“Oh?”
He nodded once.
“You said you wanted to keep… whatever this is going through the summer.”
I set my fork down slowly. “And?”
“I’ll consider it.”
That made me sit up a little straighter.
“You’ll consider it?”
“Yes.”
I stared at him. “Wow. Thank you so much for the opportunity.”
“Don’t start,” he said, already irritated.
“You make it sound like I’m applying for a position.”
“You did,” he replied. “You just ain’t realize it. Being with me is a full time commitment. One I don’t know if you’re ready for so, like I said. I’ll consider it.”
I rolled my eyes. “What’s so special about this ‘commitment’ anyway?”
“There are conditions.”
“Of course there are.” I leaned back slightly. “Let’s hear it.”
He looked at me to fix my attitude, which I did.
“If we do this,” he said, voice steady, “it stays between us. When it’s done, it’s done. No revisiting it. No bringing it up. No… slipping back into it.”
I blinked.
“…that’s it?”
“No.” He held my gaze. “You gotta sign something. An agreement with the terms laid out clearly.”
I let out a short laugh. “Oh, hell no.”
His expression didn’t change. “It ain’t up for discussion.”
“Who’s your lawyer, Marley? Your brother who is also my father’s friend?”
“Marcus knows how to be discreet.”
“I’m not signing no shit like that, Marlon. It ain’t that serious. We can just agree verbally.”
“You got a terrible habit of not keeping your mouth shut, Aurora,” he said. “I don’t trust verbal.”
I sat up straighter. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me.” There was a hint of a grin that let me know he found the whole thing amusing.
“Then stop fucking with me or fucking on me,” I shot back. “If I can’t be trusted, don’t touch me anymore.”
That shut him up and wiped the grin clean off. “…I can’t.”
