I woke up when I felt the bed move. Marsai. Temmy was sleeping peacefully on my chest like she always does. I eased her off and got up to follow Marsai.
“You leaving?” I whispered.
She jumped. “Jeezus, make some noise, will ya? Yea, I’m gon’ head out.”
When I noticed her looking around for her clothes, I grabbed them for her.
“Thanks. So how long you been in love with Temperance?” she asked as she slipped on her underwear.
Seeing her naked honestly did nothing for me. When we initially met, yes, there was something there. But now that I’d been with Temmy, nothing about another woman excited me sexually or at all, for that matter.
“Is it that obvious?”
“To me? Yes. Besides you barely engaging with me, any time you did, you made sure to check with her first to make sure she was okay with it.”
I chuckled and rubbed my beard. “Her comfort and being her protector ain’t something I take lightly. Even when she bites off more than she can chew.”
“Got it. So how long?”
“A few months.”
“So why even go through with this?”
“I can’t deny her what she wants. But I also wanted her to have this experience and get it out of her system, so she knows ain’t nobody out there for her except me.”
She nodded. “Luckily, for you both, I’m not on that, and I didn’t want anything more than sex. But definitely don’t let her pull somebody in y’all’s bed again. The next person could feel like y’all playing games.”
“Won’t be a next time.”
By now, she was dressed and putting her shoes on. “I’ll text her to let her know that although I had fun, I won’t be running this back with y’all. Take care of each other,” she said while making her way to the door. “Tell her how you feel, Roman.”
“We will. I am this weekend.”
I walked her out and ensured she got to her car safely before locking the door, setting the alarm, and then getting back in bed next to Temmy. She was laying in my spot, but somehow knew I was trying to get in bed because she moved on her own.
Once I was comfortable, she reclaimed her position on my chest, and after giving her a few forehead kisses, I drifted off to sleep.
* * *
Since I barely slept after drifting off for like three hours, I was up bright and early. I got a quick workout in, showered, and started on breakfast. I planned to serve Temmy breakfast in bed and then have a conversation with her about how I felt.
I wasn’t nervous like I was last month about it. I was confident that the feelings were mutual and that we were on the same page when it came to each other.
Although I didn’t hear her wake up, I felt her, and I turned around from the stove to see her leaning against the entryway, rubbing her eyes.
“Good morning, beautiful.”
“Good morning, handsome. How long you been up?”
“Three hours. Sleep good?”
“Yep. Marsai texted me and said she had fun but wouldn’t be joining us again. Did something happen last night while I was asleep?”
“Nah. I caught her tryna sneak out, and she told me the same thing. So, I walked her out and got back in bed.”
“Okay then…”
“Disappointed?”
“No. Although I had fun and enjoyed myself, I was honestly overstimulated most of the night and trying hard as hell not to pass out.”
My brow furrowed. “Why didn’t you say something?”
She shrugged. “I was tryna live in the moment. I already knew that you weren’t all the way comfortable with it, and I knew if I showed any discomfort, you would’ve shut shit down and put poor Marsai out.”
I nodded. “You right. I’m never gon’ play about you, Temmy.”
We were quiet and just stared at each other.
“I know, Roman… we should talk about the elephant we’ve been avoiding.”
Again, I nodded. “Agreed. Set the table, and we can talk over or after breakfast.”
“Okay.”
I finished making the sausage and bacon, put the grits in bowls for us both with Temmy’s eggs on top of hers, and popped the biscuits in the oven real quick. I had the ingredients for mimosas, but I’d wait until we had our conversation before bringing them into the picture.
Once everything was ready and on the table, we sat next to each other, said grace, and began eating in silence. This was the first time since the beginning that I hadn’t fed her a meal. Shit was weird, but I didn’t want to crowd her.
Several moments passed, and the only sounds in the room were our utensils scraping the glass plates and bowls.
“You ready to talk?” I asked her as I sat my fork down into my bowl.
“Yea… I’ll start… I know that we both initially said this was just sex, but we agreed that if feelings got involved, we would bring it to the other… so this is me bringing my feelings to you. I’m not sure when the shift started. Actually, that’s a lie. When we went to Sunset Hills around month four, that night was the first time you made love to me.
“After that, I began seeing things as more than the arrangement we laid out. I don’t want to keep pretending like I don’t want to see or talk to you every day or that I don’t wanna be up under you after a long day.
“I know there’s a lot we don’t know about the other, but one, I’m willing to learn everything I need to in order to be the best complement to you, and two, I love how free and secure you make me feel. But what I love above all is that you allow me to be myself, and you’re not trying to constantly change me or talking down to me. And I want to thank you for that.”
“I’ll always speak positivity into you, Temmy.”
“I know. Even when I’m working your nerves, you’re still patient with me; I love that so much. I’ve gotten glimpses at a soft life with you these past nine months, and I want that more than just one weekend a month.
“And let me just put this out there now: I don’t expect marriage right away, but I want to know that we can move past just being boyfriend and girlfriend at some point.”
She was quiet and staring at me.
“My turn?”
“Yes.”
“I love you, Temperance, and I want a life with you. Before, I told myself that I would never get married again, but now… now I wonder what life with you would look like. If you’ll drop your middle or last name to make room for mine–”
I didn’t get to finish because she crawled into my lap and kissed me. I cupped her face in one hand and her ass in the other and pulled her closer to me while deepening our kiss. She sucked on my tongue, making my dick harden even more. When she started moaning, I pulled back.
“I love you too, Roman.”
I chuckled, cupped her face, pecked her lips, and stood from my seat.
She squealed in excitement. “Waiiiiiitttt… Let me finish. Since we’re clearing the air, I overheard your conversation last month… that’s when reality set in that it was more than just sex between us, and I panicked a little bit.”
I nodded. “I figured that you did because there was no other reason for you to be acting differently with me. Next time you overhear something and you start overthinking, just ask me about it. Don’t shy away from me or hesitate when I call you to me, nor should you avoid eye contact with me ever. We clear?”
She purred and licked my neck. “Yes, Sir. Oh, put me down.”
I slowly slid her down the front of my body until she was on her feet. She took off running through the house, and I laughed at her silly ass.
“Stay right there. Don’t move a muscle, Dante.”
Laughing, I readjusted my dick. “Why?”
“Marcellus, please.”
“Fine, Baby. Hurry up, though. I’m tryna spend the rest of the day breaking yo’ back in.”
She was quiet for a minute, and then she came rushing back into the living room with the biggest and brightest smile on her face.
“Okkkkaaayyyyy, soooo while on that phone call, I also overheard that someone has a birthday this weekend, and while I don’t know the exact date, I got you these because I want you to go and enjoy yourself…”
She pulled something from behind her back and extended her hand my way. It took me a minute, but I’d recognize the Monarchs’ mascot anywhere.
“C’mere, Temmy.”
Faster than I could blink, she was standing directly in front of me.
“Sir?” she asked, grinning.
“Thank you, Baby. I haven’t celebrated my birthday, which is tomorrow, since Ray passed. She always went so hard for my birthday because she said it was the only time of year I really let loose.”
“So does that mean that you’ll celebrate it with me?”
“Yes. That’s all I wanted to be honest.”
“Okay, good. Nowwww last part,” she laughed. “Those tickets are for the skybox, so invite your homie and his girl to join us. And we’ll be leaving today after you show me what that dick do,” she added, tugging at my shorts.
She got on her knees before me and stared at my dick like she hadn’t seen it before. He seemed to grow harder in her hands.
“If you’re done being caught up in your reverie, suck this dick, Temperance.”
“Gladly, Sir.”