I was hiding in the bathroom at Jason parents’ house, still reeling from the fact that Jason had kissed me on live TV during the NBA drafts and that was after he had introduced me to his entire family as his girlfriend.. It felt surreal, like I watched it happen to somebody else. I hadn’t been prepared. Now thinking about it was threatening to drive me crazy. Damn I wanted to choke Jason.
When we pulled up to the high-end hotel in downtown and were ushered into an event space, I thought there would be a party, something simple because he’d be graduating soon. Then the TV cameras showed up. Jason wouldn’t tell me why they were there and would find a way to distract me when every time I asked. He introduced me to his father and brother. Two giant men like Jason, with the same personality and warmth he exuded, but Black. He introduced me to his agent. He seemed genuine instead of sleezy like you would expect. Then his mother showed up and embarrassed us both talking about babies and marriage. Then we all sat down to eat dinner.
Everything after that happened so fast I barely had time to absorb it all. Midway the five-course meal Jason’s name came from the TV. I was so nervous and out of my element, I hadn’t even been paying enough attention to my surroundings enough to know there was a TV’s in the room with us, let alone multiple. The fifty or so people in that surrounded us went wild. That’s when I found out the Miami Heat had drafted Jason and we were on LIVE TV. His momma cried. His daddy smiled so big, bringing his hand down on his Jason’s back hard enough to break bones but Jason hadn’t flinched or noticed. He was watching me. I was sitting right next to him so the camera flash to capture his reaction nearly blinded me. I didn’t know he had leaned in for a kiss until his lips were on me. There was something different about that kiss. I felt the emotion behind it. I melted into him. Then he pulled away and realization of what happened sunk in. He had made us public. My mind had gone blank. We were in the limo back on the way to his parents house before I could even begin to unpack it all mentally. I think I had been in the bathroom more than two hours trying to.
So deep in my thoughts the knock at the door startled me. I Jumped. Before I could respond to it, Jason stuck his head in, then opened the door and stepped in.
He had changed out of the custom steel gray three-piece suit he’d been rocking earlier. He was in just a pair of boxers now; I couldn’t decide which version of him looked better. I wanted to stare but looked away. Eyeballing Jason too long would end with me bent over some surface of the bathroom. The boy was insatiable.
“Why are you hiding in here, Tempest?”
I cut my eyes at him. “Why are you always trapping me in bathrooms, Jason?”
He smiled. “Because it’s the only time you stand still long enough to let me catch you. “
The bathroom we were currently occupying was huge so he was able to easily kneel his large frame down beside me where I was sitting on the edge of the huge spa tub.
“What wrong, pretty girl?” He tugged at one of my curls. It had taken his mother more than two hours to curl my hair. I hated it. It didn’t fit my round face and it reminded me of the candy curls my granny used to force on me when I was a child, but she had seemed so happy to be playing in my hair. I wouldn’t dare tell her no. She was kind of scary too, in that loving way some Black moms were. She reminded me looks wise of Lisa Nicole Carson from my favorite movie, Jason’s lyric, but if Lisa was playing Sandra from 227. Curvy, boisterous, with a take charge type personality. I liked her. One day I wanted to be like her.
“Why’d you kiss me on tv?”
He tossed me a confused look. “Because I wanted to?”
“But you just let everybody in the world know there is something between us. Do you know what kind of trouble you just started? Imma be bombarded with all kinds of bullshit because of what you did.” I wasn’t even really mad, just scared. How were Julissa and Malcolm I going to react? “I don’t know how I’m going to deal with any of it’ I said aloud what I was thinking. Sighing I dropped my chin to my chest.
“How we’re gonna deal with it you mean?”
I shook my head. Sure, he could help me with Julissa or even Malcolm if he knew about him, but not the public.
“What do you mean we, Jason? Tomorrow the news and social media will be talking about how you were the number one draft pick. But me they’ll be breaking me down body part by body part. Digging into my life, telling the world my secrets. You just don’t get it, you’re the golden boy and you look like you do.”
“Explain it to me then.” There was an edge to his tone.
I sighed. I didn’t want to talk to him about any of my troubles, much less my insecurities and end up looking weak, but maybe if I made him aware of what we had to look forward to if he kept insisting on us being together he’d let me be. Truth was I wasn’t strong enough to leave him alone on my own even though I knew when the novelty of fucking me wore off and he left I was going to be broken. Even knowing that I wasn’t willing to let him go. I needed him to be the one to end it.
Trying my best to not cry, I pushed back against emotions that had my chest feeling so full it ached. I cleared my throat. “Beauty is a social currency in the world you’ve just earned your way into. I’m a fat, dark skinned Black woman, I’m not valuable in that world. People already think women like me don’t deserve men who look like you, let alone —men who look like you —who are also wealthy or successful. They won’t be afraid to tell us. Also my divorce will be brought up, which will open a whole other box of worms…”I paused, preparing myself to tell him about Malcolm, but he interrupted.
“But what that gotta with me, Tempest?” He had the most agitated look on his face.
“It has a whole lot to do with you. What happens when the criticism starts getting to you?” Or you meet some Meghan the Stallion looking chick? I get left out in the cold with my business all over the news and blogs.”
He stood and took a giant step away from me and I thought, this is it. I had finally pushed him away. I wanted to cry.
“That’s what you think of me? I’m weak, and superficial now?” He gritted out.
“No, that’s not what I said. You’re twisting my words”
He paced. “I’m not twisting a damn thing. That’s what you’re accusing me of being. A motherfucker who’ll get enthralled and lost this fame bullshit.”
I opened my mouth to explain but he cut me off again.
“But you don’t exactly know me, so I’ll let you have this one. But let’s go ahead and get a few things straight, Tempest.” He paused to look at me. To make sure I was looking at him before he continued. “I’m not going to let people dictate who I date, fuck, or love. You just met my family. My Black family, with my size eighteen mother. I have police officers for a brother and father in this climate of unrest. People are always going to talk.” He slammed his hand into his chest. “It’s up to me as a man and let them know what is and ain’t acceptable to say about me and mine, and to apply pressure if they don’t get it when I correct them the first time. None of what anybody else says or feels about you — outside of me —should worry you.”
Hearing the anger and hurt in his voice made me wish I hadn’t said anything at all. I dropped my head.
He reached out and he lifted it. “Look at me, Tempest.” He waited until I did to continue. “I don’t want to sound angry or dismissive about how you feel. I have my insecurities too. A lot of them stem from you constantly rejecting and pulling away from me. So, I understand how they can fuck with your head. But you gotta have a little faith in me, baby.” He gripped my chin firmly, the pad of his thumb glided across my lip. “Your body, your size, your skin, you’re perfect to me. You pretty as hell, smart, caring, got good pussy. Why would I care what anyone else thinks? I’ve told you I like you. That I want you with everything in me, without caveat. Correct? I’ve shown you that, right?”
I nodded.
Now I’m saying it again. I like you, Tempest. Even the parts you’re insecure about. The parts someone told you to hate. That’s it. The end. I don’t give a fuck what anybody else says. Stop over thinking and overanalyzing our relationship. Pushing me away isn’t going to yield you the results you hope for. I’ll probably kidnap your ass and lock you in a room long before I’ll ever leave you. Stop testing my sanity,” he smiled slightly.
He retook his position next to me, grabbed my hand, pressed his lips against my palm, calming me a bit.
He made it sound simple and I wasn’t trying to fight with him.
“Ok Jason.”
He chuckled “Okay? All I get is a dismissive ass okay?” He nodded. I see my words aren’t resonating with you. But I’m not about to nag you into believing me. I can show you better than I can tell you. In time you’ll see as we deconstruct each one of these walls you built— how serious I am about you.
He stood. “Stand up.” He tugged me up by my wrist then leaned down and started tugging at the glove tight velvet green cutout dress with a high split I was wearing.
“What are you doing?”
. “I’m undressing you.” He blinked a few times, rubbing the palm of his hands against his sleepy eyes and yawned.” I’m tired as hell, we’re gonna hop in the shower then go to bed.”
I shook my head and pulled away. “I’m not sleeping at your parents’ house. You’re gonna try to have sex with me, no…” I was mortified at even the thought.
“I ain’t asking you to sleep at my parents’ house, we’re sleeping and fucking at mine.”
“No. You might as well drop me off at my new place. I can shower there. I’d rather not spend the night in a cramped apartment with four men.”
He tilted his head. “What are you talking about? What apartment with four men?”
It was my turn to tilt my head. Now I was confused. “Your roommates, where will they be?” I asked.
“Wait, what?” he asked
The back and forth was getting exhausting. I outright asked, “Where do you live, Jason?”
“Here, in my house.”
“Your house? As in you live with your parents or as in this is your house?”
“This” he pointed to the floor we were standing on then held out his arm, “Is mine.”
“But how? You told Julissa you live with four of your teammates.”
He busted out laughing. “I forgot about that big ass lie I told your gold-digging sister.”
He took my hands in his and bent down so we were eye to eye. “See this this is what I love about you. You really didn’t know?”
“I’m so confused. Know what?” I asked
“I have money. I was just the number one draft pick. I’ve ranked second in college basketball for three years. I have over twenty million followers on Instagram where I’ve peddled, clothes, shoes, exercise equipment or whatever else I was sent by companies,as long as they sent a check with it.”
“I’m so confused.” I understood that people could make money off of social media but Jason didn’t act like he had money.
“You said that already.”
“Why were you sleeping on the sofa in my sister’s apartment, eating my food?”
He widened his eyes and sighed at me like I was simple. “We went over that already. Because of you. For six months I pretty much put my life on hold for you.”
I frowned, “So how doesn’t Julissa know any of this?
“She knows stuff in general, like I have a following and I’m an influencer. She doesn’t know details of my finances and she sure as fuck don’t know where I lay my head. Your sister saw me as nothing more than a paycheck and treated her accordingly.”
I blinked hard at the new revolutions, “Oh, wow.”
Jason’s thick brows knotted. “You have anything else you want to ask me?”
I shook my head. “No, you already gave me a lot to unpack.”
“Unpack it in the morning. I’m tired,” he told me.
I was too, physically, and emotionally. I let him remove my dress, my bra, and panties. Then watched him remove his black boxers. Leaving me standing by the spa tub, he went over to the glass enclosed shower that stood by itself in the far corner of the bathroom and turned on the water. My anxiety had me feeling weak and exposed like an open wound. Watching him walk around naked, confident like it was nothing, made me feel self-conscious around him again. He was so perfect and I had so many imperfections.
My breathing kicked up. I felt a panic attack coming on “Let me brush my teeth and wash my face.” I made an excuse to get a moment alone. I escaped to the area the sink and toilet sat in blocked from Jason view to give myself a moment to compose myself. There was a washcloth and a new toothbrush waiting for me.
I brushed my teeth, wet the wash clothes with water and bent over the sink to clean my face without ever looking in the mirror. I felt Jason come up behind me. He was close enough to slip he swollen dick between the globes of my ass
I stopped washing my face.
“What are you doing Jason?” I brought my eyes up to watch him through the mirror, his eyes were glued to my ass. He didn’t even bother looking up when answered. “Your ass is a masterpiece, Baby. Bend over real quick.” He splayed his hand against my back and gave me a little shove that I resisted.
“No. A minute ago you were so tired and so am I.”
“I am tired.” He raised his head to grin at me, our eyes connecting in the mirror”
“I won’t keep you up too much longer.” trying to persuade me.
“Your parents and family and friends still downstairs.” You could hear them laughing over the music. “No.” I shook my head.
“So, they know we are fucking. Just bend over right quick, a nut will help us sleep better, work some of the tension out of our bodies.” He massaged my hip, then slid his hands to my ass to massage the round globes. “You know you want to. I bet that pussy is sloppy right now,” he coaxed.
He didn’t wait for me to respond. His hand went to the middle of my back, he pressed forcing me to bend over the sink. I tried to right myself by pushing against it.
Whap! , he brought his hand down on my right ass cheek, sending a shock straight to my pussy. A moan slipped past my lips despite my best effort to hold it in.
“Bend over and arch your fucking back, Tempest and keep it arched.”
“No.” I whined prettily. Now I was resisting just to see what he’d do next.
“You gonna stop playing with me about my pussy one day.” was the only warning I got before he gripped a hand full of my hair and tugged. My head snapped back; my back arched forcing my ass into the air. My knuckles darkened from how hard I gripped the edge of the sink to hold on.
Jason taunted me. “See, always tempestuous and hardhead as fuck and for no damn reason. And what it get you? Manhandled. I still got what I wanted.” he leaned in and whispered directly against ear “One day you’ll learn you ain’t running shit. I’m indulging you when I let you believe you are, Tempest. Now fucking spread your legs.
Using his knee, he spread my legs further apart for me. I sucked in a deep breath as he slid into me slowly in the same instance..
“Fuck.” he murmured,
“Open your eyes, I want you to watch me fuck my pussy, you think you can take this dick quietly again?”
I nodded.
“Open your eyes, Tempest,” he damn near growled.
They fluttered open to meet his in the mirror.
Jason’ gaze was fixed on my face. He shook his head. “Look at you, baby. So fucking beautiful. I want our daughters to have your face.”
I whimpered.
He spread my ass cheeks.
“If only you understood how open you got me. You could have anything you want from me. Money, love, affection. I’d willingly give you my next breath if you wanted it.
“Shhh.” I breathlessly tried to shush him. I wanted to enjoy the sweet agony of him pushing into me without his words fucking with my head.
He shook his head no.
I tried to gain his silence again by raising my finger to my lips.
“No. I’ll continue to tell you exactly how I feel until you believe it.”
He pulled out, then thrust all his dick back inside again in one stroke.
I shuttered and gripped the sink harder.
“You can have anything, Tempest, all you gotta do is ask.”
The way he was stroking me and his words had me feeling so damn good. My juices dripped down my thighs, wetting both of us.
His brought his entire forearm up, placing me in a choke from behind. He lovingly caressed the side of my face, ran is thumb across my lips. He picked up speed fucking me faster. I whimpered creamed some more for him.
“Open your eyes, Tempest and don’t you dare close them again,”He growled.
I hadn’t been consciously aware of closing them. I did as he demanded. I immediately wanted to close them again. I couldn’t take him looking at me like he was. Like he cared. Like I was precious. Like he meant all the sweet nothings he had ever said to me. I wanted to tell him to stop, but I couldn’t form the words or maybe I didn’t want to.
Then suddenly his face morphed. I watched it twist as he grimaced in the mirror. Watched him swallow hard pass his Adam’s apple. He was close.
He peppered kisses on my neck and back.
He pled in a rough command “I need you to cum for me, Tempest!” That was all I needed. I would have called out to God if my next breath hadn’t caught in my throat. I plummeted over the edge. Forcing a hard breath through my nose caused my head to swim. My face heated up and my legs went weak. Jason held me up as he stroked into my faster and faster until the sound of our skin slapping together drowned out the music downstairs.
“I’m about to-“he started, but with his voice breaking he settled for growling through his nut . Thrusting upward one final time, he went stiff. After a moment he eased out of me and pulled me towards the already running shower.
My mind was screaming for me to say something, to ask him if he had meant the profoundly serious words that had come from his mouth, but I couldn’t bring myself to say anything. I stood there stock still as he washed me from head to toe, gently, thoroughly. Then I watched him wash himself, quietly.
After the shower we lay side by side in the bed, neither of us sleeping. I finally talked myself into saying the words he needed to hear. My voice was low, but heavy with weariness but I made myself talk. “ I’m dreading tomorrow. The news will probably be talking about my divorce. My very messy divorce. My husband used to beat me, damn near beat me to death before I finally left, and despite me asking him for nothing, he tried to draw it out. When the judge wasn’t having it, he attacked me in the parking lot outside of the courtroom. He tried to physically make me go home with him and we fought. I told him next time he came near me I’d kill him, very loudly. We made the news.
Jason shifted. I could feel him staring at the side of my face, but I couldn’t look at him.
“I guarantee they won’t be. They will be to talking about the birth of Jason Jenkins, the crack baby found in a trashcan on a stormy Florida night by the police officer who became his father.”
My eyes widened at his confession. That explained how he ended up in a Black family. The Black family explained his last name and his demeanor.
He cleared his throat. “Nobody knows the origin of my birth outside of my family, the police and the social workers. My father said he already knew he would take me the moment he saw me. He didn’t want me to make a spectacle out of me, so they always kept the details of my adoption quiet. But now with my increased visibility my PR team figured it would come out eventually. We planned to wait until it did, but I told my agent to release it tomorrow. That way, I control the narrative of my birth, while making the circumstances of your divorce boring.” He shifted.
“Look at me, Tempest.”
He waited until I turned onto my side to face him. I could barely see anything but his eyes.
He brought his hand up to caress my cheek. Then he soothed my hair away from my face. This man touched me so softly I wanted to cry.
“I know your story, Tempest. I have since that first day when you told me your name. I googled you, searching for you on social media. News articles were what I got instead.”
I sighed. I hadn’t even thought about people googling my name and finding out about what happened to me that way. Fuck, why I hadn’t I thought about it. Now I was wondering how many people in my office knew.
Jasons voice interrupted my thoughts. “I asked you to trust me. I won’t ever let any of the fallout that comes from being with me, hurt you.”
He set his forehead against mine. “Do you trust me, Tempest? Can you trust me?” He asked heavily.
A funny feeling forced its way into my chest and all my worries kind of just faded away.
I ducked my head resting it into his chest and nodded yes.
“Then stop being one of the people standing in our way. And I promise not to let you down.”
No other words were said after that. He laid back. I intertwined our fingers before drawing closer to him, suddenly needing not even a modicum of space between us. I listened to his steady heartbeat until heaviness overtook my eyes. Just before I dozed Jason shifted, my head slipped from his chest for second before he was back, situating me as I had been before. He lifted my head. I felt him slide something over my hair. I was too sleepy to comprehend what was going on.
The next morning, I woke up to an empty bed, to the smell of bacon in the air and a pretty brown African printed silk bonnet on my head. In the light of day, after the kiss on tv and all he had confessed the night before, I had to tell myself not to lose my fucking mind and fall the rest of the way in love with this man over a simple gesture, since I was already halfway in love with him. But he had brought me a satin bonnet. Be still my fucking heart.
I gave myself a calm the fuck down talk before I got up and took care of my hygiene. I had no clothes so I squeezed my ass into a pair of Jason’s basketball shorts, his wife beater and a pair of his socks. I left the bonnet on. I was going to wear it everywhere until I had to take it off.
The entire house outside of his carpeted bedroom was tile and wood. I peeked into all four of the rooms upstairs. it felt weird as fuck going through his home. He was only twenty-two and had accomplished so much. He was really out of my league.
In the shower I had pondered over the thought of just walking out of his house and not looking back. Cutting ties right then wouldn’t hurt like it would later, and Lord knows I was afraid of being hurt again. But fuck it. I was staying. He was right about me standing in our way. I realized I had been self-sabotaging and using every excuse I could think of to keep him at a distance. I was even using Julissa as one because if I was being honest, I really didn’t give a fuck about her feelings or that he had fucked her once before me. Now that she probably knew about us. Fuck it. I had spent years married to the fucking devil, fantasizing about someone like Jason. I’d be stupid to let him go. Even if in the end I ended up with my heart shattered. Gluing it back would be easier than living with the thought of what if. At least that’s what I told myself in the shower. Now I just had to live by those words and thoughts.
I found Jason in his stainless-steel kitchen ass naked as the day he was born, cooking. Tucking my bottom lip between my teeth, I stopped and watched him. I let my eyes rake over his nearly perfect body. His ass was round, his thighs thick. The corded muscle in his smooth, inkless back flexed every time he moved. I was surprised there weren’t any tattoos there. The thought made me wonder what my name in cursive would look like painted across his flesh.
“Are you going to stare or you gonna sit down and let me feed you before I fuck you again. “He directed at me without turning around.
I jumped slightly, caught off guard by him suddenly speaking, then I chuckled. “Why are you always so nasty?” I asked while making my way over to the stainless-steel island that stood in the middle of his huge kitchen and took a seat.
Jason went over to the kitchen sink and ran something he was holding under the water before answering my rhetorical question.
“You keep asking me the question, though u know the answer. You like me nasty.”
I rolled my eyes, “where is your family, I thought they were staying the night over?” I asked, changing the subject.
“They went home to give us some privacy. My mother said y’all will have to arrange a spa day. She wants to get to know you.” He said.
His phone rang.
I watched him pick it up and check the ID then lay it back down. I thought nothing of it, the first time. Then It stopped ringing, then started ringing again twice. “who is it?” I asked despite everything inside of me telling me not to. It was none of my business really. I didn’t want to be one of those types of women.
“Julissa.”
Fuck my life.
“Answer it,” I encouraged him. Part of me was dying to see what she had to say.
Never turning around, he shook his head no.
“No need to, I already know what she wants. I spoke to her last night.”
The information he divulged was new. I felt a small frown turn my lips down. “And she wanted what?”
Jason finally turned around giving me his full attention, the way his eyebrow creased in the middle let me know I wasn’t going to like what he was about to say.
“I held my breath”
“She said she wants us to meet with her or she’s going to the press to talk about how the sister she allowed to stay with her after a messy divorced stole her boyfriend.”
I gritted my teeth. “And you told her what?”
Jason shook his head. “I told her this week wouldn’t be good, but we would meet with her the following week.”
Just the thought of seeing Julissa had a ball of dread settling in the pit of my stomach and once again thinking that maybe I should just walk away from Jason before everything got even messier. My thoughts were an immediate contradiction to the decision I had only made minutes before because life was too confusing. I chewed at the skin on my thumb.
“Tempest,” Jason called my name.
I looked up to find him watching me.
His jaw was tightened as if he already knew what I was thinking and was fighting against being frustrated with me.
“This changes nothing, Tempest. Not our plans for the day or the future. His tone and the look on his face dared me to argue with him, so I didn’t. I pouted and ruminated silently as he finished cooking breakfast.
