“Wait! Your Mama is in my room.”
“I’m ‘bout to put her ass out…I need to see you on the pole.”
She swallowed. “Okay, but do I have to take the rest of my clothes off out here?”
Zaire nodded.
Kissing her teeth, Meadow stripped down, only leaving her rain boots on. Her arms wrapped around her body to create some kind of warmth. Neither of them gave a damn about their parents looking out and seeing her naked as the day she was born.
Zaire ran his hand down the front of her body, teasingly. Coated in rain, he flicked his finger over her clit.
“Ugh,” her head fell forward, landing between his abs and chest.
“C’mon,” Zaire finally said after feeling her up. He removed his own hoodie to cover her body.
Before they could move, Zaire stopped her “Wait.”
“What’s wrong” she asked, concern on her face.
“Ask for my words.”
Meadow bent down to hit her own ball. Finally, she got her chance to play. It landed in the cup. “Words,” she smirked.
“I’m scared too,” he confessed.
“You don’t act scared.”
“My whole body is.” He tapped his chest. “You think this shit easy? Loving somebody while your past still tryna choke you? When the world’s watching? When I’m tryna keep my Mama proud and keep these demons quiet?”
She touched his face. “You’re not a demon.”
“I feel like one sometimes.”
“You’re not.”
That made him smile. “C’mon cause I really need that dance.”
The house was quiet when they slipped inside, both of them damp from the rain but warmer than they had any right to be. Magnolia was asleep. Lesha was curled up on the couch in Magnolia’s room with her blanket pulled up to her chest. Ray was still in the shed, pretending to fix a hinge that didn’t need fixing.
Meadow grabbed Zaire’s hand without saying a word and led him up the stairs to her room. She didn’t turn the lights on. She didn’t want it bright. She wanted it soft and sexy.
All she turned on was the small lamp near her dresser.
The room glowed warm around them …honey-colored walls, Magnolia’s old quilt folded at the edge of the bed, and the faint smell of vanilla lotion she used every night. The pole in the corner, loomed tall and silver, catching the lamplight like it knew it was finally about to earn its keep.
Zaire walked in behind her, sweeping the room with his eyes. He’d seen the pole before, but he never expected her to let him see her on it.
“Show out for me…earn this money.” His voice was already low, already sliding into something that made Meadow’s stomach tighten.
Meadow shook her head at him.
She walked to her nightstand, slid open the drawer, grabbed the remote, and turned on the little Bluetooth speaker, connecting her phone and clicking on her song of choice.
The guitar strings floated out…blanketing the room in a sensual vibe.
Daniel Caesar’s voice poured into every corner of that small room like lusty humidity.
Baby with me…baby with me…
