Page 14

I climbed out of the bed and looked around the room. When we returned from swimming with the rays, I showered and told Aceyn I wanted to take a quick nap. I was fast asleep by the time he’d gotten into the shower. I didn’t plan to sleep long, but apparently, I was tired and needed rest. I went to the bathroom, peed, and handled my hygiene.

“Took you long enough to wake up,” Aceyn said when I entered the living room. He was stretched out on the couch in ball shorts and a tank top.

“I didn’t mean to sleep that long,” I yawned, and he waved me off. I tried to walk past him, but he grabbed the hem of my shorts and pulled me to him. I climbed onto him and rested my head on his chest. “Are you hungry?”

“Yeah, the food is on the way,” he answered. I rested my chin on his chest and stared up at him. His eyes were red and puffy like he’d been crying.

“What’s wrong?” I brushed my thumb over his bottom lip.

“Nothing,” he answered. I twisted my mouth because I didn’t believe him, and I sat up.

“Aceyn,” I sighed. “I can tell from how you sound and look that you’re lying. What’s wrong?”

“I’m cool,” he laughed and smiled, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes. “Now, stop trippin’ and enjoy your vacation.”

“Is it Mercy?” I panicked and stood. “Or something with the team?”

He sat up and grabbed my wrist to stop me from pacing. “Point Guard, Mercy, and the team are cool. Stop trippin’.”

“Then, why do you look like you’ve been crying?” I looked down at him and lifted my brow. “Your eyes are low.”

“They are always low,” he chuckled and shook his head. “They have been like that my entire life.”

“Lower than normal,” I sighed. “And red and swollen.” I pulled my wrist from his grip and crossed my arms. “Just tell me what’s wrong.” I didn’t know what I could do, but I would try my hardest to fix his problem.

“I ain’t ready to talk about it yet,” he said, shaking his head. “But understand, when I am, you’re the first person I’m coming to, okay?” he pulled my shorts to make me come stand between his legs.

“You sure?” I asked, and he nodded. “Alright.” He rested his head on my stomach, and we stood there for a while. I would respect his wishes and not hound him about whatever bothered him. When he was ready, I would hear whatever he had to say.

The doorbell rang, and Aceyn sighed before he stood, making me step back. He kissed my forehead and then patted my side for me to move. I stepped out of his way, and he walked to the door and pulled it open. A woman pushed a cart into the room and quickly exited after Aceyn tipped her.

“I didn’t know what you had the taste for, so I ordered a few different things,” he said, pushing the cart into the living room.

“Can we sit out on the terrace?” I asked as I pointed outside. “It's pretty out there, and I don’t want to waste too much time indoors.”

“Yeah,” he answered, then pushed the cart outside. He pulled a chair out, then sat and pulled me into his lap. “I’on want you too far.”

“Okay,” I replied, taking the lids off the plates to see what he’d ordered. Aceyn wasn’t as adventurous as I was when it came to food, so he went with what he knew and ate a burger and fries while I had Lawar. We ate in silence, enjoying the peacefulness of our surroundings.

“You full?” he asked after we were done eating. I nodded, and he sat back, pulling me with him. “You excited for the season to start?”

“More nervous than excited,” I answered, and I felt him chuckle.

“The fuck you nervous for, Point Guard?” he inquired, and I shrugged. “Nah, talk to me. What’s got you questioning your ability? Because I don’t think you realize how amazing you are on the court. Ever since Pyrite announced his lineup yesterday, the net has been buzzing. When we talked earlier, he said your jersey has sold out already. The fans are hyped to see you and Mercy back together on the court.”

“Which is a part of my fear,” I laughed. “Mercy and I were amazing in college; I can't deny that. We have four championship rings to prove it, too, but I don’t want the fans to have this expectation of us being those same young girls.”

“They don’t,” he said, shaking his head. “They expect to see two grown-ass women with amazing chemistry on the court play together again. Like you said, y’all were amazing then, but now?” he kissed my cheek. “Baby, y’all about to be phenomenal.”

“You think so?”

“I know so,” he said, nodding. “And don’t think I’m saying that because you be screaming my name, either. I’m saying it because you are that girl. Mercy wouldn’t have suggested that you come, if you weren't. Don’t get me wrong, Pyrite already had his eye on you, so when Mercy said she wanted you with her, he knew it would be a smart business move.

“Tell me anything,” I playfully said, laughing. I adjusted in his lap to straddle him and felt how hard his dick was. A chill ran through my body as Aceyn ran his hand up and down my back.

“I ain’t telling you shit but the truth,” he replied with a smile. “I ain’t gonna lie to you just because you mine. It makes me want to always be upfront with you about everything. You being in the dark about shit is how you get hurt.” He shook his head. “And I ain’t ever trying to be responsible for that shit.” I leaned forward and kissed him. “You trying to get fresh with me out here?”

“Are you complaining?” I questioned him with a smirk, and he shook his head. “I mean, you always say I’m yours, so I figured that you were mine, and I can do whatever I want to you whenever I want.”

“Shit, you can,” he laughed, then opened his arms. “Take advantage of a nigga. I won’t tell nobody.”

I leaned forward, wrapped my arms around his neck, and pulled him into another kiss. I pushed my tongue into his mouth, moaning in pleasure. Aceyn palmed my ass and rubbed it. His dick pressed into my clit, and my pussy immediately flooded.

“Ay, where you going?” he asked after I pulled back from our kiss and unwrapped my arms from around his neck. I stood and smiled down at him before dropping to my knees. “Oh, it's like that?” he licked his lips and smirked.

“Don’t scream my name too loud,” I taunted him as I reached for the waist of his shorts. Aceyn lifted and let me pull his shorts down to his ankles, and he pulled one leg out of them. I wrapped my hand around his dick and slowly stroked it.

“You know what are you doing?” he questioned, and I shrugged. “Nah, don’t be playing with my shit, then.”

“Or what?” I applied the right amount of pressure to the head of his dick, and I watched his eye start to twitch. “Because even though I’m in this position, I’m fully in control.”

“You think?” he licked his lips and watched me closely. Even though he tried to pretend that my touch wasn’t affecting him, I could tell it was. His thigh twitched, and his nostrils flared, telling me all I needed to know.

“I know,” I smiled, then traced a bulging vein from the base to the head of his dick. I circled the tip with the top of my tongue, then placed a kiss on the head. “Or do you think otherwise?” I continued to work him over with my hand and kept eye contact. “Because if you do, tell me now.”

“Nah, you got it, baby,” he said as I swallowed his dick. I had to breathe out of my nose as I tried to put all of him in my mouth. Aceyn bit into his bottom lip and shook his head as I worked him over. His left leg bounced, and he gripped the railing of our bungalow with his right hand. “Ay, who the fuck taught you how to do this shit?”

I pulled his dick from my mouth and stroked him. “Doesn’t matter,” I answered, then kissed his balls. He hissed when I sucked on his balls and shook his head.

“Yes, the fuck it does,” he groaned. “I gotta kill that nigga.”

“Why?” I laughed as I played with his dick and balls.

“Cuz ain’t no way another nigga can live that’s experienced this shit,” he replied, and I smiled before putting him back in my mouth. “Yeah, nah, name, Point Guard cuz the nigga time is up.”

I ignored his request and continued to suck his dick like my life depended on it. The head of his dick hit the back of my throat, and I gagged slightly, but that didn’t stop me from trying to make him cum. When his hand went to my hair and grabbed a handful, I knew I was doing the right thing. I hallowed my cheeks and moved faster.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” he groaned. “Point Guard, I’m about to nut, baby.”

“Do it,” I pulled his dick from my mouth and tapped it against my tongue before putting it back in my mouth.

Aceyn stood, gripped my hair tighter, and started fucking my mouth. I looked up at him, my eyes watered, but I didn’t want him to stop. “You so fucking pretty, man,” he groaned and shook his head. “You gonna let me cum in your mouth?” I nodded the best I could, and Aceyn smiled. “You trying to be my wife, ain’t you?” Instead of answering him, I grabbed his waist and started sucking harder and faster. “Point Guard, fuck!” He jerked a few times; then, I felt the warmth of his nut hit the back of my throat, and I greedily swallowed it. “Let me see.” He pulled his dick from my mouth and then tapped my cheek. I opened my mouth to show him it was empty, and he bit into his bottom lip. “Yeah, you know what the fuck you are doing.”

He helped me up from the floor and then kissed my forehead. “Thank you.”

“Nah, thank you,” he laughed, then picked me up and set me on the table, and stepped between my legs. “Let me repay my debt.” He pulled my shorts off and then lined his dick to my opening. “Scream my name.”

“Aceyn,” I moaned as he pushed into me. I was wet from sucking his dick, but he was still met with a little resistance.

“Nah, not that name,” he said as he pressed his thumb into my clit. My back arched off the table, and he chuckled.

“Aceyn,” I whined as I tried to grab his wrist.

He knocked my hand away, then went back to rubbing my clit while he fucked me. “Easy or hard way, Point Guard; either way, you gonna fall in love with my ass.”

It was on the tip of my tongue to tell him that I’d already fallen, but I wasn’t ready to say the words just yet, so I moaned instead and hoped he understood what my body was trying to tell him.

* * *

“My son is spoiled,” Aceyn’s mama said to me, and I nodded as we watched him and his daddy talk on the other side of their bungalow. We’d spent the morning exploring caves, then returned to ours to shower, nap, and meet his parents for an early dinner. My fear of meeting his mama was thrown out the window the second I met her, and she pulled me into a hug I didn’t know I needed. “You can blame me for that.”

“He is, but it’s not overwhelming,” I agreed as I thought about what she’d said. “Trust me, I’ve seen worse.”

“If by worse you mean Fire , then you haven’t seen anything yet,” she laughed, and I turned to look at her.

“He can be worse than Fire ?” I questioned her, and she nodded. “Oh, Ms. Arlene, what did you do?”

“Love my son and ensure he was a good man,” she laughed. “He saw his daddy love me, and even though we didn’t work out, Aceyn saw what love looked like. When he was little, he would tell me that whoever he ended up with would have to love him hard because he was going to love them harder.” She leaned back in her seat and wrapped her blanket around her shoulders. “And I believed him because if Hood wasn’t anything, he was persistent and focused. Even when running the streets, trying to be like Bowlin, he had this focus about him that made me pause.”

“He’s too stubborn to fail,” I replied. “I’ve experienced that stubbornness a few times.”

“He told me,” she laughed. “But he always said that you’re stubborn.”

“I can be,” I acknowledged, and she smirked. “But that’s only because your son doesn’t like being told no.”

“He doesn’t understand that word,” she replied. “He hasn’t since he was little.”

“You created a monster,” I teased her.

“That monster will protect you for life, though.” She patted my leg.

“You did good with him, Ms. Arlene,” I said, nodding as I got comfortable. “He’s a good man, loves hard, and has a good head on his shoulders. You and Pop did a damn good job.”

“Now, how am I, Ms. Arlene, and Bowlin’s big-headed ass is Pop?” she laughed and smiled.

“He told me I had no choice but to call him that, and I didn’t want to assume with you. I know how mothers are about their sons, and Aceyn is your only son.” I shook my head. “I didn’t know what to expect.”

“Baby, Hood might be my son, but I never treated him like my man,” she laughed. “I had a man, one that pissed me off and broke my heart, and his name is not Aceyn Bowlin.”

“I hear you.”

“Good.” She nodded, then went back to watching Aceyn and his daddy talk. “Here’s a piece of advice for you: hold his hand. There will come a moment when he will need you because he will drown in his thoughts. He won’t know how to move his feet to take the next step and will need you. Not to lead him but to hold his hand. All I’m asking of you, Legacy, is to do that.”

“Just hold his hand?” I asked, and she nodded.

“That’s all,” she replied. “Can you do that?”

“Yes, ma’am.” I didn’t understand what she was asking, but I could tell it was important.

“Good,” she nodded. “Now, tell me about this upcoming season you have. You excited?”

“If you would’ve asked me that the other day, I would’ve said no,” I said, shaking my head.

“What changed?”

“Aceyn,” I said, nodding at her son. “He stroked my ego.”

“He didn’t tell you anything he didn’t believe,” she said, shaking her head. “Aceyn might be a lot of things, but he isn’t going to say anything he doesn’t mean.”

“Oh, I know that,” I laughed. “But he is good for the ego, and there’s no doubt about that.” Aceyn looked up as if he knew we were discussing him and let his eyes roam over my body. He licked his lips slowly and then smirked before returning to his conversation with his daddy.

“Lord, he’s going to love you for the rest of his life,” his mama sighed.

“Why do you say that?”

“Because his daddy used to look at me the same way he looks at you, and even after all the shit we’ve been through, Bowlin is still trying to come back home. It doesn’t matter how long we’ve been divorced and lived our own lives. He’s always declared that he’d love me for the rest of his life.”

“And you believe him?”

“Without a shadow of a doubt,” she answered with a shrug.

“Then there’s still a chance for you?” I asked, and she shook her head. “Why not?”

“That wasn’t in our cards; we were meant to create Hood so he could love you the way we never got to love each other.” She patted my leg and smiled. “And that’s okay because you and my son’s love story is one for the books. I know that just like I know my name.”