“It’s me, Belle. Put that shit down please.”
She popped the light on with her chest heaving. “Fuck, Nei. What are you doin’ here? Where is Alexis?”
“We’ll talk in the morning. I need some sleep.” She gave me a skeptical look but accepted it. I shut the door and tapped the code to secure the house once again.
Walking up them long ass steps was a no-go, so I took the bedroom downstairs. It was dark throughout the house, and my eyes had already adjusted. I managed to make it to the guest bedroom without bumping into anything. I walked past the bed and headed right for the shower. I was past aggravated and hurt. I needed a moment to take it in. I could do that under the steaming water.
I undressed and cried like a baby in the shower. So many tears fell I wondered on how I was still producing them. I went from standing to sitting, knees to chest with my arms holding them in place. Heart break was starting to consume me.
By the time I found the strength to move, I was starting to shrivel up. The water temperature had finally gone cold. If Iplanned on gettin’ any sleep, I needed to lay down like yesterday. I washed quickly, then wrapped a towel around my body.
Lookin’ at myself in the mirror, I saw that fragile girl surface. I tried my hardest to stay away from her. I thought I was making progress from that scared thirteen-year-old I used to be, but I fell right back into that hole. I just wanted to be loved and happy like the people I was surrounded by.
I wiped myself off, then towel dried my hair, brushed my teeth with an individually wrapped spare they had stored under the sink, then headed to bed. I never slept in clothes, and just because I was at Hunz’s didn’t mean I was about to start.
Climbing in bed, I got comfortable. I was completely drained. I was seconds away from dozing off when I felt a foot touch my leg. My eyes popped open with adrenaline flowing through my veins.
I slowly sat up and looked over to the other side. There wasn’t no way there was a whole body beside me, and I didn’t notice. “Huuuunnzzz!” I screamed for my best friend. The lamp on the nightstand came on, and I was face-to-face with Gills.
Gills
Screaming. That was what disturbed my sleep. I was in there knocked out when screams pierced my eardrums. I turned the light on next to the bed, still groggy as ever. Grabbing my phone off the nightstand, I saw that it was after four in the morning. That was what I wasn’t ’bout to do.
I sat up with my eyes closed and anger radiating from my body. It was the lack of respect for me. Taking a deep breath, I opened my eyes to a shocked Journei.
“Gills?”
“Journei? What happened? Is somethin’ wrong? Did somethin’ happen to Hunz?” I was firing question after question, not giving her time to answer one.
“Gills, what are you doin’ here? And why are you down here and not upstairs?” she countered.
“Belle didn’t want me driving home late, so she insisted I stayed here. Second, Hunz was drunk, and I wasn’t about to run up and down them steps just to help him. Answer me the way I answered you.”
She inhaled deeply, and for the first time since meeting her, I looked at somethin’ other than her face. I noticed she was completely naked, which made me jump up and turn around,which did no good ’cause I forgot I was just as bare. I slept au naturel, regardless of where I was.
Panic started to set in. I was a pastor, and that wasn’t how it was supposed to go down. I was honestly stuck on what to do next. My gym bag was across the room on the chair, meaning she would see every part of me if I crossed to get it. I was exposed, but I’d rather she saw my backside than my front. She was married, and I wasn’t goin’ to interfere with that.
I could feel her coming toward me. The heat from her body could be felt, even with the distance between us. The vanilla scent I assumed she used to wash with had somehow magnified its fumes. Journei was temptation, and silent prayers were being sent with every step she took.
She stopped directly behind me, allowing me to melt under the flames she possessed. The second her skin connected with mine, I felt my willpower withering. Her fingers traced the tattoos I had along my back.
When she got to the one that wrapped around to the front, my heartbeat took on a new rhythm. Her fingers led while her body followed. I quickly turned to walk away when her hand latched onto my arm.
Paralyzed. In that moment, I was stuck, unable to move even a smidge. She stood to the side, behind me almost. That woman was conquering my flesh, doin’ little to nothin’.
“Journei, I need to cover myself, and you as well,” I spoke without looking her way.
“Gills… Gills, look at me,” she whispered.
I refused to comply with what she was asking. Each step she took to get in front of me, I took two to stay turned. The grip she had on my arm had yet to loosen during the interaction. She brought her free hand up and touched my face. I’d never felt skin so soft. She proceeded to position herself in front of me, that time succeeding.
“Journei, I’m a man of God. This isn’t right.”
Ignoring everything I said, she let her hand fall to my chest. She applied a light push, letting me know she wanted me to back up. That gesture was repeated until my calves were touching the bed.
Finally releasing my arm, she applied a lil’ more pressure into the shove that dropped me to the bed. Her body was on full display. After looking away, those soft hands brought my face back to hers.
Journei’s vitiligo drew me in and quickly became my weakness. My eyes scanned her body, givin’ extra attention to her patches. They were in all the right places. I was givin’ in to temptation, and I needed God to reel me back.
