I rubbed my hand over my face and stared at the ceilin’ cause the shit made me feel helpless in a way I ain’t l like. If this was some regular couple argument, I would press her and force her to talk to me, but it felt deeper than that. It felt like she was protectin’ herself from somethin’ only she could see. I knew she had her own wounds, the same way I got mine, but every time I tried to meet her halfway she pushed me back like she ain’t want no type of bridge built between us. And after a while, a nigga just stop reachin’ out ‘cause bein’ rejected by the person you love hit different. That shit cut through your pride and your patience at the same time. I knew I was the problem at times, but damn!
A notification lit up my phone on the nightstand and interrupted the thought. I reached for it slow, already knowin’ it wasn’t Toni ‘cause she hadn’t texted me anything besides dry-ass one word answers. And sure enough, when I opened the screen, it was a message from Echo.
What you doing?
I let out a low breath and leaned my head into the pillow. Echo was fine as hell and she knew it, and she sent messages like she expected me to be pressed over her. I typed back somethin’simple and leaned the phone on my chest. It ain’t take her long to reply ‘cause another bubble popped up almost instantly.
First it was a picture of her out somewhere with her girls with a tight dress and her waist slim. Her makeup was done heavy, which was somethin’ I ain’t really care for. Her legs was glistenin’ in all the pictures. She looked good, and even I couldn’t pretend she didn’t, but good don’t mean meaningful. Good don’t mean she had a space in my head like that.
Another picture came through, this time of her in a swimsuit. Ass out, and hips angled like it was a deliberate picture. This was the type of picture females only send when they tryna bait a nigga into reacting.
My eyes dragged slow down the screen while I hit the blunt and let the smoke fill my lungs.
Echo was grown, sexy, confident and the type that walked like she already knew her body made niggas double-take.
I sat up and leaned my back into the headboard so I could look at the picture again before settin’ my phone beside me.
The phone dinged again.
When can I see you?
I ain’t answer right away ‘cause I was tryna decide if entertainin’ this shit again was gon’ make me feel worse or better. Toni didn’t want me around her, and ain’t let a nigga in that mansion unless I was droppin’ somethin’ off or leavin’ somethin’ by the damn door.
And shit, niggas break too. We just break ugly. We break through actions instead of tears. We break by lookin’ for anything that distract us from the person we really want.
So I ran my hand down my chest and typed back.
Slide through.
Her reply came fast as hell.
On my way send me the location.
Once I sent off the location, thirty minutes later she was textin’ me.
I dropped the blunt in the tray and stood up, stretchin’ my back before grabbin’ some sweatpants and pullin’ them on. I ain’t bother with a shirt ‘cause a hoodie was enough. I threw it on halfway while walkin’ to the elevator, still feelin’ the leftover heat from the shower on my skin.
By the time she texted me again that she was pullin’ up, I was already downstairs. The valet was at the curb with a bored look on his face until the white Benz rolled in. Echo hopped out with her hair fallin’ down her back, and her outfit snug,
She came straight up to me and hugged me around my torso. I let one arm tap her back lightly, but I wasn’t pullin’ her in.
Still, she smiled like she wasn’t discouraged and walked with me toward the elevator. She talked soft about some random shit I ain’t really process.
Echo kept glancin’ up at me, tryna read somethin’ in my expression, but I ain’t give her anything.
We stepped into the room and before the door even clicked shut, somethin’ in me snapped into a different gear. All that indecision, all that thinkin’ and that emotional shit I had been drownin’ in—none of it followed me past the doorway.
Echo barely had time to turn around before I pressed her back into the door. My hands went flat beside her, my arms cagin’ her in so she couldn’t go nowhere even if she wanted to. The dominance wasn’t forced. It was instinct. It was just the way my body moved when I got in that mode.
She let out a gasp, but she held my stare like she wasn’t scared. She slid her hand under my hoodie and touched my stomach, her nails draggin’ up my abs slow like she was tryna make me react. The corner of her mouth lifted when she looked down and slid her hand lower, dippin’ past my waistline. Whenshe finally got a handful of what she was lookin’ for, she pressed her lips together and hummed soft.
Yeah, she knew exactly what she was touchin’.
I stared down at her with that look I only gave when I wasn’t thinkin’, and when I was just lettin’ instinct lead. She swallowed hard and gripped my dick tighter, her hand nowhere near big enough to wrap around me. That lil’ struggle made me smirk.
“Yeah… you feelin’ all that,” I muttered.
She opened her mouth to say somethin’ but I caught her neck first, suckin’ slow at the spot that made her whole body jerk. Her grip tightened and my shit jumped right back, heavy as hell in her palm. I felt her knees damn near give out, so I slid my hands under her ass and lifted her.
