“Ohhh fucckkk.”
“Pillow,” he grunted. “Keep that shit up, don’t stop now.”
Jahlil held onto Emani’s hips as she bucked, rolled, threw it back and looked over her shoulder with the glint in her eyes of remaining quiet. That was until Jahlil forced her on her stomach, pushed her leg up and hit that spot.
“Put your face in the pillow, Rose.”
Emani bit the pillow, eyes shut as she enjoyed the pleasure and pain fighting for possession of her body. Jahlil laced his fingers in hers and mercilessly hit her spot until they’d made a mess of each other. He rested atop of her, breathing heavy.
“That wasn’t the plan,” he muttered, rolling off of her.
“But it was so damn good,” she buzzed, trying to get control of her body again. “That’s that shit that had me beating up bitches.”
Jahlil lazily smacked her ass. “No more fighting. I’ll handle the battles, Rose.”
“My battles are-”
“Mine to fight. Hear me?”
“Yes, Daddy, I do.”
He groaned as she sat up. “Stop it before I have you hanging off the bed fighting to stay quiet.”
“I’d take you up on that iifff I didn’t promise the kids breakfast before school. I have responsibilities now,” Emani said with a giggle, inching out of the bed.
“I’m not shocked but I love how Sanaa is taking to you. Y’all got something special. She’s never had something special. Like a bond and place that’s hers. She’s been wanting that.”
“I can feel it. I felt it yesterday when she stared at me before she started touching me. It was like a shock to her system and then this feeling of finality,” Emani explained as she helped him strip the bed and followed him into the bathroom. “Funny enough, I’ve always wanted that too.”
“You don’t mind stepping into this role?”
“Did I mind before?” Emani quizzed, looking up at him. Jahlil swayed his head. “I know what you are and what you come with. I’ve never wanted anything else. Shit, if I can be a godmother to my almost stepson, I can love yours too.”
“Ours and when you’re ready, we’ll add some more.”
Emani laughed and shrugged him off of her. “You’ve been trying to put a baby in me since freshmen year. Relax, Savage.”
“Can’t even lie, I’ve been trying to trap your ass since the first hit. I should’ve tried harder,” he joked.
“Nah because if you popped back up seven years later, I’d hate you right now. I mean I’d hate your stinking guts. You would’ve made me sick,” Emani joked, reciting lines from her favorite movie.
“I’ll always be the Alfalfa to your Darla. You can wash my back?”
“Yeah,” she hummed sweetly, following him into the shower. “You’re going to let me exfoliate this?”
“I was going to ask after the first game though, you’re rough as hell,” Jahlil stated, standing under his shower head.
“Oh so now you want to complain?” Emani sassed. “No one ever complains about me being rough until they got a little bit of pain.”
“You throwing your ass back and scratching me up is something different, Rose.”
A shared laugh, a back wash and changed sheets led the two out the room to divide and conquer Monday morning. Aunt Violet made sure everyone knew she wasn’t going to be around until dinner so Emani and Jahlil were on their own with Andrew and Sanaa. Though Jahlil didn’t say much, he watched how Emani juggled Sanaa’s hair while getting her hype about her first day of pre-k, making sure she ate just enough, packing snacks and making smoothies. She was in the zone again. How she did all of this years ago and stayed on top of her grades would forever amaze him.
“Why are you lookin’ at me like that?” she buzzed, handing him his prework out smoothie. The recipe she embedded in her brain. “Taste that, make sure I got it right.”
Jahlil took a long sip, his shoulders dropped and his eyes rolled back in his head. “Damn, I missed this.”
“Daddy,” Sanaa buzzed, fixing her bow in the long mirror in the living room. “You have to watch your mouth. I heard you in there kissin’. Oh fuck, oh fuck! I heard you. We can’t use those words anymore right, Mani?”
