“Mm . . . I’m still not feeling being out in the snow.”
I chuckled. “Girl, you can handle that shit. You’re built for it.”
She lifted an eyebrow. “Oh, am I now? Who’s been checking who out?”
She bit her bottom lip and stood up. I watched as she pulled her bikini bottoms out of her ass and sashayed to the door. Only then did I notice she was watching me watch her. She looked over her shoulder with a beautiful, shy grin and winked. “See you soon.”
I waited another few minutes before I pulled my ass out of the heated pool with my traitorous ass dick that was swollen.
After playing with Titan, we played a few rounds of UNO, a game of Clue, and then NBA2K26 before we showered and took a nap. We met up in the kitchen to cook lunch after our nap.
“Do you always eat healthy?” she asked as I prepared the salad that would go with our club sandwiches.
“Hell nah. Have you seen me wolf down some food?”
“I mean, yeah, but it seems like it’s mostly healthy.”
“Sometimes, but not always. I try to maintain a good balance of healthy with junk, and I make sure I hit the gym to push out the junk. Believe it or not, I’m not a big sugar fan.”
“Really? I couldn’t tell the way you scarfed down that root beer float and cookies last night.”
I chuckled. “A’ight, big back. Who really ate most of that platter of cookies?”
“I only had seven,” she whined as she slathered mustard on our hoagie bread.
“Only seven, Chanel?”
“Okay, maybe seven and a half.”
“And there were only twelve on the platter. Greedy little ass. Don’t know where you hide all that food at.”
She stuck her tongue out at me and laughed. “I have a workout routine of my own, thank you much.”
“Oh yeah? What does it consist of? Lifting cookies from the platter to your mouth?” I teased.
She rolled her eyes. “Uh-uh. I actually do yoga three times each week, and weights on Tuesdays and Thursdays, alternating arms and legs.”
“Good for you. But you’re looking good either way, ma.”
She blushed and held her head down. “Thank you.”
“You’re quite welcome.”
“How is that salad coming along?”
“It’s done. I’m just mixing up the oil vinaigrette. What about the sandwiches?”
“I’m putting toppings on now.”
“All right. Where are we eating?”
“We can sit at the island if that’s good with you,” she suggested.
“Yeah. Let me fix Titan’s bowl, and I’ll join you in a second.”
“Okay.”
We moved around each other in my kitchen in a harmony that I didn’t want to go away. I realized that I was a man who needed to be around family. Without one, I could be a loose cannon, and with the wrong one, I could be unhinged at best.
