“Yeah, that would be great.”
“So, I know we said no cell phones this weekend, but James left me a message. The Knicks want me to come work out at their facility. It would be close to home if I got drafted there.”
“That’s really good, right?”
“For sure. When a team wants you, this is what you hope for.”
“What all will you do when you’re there?”
“I’ll practice, meet everyone, do interviews, and see if overall I’d be a good fit. I’d love to go to the Knicks.”
“When are you going?”
“Tuesday. Will you come with me?
“I have work.”
“If you’d quit, you could come and not have to worry about a thing.”
“I can’t do that, Bain.”
“Come on, babe, please.” I give her my best guilt trip. Being away from her makes me sick. I can’t imagine doing it all the time.
“Wherever you get drafted, we’ll figure things out. But I’m not quitting my job.”
I kiss her hair, not pushing the subject any further. I can’t push things with her. I already tried last night to tell her how I was feeling. She instantly clammed up and shut me down, looking at me like she did in the beginning when she kept reiterating the rules. I don’t need that anymore. I’ve accepted our relationship for what it is. I just want her and I’ll take her any way that I can get her. End of story.
“Come on then, let’s get ready for dinner.”
While Arion is in the shower, I check my phone. Thankfully, James hasn’t called again. Compared to his messages earlier, this is nice. I told him I was taking a few days and he now seems to respect that.
I get dressed in a pair of faded jeans and a t-shirt. I don’t care that my tattoos are showing tonight. In fact we’re going somewhere that accepts them. Heading back into the master bedroom, Arion enters and my dick gets hard. She’s in jeans like me, with a thin white tank top and clearly no bra. Her frozen nipples are hard and erect, pushing against the fabric. Looking down at myself in my jeans and white t-shirt, we are so much alike.
“Come on, we don’t wanna be late,” I respond.
She smirks at me and walks by, sliding on her flip-flops.
“So where are we going?” she asks, buckling her seat belt.
“Dinner.”
“No shit. Where?”
“I can’t tell you that. What I can tell you is there is more to the night than just the meal.”
She contemplates my words, thinking really hard about them. I love watching her wheels spin. She looks absolutely adorable when she’s deep in thought.
Checking my phone, I look at the directions one more time and pull onto the freeway. God, I hope she doesn’t freak out and likes what I have in store for tonight. She has talked about it before, so it’s not like what I have planned will be totally out of left field. If she doesn’t want to do it, then she doesn’t have to. But I sure as hell am. Fuck, I can’t wait.
Glancing at Arion, she looks relaxed. “Does Virginia have a basketball team?” she asks.
I shake my head. “No, unfortunately they don’t. You like it here?”
“Yeah. It’s relaxing, maybe it’s more the water than anything.”
“You wanna live on the water?”
“I would love to.”
“Then we’ll live on the water,” I confirm.
“Bain, come on, you know that might not happen. What if you got picked by Denver or somewhere without the ocean?”
“Then we could live on a lake. Fuck, A, I’d buy you a lake.”
“You really are something else.”
“And so are you. So what’s your choice? Wendy’s or Taco Bell?”
She stares up at the two restaurants as they sit opposite each other in the parking lot. “Are you serious right now?”
“As serious as I’ve ever been. Come on, I told you I don’t want to be late.”
“To what, dinner?”
“No, what’s after dinner.”
“Fine. Wendy’s. But whatever you have up your sleeve, it better be good.”
“It will be, trust me.”
I go through the drive through and order our food. She just stares at me. I’m not sure if she’s pissed that we went through the drive through or if it’s the fact that we are at Wendy’s in general.
“We could’ve gone to Taco Bell if you’d prefer,” I say with a mouthful of food. I haven’t been eating like this lately and it tastes absolutely fucking delicious.
“I told you I’m fine. Stop worrying.”
“Okay.”
Once we finish our food, we make the short trip across the street, to where our appointment is. When I put the car in park, her jaw drops.
“Why are we here?” she asks.
“’Cause we have an appointment. Let’s go!”
Staring into the window of the crowded tattoo shop, I suddenly become uneasy. I know I told Bain that I wanted a tattoo, but I didn’t think he would actually make it happen.
“Come on, babe, this guy is world renowned for his work. He used to work in Jersey and he’s done a ton of mine, you’re gonna love him, I promise.”