“You know he’s not coming.”
The wind shifts and I smell the man who sits next to me before I see him.
“Excuse me?” I ask, engaging with him against my better judgement as I turn to see a man with long locs and hooded honey brown eyes solely focused on me.
“Vaughn’s not coming,” he says more specifically and I find myself trying to figure out where I’ve seen this man before and why the hell he’s approaching me about Vaughn.
“I wasn’t expecting him, but thanks anyway.”
I give him a forced smile, then turn back to my computer, watching him out of the corner of my eye, hoping he leaves soon. But he does the exact opposite instead, pulling out a blunt wedged behind his ear and lighting it before making himself more comfortable on the bench beside me. When he takes a pull from it, I start to pack up and he laughs.
“My bad,” he chuckles, then falls into a fit of coughs. “Didn’t know my brother-in-law was such a touchy subject.”
I’m about to stand, but when I process his words, my curiosity has me staying seated. I turn to look at him and still can’t figure out where I’ve seen him before, but his eyes, Inow realize, are the same as Toya’s. Vaughn has never formally shown me a picture of her, but the times I’ve been to his mother’s house, I’ve seen a few and they were all stunning. The man beside me has the same features, but there’s something else in his stare that makes his appearance more startling than stunning.
“Who are you?” I ask, knowing this has to be the Petey I’ve heard Vaughn mention or his mother grumble about in passing.
“I’m Petey. He ain’t tell you about me?” he asks, taking another pull from his blunt while letting his eyes travel down my body before coming back up to meet my eyes. Then he shakes his head in fake disappointment. “That nigga stay trying to keep me out of the picture. One minute he’s pushing me out of Jay’s life and the next he’s replacing my sister like her life ain’t mean shit.” He points the blunt at me with his last statement, and for some reason, I keep entertaining the man.
“I don’t think that’s the case,” I say, instead of minding my damn business. Because from where I sit, no one will ever replace Toya in Vaughn’s eyes and I can’t help saying that quiet part out loud.
“Shiiiid.” He laughs. “You don’t know that nigga too well then. Any day now he’ll be ready to replace your ass too.”
To prove his point, he pulls out his phone and scrolls through picture after picture of him, Vaughn, and Toya, some dating back before Jaylen was born on the same block where the Douglasville Projects sit. The only difference is the building and landscaping looks more rundown in the pictures than it is now.
I don’t know what the point of this conversation is, but his whole vibe is giving everything I’ve heard about him, so I decide to leave for real this time just as I see a police cruiser slow rolling through the parking lot. When Petey follows my gaze, he snuffs out the blunt, then stands, telling me he’ll see me around beforestuffing the half smoked blunt in his pocket and walking back to wherever he came from.
Chapter 13
Cori
“What’s on your mind?”Vaughn asks from behind me, breaking the early morning silence as he nudges one of his legs between mine. I’ve been faking sleep for the last hour, but somehow he knows I’m awake.
It’s been a full seven days and I’ve yet to tell him about seeing Petey in the park. I don’t know what it is, but ever since the brief encounter, things between me and Vaughn feel different, or rather I do. Before last week, I was confident in where I stood in this relationship… sort of. Now I find myself questioning everything. It doesn’t matter how good the sex is or how strong of a connection I feel to him, the dwindling date nights and constant reminders of Toya have fucked with my head as I scrutinize his intentions in silence. “I know you’re awake, CC, so gon’ head and tell me what you’re thinking.”
He kisses the back of my neck then repositions his leg to spread both of mine apart before sliding his hand under my oversized t-shirt and tapping two fingers on my clit like that’s the best way to get my attention. And I can’t say that he’s wrong because the action sends a jolt through me that jerks my half asleep body wide awake, coaxing me to answer.
“I just have a lot of work to do today,” I lie, not wanting to address my growing insecurities or come off as insensitive about the subject of his dead wife. So I deflect instead, searching for his hand under the covers where it’s still resting on my clit. I slowly stroke circles over the sensitive area like his hand is not even there, gradually applying more pressure and increasing my pace until he joins in, taking over the task entirely until both of our hands are slick and covered in my essence.
“Move your hand, CC, and let me taste you,” he whispers from behind me with his mouth barely brushing against my ear. His words have all thoughts of his intentions going out the window, and I do what I’m told, pulling my hand away to slide the two offending fingers into his mouth. “Mmm, my favorite flavor,” he moans, sucking my fingers clean while he continues to stroke my clit so steady, so sure, and so relentless that I cum all over his hand. I’m floating, convulsing and shamelessly bucking into his palm, completely unaware of what’s going on around me until he adjusts our position slightly and slides into me from behind.
We’re still on our sides, and his hand that did the initial damage is now gripping the inside of my thigh, holding my leg that’s draped over his in place as his dick pushes through my orgasm, drawing every bit of the sensation out until his body comes to an abrupt stop and he breathes in deep at my back as he presses himself far up into me with a moan and wet warmth fills my womb.
Outside of the heavy breaths from both of us, the same silence that filled the room just an hour ago returns, and I’m sated, just barely, as Vaughn rests his head on the back of my neck then lets out a curse.
“Shit. I’m about to be late off this good pussy,” he says, placing a closed mouth kiss on the back of my neck. Then he goes to the bathroom and comes back with a warm rag to cleanme up. It’s then that I know that there won’t be any follow-up shower sex, just a quick nut and even quicker exit on his part. “I gotta head into work,” he says before taking the overnight bag he brought last night into the bathroom to shower alone.
When Vaughn leaves, I get up and go about my day, showering before I check my emails over breakfast while I wait for Sheena to arrive. She regularly stops by on slow workdays, but today, she takes her time and doesn’t show up until the afternoon with a garment bag in tow.
She gives me a weird look once I open the door before coming inside and laying her bag on the olive green tufted Chesterfield sofa in my living room.
“I’m glad I got here early because you don’t look like you’re ready to level up your career at all,” Sheena says, studying the bun haphazardly pulled up on the top of my head.
“Early? You’re usually here way before this. There was some extra bacon left over too, but I ate it,” I say, knowing she’s going to feel some type of way about the bacon as she shakes her head, exasperated.
“You know tonight’s the Bilal Brown exhibit. Remember the plan was for me to come over so we can get ready and take an iDrive together?”
I look at my phone, realizing today is in fact the date of the exhibit and I forgot to set a reminder for it.
