“The boss that you’re attached to.”
“Ughh. Aura, don’t be that guy.”
He frowned. “What guy?”
“The one that flaunts his money in the relationship. The one that uses it as a flex to show a woman what he can do for her. It’s corny.”
He smirked. “You think I do that? You think I’m tryna flex when I buy you things?”
I thought about how meaningful the gifts were that he’d bought me, my car being the biggest one. There was always a “just because” note or text attached to it. Maybe I was contradicting myself. “I mean, no. It’s just the way you said that. It was just… eeeyuck.” I mimicked the TikTok creator, Ariana.
“Money is a tool, so I use it as such. According to my grandmother, my love language is acts of service. It’s been that way since I was a kid. Your car wasn’t a flex. I just wanted to see you in something different. The flowers, jewelry, and all-expense paid maintenance days are things I feel you deserve. So, I have no problem doing that. When I say money is attainable because you have access to me, it’s not cause I’m tryna pop it. I say it because as my woman, you being taken care of and not having to think about where the money’s coming from cause Dada got it is the flex. I don’t have to say I’m the boss, Nae. That shit so embedded in me, I walk with a boss air.”
By the time he finished talking, my nipples were hard, and my panties were wet. It wasn’t just what he said, it was how he said it. Aura Sullivan was exactly who the fuck he thought he was and then some.
“I hear you,” I finally spoke while squeezing my legs together behind the register. “I guess you can say I’m just trying to figure this out on my own, ya know? You get a different kind of satisfaction when you know you put the work in yourself.”
“I respect that 100%. I never wanna take away from your grind. I do have a proposition for you that doesn’t include youbeing on all fours.” He winked, and I pondered with heavy consideration.
“And what’s that?” I asked instead of saying what was really on my mind.
“What if I become a silent investor for you? We can start with two properties. The reason I say two is because you wanna have options. One that’s affordable but still gives the guest the feeling of luxe by the way you decorate and then one that’s more high end. It comes with additional services such as transportation for the duration of their time in the Airbnb and offers full clean up at no expense to them once their stay ends. Of course, it’ll be more costly, but you’ll get bookings. It’s all in how you upsell. People gotta get around. Once you reach your first 5k, you can start putting the money in our wedding account. How that sound?”
I stuffed the money as well as the receipts into the bank pouch and put it under my arm. “It sounds great. I couldn’t think of a thing wrong until you mentioned our wedding.”
“What about it?”
Setting the bag down, I walked around the counter and sat on the stool next to him. “You put so much stake in me, Aura, that it makes me wonder. Have you ever been in love?”
“I’m Aura, baby. I exude love and shit.” He smiled.
I shook my head, letting out a small laugh. “No, seriously. Have you ever been in love?”
He stared at me for a few seconds before answering. “I can’t say that I have.”
I didn’t believe him. “Seriously?”
He shook his head. “I’ve dealt with women but never at the level where I was open to giving them my heart.”
“Did you feel they didn’t deserve it?”
“I’m sure a few of them did. I’ve just never been open to giving it… until you.”
“Why?” Just like he was persistent in pursuing me, I was the same with my questions.
“I watched my father love my mother with everything he had. I grew up watching him display the kind of love that made the room feel light if it was tense when she walked in because his love moved with her.” He paused.
It seemed like something he’d sat with for a while that he wanted to get out, so I stayed quiet, giving him space to reflect as he spoke.
“I always felt that kept her grounded. Kept her present. But it didn’t. She was fighting an internal battle with herself, and although she allowed my father to love her, she never let him get in the ring to fight alongside her. My mother killed herself when I was thirteen. I watched what it did to my pops in real time. He’s moved on since then, but I don’t think his heart ever recovered. From thirteen, I said that I would never give a woman that kinda access to me.”
“So, essentially, you withheld your heart to avoid being hurt.”
“Yes,” he admitted. “I gave women what they wanted physically, time, money, attention, and dick to compensate for what I couldn’t give them.”
I was searching for the right words to say but came up blank.
“And then you made me work.”
