Page 43 of Certified Pressure 2
Her hand came down right on top of mine, small and warm. She kept it there, rubbed once, then whispered, “I don’t wanna go back to the mansion tonight.”
I cut my eyes from the road to her face. Her eyes was on me, heavy with lust, like she already had her mind made up.
“Where you tryna go then?” I asked even though I already knew the answer.
She ain’t even blink. “A hotel.”
For a second I thought about tellin’ her no, and remindin’ her we wasn’t in that type of place right now, but the way she looked at me had my mind twisted. I just nodded, flipped the car down a side street, and headed toward one of the spots I knew was top-tier.
We pulled up to a five-star joint downtown, all glass windows, and valet stand full of foreigns. I tossed the keys to the valet without a word, slid my arm around Ka’mari’s waist, andwalked us through the lobby. The desk clerk damn near tripped over herself checkin’ us in, and slid the key cards across the counter with a smile too big for her face.
In the elevator, Ka’mari leaned into me, slid her hand up my chest, and pressed her lips to my neck. I let her kiss on me while my eyes stayed on the numbers climbin’ higher, my body heatin’ up even more.
When we got to the room, I swiped the card, pushed the door open, and let her walk in first. It was everything you would expect—plush king bed, city view from floor-to-ceilin’ windows and lights dimmed soft. I dropped the key card on the table and before I could even take my shoes off, Ka’mari was on me.
She reached for my zipper, slid it down slow, and pulled my dick out like she had been waitin’ all night to do that shit. Her lips wrapped around it, her tongue workin’ fast, and I bit down on my lip tryin’ to feel somethin’. I wanted to get into it, and let it take me there, but my shit wasn’t gettin’ hard.
She pulled back, wiped her mouth, and looked up at me. “Really, Pressure?”
I sucked my teeth, shook my head and tried to flip her on the bed instead. She stripped quick, titties bouncin’, pussy shinin’, and I climbed on top still half dressed. I lined myself up, pushed and tried to slide in her pussy, but my dick stayed soft. I cursed under my breath, tried again, grippin’ her hips tighter like I could force it to work, but it wasn’t happenin’.
Ka’mari’s face turned from lust to straight annoyance. She rolled her eyes, pushed at my chest, and laid back on the bed with her back to me. “Whatever.”
I slid off her, fallin’ back onto my side of the bed, my chest heavin’ with frustration. I stared at the ceilin’ with my hands behind my head and my dick still soft as tissue. My mind was racin’ ‘cause I ain’t never had no problem gettin’ in some pussy. When it was time to fuck, my dick stayed on go.
And that’s when it hit me…
I missed Pluto…
No matter how bad I wanted to get lost in Ka’mari, no matter how much history we had or what the fuck we was trying to heal from, my body knew what my mind ain’t wanna admit.
Pluto was the only one who could get my dick hard without tryin’. She was the only one I could dive into without second guessin’ myself. And it wasn’t the first time I felt that truth hittin’ me either…
I thought back to when Kashmere tried to throw the pussy at me the other day and I brushed her off with some shit about us needin’ to get to know each other better, but deep down I just couldn’t give my dick to nobody else right now.
Layin’ here now, buzzed, embarrassed, and pissed, it all clicked that I was fucked up over a woman who I was supposed to have out of my system.
St. Mercy General Hospital
Ifinally had the money to pay for Zurie’s surgery and words couldn’t even begin to describe how I was feeling. Walking through the front doors of St. Mercy General, I felt like my legs belonged to somebody else, like they were carrying me forward even though my mind was still back at the moment six weeks ago when the doctor told me what was wrong with my sister. That day had cut me open in a way I’ll never forget. She needed surgery, not years from now, not when we were ready, but soon, within six weeks. And now here I was, right at that deadline, finally able to do something.
The lobby looked the same as it had the last time I was here—polished floors, rows of chairs, the faint sound of the air conditioning—but it hit me different this time. I wasn’t herehoping for answers or bracing myself for news I didn’t want to hear. I was here with the one thing the hospital had been waiting for: the money.
I checked in at the desk and gave them Zurie’s information. The woman printed me a sticker with my name and told me to go to the fourth floor for Neurosurgery and Admissions. I thanked her and pressed the elevator button, my hand tight around the folder I’d brought with me. I had every paper they told me to bring—Zurie’s insurance card, the MRI scans, and most important, the debit card with every last cent Pressure had put in my hands. Forty thousand dollars.
When the doors opened, I walked into a smaller waiting area where the sign on the wall pointed toward Scheduling and Financial Counseling. I didn’t even get the chance to sit down before a woman in glasses came to the door and called my name. She smiled gently when I stood up.
“Pluto Monroe?” she asked.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“I’m Maya. Come on back with me. We’ll get you taken care of.”
Her office was small but neat, with a computer on the desk and a stack of patient files beside it. She opened one with Zurie’s name on the tab and glanced over the papers inside. “So Zurie was seen by Dr. Patel six weeks ago, correct?”
“Yes,” I said quietly. “That was when they told me she needed the surgery.”
Maya nodded. “The insurance authorization came through, but because Dr. Patel is considered out-of-network for your plan and the deductible hasn’t been met, the total patient responsibility comes to thirty-seven thousand. Once that’s paid, we can finalize the surgical date.”
