“Hey, Stent. I think I’m just going to grab a few things and use the main bath—”
She took a few steps in and froze.
I was stapled in place my damn self, unable to even speak. I noticed Zoey’s face heat up. This is it. This was our first awkward moment. The moment that reminded us who we once were to each other. The one that informed me of Zoey’s sexual being.
“Sooooo,” she sang before stretching her neck, clearly in discomfit. “You’ve met Morris.”
“Mo-Morris?” I sputtered. Then my eyes slowly inspected the dark, flesh-colored apparatus, instantly surmising the origin of its name. “I didn’t know you were a fan of Boyz n the Hood.”
She cleared her throat. “His résumé has grown since then.”
Things went quiet. I didn’t know how to turn this shit around. I’d been there for almost a week and nothing about it had been sexual. Absolutely nothing. I mean, damn… Zoey was fucking hot, definitely a dime, but I hadn’t allowed my mind to venture there. That wasn’t what this hiatus was all about.
“Jordan does not have free rein of the apartment. He’s not allowed to roam in my room, much less my bathroom if that’s what you’re concerned about.”
Was it? If I would be honest, Jordan never crossed my mind. Her need for a prosthetic did. A damn dildo! I was shocked, angry and…jealous all in the same moment. Then I couldn’t help myself. I didn’t really think about my end game before I spoke the next few words.
“Are you dating?”
With hard eyes, Zoey scraped her bottom lip between her teeth. She didn’t appear nervous or afraid, just jarred like last night when I walked in on her conversation with Jae.
“Will my answer be held against me later in a court of law? ‘Cause I mean… those partner support checks come in handy,” she attempted humor, and was full of shit. Zoey didn’t need my money; she hadn’t for at least a year now. Her businesses were turning a profit, this I knew through trusted sources.
I knew I was wrong. In that moment, time had not been flying to the point of leaving me senseless and unable to gather my thoughts. I was in the moment and knew my mind was routing manipulative as it had always tended to do to because of my insatiable and obsessive need of Zoey. But I decided on the course very much consciously, didn’t give a fuck. I wanted something from her. I wanted information and knew I could obtain it from her. We’d only recently been in touch and managed to bypass the initial formal and awkward period of being in each other’s company with ease because that’s who we were together. Zoey and I were kindred spirits, always expediting the timeline for comfort and intimacy—even if inappropriately.
Tonight would be no different. Hell, I’d take lead. I would push her for what I wanted. Only this time I wouldn’t be alone. Zoey was no angel either. She played coy, but really… What the fuck was she doing coming into the bathroom knowing I’d be undressed? I knew her well enough to know she had a damn agenda herself, similar to the first time she seduced me in Alpine. She may not have been looking for sex this time, per se, but I’m fucking Stenton Rogers: I knew a woman with an agenda when she came sniffing around.
Moment of truth: I truly believed if I wanted to, I could have fucked Zoey that night. I knew what to do and say to decimate her guards. From the moment I walked through that door, needing asylum from the nightmare of Quincy’s death, not once did sex come to mind. And this was a huge feat: I thought about sex with Zoey when we were apart. But now I feel my jealous and protective senses eclipse. It has always been my charge to take care of every one of Zoey’s needs I was capable of. Finances were handled; however, sex hadn’t been tangible because I was never around to gauge that need. She’d shut me out, which was probably for the best or she would have never gotten the space needed to grow. But this shit…it felt different. I felt some kind of way. I felt Neanderthal, and unable to fight my next move.