Page 22 of Merci

“If you ever fuck another woman like that, I will hurt you.”

Hammer stared at me for several seconds before laughing and lying on his back. “You crazy as hell, Merci. I really thought something was wrong with you.”

“Somethingiswrong with me,” I made clear, lying on my side so I could look down at him. “You just made me cum like ten times, and I feel like you really didn’t even try. If you ever do that to another woman, I will seriously cause you bodily harm, Hammer. For real.”

“Honestly, that was lightwork,” he said casually, pulling me close. “I’m tired. That’s why I gave you this dick from the side. I’m about to take a nap, and once I have more energy, I’ma show you what you got to look forward to for the rest of your life.”

When my mouth dropped open, he laughed and said I was crazy again before dimming the lights. As I got comfortable against him, my lips spread into a wide smile. If his lazy sex was better than anything I’d ever experienced in my life, I could only imagine how he’d do me when he had more energy. My smile dropped at the possibility of going crazy over dick for the first time in my life. But you know what? Hammer’s dick was certainly worth it.

14

HAMMER

One Month Later

August

I couldn’t stop smiling at the pictures Merci had sent me. She’d hosted two events Friday and had two parties that she’d planned yesterday, so I treated her to a spa day today. The pictures she’d sent me were of her bare-faced in her robe, relaxed after being pampered for hours. The last attachment she sent was a video, and since it was so loud outside, I went into the house to watch it.

“Hey, Mr. Freeman. In case I don’t get to see you tonight, thank you for my spa day. It was everything I needed and more. I’m going to sleep so good tonight, and I’m sure I’ll be dreaming of you. Muah!”

Instead of replying to her text, I called her, and she answered with, “Hey, bae.”

“Wait up for me. I ain’t gon’ be here too much longer.”

Merci giggled as she snuggled deeper under her sheets and comforter. I could tell by how lazy her eyes were that it would be a miracle for her to be awake by the time I left.

“I’m not going to lie to you, Hammer. I’m going to go to sleep. If you come over, I’ll wake up. I’ll text you my code to get in the door. You might as well get my extra garage opener too.”

“Aight, sweetheart. That’s cool. I probably won’t wake you up, but I do want you in my arms tonight.”

“That sounds good to me.”

At the sight of Gordon, I ended the FaceTime quicker than I wanted to. The only reason I’d even pulled up was because my grandma begged Cujo and me. It was her birthday, and she said all she wanted was for her family to get together. When she started talking about us having a family reunion before she got out of here, I knew I wasn’t going to stay for too much longer.

As I made my way back outside, I slipped my phone back into my pocket. Cujo tried to hand me the blunt, but I declined it. If I was going to spend the night with Merci, I didn’t need anything making me sleep harder than I already did with her. It was crazy how I went from tossing and turning and being a light sleeper to sleeping through my alarm when I was with her. It didn’t matter how much it buzzed; the only thing that would wake me up was feeling her kisses on my face.

“I’m ’bout to go,” I informed my brother, laughing as Terry tried to convince the OGs to let him play spades with them. It wasn’t that he couldn’t play; he could, he just cheated a lot. They took the game too seriously for his bullshit, while all he cared about was winning by any means.

“I’ma head out when you do, so that’s cool,” Cujo replied, handing his blunt to Aunt Rachel, Terry’s mother.

“Y’all finna leave me already?” she asked with a pout, standing to give us both hugs.

“Yes, ma’am, but I’ll see you soon,” I replied. “Soon as you fix me a sweet potato pie, I’ma come get it.”

She laughed and playfully hit me in the stomach. “Oh, so I gotta bribe my own nephew with a pie to come see me, huh?”

“Nah. I’ll come see you for your love, but the pie can be my bonus.”

Giving me a second hug, Aunt Rachel laughed again and told me she’d hold me to that. We went and said goodbye to Grandma Charlene, who, of course, didn’t want us to go. She knew how awkward it was for us to be around Pops’ side of the family, so she didn’t ask us to stay any longer than we wanted to. After making us both promise to call her in a couple of days, she released us, and I couldn’t wait to leave so I could get to my baby.

The moment I stepped back into the house and saw Gordon grinning at me, I knew he was about to be on some bullshit. Even with that being the case, I wasn’t expecting him to say, “I saw you out tricking on the enemy’s daughter. You setting her up to get to her daddy? If you wanted to get back in the family business, why didn’t you just say that?”

Cujo laughed as I closed the distance between me and Gordon. A lot of shit that came out of his mouth I let slide off the strength of us being blood, but Merci was one thing, one person, I’dneverlet a nigga joke about or play with.

“Cuz—”

Me pushing him into the wall made him groan and stop talking.