Guy
I had to be more careful.
Physically, mentally, emotionally, sexually.
I had to be more careful if I didn’t want to completely fuck this up for the both of us.
Nova was in my bed for the third night in a row, comfortably asleep against my chest like we had been at it for years when really I had only known her for a little over a month. And part of that time she was in a full blown relationship with someone else meaning she shouldn’t have even been on my radar at all. But everything felt way too like right as I held her in my arms just as the sun began to peek through the windows, landing a kiss against her forehead that made her snuggle deeper into me.
I wasn’t even a kiss on the forehead type. More of a, “how can I wake you up without it being too obvious that I just want to fuck before I kick you out” type. But something about Nova had me crossing boundaries I had never even considered approaching since dealing with Mariah, had me doing things I didn’t see myself doing with any ol’ casual fling.
Then again, nothing about Nova really felt flingy, her presence more like a fixture, a foundation, something solid, something... familiar. We ran with some of the same people even if we hadn’t crossed paths before, we enjoyed a lot of the same things even if we hadn’t gotten a chance to experience them all together quite yet, and we both got a kick out of my crazy ass child who called himself sneaking into my bedroom at the crack of dawn.
I thought about tapping Nova to warn her, but her snores told me she was in a deep enough sleep that I didn’t want to bother her. But maybe I should’ve since the first thing Jaxson asked was, “Daddy, why Miss. Nova in here?”
For the first few nights, we had gotten up before him so he hadn’t seen us in bed together, or together at all really outside of a little light flirting here and there. But now seemed like a better time than ever to have him get used to the sight when I explained, “She’s sleeping, Jax. Like you should still be. It’s not time to get up yet.”
“But I’m done bein’ tired,” he whined as he rubbed his eyes, his favorite stuffed animal tucked under his arm as if he wasn’t as done as he claimed to be. And while it usually wouldn’t have been an issue to just have him climb in bed with me, I didn’t want him to make a habit out of it now that I had company.
So without raising my voice too much, I still spoke as sternly as possible. “Jaxson, go back to bed. You can get up in a little bit.”
“But Daddy…” he whined again, his trembling lips alerting me that he was on the verge of a real tantrum; the last thing I wanted to hear first thing in the morning.
Before I could react, Nova’s head was peeling away from my chest and I worried it was so she could make her grand escape even though we had already been caught. But to my surprise, she stayed close, her voice soft, and maybe a little groggy, as she said, “Good morning, sweetheart. Are you okay?”
Jaxson completely sold his frustration with me, pouting his lips when he answered, “Daddy said I gotta go back to bed.”
Nova matched his emotion as if she was on his side while also explaining, “It’s really early, Jaxson. And if you get up too early then you won’t be able to spend lots of time with your mommy cause you’ll be too tired.”
“I don’t wanna be too tired,” he quickly replied, legitimately concerned about not being able to maximize his time with Mariah. So much so that I almost wanted to laugh since I knew this was just Nova using her Jaxson-Voodoo skills.
But just like always, it seemed to be working when she enthusiastically told him, “Well you better go get back in bed and get as much sleep as you can. She’ll be here pretty soon, you know.”
Jaxson nodded as if he understood exactly what she meant before taking off towards his room, Nova and I smiling for different reasons as we watched him disappear through the door. And while I wanted to just stare, forever in awe by her tactics, I could only shake my head as I complained, “Man, I swear this shit isn’t even fair. You tell him somethin’ and his ass is reporting for duty immediately, all hyped up like a damn Chick-Fil-A employee. I tell him the same shit and what do I get? McDonald’s. Attitude, ice cream machine always broke, drive-thru order all wrong...”
Nova immediately bursted with laughter as she climbed out of the bed and stretched her arms in a way that had the t-shirt she wore rising above her ass. Definitely a morning sight I could get used to, though once she finished, she let me have it. “First of all, I really need you to let McDonald’s go. Second of all, please don’t ever compare someone as exceptional as Jaxson to something as mediocre as McDonald’s. And finally, all it takes is a little manipulating, Guy.”
“Is that what you did to me too? Played with my head? Manipulated me?” I asked teasingly as I tossed my legs over the edge of the bed so that I could pull her between them.
She settled in with a smile, wrapping her arms around my neck as my hands sat against her waist. “Are you saying you have the capacity of a three-year-old?”
I shrugged as I glided my hands from her waist to her ass while answering, “Nah, I’m sayin’ you got skills that could transcend generations. Him with words and me with all this.”
My full grip of her cheeks only made her giggle as she knocked my arms away. “Quit messing around, Guy. We need to clean up and stuff before your… guest arrives.”
The emphasis she put on the word guest let me know she still wasn’t completely sold on the idea of Mariah coming to visit even though, “Nova, you said you were good with this. Don’t start gettin’ all weird on me now.”
There was an uneasiness to her tone when she whined, “How can I not be weird about this, Guy? This is your baby mama, the woman you almost proposed to we’re talking about. And I’m just your… summer roommate who you’ve been throwin’ the D as of late.”
My face scrunched as I huffed, “Damn. A nigga spends some quality time with you, cuddles with you all night, and that’s the only story credit I get?”
Though I wasn’t actually offended since I was definitely throwin’ the D, I was still glad when she answered, “No. This has been… nice. Really nice. But it’s also very new, and very unorthodox, and not exactly something I know how to package and explain to someone so important to you.”
It would’ve been silly of me to act as if Nova’s uncertainty wasn’t rooted in reality. What we were currently sharing was beyond new, beyond unorthodox, and something I wasn’t exactly sure how to package either. But regardless of any of that, the bottom line was, “You don’t have to explain anything to Mariah. She’s just coming down to make sure our kid is still in one piece and to enjoy a little time away from the city like the rest of us.”
Nova still didn’t seem too settled with the idea as she glanced away and quietly replied, “If you insist, Guy.”
But I deepened my hold against the back of her thighs to get her attention and keep her still so that I could reiterate, “I’m serious, Nova. Just because she’s coming to visit doesn’t change anything between us. I still want you in my arms, want you in my bed...”
She immediately cut me off with a laugh of disbelief. “Oh, there’s no way in hell that’s happening while she’s here.”
“What? Why not?” I asked, confused as to why she would want to stop a good thing when it was just getting started.
Still, she acted as if it was the worst idea in the world, her face tight when she replied, “Guy, are you kidding me? That wouldn’t even feel right.”
“You in my arms always feels right, baby,” I countered with a charming smile.
A smile that only made her roll her eyes. “You know what I mean.”
“I don’t. But if that’s what it takes to make you not be weird about it, I guess I’ll just suffer without you for a few days,” I told her, surely sounding pitiful as hell. But the fact that I was already willing to sound pitiful in front of her without giving a damn was just another reminder of how careful I needed to be.
To my surprise, it was my sorrow that brought her genuine smile back as she patted my shoulder and suggested, “You’ve made it all these years without me. I’m sure you’ll be alright.”
She was already on her way to my bathroom when I called after her, “You comin’ to the airport with us to pick Mariah up?”
“What? No. Why would I do that?” she yelled back, followed by the little tinkles of her peeing as if she had left the bathroom door open.
“Shorty is mad comfortable,” I thought to myself with a laugh, finding it adorable as hell before shouting back, “Why wouldn’t you?”
It seemed like a no-brainer to get their introduction out of the way once Mariah touched down so I could prove to Nova things would be as cool as I claimed they would. But it was clear she wasn’t too interested, the toilet flushing followed by the flow of water coming from sink as she replied, “I’m going over to Kay and Lamar’s for the cookout.”
With Mariah coming in town, I had honestly forgotten about the cookout since my focus was on making sure things would be in order for her arrival. But since we really didn’t have any plans once she got here, I decided that would be our first move too.
“We’ll probably swing by after I pick Mariah up,” I told her just as she emerged from the bathroom, her locs twisted into a low bun in a way that put her glowing face on full display just as more sun was coming through the window.
Nova was so fuckin’ gorgeous, even when her nose flared as she said, “Uh… did you run that by Kaylin?”
I brushed her off. “Man, their little beef is so old. She can’t possibly still be trippin’ off that.”
“You must not know Kaylin very well,” Nova challenged with a smirk that said there was a lot more to it than what I had hoped.
“Did she ever tell you why she wasn’t too fond of her?” I asked, curious to see what the story sounded like from Kaylin’s point of view.
But I was actually glad when Nova answered, “No. What happened?” meaning I could give her an unbiased explanation.
She settled in at the foot of the bed with her legs crossed and her fists tucked under her chin as if she was really hyped for story time. And I tried my best not to get too distracted by her pussy peeking out at me from under her shirt when I started, “Long story short, Mariah and I kept getting into it, like shit was getting out of control, so I dipped down here for a few days just to clear my head. Of course Lamar and I went out a few times, but I left my phone at home because I didn’t want to be responsible for any drunk-dialing or anything like that. Well, Mariah didn’t know that, so she called herself blowing up my phone one night. And since Kay had stayed back, she was the only one around, so she answered it thinking it was some kind of emergency. Mariah assumed she was some girl I was fuckin’ with behind her back, cussed her smooth out before Kay could even get a word in. But once she did get a word in, it… wasn’t pretty. Or so I’ve been told.”
Nova’s eyes were wide with understanding as she nodded. “Oh, I’m sure. Kaylin doesn’t play that pop off for no reason mess.”
“Yeah, and Mariah even tried to apologize after the fact. But you know once you get on Kay’s bad side, that’s where you stay.”
“Which is exactly why you better warn her that you’re bringing her to the cookout,” she insisted as she patted my thigh before hopping up from the bed to leave.
Before she could escape, I caught her by the waist to pull her back into a hug, snuggling my face against her chest and getting one last whiff of her scent, then letting out a heavy exhale as if it was the freshest morning air. And since that simple act was enough to make her blush, I couldn’t help but take the opportunity to also tease, “You’re acting like you weren’t gonna pull her to the side and tell her before we got there anyway.”
It was no secret that Nova had discussed me with Kaylin, though I wasn’t exactly sure to what extent. But I was confident that they were going to give Mariah’s arrival the “homegirl treatment” as Lamar liked to call it, reading way deeper into it than necessary and somehow ending up mad at me about it in the end.
In fact, I was already preparing for the shade to come when Nova replied, “So, what? Still not my responsibility. She’s your... company.”
“Nova…”
She shrugged, glancing away to avoid my eyes. “What? She is.”
I wrapped her a little tighter to get her attention so that I could tell her, “Hey. No weird shit. Remember?”
“I’ll do my best,” she replied half-heartedly, meaning she definitely wasn’t going to do her best.
I thought it would give her a little more motivation if I added, “For me?”
But she only popped her lips, pushing away from me when she replied, “Nope. For me.”
“Oh, so it’s like that?” I asked with a grin as I watched her hips switch on her way out of the bedroom door, another sight I could get used to.
She stopped in the doorway, turning around to explain, “If I make it about you, I don’t know how long I’ll last. But if I make it a personal challenge to stay open-minded, I’ll take it more seriously.”
While her logic had me thinking way too hard for it to still be so early in the morning, since she was at least agreeing to try her best, I gave her a nod. “Whatever works for you, sweetheart.”