Chance
I was making my move.
Fuckin’ around with Londyn on what was supposed to be some casual shit was cool, but it was no longer enough for me. I wanted more, I wanted her, fully and unabashedly without the restriction of hiding what we had going on from the world. And while I wasn’t sure how she would feel about me coming on even stronger than I already had been, I wasn’t going to let that stop me from going after what I wanted the week I would’ve been set to leave town had it not been for my mother’s accident.
Honestly, it was almost as if my mother’s accident was a blessing in disguise, giving me just a little more time to really establish something solid between Londyn and I. Then again, there wasn’t exactly a blessing in how much money it was costing me to have professionals come in and work on her house now that we needed it finished in a quarter of the time. But it was a price I was willing to pay, especially if that meant having both of the women in my life happy with me.
Yeah. Londyn was that important.
Maybe I should’ve been scared by how quickly it had all happened, pumping the brakes to really evaluate what the hell I was doing and what it would mean in the long run. But it felt just as right to put the pedal to the metal and do whatever I had to do to make Londyn mine for real. So that’s what I was going to do, shooting her a text to see where she was at before making my way in the direction of her office that was more of a co-working space designed for collaboration though Londyn was the only one there.
I could see how hard she had been working in her tired eyes when she peeked up from her dual-monitor computer screen at me, giving a half-hearted grin when she said, “You never come up here so it must be important.”
“One, I didn’t know you ever wanted me to come up here since I know how you are about your space being yours. And two, it is important,” I told her, waiting for her to invite me in with a wave of her hand. Then I leaned against the edge of her desk to propose, “I want you to come somewhere with me this weekend.”
Her expression immediately turned confused. “Come somewhere with you? Like on a date?”
I nodded as I explained, “Sort of. I need to make my way back down to the city to get some more clothes and shit since I’m going to be here for a little while longer. And I was thinking you could, maybe, roll with me.”
This time she sat up a little straighter, her eyes already twinkling when she asked, “So like a road trip date?”
I couldn’t help but laugh, quick to tease, “You real hung up on this date word like we don’t kick it all the time, Londyn.”
“We kick it in very, very private places. A road trip requires public appearances. Like a date,” she insisted, the word once again making her eyes glow as if she was already excited about it.
Seeing her giddy made me feel the same, smiling when I agreed, “Aight. So a road trip date. You down or what? I mean, you’ll probably have to stay off Snapchat for a few days since I’m still your dirty little secret, but…”
“You’re not dirty!” she squealed with a laugh before quieting down to add, “Well… not all the time. And when you are, it’s kinda my favorite thing anyway.”
“Oh I know,” I told her with a laugh of my own, watching her roll her eyes while asking again, “ So… you staying or coming?”
Her enthusiasm suddenly fell flat, and I worried she was getting ready to change her mind when I asked, “You don’t want to come?”
She shook her head. “No, it’s not that. I just don’t know how much fun I’ll be on my period.”
“Man, you really think I give a damn about that? Hell, I’ll buy you some pads if you need me to. What size pussy you wear?” I asked teasingly, using the joke I had seen on Twitter a few days before.
Apparently Londyn had seen it too, cracking up laughing before suggesting, “I really, really need you to stay off the internet.”
While I couldn’t help but laugh again, I still grabbed her hand to let her know I was completely serious when I told her, “Nah, for real though. I just want you with me, LoLo. Wanna show you my neck of the woods and all that. It’ll be dope.”
She gnawed at her lip as if she was going back and forth about it in her head. And after making me wait way longer than necessary, she finally agreed, “I guess I’ll come if you really want me to. When are we leaving?”
“Tonight.”
“Tonight?!” she screeched, snatching her hand away as she shot up from her chair.
I wanted to laugh at her frenzy since I knew it was really nothing to freak out about. But I did my best to calm her down instead when I answered, “Yes, tonight. We’ll only really be there for a day or two, so it’s not like you have to pack a bunch of stuff. Hell, you’ll probably be in my shit half of the time anyway.”
“This is true,” she replied with a nod before peeking up to ask, “So we’re really doing this? Like… making legitimate plans to hang out with each other without sex involved?”
“Is that a bad thing?” I challenged, pulling her closer and wrapping my arms around her waist as she stood between my legs.
It was risky to be all snuggled up, but also way too damn comfortable to let go, especially when she rested her head against my chest and answered, “Ask me in a few weeks when you’re ready to leave me for good.”
I bent my head to land a kiss on the top of her hair, the smell of her fresh flat iron tickling my nostrils when I told her, “We’ll worry about that when it comes. For now, we gotta get you home so you can get your stuff.”
She nodded, tilting her head back for a quick kiss on the lips before she pulled away to clean up her desk. And after getting that all packed up, we headed towards the elevators, riding in silence until we hit the third floor to pick up someone else.
A gorgeous someone else who didn’t even peek up from her phone when she stepped on to join us.
Londyn yanked at my arm to pull me down so she could whisper in my ear, “Oh my God. That’s Jayla Anthony.”
“Who’s Jayla Anthony?” I mouthed, the elevator chiming to signal we had made it to the lobby. And while the woman immediately stepped off to go on about her business, Londyn was right on her heels, attempting to stop her with an, “Excuse me!”
I stayed a few steps back, watching as the woman - Jayla - finally looked up to see Londyn charging towards her. And I could tell she wasn’t too excited about it when she held up her free hand to say, “Look. If you’re another one of Jason’s little side bitches trying to come to me woman-to-woman, you can save it.”
“Well damn,” I thought, watching the way her words stumbled Londyn back at bit before she replied, “Uh… no. I’m not. I just… saw another black woman in the building and wanted to introduce myself.”
That made Jayla’s expression soften almost immediately, her shoulders dropping when she said, “Oh. I’m sorry, hun. Divorce is bringing out a bitch I’ve never seen before. What’d you say your name was?”
“I’m Londyn. Londyn Miller,” she told her, extending her hand for a shake.
One that Jayla thankfully returned with a real smile. “It’s nice to meet you, gorgeous. With all this beautiful hair on your head. I haven’t been able to find a good stylist since I moved here.”
Londyn damn near jumped out of her heels at that, already digging in her purse as she insisted, “Oh, you have to go to Kelly. She’s the only person I’ll let touch my hair. Here, let me give you her card.”
It only took a little digging around for her to find it, Jayla accepting it with an appreciative smile. “Thank you, doll. And sorry about earlier. They’ve been popping up so much, it’s practically become my default response to anyone pretty.”
To me, it was a little sad. But for whatever reason, it made Londyn laugh as she told her, “Girl, it’s alright. Now you make sure you don’t stay around here too late. But if you have to, have that fine security guard with the locs walk you to your car.”
The mention of Khalid being “fine” irritated me just slightly. But I tried to brush it off, watching the way Jayla grabbed Londyn’s arm to emphasize, “He is fine, isn’t he? Looks like a baby, but mama might not mind nursing a little bit.”
“He’s twenty-six!” she shouted, watching Jayla’s eyes go wide with confusion before adding, “I mean… that’s just what I heard.”
Jayla nodded as she said, “Good to know.” Then she looked between the both of us before pulling Londyn a little closer and whispering something in her ear that made her laugh.
“What was that about?” I thought, watching as Jayla stepped away and told the both of us, “Y’all have a good night.” And while I wanted to ask what was the secret the second she disappeared, another question seemed more important.
“What was with that aggressive ass Khalid plug?”
Londyn snapped her fingers as she groaned, “It was too obvious, wasn’t it? I was just trying to throw the alley-oop. He’s crushing so damn hard on that woman.”
“Why does that make me feel so much better?” I asked, leading us towards the parking lot where our cars were parked relatively near each other.
I walked with her towards hers to see her off safely as she answered, “Because you still have such a hard time believing Khalid and I are truly platonic friends.”
I shrugged, opening her door as I told her, “Maybe you’re right. But I’ll be by your place to get you in an hour, so don’t be bullshittin’.”
An hour honestly seemed like too much, practically giving her enough time to pack, unpack, and pack again since she only needed a few outfits and toiletries. But now that she had thankfully agreed to spend the whole weekend with me, I wasn’t going to sweat it, just happy to see the smile on her face when she teased, “I’ll see what I can do.”
&
“Londyn, this bag feels more like two weeks’ worth of stuff than two days.”
When she had brought it out to the car five hours earlier, she made it look like nothing, not even struggling to stuff it in my backseat after turning down my attempt to help her. But now that I had it over my own shoulder to carry into my crib, I considered letting her do the heavy lifting again since I could already feel my muscles straining in response to her overpacking.
Of course, she didn’t think anything of it when she replied, “I just wanted to make sure I was prepared for everything. You know, day casual, night casual, night formal, active wear, alternates just in case I don’t want to wear my first outfit choices, and the shoes to go with it all.”
I thought about offering a rebuttal, but quickly decided against it since we had finally made it to the door. And as I unlocked it, I told her, “Well… here we are. Welcome to my humble abode.”
Her eyes went wide once she stepped inside the warehouse that had been transformed into what was now my living space with all the finishings leftover to show for it. And as she began to look around, she asked, “Where’s the humble part? Cause this is a lot of stuff to have just up and abandoned for the past month and a half.”
I shrugged, finally dropping her bag and locking the door behind us as I told her, “I let one of the college kids I mentor house-sit while I was away. I’m just glad it’s still in one piece.”
“One. Spacious. Piece,” she muttered as she continued her scan of the first floor while I did the same to make sure my words about it being in one piece were actually true. And almost as if I had called him down, the person I was holding responsible for anything not being in place bounded down the spiral staircase.
“Yo, big bro! I thought you said you were staying up there for a while longer.”
He immediately made his way over to me for a quick dap, though I could see in his eyes that my unannounced arrival had caught him off-guard. But it was something I had done on purpose to make sure I could really trust him with my space, especially since I’d want him to continue staying here if he hadn’t done anything too wrong.
“I am. I’m just back for the weekend to get some clothes and check on everything,” I explained, before turning to introduce my guest. “This is Londyn. Londyn, this is…”
I shouldn’t have been surprised to see his little ass immediately transform into the flirt that lowkey reminded me of myself at his age when he grabbed her hand to finish, “Trevor. Trevor Carter. It is an absolute pleasure to meet you, Miss. Londyn.” Then he pulled it to his lips for a kiss that made Londyn giggle.
“Awww. He’s a sweetheart,” she gushed as if he was a child, making him blush like he was proud of himself.
But I didn’t let him hoop, giving him a little shove as I said, “Nah, he’s a knucklehead.”
“Aye man,” Trevor whined, pretending to be offended while Londyn only giggled again. Then she tossed a hand towards the back when she said, “I’m gonna give myself a tour if that’s alright.”
“Have at it, baby,” I replied with a smirk, watching the way she grinned in response to me calling her baby in front of company before she took off down the hall. And my eyes were on every step until she disappeared into a room, though I quickly learned my eyes weren’t the only ones on her when Trevor began to whistle.
“My God. She is fine as…” he paused, bringing his fist to his mouth to finish, “fine as all the fucks. Where the hell you find her at? Cause they don’t make ‘em like that around here.”
Since I knew Londyn was finer than fine, I couldn’t be too mad about him acknowledging it too. Still, I wasn’t giving him anything more than, “That’s none of your business, little dude. You been alright though? Did I miss anything major?”
He shook his head as he answered, “No, sir. I would’ve hit your line if there was any news. You know that.”
“Your moms good?” I asked, my former coworker Ms. Carter the one responsible for linking us a few years back when she worried her son was starting to hang with the wrong crowd after his dad passed. And since I related in the worst way, I took the role of his mentor - or big bro as he liked to call it - to heart, being there for him in any way that I could even when his mother moved on to another job.
“Moms is great. Told me to tell you thank you for giving her a break by letting me stay here instead of getting on her nerves back at the house.”
“Well she might wanna hold off on that thank you since I’ma have to send you back for the weekend,” I replied, knowing there was no way I was letting him interrupt my alone time with Londyn.
I was glad to see him brush me off. “It’s no issue. I’ma just stay at Shayla’s. She’s been begging me to come over anyway, but I told her I was on an important assignment like my big bro.”
“Yeah, you make sure you wrap it up like your big bro too,” I reminded him, thinking back on the time he had called me in a panic when he thought he had accidentally knocked his little girlfriend, Shayla, up.
But even though he had survived that scare and learned his lesson, that didn’t stop him from insisting, “Nah, I know you’re raw-doggin’ that. I mean, I know I would. Fuck the consequences, let’s go half on a baby, baby.”
I shot him a death stare in response, making him laugh as he said, “I’m playin’, I’m playin’. She is beautiful though, for real. I see you, big bro.”
While I certainly wasn’t looking for his approval, it was still good to hear. And as he made his way towards the closet where he was keeping his things, I was sure to agree, “She’s good peoples. Now I’ll be around if you need me. Otherwise, I’ll see you back here on Sunday.”
He was already tossing his bag over his shoulder when he replied, “Aight bet. Appreciate you lookin’ out. And tell Miss. Londyn to hit me up when she’s ready to upgrade.”
Instead of responding with words, I gave him a little shove towards the door that had him cracking up laughing on his way out. And once he was gone, I went to find Londyn, already imagining how much shit she had gotten into just because I had given her permission to.
To my surprise, she hadn’t gotten far at all, laying in the middle of my bed with her eyes closed as if she hadn’t been asleep for most of the drive up. But considering we had made the trip after a full workday - full work week - I couldn’t blame her, plopping down next to her when I said, “You looked too comfortable for me not to join.”
She sat up on her elbows to gush, “This mattress feels like it was made out of straight angel wings. I mean, I wouldn’t have packed any clothes at all had I known I was staying right here all weekend.”
It would’ve been ideal to keep her in bed all weekend, worth mentioning when I told her, “Probably would’ve been if mother nature hadn’t come after your ass.”
“That doesn’t mean we can’t do other things,” she replied with a sneaky grin before climbing my way. Then she straddled my lap, wrapping her arms around my neck to say, “Thanks for inviting me, Chance.”
“It’s nothin’.”
“It’s definitely something. I mean, I know how I am about my space, so for you to invite me into yours like this is… thank you,” she settled back on, leaning forward to give me a kiss on my nose that felt like something someone would do to a baby.
But I also understood why babies liked that shit so much since I couldn’t do anything except grin when I replied, “Thank you for agreeing. The drive wouldn’t have been nearly as entertaining without your variation of snores.”
“I don’t snore!” she screeched, waiting for me to challenge her with a side eye before she agreed, “Okay, maybe I do. Hell, I was tired.”
“Oh I know, that’s why I let you sleep. But now that you’re awake, I bet you’re hungry.”
Even if she wasn’t, I knew I was hungry enough for the both of us. But I was glad to hear her answer with a simple, “Starving.”
While I probably could’ve done a better job of planning something special for us, our unpredictable late night arrival didn’t really allow for reservations. So instead I offered, “There’s this little Thai spot that should still be open a couple blocks over we can walk to. Or this one late night BBQ joint a few blocks further than that, but we’ll have to drive. Or…”
“Or… we can just get in our pajamas and order pizza,” she suggested without skipping a beat as if hers was the only option that mattered.
But there were other factors to consider, mainly, “We finally get a chance to be out here and your ass still wants to stay at home?”
“We can do all that tomorrow. I just wanna relax,” she replied with a tired groan and pleading eyes that I couldn’t have said no to if I wanted.
So I didn’t, instead meeting her lips with a little peck before telling her, “Fine.” And that one word was enough to make her smile as she leaned in to steal a kiss of her own.
Then another.
Then one more, this time with tongue as she moaned into my mouth when my fingers dug into her waist. And even though I knew we couldn’t go all the way, I also knew this was the closest we’d be able to get which meant I was going to make the most of making out like high schoolers.
Honestly, I forgot how much I enjoyed the shit. Enjoyed grabbing on every part of her I could reach, enjoyed our tongues twirling and our teeth clumsily clanking together, enjoyed the nips and sucks on each other’s lips that turned into shared grins.
Until my dick got hard as hell.
But before I could even tell her we should cool out, she climbed off of me and said, “I got you, babe.”
She was already yanking at the waistband of my sweatpants by the time I told her, “Londyn, it’s alright. You ain’t gotta do all that.”
Still, she didn’t stop tugging, her pupils already darkened when she replied, “I want to.”
With that, it would’ve been silly for me not to lift my hips to help her get rid of my pants. And once she pulled them all the way off, she tossed them to the side then went for the waistband of my boxers, only pulling those enough to get my dick out before she covered it with her warm, moist mouth.
Perfection.
My toes curled and my thighs clenched as she took me over and over again in her mouth, creating a steady flow of saliva that only made everything better as she sucked the tip to a pop, making her giggle. Then she went back in for more, licking, and sucking, and stroking, and doing everything to drive me completely crazy - like I wasn’t already crazy enough about her ass.
I grabbed a handful of her hair to keep it from getting in the way, fully enthralled as I watched my dick glide in and out of her mouth. And I could tell she was enjoying herself, moaning when she peeked up at me and said, “I hope this is as good for you as it is for me.”
“Better than good,” I told her before she took me again, this time with quick bobs that had my hand clenching tighter around her hair. And the more she moaned in enjoyment, the more I groaned until I warned, “I’m about to bust.”
She didn’t stop, pulling out just in time to stroke every drop of me against her lips as my grunts were absorbed by the thick brick walls around us. And while I wanted to pass right on out, I couldn’t, too mesmerized watching her lick me off her lips as she said, “You taste amazing.”
“You are amazing,” I replied, loving the way she grinned as she cleaned the rest up with her fingertips. Then she crawled to lay next to me, snuggling under my arm as I told her, “I know you said you wanted pizza, but I’ll buy the whole shop for you after that shit. Hell, we can catch a flight to Italy right now and get somebody’s grandpa to make one fresh in his kitchen. Whatever you want, baby. You can have it. It’s yours. I’m yours.”
Instead of taking any of my offers, she only laughed. “That post-nut haze sure has you talking crazy.”
I sat up a little bit so I could see her face when I said, “I’m deadass though. I… I want you, Londyn. I want us to really be together.”
Even if I wasn’t sure of what it would look like long term, Londyn and I were too good of a match to let our connection fall by the wayside on account of our unique circumstances.
Yes we lived in different places, yes she’s my best friend’s little sister, and yes we still had some learning and growing to do. But none of that meant we couldn’t make it work, though I wondered if that was exactly what Londyn was thinking when she avoided my eyes to whisper, “I was afraid of this.”
Without me asking what she meant, she continued, “Afraid of falling for you, afraid of getting too attached, afraid of… ruining you and Eric’s friendship when you broke my heart.”
“Why do you think I’d break your heart?” I asked, my face scrunched since the last thing I’d ever want to do was hurt her.
I quickly realized it wasn’t so much about my actions, but the circumstances I considered small obstacles when she sat up completely and answered, “You’re here. I’m not. And even though you’re gonna be around for a little while longer, all of this means you’ll be coming back eventually. Coming back without me.”
If it was up to me, I wouldn’t be coming back without her, the crib already feeling much more complete just from having her in it. But I also knew she had plenty of reasons to stay rooted back in our hometown, things I wouldn’t interfere with since I understood how much they meant to her.
I was just getting ready to express that understanding of her perspective when she surprisingly added, “But being afraid didn’t save me from falling for you anyway. Being afraid didn’t save me from… loving everything about this; about us. Being afraid didn’t stop me from coming away with you for the weekend knowing it would only make those feelings that much stronger; only make it hurt that much worse when you leave.”
“You’re not alone, Londyn,” I told her, grabbing her hand and looking her straight in the eyes when I continued, “And I’m not saying it’s gonna be easy. All I’m saying is… be with me.”
The eye contact between us was long and intense, but I refused to break it until I got an answer, refused to break it until I knew Londyn was going to give us a real chance. And while the longer she stared, the more fifty-fifty things began to feel, I was beyond grateful to hear her reply, “Honestly, it didn’t take you saying it for me to have already felt it. But I still want to be the one to tell Eric about us.”
I nodded, giving her hand a squeeze as I told her, “I’m fine with that. As long as I got you.”
It felt ironic as hell that I was the one pushing the issue as if I hadn’t been the one against doing the relationship thing from the very beginning. But it was worth it to eat my words, especially once I saw the giddy smile on her face when she replied, “If you’re mine, then I’m yours.”