Page 40 of When Love Becomes A Need
“My ex.” She rolled her eyes.
“Your ex? The one from high school?”
Running her hand through her high ponytail, she nodded. “Yeah, he just liked a few of my pictures.”
“I thought you blocked him.” Autumn licked her lips and sighed.
“I did, but I heard some news about him and went to his page to investigate. I accidentally liked one of his pictures. Now he’s following me and liking my pictures.” She rolled her eyes again.
I looked over at Isabella and she was staring at me, confused. I gave her a look that I’d explain later.
“Well, are you going to reach back out?”
“Girl, what? No, Maurice is my past and he’s staying there.”
I stared at her in disbelief. “The queen of love is denying hers.”
She smacked her lips. “I still believe in love, just not with him. Too much stuff has happened between us. He’s in a different space in life and so am I. I don’t want to reopen that door.” Autumn’s words were saying one thing, but her tone didn’t match; neither did her face. I could see she was having a battle within herself. I wasn’t sure what all happened with her ex, but whatever it was, it had to have been bad for Autumn not to want to revisit it.
“Anyway, let’s get this out the way so we can plan my celebration party.”
I nodded in agreeance. This was my first real photoshoot and I wanted it to be perfect.
CHAPTER 12
Ahmad
“What do you think of this location?” Jeremy, my realtor, asked me.
I looked around the empty building. Walking forward, I imagined how I wanted the new shop to be set up. This shop was about thirty minutes from the original location but in a high-traffic area.
Rubbing my beard, I nodded my head. “This will work. How long until it can be mine?” I turned to face him.
“I can put an offer in with the owner and let you know by the end of the week.”
“That works. I want the keys as soon as next week so I can get it started.”
“Understandable. I can make it happen. Just give me a few days.” My head bobbed.
This was an adroit move for me. With all the traffic coming in, I knew opening another location was perfect for me. Neal had already found two tattoo artists and even a piercer. My shop was strictly tattooing, but I told him if he wanted to add piercing to this one, then to go for it. I had considered it with the original shop but just never took the time to find anyone who could do it.
While Jeremy made a few calls, I did another walk-through of the building. All the time and energy I put into my tattoo shop was payingoff. Me spending hours at the shop, missing events, and neglecting certain things seemed to pay off. It took a lot for me to get to this point.
Opening my tattoo shop wasn’t easy, and I didn’t have people beating down my door right away. In the last year, my shop really took off. The first two years were rough. I didn’t think things were going to turn around, but I didn’t give up. It wasn’t until a well-known rap artist came in to get tattooed and shouted me out on his social media that my shit really hit. Although I would have loved for it to just take off because me and my workers were talented, I didn’t deny the newfound popularity.
“I have to meet with another client, but I’ll be in touch with you soon,” Jeremy told me as we stepped outside the building.
I looked around the neighborhood. It was already busy. People with shopping bags, people were sitting outside restaurants eating. Yeah, this was perfect.
“I’ll be looking forward to it.” Jeremy and I shook hands and he walked off while I headed to my car.
As I drove to my shop, I passed the coffee shop where Fatima worked.
Since the night we spent together, she had been invading my thoughts, even when I didn’t want her to. Usually, when I had sex with a female, I would be over it and move on quickly. But with Fatima, I couldn’t do that. It’s like she had embedded herself in my mind. The small moans that escaped her mouth while she gripped her sheets played over in my mind like sweet music. If I could have recorded that shit to listen to it over and over, I would have.
The way her mouth twisted, and her eyes rolled to the back of her head while her legs twitched and her back arched as she came was a sight to see. Her pussy had trapped my dick. Each time I tried to pull out to stop myself from cumming too quickly, it would pull me back in. I had to think of crazy shit in order not to cum prematurely. Not to mention, when she moaned my name, I don’t think I’ve heard anything sweeter in my life.
Before I knew what I was doing, I had hit a U-Turn and pulled into the parking lot of the coffee shop Fatima worked at. I wasn’t trying to get into anything deep with her, but I had to see her.
