“…Is the way you’re going to consent.”
Many questions flooded my mind and I began chewing the inside of my mouth, a habit I thought I’d abandoned when I left Jersey. Is Azmir running some type of game? Why is he so intense? Would I want to be with a man so controlling and calculating?
“Don’t think about it too hard and long. I need your trust, your bare to the bone exposure,” he stated slowly and resolute. Little did he know, I was incapable of trust. Devoid of expectations of others. How could I tell him that we could never work?
Moments later the ‘Clan’ and their women interrupted us. I was beyond mortified. I could’ve withered where I sat. Syn kept looking away as if she wasn’t there under her own volition. Chanell gave me a look that suggested she understood that I’d forgiven Azmir.
Wop bopped towards us yelling, “Yo Divine, man! Dis’ our last night out ‘dis bitch. We ain’t spend no time wit’ da’ ladies, yo! Let’s get a bite.”
“A’ight man. Where ya’ll wanna go?” Azmir asked with his gaze still fixated upon me, unaffected by their arrival.
“Let’s hit up ‘dat Mexican joint we saw yesterday,” Kid suggested.
“Okay, we’ll meet you at the car,” Azmir said not wanting them to see the brick hard arousal that met my throbbing pearl through my dress.
We took our time walking to the car so that he could shake off his impressive erection. I had a good time over dinner. We shared in laughter and jokes in the restaurant; well, at least everyone except for Syn, due to what had happen the day before I suppose. The guys kept commenting on how cool and down to Earth they had come to realize I was. Azmir seemed quiet but not disturbed. I could tell he was relaxed and taking it all in. Or was that the way the leader of the crew always presented – tall, poised and unmoved?
We left the restaurant at almost two a.m. Needless to say, I was exhausted and so was Azmir. He did offer to rub my left foot, which was swelling up from the extra weight I’d been putting on it trying to alleviate pressure from my right. That night he fell asleep in my room. In my bed. Holding me while I lay awake contemplating his requests over and over and over. The prospect of Azmir was overwhelming, yet irresistible. I knew I had to measure my actions.
The flight home was slightly different from the one there. The entire group behaved as if we’d known each other for years, with the exception of Syn and me. The funniest thing was that Azmir drove me home. I couldn’t figure out why he couldn’t pick me up to bring me to the airport. At my door, I thanked him for the trip and kissed him goodbye.
I closed the door and went over to check my voicemail. There were several messages from my realtor telling me the paper work went through; my offer on the house was accepted and I needed to set up an appointment for closing with the sellers. I called him immediately to apologize and we set up a date that was two days away. When I hung up the phone, I exhaled and told myself I had a lot of work to do.
Chapter 7
Rayna
Just after the closing of the house, while walking to my car I called Michelle to give her the news. She hit me with bigger news than I had for her. Michelle told me that she’d been diagnosed with cancer. I jumped in my car and flew to her place. She was sitting in the living room with her housecoat on looking a mess. I could tell she hadn’t been watching television though she sat in front of it while it was powered on. I sat on the ottoman adjacent to the couch where she was.
I sprung right into my questions starting with, “Shelly, aren’t you too young to have breast cancer?”
“No. It runs heavily in my family,” she responded with a fixated glance somewhere into the distance.