Page 31 of The Prettiest Outlaw

She fiddled with the button on her jeans. “Is this a naked massage?”

“It’s whatever you want it to be, lil bit.”

She eyed me as she pushed her pants over her hips and ass. “I’m not shy about my body at all, Nico, but we will have to see each other at family events. If seeing my titties now then having to sit next to me when the baby Jianna is carrying gets baptized is going to embarrass you, speak now or forever hold your peace.”

I chuckled. “I promise you that wouldn’t embarrass me, but naked massages typically lead to…naked activities. So, why don’t you leave your bra and panties on?”

She quickly divested herself of the remaining items and turned to me expectantly.

“What’s next?”

“You can get on the table. Please lie on your stomach, and pull the sheet up to your waist. I’m going to change right quick. There’s chilled water in the mini fridge.” I gestured toward it. “Drink. I need you to stay hydrated.”

“Okay,” she agreed before sashaying across the room in the direction of the mini fridge. Each sway of her hips was rhythmic and hypnotizing. I fought to pull my gaze away from the globes of her ass cheeks. They were completely visible thanks to the thong she wore. Once I was out from under her spell, I left the room.

Julianna

When Nico invited me over with the promise of helping me shut down my brain so that I could get some much needed sleep, I did not expect a massage…let alone an entire room dedicated to the practice. I couldn’t resist the smile that bloomed on my face. Much like my father, Nico was a “fixer.” There wasn’t a situation, frustration, or conundrum that you could present to Gianni Outlaw that he wouldn’t try to fix. He believed that real men were providers, protectors, and problem solvers for the women in their life.

As he raised his three daughters, he made it a point to drill his personal motto into us—Men should toil. Women should be spoiled.

My eldest sister, Jia, agreed with him wholeheartedly. She’d married young, and went from being dependent on our father to being dependent on her husband. Luckily for Jia, her husband, Langston, lived by the same creed. He spoiled his wife rotten. Jia had never worked a job a day in her life. Her only responsibilities in life were to take care of her husband, her two boys, and the home front.

My middle sister, Jianna, had too much brain power to just sit around and be spoiled by a man. She was a certified genius who had to always be theorizing, hypothesizing, and learning. Her head would probably explode if she didn’t get out into the workforce to rub elbows and exchange information with other brilliant minds in her field. And luckily for her as well, her husband, Dolton, understood her. He encouraged her to research, learn, and strive as much as she wanted to. He spoiled Jianna as much as Langston spoiled Jia.

Personally, I hadn’t met the man who I felt was trustworthy enough to lean on the way Jia leaned on Langston. Men could be duplicitous, and I’d seen one too many occasions where they used their financial standing as leverage to control and bully their partner. So, while my man was out in the world toiling, I would be out there, too. Still, it was cool that Nico had some characteristics that reminded me of my daddy.

I took a long sip from the bottle of water then set it on top of the mini fridge before situating myself on the massage table. I decided that because Nico’s table was stationary, he’d definitely had it custom made. It was firm but comfy. Just lying there with my eyes closed, waiting on his return, had me feeling like I could drift off to sleep. And the room smelled so good—like cucumbers with a hint of mint. I breathed in deeply through my nose then let it out slowly through my mouth the way the sleep therapist I’d seen suggested that I do. I concentrated on the steady beating of my heart, the rise and fall of my chest, and the sound of my breath leaving my mouth.

I heard Nico reenter the room. I lifted my neck and found him standing inside the doorway. He’d changed out of his jeans and sweater and was now wearing a black t-shirt and matching basketball shorts.

“Relax your neck, lil bit. It’s not good to hold it at that angle for too long.”

“Sorry, but I wanted to see you.”

“The things you say with that mouth,” he mumbled.

The next sound I heard was some man whose voice I didn’t recognize crooning some slow, sexy tune.

“Are you serious right now?” I asked from where my face was pressed against the table.

“What can I say? I like 90s R&B.”

The room was silent except for the man who was singing about the fact that he was crying overtime. I felt Nico as he crossed the room toward the massage table. He fiddled around on the side table. I figured he was organizing his supplies. I closed my eyes again.

“I’mma be using oil. Is it cool if I remove your bra so it doesn’t get stained?”

“I’m cool with it getting stained,” I told him.

“Julianna.”

I barked out a laugh. “Sorry. I couldn’t resist. Yeah, you can take off my bra. You wanna take off my thong?”

“Stopped trying to get fucked, shorty. We agreed that everybody was keeping their…sexual organs to themselves.”

I pretended to sigh heavily. “Okay. Okay. I’ll keep my thong on.”

He chuckled and released the clasp on my bra.

---