Page 67 of Senior
“No.”
“Then take my word as bond. You were my first for some things, and some things you weren’t, but you’ve always been the only for many. You’re for damn sure the only one I want to spend my life with.”
She stared at me for a moment before reaching out and palming my face.
“What am I supposed to do with you when you say things like that?”
I chuckled. “Love me.”
“I do love you. Always have. Always will.”
“Always.”
She unhooked her seatbelt and leaned over the armrest to kiss me. I was on cloud nine. I might have joked with Deuce about easily getting her back just to piss him off, but I if I was honest, I was prepared to spend the rest of my life as a single man if she declined my advances this time around.
Would I be celibate and sworn off women? Hell no. But that would have been it in terms of a girlfriend or marriage. It wasn’t that another woman wasn’t deserving of my last name. I just didn’t want another one.
We stayed in the hills for a good two hours, smoking, laughing and reminiscing about our younger years. Once it was nearing midnight, we finally headed back to the compound. It was quiet as we drove past my kids’ homes. Any other time, they would have music going or my sons would be congregated in somebody’s front yard on those golf carts.
Nine times out of ten, I would have been with them, shooting the shit and threatening to whip somebody’s ass because these niggas loved to try me. I chuckled to myself because Deuce got that shit honest with the way he was always threatening his brothers. He swore he ran them.
As I neared my garage, I pressed the button to open it. Once we were fully inside, I closed it, shut off the car, and got out. Rounding the passenger’s side, I opened Steph’s door and helped her out. Hand in hand, we headed into the house and upstairs to my room.
“Ummm… I just want a nice shower and to climb in this bed,” Steph said, sitting on the chaise.
“I can run you one.”
“Or you could just join me.” She winked at me as she kicked off her slippers. “You know. To conserve water.”
“Uh-huh,” I said, stepping between her legs. “You talking about conserving water like I’m not about to have you wet as hell.”
She gasped. “Stanley!”
“Don’t Stanley me. You know what time it is. I took you out, so you owe me some ass.”
“Jokes on you. I was gonna give you some anyway.”
She stood and sashayed into my closet. Flipping on the light, she looked around. I walked up behind her and wrapped my arms around her waist as she stared at the sight before us.
“When you said clothes were here, I was expecting a few things, not a whole wardrobe,” she said. “I mean, I know you said it, but I thought you were joking.”
“My love, if you wanted to move in here tonight, you wouldn’t have to go back to your house for a thing.”
During those four days where she ghosted me, I decided right then that I wasn’t playing with her anymore. I started getting shit in order to bring her home. The day before I pulled up on her, I’d gone shopping. When I got home, I moved my suits from the second closet and set up her things there. The empty side of my bathroom vanity was now filled with the products I knew she used.
I was dead ass about coming to get her that day and I’d been preparing our home for her ever since. Once we had this talk with our son, there was really nothing holding me back. That was exactly what I wanted. No fussing. No excuses. No sneaking around. With everything out in the open, we could finally have a real peace of mind around this bitch.
I rolled over into the mass of curls and a smile spread across my face. It had been too long since I had a woman in my own bed. I could get used to this shit. Wrapping my arms around Steph, I pulled her against my chest and kissed her temple before dropping my lips to her collarbone and back.
She groaned as she stirred slightly. “Stanley…”
“Good morning,” I said, slipping a hand beneath the negligee she wore.
“Good morning. Go back to sleep. It’s too early.”
I looked up at the clock on the wall to see that it was nearing ten.
“It’s practically mid-morning.”
