Kashmere studied me for a second, like she was tryna read past the surface. “Pressure… I know what happened in the hot tub. I was there. But I just wanna know… isthatall this gon’ be?”
I ain’t answer right away.
She leaned back a little more, lettin’ her body sink into the mattress as her eyes stayed locked on mine.
“You fuckin’ on other women too?” she asked, real calm.
I turned to grab my drink off the nightstand and took a slow sip before I answered.
“That’s none of your business,” I said flat.
She laughed once, soft but sarcastic, and sat up straighter. “A’ight. Well if that’s how you feel, then my pussy ain’t none ofyourbusiness either.”
That made me look at her different. Not ‘cause I was mad, but ‘cause she was bold enough to stand on it.
I let my glass clink down on the table, then leaned back into the bed with one hand behind my head.
“You wanna go that route?” I asked.
“I’m just sayin’,” she replied. “You don’t owe me nothin’ and I don’t owe you nothin’, but if you gon’ treat me like a late night, drive-thru fuck say that. ‘Cause I ain’t the type to sit around hopin’ you pick me next. I’ll pack up my shit, and whatever self-respect I got left and get eliminated right now. Save me the headache before I get too deep in this shit.”
She was talkin’ like she meant every word, but didn’treallywant to leave or like part of her was darin’ me to call her bluff, but the other part was hopin’ I wouldn’t.
I stared at her hard. “You done?” I asked.
She uncrossed her legs, slid to the edge of the bed, and stood up. “I can be.”
She went to grab her little silk robe off the chair, but I moved quicker.
I stood up, stepped right into her space, and pressed her back against the wall without even thinkin’ about it. My chest met hers first, then my hand came up to the side of her neck as we stood nose to nose.
“I don’t know what youthinkyou are,” I said, “but you ain’t just some late night fuck. I don’t evenlikebitches enough to share space with ‘em twice. But here you are, standin’ in my room… drippin’ in lace… tellin’ me whatyounot gon’ tolerate like you got the fuckin’ leverage.”
Her hands slid up my stomach, slow, like she was tryna check if I was really as mad as I sounded.
“Maybe I do,” she whispered.
That shit flipped somethin’ in me.
I grabbed her face with both hands and kissed her hard, not lettin’ her talk no more. Her lips opened like she’d been waitin’ on that, and I felt her melt into me instantly.
The kiss was messy, wet and heavy with tongue. Her mouth tasted like peach liquor and a little bit of weed. Her fingers dug into my shoulders as she kissed me back with just as much hunger, and I swear to God it felt like she was tryna climb inside my skin.
She moaned low in her throat when I sucked her tongue deep, then slid one hand down my stomach and tugged at the front of my shirt. I pressed my hips into hers, lettin’ her feel exactly what she was doin’ to me, and kissed her even harder.
Spit was trailin’ between our lips every time we pulled apart, just to crash back into each other seconds later. Her lip gloss was gone, and I didn’t give a damn.
My thumb slid over her jaw while I kissed the side of her mouth, then her neck, then back to her lips.
Every kiss felt like a promise I wasn’t ready to admit I was makin’.
I could feel her chest risin’ and fallin’ against mine like her whole body was tuned in to every move I made.
And right in that moment…I felt that shit.
That shit I been runnin’ from… That emotional weight I kept tryin’ to ignore… It wasn’t love, but it was somewhere close.Somethin’ about the way Kashmere looked at me when I pulled back to stare at her again—eyes glassy, lips swollen, skin flushed—it made me realize I didn’t wanna share her with the rest of this house. I didn’t want her wonderin’ about the other women.
I didn’t want her togo, but I couldn’t tell her that shit. It was too soon and I was still in a war with my feelin’s, so I just stayed pressed against her, kissin’ her slow one last time before I whispered in her ear.
