#the water bottles in bryson's back pockets are also a choice

[soyouwinagain]

helping a buddy out | 28 june

[justanotherinterludeff]

14

Wild, wild, wild When I’m with you, all I get is wild thoughts Wild, wild, wild When I’m with you, all I get is wild thoughts

DJ Khaled ft. Rihanna

I tapped my acrylic nail against the desk repeated, looking down at my phone every so often. It was 12:36 and my professor was officially her time limit. If it was a regular day, I wouldn’t mind the extra time to finish taking my notes. But today was the last day and all she was doing was thanking us for taking her course and how much she enjoyed having all of us as students.

I wish we could say the same. She was crazy. The way she graded almost caused a lot of us to fail. I thank the Lord I came out with a ‘B.’ Anyways, she needed to hurry it up. I didn’t have work today, so the fact that I could go home and not worry about school for a couple weeks had me happy and in a great mood. But she was messing it up.

“Well, if all hearts and minds are clear, everyone is free to go.” She announced. I sighed and said my goodbyes to the few people that I did speak to during the semester. I exited the room and plugged my earphones, instantly Kehlani’s voice drowned the hustle and bustle of the hallways.

I fished around in my bag trying to find my keys as Kehlani sang about how much of a good woman she was for a man not to appreciate her. It was probably one of my favorite songs on the album because I could relate. I wasn’t gonna ever settle for a man I knew I was way too good for.

I found my keys and stuck them in my back pocket before texting Amari and Adrienne, letting them know I was finally out of class. Amari and Adrienne were… a thing now? I was guessing at least. They were having sex with each other and only each other. It was weird as hell to me. 

They liked each other, had sex, slept at each other’s house from time to time… but they weren’t together. They both admitted to me, separately of course, that they just wanted sex from each other. But I felt, deep down, that was some bullshit. They were growing feelings more and more for each other every time they spent time together, had sex, and were in each other’s presence. 

Considering I hadn’t seen them since them since about a week and a half ago at the party, we were gonna try to link up either today or later this week. Adrienne and  were going to the nail salon sometime today, and I would get to see my bestfriend this weekend. 

I texted Adrienne and let her know I would be going home for a little, and then I’d meet her after she got off work at 3. It was hot as hell outside, and I thanked God for my choice of high waisted jeans, crop top and sandal combo. I slid in my car, and made sure to set the air condition on high before pulling off. 

Before heading straight home, I decided to stop at Chipotle. A chicken bowl was calling my name. I found a parking space, and got out quickly, still keeping my headphones in my ear. This time Tee Grizzley was in my ear talking about how niggas had been praying for his downfall. I really don’t know who I thought I was listening to music like this.

I ran my hand over my hair making sure I looked alright before swinging the door open. I joined the semi-long line and pulled m phone from my pocket to pass the time. I was strolling through my Instagram feed when I felt someone touch my arm. I pulled one of my earphones and turned to see Jelani. 

“What’s up Z?” He through his arm around my shoulder and pulled me in for a hug. “Hey.” I replied softly. He let me go and I settled back into my spot in line. “I ain’t seen you since the pool party, where you been at?” “School.” I shrugged. Our conversation was dry, due to me, but that was because Jelani could take someone’s ears off if you’d let him. Also, he was thirsty as hell. 

“So, what’s up with me and you?” He smirked. See? I rolled my eyes. “The same as always, Jelani. Nothing.” I moved up a few steps in line. “Here you go, being stuck up again.” He chuckled. I rolled my eyes and instead of giving him the attention I knew he wanted so bad, I slipped my earphone back in my ear and picked another song. 

When it was my turn to order, I turned my music down, and told the employee what I wanted in my bowl. I made sure to get guacamole on the side to eat with my chips. I couldn’t wait to get home. I skipped getting a drink, I needed to be drinking more water anyways. I paid for my meal, and left without saying goodbye to Jelani. 

Getting home took no longer than ten minutes. I kicked my shoes off in the living room, sat my food down on the coffee table, and went to the kitchen to grab a water bottle. When I returned to the living room, I pulled my jeans off, sat and crossed my legs before turning on the TV. I reached for my guac and chips first, before dipping into my bowl. 

While I snacked, I watched Omarion and Marques Houston get down in You Got Served. I watched as Liyah introduced her bestfriend, ‘ And that’s with two “L"s. You gotta accentuate the "L"s. You know, let it roll off your tongue.’” I recited from memory. BET played this movie way too often for me not to know it. 

Once I was stuffed, I put the rest in the fridge and made sure to grab a blanket from the closet in the hall. I got comfortable on the couch and I wasn’t too sure, when I closed my eyes. 

I woke up disoriented and my head was pounding. Someone was at my front door, knocking like the police. I didn’t know what day it was. What time it was. Nothing. I noticed the sun had went down, and I was confused as hell. My eyes adjusted to the darkness and I stopped the time on the cable box. 9:59 pm. There was no way I sleep for a whole seven hours. 

Someone was still knocking at the door. I groaned and wrapped the blanket around myself and slowly made my way over to the door. I didn’t even bother to look through the peephole. I swung it open and was surprised to see Bryson. 

I hadn’t seen him since the pool party. And even then, we didn’t speak to each other. Despite him saving me and removing that creep form the party, I hadn’t said one word to him. It was just so awkward, at least on my part. After it was all said and done, I wanted to. But, he looked like he was back to enjoying himself and not even thinking about me so, I just kept quiet. 

No matter if we were speaking or not, I always took it upon myself to take him in. He had his iPhone to his ear, his grill was in, donning an all black ensemble with a denim jacket. It made no sense how attractive he was.

“Yeah, I’m looking at her right now.” He spoke to whoever was on the phone. I cocked my brow. Who was he talking to? “Alright, hold on.” He handed the phone over to me. “Hello?” I answered. “Zemora! What the fuck?!” I recognized Naomi’s voice. “Everyone has been calling your phone all day! What happened to you? Are you okay?” 

“What? I’ve been at home all day. I just woke up.” I ushered Bryson in the house while I searched for my phone. It was on the coffee table, and when I picked it up and tried to unlock it, I noticed it was dead. “Adrienne called me asking for you cause y’all were supposed to be going somewhere today. She said she texted and you never answered. Called a million times and you never answered. She said she even came by and no one answered the door.” 

My eyes bulged, I could not have been this tired. “I was staying at Kai’s tonight and I was gonna come check, but my brother said he was in the area and said he’d drop by to check. Thank God you’re okay.” “I’m sorry I had y’all worried. My phone died and I didn’t even know. Thank you for checking on me.” I said. 

“It’s nothing, Z. Seriously, just make sure you keep your phone charged.” “Okay, mom.” I laughed. “Tell Adrienne I’m fine, okay? I gotta charge my phone and then I’ll text her.” “Okay. Good night love.” “Good night.” I replied before the call ended. I handed the phone back over to Bryson. 

“Thank you for checking on me.” I said. “No problem.” He nodded. Without saying another word, he stood to his feet and was making his way to the door. “Bryson.” I called out to him. “Yeah?”  “Um, are you busy right now? Can we talk?” “Uh,” He started. He rubbed his hand over his head for a second. “I got something I gotta deal with right now, yeah.” 

“Oh.. okay then.” I replied disappointed. “Yeah.” He replied dryly. I followed him to the door, ready to lock it. But, he stopped once he was about to step out. “I don’t know what time imma be done, but I can come back when I’m done. Cool?” Seeing that I knew I wouldn’t be going back to sleep anytime soon, I had no problem with it. “Yeah, that’s fine.” I nodded. “Alright, I’ll be back then. Charge your phone before my sister send the police over here.” He laughed before stepping out. 

I took the time that he was gone to try to find something for this headache, after putting my phone on the charger of course. I popped some ibuprofen and also took a nice, hot, long shower. I felt refreshed when I stepped out. I pulled my hair into a ponytail, and made sure to moisturize my skin. I opted for something comfortable to wear for the rest of the night. 

I was clean, comfortable, and now I just needed some tea. I retreated to the kitchen and heated some water up quickly. While I was scanning my cabinets for the different boxes of teas that I had, my phone vibrated repeatedly on the counter. 

“Adrienne, I am so sorry!” “Z, I don’t wanna hear that bullshit. You scared me! I thought someone kidnapped your ass!” She huffed into the phone. “I knowww! I’m sorry. Thank you for checking on me.Are you busy tomorrow? We can go before work.” “Um, I’m busy tomorrow. Amari and I are going on a date.” I could tell she was grinning from her voice. 

“Like a date date?” I questioned while turning off my kettle. “Yeah.” She giggled like a school girl. “Ohhh, sounds like y’all about to get real serious.” Amari asking Dri on a real date? Yeah, he was really feeling her. “You think so?” She asked shyly. “I mean, y’all already had sex, what’s left?” I laughed. 

“True. Mm, and Lord knows he be putting in work! Oh! I forgot to tell you how he made me squirt the other night! Bitch, he-” “Adrienne! I don’t wanna know about that!” I stopped her mid rant. She kissed her teeth, “I swear I can’t wait until your celibate ass starts having sex again. Then we can share stories and shit.” 

“I don’t ever wanna hear about how Amari fucks you.” I rolled my eyes. That must have tickled her because she fell out in uncontrollable laughter. “Hearing you curse has to be the funniest shit ever.” She cackled. “Leave me alone, Dri. I-” A buzzing sound filled my ears and I pulled my phone away from my ear. 

Bryson: I hope you not sleep 

I let a small giggle leave my lips before responding quickly. “Um, who is texting us this late?” Adrienne inquired. “Bryson.” I answered quickly. “Bryson? Naomi’s Bryson? The one you had a crush on? Ah shit! Y’all talking again?” She asked. “I don’t even know Dri. He’s coming by in a little bit to talk about everything.” 

“Talk? Talk? Sis… It’s 1:34 am. Ain’t no talking going on around these hours. You about to get some penisssss!” I fell out laughing as she cackled on the other end. “I’m so serious Z! my mama always said there was nothing open beside legs at this hour.” She reasoned. “Well, all me and Bryson are gonna do is talk. It’s not going that far.” I told her. 

I pulled a spoon out the drawer before washing it off quickly. I found myself checking how I looked in the reflection on the silver spoon I picked out from the draw either way. 

I lowkey couldn’t help myself. Something about him made me tingle. In all the right places. And no matter if we talked or not, I always found myself thinking about him. How pretty his lips were, how deep his voice was, how buff he was getting lately, how fine he was. I was so attracted to him. And the fact that we were speaking was doing something to me. 

Although we already spoke about what happened the night of the house warming, I felt like we still had more to talk about. More so how I was doing way too much even though he didn’t owe me any kind of loyalty. We weren’t even talking like that so I had no right to be mad. But even with knowing all this, I couldn’t help myself. I was already so attached to him it was ridiculous.

A knock sounded at the door and I knew it was him. “He’s here Dri. Let me call you back later.” “Go get that dick bitch!” She yelled over the phone. I shook my head and ended the call. With all the denying I was doing with Adrienne, I could only hope my body followed my mind through this whole talk.

I opened the door for him, and he stepped in smelling like weed. “What’s up?” He greeted, while I noticed the red solo cup in his hand. I shut the door behind him and followed as he led the way to the living room. He took a seat on the couch while I went to fetch my mug of tea from the kitchen. When I emerged, I noticed the jacket he was wearing when he walked in was now slightly folded and draped over the top of the couch. 

He had to have been hitting the gym these past couple weeks. Not that he was scrawny before, but now, his muscles were literally bulking out of his shirt. I swallowed hard. “So what you wanted to talk about?” He asked as I made my way to the couch. I put my mug on the coffee table and sat a on the other side of the couch. 

“Um, I just wanted to.. to say thank you for what you did at the party. You didn’t have to help me out and I appreciate that.” I said. He nodded, “It ain’t no problem. He ain’t have no reason to grab on you like that.” “Right, right.” I agreed awkwardly. 

There was a whole minute and a half of silence before he cleared his throat. “So, where you been at? I ain’t seen you in a minute.” He asked. “I’ve been here.” I shrugged. “All I been doing is going to work and school. Where have you been?” “Just working.” He shrugged. He held a sexy smirk on his face. 

“Working or avoiding me?” I asked. “Nah, I should be asking you that.” He chuckled. “You ain’t been wanting to see me since that little accident with Cici. Straight up avoiding a nigga.” He laughed. Cici? I was guessing that was the girl’s name. “True.” I shrugged. There wasn’t any use in lying now. 

“And that’s what I wanted to talk to you about. I think I was doing wayyy too much with that whole situation. Honestly, you didn’t even need to come over here and explain yourself that night. You didn’t-” “Nah, I needed to. Me and you had a little thing going on, and yeah it wasn’t serious but it was something. Shit looked crazier than it was and you needed to know what happened.” He explained. 

I was still stuck on the fact that he liked me. 

“Look, I don’t get into people too often, but a nigga is attracted to you and I can’t help it. Everything about you is sexy. You smart, you funny, you independent. And the fact that you got a pretty face and a fat ass is a bonus.” He said. I bent over in laugh. That and I was hiding my blush. 

“Come here.” He tapped my foot. I scooted closer to him still leaving a little space in between us, but that wasn’t enough for him. He damn near picked me up and placed me on his right beside him. “I don’t know what the hell it is about you, but you drawing me in. And I barely know shit about you.” I was still blushing. 

“You just gonna sit here smiling or you gonna say something?” He smirked. I hid my face in my hands and giggling. “What do you wanna know?” I asked after I composed myself. “Whatever you wanna tell me.” He answered. 

We started out with birthdays. His was August 15th, which made him a Leo. Hm, an alpha male. I could see it. I wanted to smack myself for even knowing that. Adrienne had been filling my ear with astrology talk and even though I never paid any attention to it, I was soaking up some of the information. 

Favorite colors followed after, then it was favorite foods, music, things we hated, and things we loved the most. His daughter’s name was the first thing off his lips. I thought it was the cutest thing ever. He literally lit up as he told me all about Leilani. Deep down, I wanted to ask about her mom because I really wasn’t with the baby mama drama, but I knew better so I held off. 

“She’s my whole heart, man. I swear I can’t thank God enough everyday for her. And the fact that she acts just like me is a bonus.” He smiled, letting me see his pearly whites. “Yeah, she is a little cutie, just like her daddy.” “You flirting with me Z? Better stop before you make a nigga blush.” 

He had me giggling, before pushing his shoulder playfully. He chuckled before reaching for his red solo cup. “Hennessy?” I questioned. He nodded, “Want some?” “Nope. Not really a drinker.” I let him know. “You smoke?” He asked. I shook my head. “Oh, so you a real good girl then huh?” I rolled my eyes. 

“You mind if I light up then?” He asked. “Nah, go ahead.” I reached for my mug of tea and could instantly feel his eyes all over my behind. “Pictures last longer.” I quipped. He only chuckled as in returned to my upright position. The sound of his lighter went off next. We talked about some more stuff while he finished the blunt, and I could feel myself getting a contact. I was around Amari enough to know what that felt like. 

“You a virgin?” I spit some of my tea out. He was cracking up. “Excuse me?” I managed to say. He kissed his teeth, “What? That’s too bold?” “No, it was just… random? We were talking about colors and now we’re discussing if my cherry has been popped or not?” “Has it?” “Does it matter?” He smirked, “It hasn’t.” 

He was laughing again. “That’s funny?” “My bad, I ain’t laughing at you. Ain’t nothing wrong with being a virgin. So, what is it? You saving yourself for marriage?” He asked. “I’m not saving myself Bryson, I’m not a virgin.” Another smirk. “What?” I questioned the look on his face. 

“Nothing, nothing.” He smiled. He put the roach out and took another sip of his drink, I was still staring at him. “What?” He asked. I gave him a look that said, “Speak your mind.” 

“A nigga was just trying to figure you out. You ain’t a virgin, so that means you one of them quiet freaks.” This time, it was me who was cracking up. “I bet you into some kinky shit.” I was rolling. He figured this out by what? Looking at me? Bryson was really a trip. “Guess you’ll never know.” I shrugged. Instead of replying, he just sent me another smirk.