in bikinis who have all paid Dr. Miami a visit even if they won’t admit to it. Fit tummy tea, my ass...”
Even though I had nothing against those who chose to go the nip and tuck route to achieving the body they wanted, there was nothing more annoying than using their picture as #BodyGoals only to find out later that they had went under the knife instead of doing the millions of squats like they claimed. And I suppose my irritation with that fact was obvious as Guy let out a heavy chuckle, one that gave me shivers when he said, “Fit tummy tea aside, the man performs miracle work. Have you seen his Snapchat?”
I rolled my eyes. “Of course I’ve seen his Snapchat. And I’m pretty sure I can perform a Brazilian Butt Lift operation by now thanks to it. Maybe I should go see him while I’m here so I can get paid for taking pictures and hosting parties like the girls he does surgery on.”
Guy smacked his teeth in disbelief, leaning back from the ledge to check me out as he gushed, “Nah, Nova. You got the au naturel poppin’ back there. Don’t go messin’ with God’s work.”
While I wanted to blush from his compliment, I only smirked instead as I finished off the liquor that was beginning to settle into my bloodstream even deeper meaning I needed to get away from Guy as soon as possible before I did something I would regret. And that was exactly the plan when I stepped away from the ledge to tell him, “I’m gonna... get to bed. Thanks for the drink.”
He turned around to match my step, his eyes speaking a language that made my body flush with heat as he looked down at me with his lip pulled between his teeth and said, “Thanks for joining me, sweetheart. Hopefully we can do it again sooner than later.”
“I’ll think about it,” I replied quickly as I turned to walk back inside.
But he caught me by the wrist, forcing me to peek back when he asked, “You promise?”
His hold on me was gentle, but it was still enough for me to feel the transfer of energy as he ran his fingertips against my skin while waiting for an answer. And even though his simple actions were tempting me to give an answer that went totally against my moral compass, I straightened up just enough to agree, “Yeah. I promise.”
He gave the most attractive grin as he let me go, the heat of his eyes glued to my ass burning through the leggings I wore in a way that made me feel sexy as hell. But just as I crossed the threshold of the door, it felt like a bucket of water had been tossed on the fire he created inside of me when he shouted, “Tell your little boyfriend I said goodnight!”
&
“So… how’s the arrangement at the condo going?”
Kaylin’s teasing tone spoke volumes as I sank deeper into the massage chair, my eyes closed as the nail technician worked on one of my feet while the other stayed soaking in the glass tub of bubbles. And though I wanted to remain as relaxed as possible, I couldn’t help the way my lip curled up when I corrected, “You mean how is your little plan to set us up going?”
I couldn’t see her face, but I imagined it being twisted into a scowl as she said, “Nova, I didn’t set you up. It was purely coincidental, I swear.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Tell me anything, Kay,” I rattled as I shook my head in disbelief.
“Nova, I’m serious! I would never… actually, I take that back. I would set you up, but never to this extreme. The condo was double-booked by accident. Just like hotels, or flights, or whatever,” she insisted, trying to normalize what she knew was a messed up situation.
I finally opened my eyes, but only so that I could lift my empty champagne glass to signal the need for a refill on my mimosa as I explained, “Except with hotels, or flights, or whatever, someone usually gets kicked to the curb.”
“But how much sense would that make? You know there’s plenty of room for all of you, Nova.”
“Doesn’t mean I planned on spending my summer playing nanny,” I fired back, once again shaking my head at what I knew sounded ridiculous. But falling into what could only be defined by that title felt way too natural at the time for me to combat, especially with Jaxson being such a sweetheart.
Of course, Kaylin had to blow things out of proportion when she asked, “Nanny? Damn, Guy has you whipped enough to play nanny already?!”
I rolled my eyes, accepting the fresh mimosa and taking a much needed sip before I answered, “No, Kaylin. But you know I can’t help it. Nova loves the kids. And Jaxson is such a sweetheart. He fell asleep to me reading him a bedtime story last night and I swear I was ready to adopt him on the spot.”
“Well… you gotta go through his daddy first. Or on top of his daddy. Or bent over in front of his daddy…” she trailed, the sneaky little grin she wore telling on her even if she still wasn’t ready to admit it.
But there was nothing that would convince me otherwise when I told her, “See?! This has set up written all over it.”
She shrugged, taking a sip of her own mimosa as she said, “I’m just sayin’, Nova. I seriously didn’t do this on purpose. But now that you mention it, you guys would make the perfect little family.”
“Family? Who said anything about making a family?” I asked hastily, the thought alone making me cringe since it was far from what I really desired no matter how much I had joked to myself about Guy and Jaxson fitting the build of what I maybe wanted long down the road when I first saw them.
Still, Kaylin played coy when she asked, “What? You said you wanted Jaxson. Guy is just... a bonus.”
“A bonus. Right.” I thought as I shook my head and told her, “Whatever, Kay. You know I’m still rockin’ with David right now anyway.”
She damn near hopped out of her chair in response, startling both of our technicians as she groaned, “Oh. OH! Speaking of him… did you see the latest?”
I could only sigh, purposely finishing off my mimosa once again as I watched Kaylin scroll through her phone for what was surely gossip. It seemed like she was constantly hitting me with something new. And though it was always useful, relevant information, I was honestly growing tired of it.
All of it.
She leaned over the armrest of her massage chair to hand me her phone and sure enough David and some new popstar were plastered as the top post on a gossip blog, apparently sharing a romantic candlelight dinner together after whatever video she was filming. The gallery of pictures below it only added to the intimate feel of the scene, some of them holding hands, some whispering near the ear, lots and lots of grins. And while stuff like this would usually garner an immediate reaction in the form of calling to question him about it, “Interesting,” was all I cared to respond as I handed the phone back to her.
She cocked her head to the side as she repeated, “Interesting? That’s it?”
“What do you expect me to say, Kay? Of course I don’t like the shit, but there’s nothing I can do about it right now,” I explained, closing my eyes as I tried to recapture the zen I had found in the beginning.
But Kaylin didn’t care to join me when she once again repeated, “Nothing you can do about it? Umm… how about you get in touch and cuss his ass out?”
I sank back into my chair, turning up the pressure to knead instead of thump, hoping that would soothe the negative energy that was threatening to brew when I asked, “And then what, Kay? Listen to him deny it like he’s done with everything else? That shit does nothing but give me a headache, so I’d rather not. Not right now at least.”
To my surprise, she actually accepted my plea, releasing a heavy sigh as she said, “Fine, Nova. I won’t push it anymore.”
“Thank you,” I told her shortly as I settled a little more into my chair.
“But one more…”
“Kaylin…” I growled, cutting her off. Though truthfully, I really couldn’t be mad at her for sharing information I probably wouldn’t have sought out on my own. In fact, I pretty much did the exact opposite these days, avoiding just about every blog I could so that I wouldn’t run into what I knew was always waiting for me. And it was always, always waiting for me, so much so that I really had no choice but to finally face the reality of the situation.
But for now, all I wanted to do was relax. And I was glad when Kaylin finally agreed, “Okay. Okay. I’ll be quiet. For now.”