Page 3 of Aug

I stepped onto the elevator once the doors opened. My feet felt like bricks as I picked them up, one after the other. In the center of the cart, I waited for the descent. I pushed my hands in my pockets and leaned my head backward until my eyes landed on the ceiling.

Go home, August . I coached.

As the words echoed in my head, my palm began vibrating.

Bzzzt.

Bzzzt.

My forehead creased with confusion. Instantly, my thoughts began to scatter. The unfamiliar device resting against my hand slid from my pocket with ease. I tried to remember slipping it into my pants, but couldn’t recall the moment it had happened.

Daniel.

Heat consumed me as my chest pierced the space in front of me. The caller was trying to reach someone who was unreachable. I swiped to answer.

“Yeah?”

“Tiana?”

“Fuck is this?”

“Daniel. Who the fuck is this?”

“August.”

“August?”

“Yeah, my nigga. Write that name down and hope you never run across the nigga the name was given to.”

I ended the call. Just as I tried unlocking the cell, it rang again.

Bzz–

“Yeah?”

“Yo, where the fuck is Tiana?”

“Sucking my dick. Keep calling, and I’ma come see about you as soon as she’s done.”

I ended the call a second time. My blood was boiling in my veins. I was no longer seeing the bright lights of the elevator. I was seeing red.

Lying wasn’t exactly my thing, but it felt right at the moment. In fact, it felt quite honest. She would be, even if it wasn’t at the exact moment of the call. Eventually, her lips would be around my tool, and I would be face deep in her well, waiting to drown.

Tiana’s face appeared on the screen. It disappeared just as quickly.

Bz–

“Who is this?” The voice I’d heard far too much tonight repeated.

“Stay up, fuck nigga, and you will see before sun up.”

I ended the call and pressed the number six.

Fuck.

It wasn’t until the elevator’s doors opened that I realized I hadn’t pressed a button. I’d been in the same spot since the doors closed.

I marched down the hallway, stopping in front of Tiana’s door. I pressed my knuckles against it firmly, trying my hardest to get through that motherfucker without her assistance.

Boom.

Boom.

Boom.

Boom.

Boom.

“Ayo, Ti,” I called out.

Boom.

Boom.

Boom.

“Coming–” her voice rang out as I lifted my knuckle again.

Four seconds later and the door was parted. Tiana stepped aside as I stormed into her lengthy hallway. I stopped mid-stride, hating the idea of being too far away from her. My entitlement had been instated. While I had no official rights to the woman standing before me, I had every right to her.

She was mine from the day I laid eyes on her. She was mine from the day she laid eyes on me. When she woke up from her sleep in the hospital, something in me rejoiced. Not for a stranger and not only for Balle, but because I felt that somehow, someway, my person had risen. And, soon she’d be well.

In my line of work, it wouldn’t be easy to bump into someone special. I was on the clock all hours of the day. Focused. Alert. Prepared for anything and everything to go wrong. My eyes didn’t wander. And, my heart wasn’t open.

My dick was in my palm nearly every night. Women were part of my future, but presently, I was grinding. Still, I longed for something more. To have Tiana sat right in my path felt personal. Every fucking thing about her was personal.

And perfect.

And mine.

“August, is everything alright?”

Suddenly, she wasn’t allowed to call me August.

I’m Aug, baby. Remember?

“August.”

The anger melted. The jealousy smoldered. The aggression wavered. I was weakened while simultaneously being reminded of the gentleness she possessed by the mere sight of her.

Chill, nigga . I chastised, regretting the roaring and chaos I’d caused at her front door. Disgust consumed me.

She’s not built like that .

I swallowed the lump in my throat, knowing that toxicity, which I was accustomed to, was not the way to Tiana’s heart. Neither was it the way to the hearts of any of the women I’d had the pleasure of being around since taking the job from The Chemist .

The towel around her body heightened my curiosity. I wanted… I needed to know what was underneath. As a deflection, I remembered the topic at hand.

“Who is Daniel?”

Her eyes rolled as she shook her head. Still, she remained silent. The soundlessness between us was gnawing at my sanity.

“Ti, answer me.”

“Nobody,” she sighed, “Just my now-ex who decided to get into an entirely new relationship while I was in a coma.”

I felt the pain of my flaring nostrils. That nigga was definitely going to see me before sunrise. Though he’d done me a favor, I owed him an ass whooping for fucking over Tiana. He took a hike when she was at her worst.

Pussy .

I stared, unblinking. Unmoving.

“Whaaaa?” She asked, tilting her head.

She was genuinely confused, yet I didn’t understand how or why. I’d made my interests clear on so many occasions. This wasn’t the first, and it wouldn’t be the last. But it was the most direct one, and I didn’t regret that shit either.

“He’s nobody.”

“He keeps calling,” I stated, showing her the vibrating phone in my hand.

Slowly, she slid it into hers.

“If his calls are upsetting you…”

She busied her fingers with unlocking her phone and finding Daniel’s contact. I watched closely as she scrolled to the red letters and pressed her screen. He could no longer contact her. Not from his phone, at least.

No rights . I told myself, but that shit was in one ear and out of the other. If a woman was blowing my line down and Tiana told me to pull up and block her ass in person, then that’s what I would’ve done. It didn’t matter that we weren’t together.

Whatever she says is a go for me .

“Ti–” I started, but was quickly interrupted.

“What does it matter to you, anyway, Aug?” Tiana asked softly.

“Everything about you matters to me, Tiana,” I admitted.

Shit .

I hadn’t intended for those words to escape me.

Tiana’s shoulders rounded. Moved by the confession, she swallowed the nothingness in her throat. I watched as she tried finding the words to say. She had none. She was unable to conjure anything beyond a gaze in the distance.

“I apologize.”

Her head whipped in my direction. Her eyebrows drew inward, toward her nose. Her shoulders peeled backward. Her spine straightened.

“August, I– well– I,” she stuttered.

“I told him you were sucking my dick,” I breathed out, shaking my head.

I wasn’t sorry for admitting how I truly felt. I didn’t want to disrespect Tiana. Neither did I want to lie about her and not be the first to bring it to her.

Her spine arched again. Her shoulders sagged. Her mouth widened. I imagined her sucking my dick in real time. The image was impeccable.

“Good.” She chuckled. “Pretty harsh, but good.”

“I’m not a liar,” I explained, running my hand down my face.

Tiana looked up at me, pursing her lips together. Lust coated her irises. Desire chased her orbs. Fear dangled between us. Indecisiveness plagued her.

“You don’t have to be,” she murmured, tracing her bottom lip with her thumb. “Not tonight.”