Page 27 of Off the Charts
“It is. I had two cheat days last week. I've been showing my ass, but oh well. Go sit down. I will make our plates,” she grabbed the bag and fanned her hand for me to go.
Again, I obeyed and sat on the side of the table where I could watch her. From how she zipped around the kitchen, I could tell she was used to taking care of the house. The food was already plated, but she put the wings on a glass plate all fancy and put the sauces in a dipping bowl.
“You on a diet or sum?”
“No,” she chuckled and sat across from me at the table. “Remember I told you I’m into fermentation?” I nodded. “I prefer to eat what I grow. I’m not paranoid or no shit like that but I like to be mindful of my intake. I ate some shit up in the strip club and now I’m eating wings again. I gotta go on a cleanse.”
“Damn. My bad,” I pushed my plate away. “You want me to go get you a salad or something?”
“And let this go to waste? Hell no,” she laughed.
“Aight,” I split a flat then cleaned the bone. “For future reference, what are your hard no’s?”
“Sodas, white breads, excess sugars, and snack cakes out of the box,” she made a yuck face. I nodded, making a mental note. “Let’s say grace.”
Jersei reached across the table and grabbed my hand. The same electric shock ran through my veins when her hands touched mine. She stumbled over the first few words of the prayer letting me know she felt it too.
“Amen.”
“Amen,” I repeated, but I was so caught up in the feeling that I missed the prayer. I had to ask the Lord to forgive me and prayon my own. My finger stroked the back of her hand twice before I released it. Jersei blushed.
As we ate, she explained more about fermentation and how making wine with her grandmother influenced her degrees. I’d heard of vegans, but never the process of growing everything. It was interesting, but I knew I wouldn’t be doing no shit like that.
“So,” she dragged, pursing her lips. “Was the video you sent payback for my accident?”
I smirked, biting into my wing. I took my time chewing before answering her question. “Nah. Yours was an accident. I hit record knowing who the video was for. I’m a visual person, a visual learner. Sending it was me hoping that you were too. If there were any doubts as to how our night affected me, that was your proof. You were my first thought, and I wanted you to feel what I felt,” I leaned back in my chair. Jersei’s breathing changed. “So did you feel it, J?”
“I—I felt a lot of things. It was a really nice video,” she smirked, crossing one thigh over the other. I could hear the slight teasing in her tone.
My brow raised. “Nice huh?”
“Mhmm.”
I set my wing aside, raising my head a little. “Look at me and tell me how nice it was for you. Did you cum?”
Jersei’s lips parted and a slight gasp slipped out. “I uh—I.”
“It’s a yes or no answer, Miss J.”
Jersei shifted in her chair, whispering. “Twice.”
I chuckled lowly. “So, you are a visual learner?”
“I like to think that I am. I love a good artist, especially one who proves he can paint the whole picture,” she challenged, wiping her mouth on a napkin.
“I don’t paint outside the lines either,” I traced the corner of my mouth with my tongue. Our gazes locked, fueling thebuilding desire that was on the brink of burning the fuck up. My want was increasing by the fucking second.
Jersei looked away with a blush. “Would you like to help me in my garden?”
My eyes slowly ran down her body then back up to her face. She shifted slightly in the chair. “Whatever you need.”
She tucked her lips to hide her blush then collected my plate. I watched her walk away and my dick bricked up watching her ass jiggle. Taking a few deep breaths, I calmed myself before following behind her. Jersei was making this shit hard on me, but I was fucking with rush she gave me.
What the fuckdid I agree to? My respect for our ancestors skyrocketed. They didn’t have a choice being in the fields for hours at a time, picking crops and cotton but we did. Jersei and I had been outside in the hot ass sun for almost three hours. I knew for a fact this wasn’t the same sun I used to like to play under as a kid. A nigga was burning up, so much so that I’d come out of my shirt and changed into some basketball shorts I had in my gym bag in the truck.
Jersei had a smaller garden in her backyard with some vegetables like greens and peppers. About an hour ago, we drove to an older house deeper in south Harvest Hills. Jersei explained that this was her grandmother’s land and although it had been years since she passed, she kept her garden up and it showed. Behind the gate was a large garden with some of the healthiest crops I’d seen in my life. There were sweet potatoes, eggplants, beans, cucumbers, and even okra. On the back row, there werelarge vines that you could see had been here for years and were full of grapes, both green and purple.
It was clear this was Jersei’s happy place from how she danced around the garden barefoot with a basket in her hand with music blasting. Shit, she even had me with one draped on my arm. Although it was hot as fuck, I was enjoying being in her world and more importantly spending time.
