“Nah. We all know our bro ain’t thinking beyond this trip. We actually should commend his selection this time around because she hasn’t given us a second look.” Jamie enters the conversation for the first time.
His words cause my brows to furrow and my forehead to wrinkle as I finally drag my gaze from Sadia to my friends sitting around the high-top table we found upon our arrival.
“Looks like your ‘happily married’ ass discovered a defect in the pussy that’s supposed to be molded to your dick, huh, bro?” I bark as I make quotations when I say happily married.
“Oh. Well, I’ll be damned.” Thomas grins.
My eyes bounce around the group as I take in my friends’ reactions to my words. But I meant what I said and won’t take it back.
“Hm. So this one got you caring enough to defend her though? You’ve been bringing random women around for years. Now, all of a sudden, you’re territorial?” Jamie questions.
A low, humorless laugh escapes my mouth before I lift the glass to my lips and take a sip to keep from knocking my boy on his ass. I set the empty glass down and release a single-word response. “Territorial?”
My grimace surfaces as the urge to see if Jamie has learned to fight enters my mind. While the status of my relationship with Sadia is unknown to any of my friends, it feels like Jamie’s rebuttal is lined in the same acid his pressed ass wife has been sipping since my arrival.
“Forget what that nigga is talking about. How about how you just rotated your whole body to keep Sadia in your line of sight? The sad thing is, I don’t think you even realize you did that shit.” Morris smirks.
Those words cause a round of laughter from everyone, except me, as my eyes return to Sadia. It’s like she feels me staring when our eyes meet, and her smile falters for a second as she lifts her brows. The question in her eyes prompts me to nod subtly, and she turns back to the women.
“You should know that our wives are rooting for this one. Karmen also said that she’s prettier than the women you usually show up with,” Thomas says.
“Wow. Karmen is petty. The others had pretty traits,” Raymond says before he laughs.
A low chuckle escapes my mouth as I turn back to the group. Everyone watches me intently as if they’re analyzing my thoughts or something.
“All I want to know is if she’s the one who’s gonna have you settling down? I mean, you’ve been single long enough,” Morris says.
My chest tightens, and the magnitude of my truth hits me like a wrecking ball. This is just a mutually beneficial arrangement between Sadia and me. Fake interactions between her and me to get these men off my back. But it’s hard tofake the way my pulse spikes every time Sadia smiles. Or fake the affection from this morning’s sunrise breakfast. Or how my mind has been on her since I woke up.
All of those things make our situation feel anything but a lie. That realization causes my gaze to shift back to Sadia. A grimace forms when I see some nigga in Sadia’s face as she shakes her head before her right index finger points toward me.
Yeah, move the fuck around, mothafucka.
That right there is confirmation that you’ve already claimed her.
“See, if she had a ring on her finger, niggas would already know what it is,” Morris says.
Before I can respond, Sadia excuses herself and starts toward me as she weaves through bodies. Within minutes, she stands beside me, close enough that her arm brushes mine. Her intoxicating perfume penetrates my nostrils and causes my dick to pulsate. For countless seconds, I meet her gaze and hold it as our eyes engage in an unspoken conversation. Mine says, keep those niggas away from you, while hers tells me that I’m all she wants. She leans in close as the air from her lips tickles my ear before she speaks.
“Although you’ve been staring all night, I haven’t forgotten the rules of our engagement. Have you?”
I angle my body so our discussion can be more private as the DJ spins a new song.
“We’re gonna go dance with our wives. Be back in a few,” I hear Thomas say, but Sadia has my focus, so I only lift my hand to acknowledge his words.
“How about you remind me what they are? Or can I propose an amendment to said rules?” My eyes become laser-focused on Sadia as electricity courses between us.
Sadia’s eyes flash before lust, desire, and intrigue fill them as my body heats to a volcanic level.
“What do you have in mind?”
“We could finish what we started on the beach this morning.”
The answer shines like a diamond in Sadia’s eyes as my heartbeat escalates, and I wait for her verbal response.
“Only if you promise me another sunrise view tomorrow.”
“I got you.”
