Aurora shook her head. “Mm mm. Don’t apologize for them. Though rude as fuck, I get it. And this is why we can’t live in ideas. Only reality. And you have some things to clean up. Some things to sever. And you have some choices you have to make. Regardless of how they feel, you still deserve to honor you.”
Aurora reached up and swiped her thumb over his lips. “Thanks for the distraction. Didn’t know I needed it. Take care of yourself.”
Khalif wrapped his hand around hers and kissed her palm. “You too. Don’t lose your dreams or those ideas.”
“Khalif!” his mother shouted from the door.
Aurora smirked softly before stepping back. “Handle your business.”
“See you around?”
“Probably not. Just a play, not your endzone,” Aurora gently reminded before getting in her car.
Khalif stood by and watched her crank up and pull off. When Aurora was far enough away from his ranch-style estate, she swiped a tear from her cheek. Back to the club, back to the goals. Back to trying to save what was left of her father’s legacy that hadn’t been stolen and sold off as if none of it were obtained from hard work and foresight.
Foolishly falling in love or lust over good conversation, comfortability, and amazing sex wasn’t a part of that plan.
nine
. . .
“Aurora,”Madeline, Aurora’s grandmother, spoke softly as she entered the kitchenette space near the large window adjacent to the kitchen, where love was cooked and brewed back in the day. “I thought you were going to sleep the day away.”
Aurora had been staring at her law notes, unable to commit any of it to memory. Her bundles, which typically remained curled or in pin curls, were in their natural state. Sleep had been restless. Every time she fell asleep, she heard his grunts and felt the swell of his dick inside of her. She tossed and turned, trying to make the images of his smirk, the timbre of his voice, and the overall warmth of him disappear.
She pulled her tired eyes from the notes and law books spread about the table to her grandmother. Madeline shuffled to the coffee maker and began brewing a pot. Over her shoulder, she asked, “I thought last night wasn’t going to be a long night? You went to the club?”
There went that ache again. Aurora slightly bit her lip, letting flashbacks flood her mind, but she recovered. “No, Synia dragged me to a wedding and then one thing led to another.”
Madeline turned around and studied the glow of good sex over her granddaughter as well as all the things she wasn’t saying. “Do I need to make tea instead of coffee?”
Aurora chuckled softly. Her grandmother was her best friend. Madeline had sat up with Aurora many nights, wiping tears of heartbreak, gushing about a cute boy in her class, and most recently - teaching her granddaughter how to navigate the strip club. Two things were true when it came to Aurora, she was fiercely independent like her father, and she sacrificed like him too.
Splash wasn’t the ideal place Madeline wanted Aurora out, but she knew telling her no would only push her deeper into that world. So she gave her baby the game. She gave her the rules. She gave her the support. The same way she did her late husband and her son.
“I need coffee because I have to study and then work,” Aurora stated.
Madeline moved around the kitchen making coffee, toast, and eggs, and joined Aurora at the table. “How many rules did you break?”
“Every last one,” Aurora quietly responded, feeling as if she were going to cry. Not with disappointment but because she knew what she experienced beyond sex was a one-and-done deal. “I don’t know how many details you want but you’re probably going to cuss me out.”
“Is he married?”
“No. He was supposed to be though. It was his wedding Syn took me too.”
Madeline closed her eyes and tilted her head slightly to put the pieces together. “He was at the club for his bachelor party, I’m assuming.”
“Yes.”
“You danced for him?”
“Yes,” Aurora answered. “I’ve done so too many times to count but it all felt different. The dance wasn’t the same, the stupid-ass conversation wasn’t the same.”
“And you ended up in his bed. How’d you get there? Liquor?”
“I mean a few glasses of wine but that wasn’t it. It was this feeling. This familiarity like … it’s stupid,” Aurora stopped herself. “It’s all stupid.”
“Is it, or are you scared?”
