Page 4 of This: Blake & Emon

“Yeah. As hell. I watched him sleep for a minute. That was a little much, huh?”

“Absolutely too much. And then what?”

“I woke up from a nap and him and my couch were gone. Poof. Into thin damn air,” Blake said, tossing the rest of her glass of wine back, and truthfully, she felt a way that he hadn’t even had the decency to offer her thank you from a healed place. He had her fucked up a little.

“So, you did him a solid, and he stole your couch as a thank you.”

“Yeah, and I don’t appreciate him moving like that.” Paige rolled her eyes .“And I’m not being dramatic.”

Blake had been known to be a spoiled brat and dramatic, but this wasn’t one of those instances. She was owed something, and she had half a mind to ask her brother how she could get her due. Her brother knew everyone there was to know in the streets. Hell, the town. And Brooks didn’t play about his sister. He’d have the mystery man at her house with a new couch before nightfall, if that was what she wanted. At the same time, she didn’t want to hear his mouth about the door not being locked, and she didn’t want anything coming back on Emon. For some reason, she wanted to protect him.

“Did you at least get his name?” Paige asked.

“Yeah, I’m tempted to turn into the FBI to find him, but he doesn’t seem like the type to have social media. I need a new damn couch.”

“Okay, right, bitch, you ain’t worried about the damn couch and you know it.” Blake wore a wide grin behind her cousin’s head. She, in fact, could not care less about the couch.She wanted to see him again, touch his perfectly chiseled abs, and maybe hear a new pet name for her.

Blake hadn’t been in a relationship in almost a year. Her last one ended amicably with PJ. They had just gone in two different directions, no hard feelings. She was focused on school, but she hadn’t sworn off love or relationships. No man was ever going to take her ability to love away from her. She would just take time to herself until someone applied the pressure she needed applied. She had decided a long time ago that she wouldn’t bounce from man to man. She knew too much about STDs and the horrors of HIV, but she couldn’t deny that she missed being touched, smiled at, and desired.

“I’ll have his ass found before you lay my edges.” Paige laughed but was serious.

“I believe you, but I ain’t into chasing men. He knows where I’m at if he’s interested.”

Knocks came to the door, and she hoped it was the Chinese food she ordered for her Friday night in the house. Her stomach was touching her back. As she removed her smock, she could hear footsteps in her living room. She rushed to figure out who was in her home, but should’ve known. Only two people were crazy enough to walk in unannounced.

“We gotta stop meeting like this,” Blake said, spotting him in front of the door looking good as hell with his Denim Tears outfit on, no shirt on underneath, and white forces to match. A smirk danced on his face, showcasing his permanent gold fangs that she liked a lot. He licked his lips as he spotted her in the simplest of attire, but still gorgeous and for the taking.

“Damn, boo, you must want me to keep letting myself in or something,” he said, standing in the door as two men she also didn’t know sat her new couch down. It was the couch she had been eyeing. The Fluffy Daddy, in gray. She squealed and jumped up and down. He grinned, enjoying her excitement.He’d never had a woman give him a reaction like that about something she was owed.

“You didn’t have to do this,” she said, playing it off, but she was happy he had decided that he did have to.

“You saved a nigga’s life. Be for real. I wish I coulda made it sooner, but you know how it goes, don’t you?” he asked, plopping down on her new couch like he owned the damn place. His eyes traveled her short frame as he took in her pretty feet, thick thighs, cute ass, plump titties, and eyes that made his mouth sit funny. He’d done more research on who Blake was. He felt like he knew her the minute he saw her eyes. He knew a Bishop when he saw one.

“What if I had a man over here or something?” she asked playfully, completely forgetting about Paige in the back.

“Ain’t no way. If yo’ nigga letting you sit in the house unsecured, is he really your man? I would never.”

“Well, you ain’t my man, so thanks for the couch, but I’m in the middle of someth—” she attempted to say before her cousin came around the corner being nosey. Paige looked at the two and grinned before retreating to the room. Blake slowly turned back to face him and smiled.

“In the middle of something, huh?” he jested. Her attempt to make him feel some way was childish, and she knew it, but she wanted him to make his move, and she needed some urgency from him. His face hadn’t left her mind, and she had no question about it being a sign. She knew it was. She hadn’t been paying attention to men nor wasting her time with them, but he was different. She knew it the minute she saw him.

“Yeah, but not like that,” she replied. He nodded, standing to his feet. She exhaled as his slim but buff six foot three frame towered over her. She was in awe, frozen in wonderment. His Creed cologne filled her nostrils, and she inhaled the heavenly scent. He smelled exactly how her manshould smell: strong, paid, and confident. She stepped back, hitting the wall behind her, causing him to frown.

“You scared of me?” he asked lowly, because he could’ve sworn she said she wasn’t. “You moving back. I don’t like that. You scared of me?”

The question being asked a second time made her respond. “No, but I don’t know anything about you to trust you either.”

“True, but I think we can bypass bullshit pleasantries and pretending. I’m tryna see about you tomorrow. Would that be something you interested in, Miss Bishop?” Blake wondered how he knew that. She hadn’t told him her last name for a reason. It was the exact reason she had backed up from him. Her brother would have something to say. He wanted her with a man that was a square and that didn’t know a damn thing about the hood, but she wasn’t feeling that.

Emon wasn’t born last night. He knew who her brother was, and he also knew he didn’t give a fuck. Another grown man could never tell him a damn thing. He was his own man, and he was sure Brooks knew that. He also understood her reason for backing up, but again, he wasn’t worried about that. He was grown and so was she. “Just breakfast. I owe you more than a couch and shit. That was a given.”

“You don’t owe me anything. I had a duty, that’s all,” she said, barely above a whisper. He was still invading her space and her senses. He backed up, giving her some space.

“I owe you my life, so at least let me feed you until we can figure something else out.”

She rolled her eyes, wishing he would feed her in ways that would make a preacher blush. But she kept her mouth closed.

Paige muttered, “I know that’s right,” from the back, rooting for whatever shenanigans were going on up front.

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