While Asao chilled near the house, Samari was at the shoreline, allowing water that moved close enough to cover her ankles before creeping away to settle the anxieties that had been building since Asao had pulled up on her.
The conflicting emotions played a round of tug of war with her head and heart. Logically, she understood what she felt was a combination of things. A year had passed since Mase had ended their relationship.
She hadn’t dated, crushed on, or considered giving her time to another man in the months that followed. After she crossed the year mark, she felt confident in the solitude of making her needs and feelings a priority. A man wasn’t required, but after two days with Asao, she was already addicted to the way he made her feel.
Her emotions were all over the place with the desire to run and hide seconds before things shifted and she wanted to crawl into his lap and be consumed by his world.
The conflict was stressing her the hell out. In the back of her mind, the reminder that men let her down stayed on rotation, pulling her back each time she felt herself falling. But in reality, she believed Asao wouldn’t let her down. He was everything he’d professed to be. Her gut knew this and so did her heart.
But like a teenager with a crush, the fear of trusting was still there. She flexed her toes and pulled her feet from the water soaked sand, deciding to head back to the house. She missed being close to the source of her internal conflict and being close to the water had chill bumps covering her skin. The sun was setting, which took with it the warmth that kept her temperature balanced.
After trekking back through the sand toward the house, Samari grinned at the sight of Asao stretched out on one of the lounge chairs. She smiled at how sexy he appeared, face relaxed, one arm folded behind his head while the other was pushed under the hem of his hoodie. His brown skin was a contrast to the jet black texture of his beard and thick brows that hovered above his closed eyes. The slow and steady rhythm of how his chest rose and fell meant he was either asleep or close to it.
She dragged her eyes from him long enough to locate a free standing shower station a few feet from the house. That was her first stop, and once she cleared the sand she’d brought with her, she carefully navigated the stone path that led her to the left of the deck.
Her eyes moved to the lounge chair next to the one Asao occupied but she decided against it and climbed next to him instead. There was barely enough room so she ended up draping half her body over his, nearly smiling when he unfolded the arm that had been behind his head and dropped it around her bodyto keep her from falling over the side. She bit her lip to contain her smile.
“You know it’s two of these shits, right?”
Samari smiled and nodded against his chest, inhaling the blended aroma of weed and his cologne. “I can’t share this one with you?”
“Yeah you can, wit’ your needy ass.”
She grinned, tilting her head back to find his eyes still closed. “Why I gotta be needy?”
“Because you want to be all up in my skin.”
Samari laughed and snuggled in closer. “It’s cold out here.”
“That don’t have shit to do with why you’re all up on me.” Asao dropped a kiss to her forehead and gripped her thigh, hiking it higher over his.
“What kind of women do you date?” Samari wasn’t a hundred percent sure that there wasn’t a woman in his life, but from what she’d learned about him so far, she couldn’t imagine Asao to be the type of man to disrespect a woman he considered a priority.
Asao didn’t speak right away.
“You trying to see if you qualify?”
She grinned. “I don’t want a man.”
“That’s pretty fucked up considering you’ve got one.”
“You’re not my man, Asao.” He outwardly claimed her and she privately accepted everything he offered. Being with him felt as natural as breathing. She didn’t have to think about it or question the why or how. Existing in his space just worked and felt comfortable in a way she hadn’t even experienced with Mase.
“You laying all up on me feels like I’m your man.”
She smiled at the arrogant confidence in the low rasp of his voice. “We’re just chillin’.”
“Nah, we’re building, Mari. Everything I do is intentional and I don’t give this type of attention to a woman unless I have plans of exploring more than just her body.”
She lifted her head from his chest and elevated her chin so her eyes reached his face. “You don’t hang out with women?”
“I fuck women, but nah, I don’t hang out with them. And when my goal is busting a nut, even that’s intentional.”
Samari rolled the corner of her lip between her teeth, considering the question lingering on her tongue before she said fuck it and asked. “What about the woman you were arguing with the night we met?”
Asao ran back that night and Tori popped into his head. He wasn’t about games or being elusive. At thirty-two years of age, a woman who couldn’t handle the harsh reality of his honesty couldn’t handle him.
“My ex. We had sex the last night of my tour and she mistook that to mean she could reclaim a spot that would never belong to her again. That was some shit she made up in her head. So when she pulled up on me at the club, I wasn’t interested in entertaining her attempt to be seen.”
