Page 82 of In the Safety's Zone
APHRODITE
“YOU WANNA COME with me to do something today?”
This man had actually taken the note where I put my yes to being his girlfriend in his top drawer until he could get a frame for it. I was going to order a scrapbook for him because he was serious about saving items that memorialized our relationship, which made the feelings I had to settle here feel like the right ones.
“That sounds like a whole thing and you’re being cryptic.”
He walked further into the room with only a towel around his waist. Anthony had gotten a run in after we’d eaten brunch and come in to take a shower. I’d done the stretching exercises that Marion had given me and done a resistance workout in the living room to move my body. The more intense practices were going to start soon and I wanted to be ready. I was going to lift later on but I would absolutely skip it if it meant we got to hang out. My head had been too focused on the tiny details of this final grand slam of the year and I didn’t want to overtrain the way I had for Wimbledon just because I was stuck in my head.
“You ain’t answer the question, AP.”
He flopped back on his side of the bed before pulling me closer to him. Anthony’s body was still warm from his shower and his natural bulk already had him running hotter. I put my head on his chest and I was content to stay like this for the rest of the day, but it was obvious he had something we needed to do.
“I don’t have anything. I did my stretches and resistance training so the rest of my day is free. What do you want me todo?” His braids were damp, but as always I couldn’t help but run my fingers through them.
Anthony’s dick was pressing into my thigh and I was hoping part of his plans for the day was going to be using his dick to persuade me to go along with what he wanted.
“I need to get fitted for a few suits. ‘Twan and Money mentioned that shit to me at workouts the other day and I completely forgot that I needed them. The last thing I want to do is wait until we get back from camp because the turnaround might be too tight.”
“What do you need them for? Press and stuff?”
I normally saw players just wearing team apparel but I wasn’t well versed in football etiquette.
Damn, I should probably get on that since I’m making permanent moves or this man.
“Game day travel outfits. Press conferences and stuff like that. I’m not trying to jinx anything but my brother also told me I needed to stop living scared and plan for greatness. So that’s what I’m doing.”
“Oh, like when you see the men walk into the stadium and shit and they’re dressed to the nines?”
He lifted his head up and the look on his face would’ve been funny if I didn’t know how pissed he was. “Phro, who the fuck you been watching walk into stadiums?”
I waved him off because I liked fashion and those dudes were dressing their asses off when they walked into work. People were always making a deal about it and it would come across my social media feed from time to time.
“No, I’m just saying it’s like men’s fashion week when y’all do it. I love watching the designer travel bags and seeing who actually has good taste. A lot of people mistake having money with having taste and it’s tragic. I can’t let you be one of them, baby.”
“Most of them wear whatever their lady or their stylists puts them in.”
“That’s disappointing. So how many suits do you need? One for each travel game?”
“Nah, I’m not about to waste that kind of money. I figure the first game is important since we’ll be in New York and maybe one for the playoffs. But other than that, I’ll probably just rock some regular shit.”
I frowned up at him disgusted by the cautious way he talked about himself. “Why do you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Short yourself?”
“Nah, I just got more important things to spend money on.” He looked at me and grinned and I wasn’t about to have him not treating himself just to take care of me.
Two can play that game.
“And I get that, but you also have to understand what is about to happen.”
“What do you mean?”
“Do you understand how many brand deals and free shit are about to come your way? Not like you’re clocking your brother’s pockets but I know you understand how people will act when they want an athlete to rep their brand.”
I knew firsthand how much promo would get sent to you. I had a delivery service that took all my PR packages and forwarded them to where I was. I had a hold on the service right now but would have them sending it here starting next week.
