Page 16 of Keeping Busy
“That’s because you haven’t seen my collection of Maddox “MayDay” Mayhew jerseys. I got a new one every Christmas and on my birthday.” She plopped down on the couch, and started fiddling with the buckle on the five inch heels she wore.
I sat down next to her, scooped her ankle into my hands and worked on getting the shoes off of her.
“How many #27 jerseys do you have?” Her shoe was off, and I was rubbing her foot, because there was no way those shoes didn’t have her in pain.
“Uhm, maybe twelve.”
I stopped rubbing. “Get the fuck outta here.” I said in disbelief.
“Apparently, I’m your number one fan.” She chuckled, with a shrug of her shoulders.
“After tonight, I’m definitelyyournumber one fan. Thanks for looking out, Mecca. You don’t have to do what you’re doing.” I took a beat and grabbed her other foot. “Or do it so well.”
“Have you checked your notifications? I’m sure after the way we were boo’d up tonight, somebody has posted something somewhere.”
“Yeah, true.” I sighed. “You gonna be okay?”
“You got me, right?”
“No doubt. If the bullets start blowing, I’ll take that heat.”
She narrowed her eyes at me. “I’m gonna need you to keep that same energy tomorrow.”
“At Joya’s anniversary thing?” I asked, not understanding.
“Yeah, uh huh, at Joya’s anniversary thing.”
Mecca
5
So, I lied to Maddox. I didn’t care about the energy he took to Joya’s party. I cared about the energy he took to my parents’ house, because that was where we were going. I had Maddox arrive at my condo at 3:00 on Saturday, knowing full well that we weren’t expected at Joya’s until around 5:00.
“Hey.” He said, when I opened the door for him.
My heart did kind of a pitter-patter. He was such a gorgeous man. The night before, when he showed up at my house wearing that tuxedo that accentuated every ripple and arc of his muscular frame, I wanted to skip that benefit and have my way with him right here, in my own bedroom.
He looked like a man in that tux. I mean, I knew Busy as a scrawny, ashy little boy, and also as a handsome, moderately mature teenager. Even when I watched him play professional football, all I saw was an oversized kid, having fun and doing what he had always loved to do. But last night in that tux, I saw Maddox - the grown ass man. The way he held me, pulled my body close to his and protected me from being groped and manhandled had me seeing him in a whole new light.
“Damn.” He said, walking past my kitchen into my combination, living room/dining room where he was confronted with a beautiful view of Lake Michigan and Navy Pier. “Million dollar view, huh? I didn’t see this last night, your blinds were closed.”
“Yeah, it is a beautiful view.” I agreed. It was the view that had me lusting after a unit in this particular building off Lake Shore Drive for almost a year, fantasizing about what it would be like to actually call it home.
On my 25th birthday, my parents surprised me by gifting me the down payment, and money to furnish the place. While I knew in my heart that you weren’t supposed to love material things, I couldn’t help loving my place, at least a little bit. It was so...me.
“Can we sit down and talk for a few minutes?” I asked, making my way over to my stone gray sofa and hoping he would follow.
He did, dwarfing my sofa. I looked over at his big hercules ass. When did he get so damn delectable? The smooth, chocolate brown skin that reminded me of brownies fresh out of the oven. Intense dark brown eyes, the kinky fade, the manicured beard, the kissably full lips, the gigantic biceps that were straining against the fabric of the moisture-wicking henley, and the dimples. Why did he need the dimples, when he was already panty-melting without them? That was just overkill. Delicious, beautiful, unfair overkill.
I wasn’t a frequent flyer when it came to dating. That was more my little sister, British’s style, but I went on dates. Dudes came over and sat on my sofa from time to time. I mean, even my twin brother, Cairo, and my daddy who were both over six feet tall sat on it, but Maddox’s big, muscular ass had my sofa looking like it belonged in Barbie’s Dream House or in her beach bungalow, like toy furniture or something.
After too long, I realized that while I was thinking impure thoughts about him, he was waiting for me to talk.
“Uh, so, Brandon emailed me the contract.”
“Yeah, I heard. Sydnie finished her background check, too.”
“Did I come back clean?” I teased.
