Page 84 of In the Safety's Zone
“All that sounds good but that also sounds like a lot of work. Are you sure you’re going to have time for all that with her?” I nodded down to the baby in my arms as though she’d forgotten she had responsibilities.
The interior of the atelier smelled like cedar wood and ylang ylang. There were notes of wool and leather because of the fabric and the rest of the accessories offered. There was something for everyone and they could customize anything to the client’s liking. I was already thinking of things for Anthony based on what he would get today.
“You gonna tell him what you’re wearing?”
My eyes went to where he was as I shook my head. “Nah. He’s asked me about it but he doesn’t want me to lose focus of what I have in front of me.”
“That’s love. Most of the men who are on this team truly expect their women to be focused only on them and what they have going on.” Sterling had her wavy, deep-brown hair hanging down. We were both crazy to be wearing our hair down in all this heat but she kept herself cool in a tank and some shorts.
“Is that what you think about Money?”
“Nah. Remember how different our situation is. I mean, I lived with him not long after I met him. This relationship happening wasn’t ever something I saw happening with all the issues we had to navigate. It’s crazy that my mother wanted me to change so much about myself to fit her model of what womanhood should be. But I’ve basically become what she wanted on my own terms and in the way I wanted.” Her confession had her looking troubled and even though we were recent friends I couldn’t help but check in with her mentally.
“How does that make you feel?”
Her eyes left Aldrich and focused on me. I could tell that doubt in her eyes was from wondering if she could trust me. It was borne from a life of having a mother use your words against you. She must’ve deemed me worthy because her body relaxed and she opened up.
“Part of me wanted me to rebel against it since I didn’t want to feel like she’d won. But then I had to realize it would be stupid to miss out on joy just to spite her. It wouldn’t make me any better than her and God knows I don’t want to be anything like that lady.”
“Well, I’m still happily bucking my mother’s desires and I’m sure she is pulling her hair out trying to figure out how she can get me to comply.”
“Well, we’ll make sure that Ami is raised to be whatever she wants to be as long as she is happy.”
She held her hands out to retrieve Ami from me just as we were called over to the dressing area. I gave her the baby back and put my arm around her shoulder. Sterling had even fewer friends here than I did so I was going to pull her into the circle of love kicking and screaming if I had to.
“You know I’ll be around for that.” She grinned and nodded her head at me gratefully.
We got to the dressing area and split up to check out what the men had been doing without us.
“What you think?” Anthony held his arms wide awaiting my judgement on what he’d chosen.
Anthony was going to have to let me suck his dick in the car because the outfit he was wearing had to be slutwear for men. It was the suit equivalent of gray sweatpants and hoochie daddy shorts.
The cut was narrow emphasizing the broadness of his shoulders but balancing the thickness of his thighs. The material looked like a wool and silk blend and was deep blue with a thin silver pinstripe through it. He had a light Champagne-colored silk pocket square that balanced out the coolness of the suit and an off-white shirt that made his skin look lustrous.
“It’s definitely a winner. Like…it looks really good.”
“You don’t think the color is corny?” He was tugging at the sleeves like he was concerned about wearing his team’s colors. It wasn’t corny to me and the color wasn’t an exact match so I thought he would be fine.
“No. I mean men have limited colors you all can wear as it is. I would like to see if they have olive green or something in that family. Those will look good on you too.”
“You have excellent taste, Ms. Harper.” He leaned down from the podium to give me a kiss and the man who’d been taking care of him looked away to give us privacy.
“Thank you.”
“The suit will be ready for you before the last pre-season game if that’s okay?” The attendant was reaching up to remove the jacket and Anthony handed it back to him with a nod of thanks.
“That works for me. I don’t need it until September.”
“More than enough time. You can change out of that so that I can get the next suit pinned up for you.”
Anthony nodded and the man walked back to the dressing area. Anthony stepped down off the podium and came to me. Wrapping his arms around my waist he pulled me closer and I tried to be careful so he didn’t get stabbed with a pin. “You look like you wanted to do something nasty.”
“Not nasty but definitely grown. That suit was made for you.”
“You gone keep that same energy tonight?”
“Always. Now let’s go pick up the rest of this stuff so we can get out of here. I’m about to find a bowtie for you to model for me tonight.”
