LOGINAs soon as we stepped into his home, the atmosphere became charged with electricity. I had been intoxicated until then, and now I felt a hint of intoxication creeping in. I stumbled a bit to his couch and sat down, trying to compose myself.
That’s when he knelt in front of me. Although my vision was slightly blurred, I could still make out his handsome features. His eyes, a striking shade of gray, reminded me of rain clouds, and his sharp jawline only intensified my desire for him. Unable to resist, I ran my fingers through his soft, silky hair and pulled him closer. He smiled and kissed me. His lips were a fiery red, filled with passion and lust. It was an exhilarating sensation. I opened my mouth, inviting him to explore it with his tongue. Continuing our kiss, I gently tugged at the hem of his shirt, pulling it over his head. My hands roamed his muscular body, eager to explore every inch. Just as I reached for his pants, he pulled back and asked, his voice soft and gentle, “Are you sure this is something you want to do?” Without hesitation, I nodded. Satisfied with my response, he began trailing kisses from my lips down to my neck. Then, the kiss transformed into a sensual sucking. It was light and tender, leaving no trace of desire on my skin. He licked his way down to my breast, and unable to contain himself, he tugged at my dress, exposing my breasts completely. With one hand, he rubbed circles around my nipple while sucking and licking the other. I let out a moan that only fueled his desire. He sat me up and took my legs in his hands, placing them over his shoulders. As I pushed my pelvis forward, he gently opened the lips of my vagina, exposing my clit. First, he rubbed it with his thumb, causing me to let out another moan. I nudged his head forward, and he couldn’t resist himself. As soon as his tongue touched my entrance, his warm breath against my skin, I surrendered to the pleasure. I spread my legs wide and threw my head back, allowing him to lick and suck until I began to grip the couch. His tongue dipped inside me, as if he had to taste me completely. Just when I thought I was experiencing something extraordinary, he let his tongue fall further to my rosebud. He inserted his tongue and sucked on the sensitive skin between my vagina and my anus. Right when I thought I couldn’t take any more, he inserted two fingers inside me while still concentrating on my bud. Next thing I knew, I came in his mouth, and he gladly swallowed me whole. I bit my lip, trying to catch my breath. He stood up and carried me to his bedroom. At this moment, I thought he was done. Why did I think that? He quickly removed his pants and boxers, as if he didn’t want to lose the moment. Then, he climbed on top of me and spread my legs open with his knee. He stroked his manhood, preparing to penetrate. Just before he entered, he gave me the most charming and devious smile I’d ever seen. “You ready, baby?” Biting my lip, hunger still in my eyes, I nodded again. He started slow and steady. Then, when he got into a groove, he began to speed up. The more he stroked, the louder I became. Eventually, the slapping of skin echoed through the room. “You like that?” he asked expectantly. “Uh huh,” I answered, trying not to break my concentration. “Tell me you like it.” “I like it.” “How do you want it?” “Deeper.” “Say my name.” “Huh?” “You heard me, say my name.” “Daddy?” I responded, confused as hell because I had no idea what his name was. It was then that he slammed into me harder than I’ve ever experienced. That hurt. This guy was relentless. “I said say my name!” At this point, I pleaded with him, knowing that if he kept pounding me like that, I wouldn’t have a vagina left to keep this up. “I…ooh…baby, I don’t know your name.” I guess he had the same epiphany I did and realized that in all the time we spent at the bar talking, we never exchanged names. How do you converse with someone without mentioning your name? “Fuck!” he smiled. Then he simply said, “Eric.” Really? Sounds fake, I thought to myself. “I won’t repeat myself, just say my name.” “Eric!” I practically shouted at the top of my lungs. That must have been a trigger for him because as soon as I said it, he pulled out and ejaculated all over my stomach before collapsing right beside me. Both of us were breathing heavily, processing what had just happened and savoring the waves of pleasure crashing down on us. He then lifted a finger and pointed in the direction of the bathroom before wrapping his arm around me. “In case you want to clean up.” After that, he pulled me close, kissed my forehead, and went to sleep. What on earth did I just do?*ERIC* “I don’t like him.” Mira didn’t look up. That pissed me off more than if she had argued. She sat on the other end of the couch with her legs underneath her, scrolling through something on her phone like our daughter hadn’t just left this house with some strange man. Some strange man who apparently thought he could pull into my driveway. Walk to my front door. Ring my doorbell. And leave with my daughter. Like that shit was normal. “Mira.” “I heard you.” “I said I don’t like him.” “And I said nothing.” “Exactly.” She looked up. “What do you want me to say?” “That you agree.” “I don’t.” I stared at her. She went back to her phone. I reached over and grabbed it. “Jamira.” That got her attention. Her eyes lifted slowly. “What?” “You saw him.” “Yes.” “You saw his shoes?” She blinked. “His shoes?” “Yes.” “What was wrong with his shoes?” I sat forward. “Exactly.” “What?” “You didn’t notice.” She stared at me. Then started laughing. “This isn’t fun
*CHRIS*The plan was to come back, spend time with my folks, maybe do a little shopping, and go back home.However, things didn’t quite go as planned.My son had been talking about this damn tree for three weeks.Not Christmas.Not presents.Not Santa.The tree.Specifically, the big one downtown that apparently required an entire ceremony just to turn the lights on.I didn’t understand the excitement.It was a tree.With lights.We had one of those at home.Smaller.Inside.Warm.And I didn’t have to stand around a hundred strangers to look at it.But apparently that wasn’t the same.Honestly, I was hoping he’d forget all about it.Safe to say he didn’t.“Daddy.”“What?”“When are they gonna turn it on?”I looked at my phone.“Seven.”He looked at the tree.Then back at me.“When is seven?”“In fifteen minutes.”He frowned.“That’s long.”“It’s fifteen minutes.”“I know.”Clearly he didn’t.He grabbed my hand again.Four years old.Impatient as hell.And somehow capable of asking the
*JAMIRA*It had been a while since all of the kids were home all day, every day.I was used to Eli and Erica being home with me, but the other three?I was ready to ship them off to their grandparents’ house for the remainder of Christmas break.Christmas with five children was completely overstimulating.Beautiful.Warm.Magical.Whatever.But mostly chaotic.I stood in my kitchen staring at flour on the counter, flour on the floor, flour on Esme’s shirt, and somehow—flour in her hair.I didn’t even remember giving her flour.“Esme.”She looked up at me.“Yes, Mommy?”“Why is there flour in your hair?”Her little hand immediately went to her head.“I don’t know.”Ayana snorted beside me.I looked at her.“Don’t.”“I didn’t say anything.”“You laughed.”“Because she doesn’t know.”“I don’t!” Esme insisted.“Baby, you put it there.”“No.”I stared at her.She stared back.Four years old.Four.And already committed to lying directly to my face.I sighed.“Okay.”Esme smiled.Apparentl
*ERIC*Ten years.Ten years full of tears, drama, parental guidance, and plenty of goddamn patience.And the time had finally come.My little Sour Patch was finally walking across the stage and going out into the world as a grown-ass woman I was somehow still going to end up financially responsible for.Graduations were stupid.Not because they didn’t matter.They did.Obviously.But whoever decided hundreds of families needed to sit in folding chairs for three hours to watch their kid walk across a stage for twelve seconds needed their ass beat.I shifted in my seat.Again.Mira looked over.“Stop moving.”“My back hurts.”“You’re forty.”“Exactly.”“That is not old.”“Tell my back.”She rolled her eyes.Eli moved against her chest.He’d been asleep for almost twenty minutes.One year old.Knocked completely out despite the heat, the people, the announcements, and his siblings doing everything possible to make sure nobody around us enjoyed themselves.I was just glad we remembered th
*KAYLA*“I’m doing curls.”“No, you’re not.”I looked up from my phone.Nia stared at Brielle like she’d personally offended her.Brielle touched her hair.“Why not?”“Because you said that last time, then straightened it thirty minutes before we left.”“That was different.”“How?”“It was humid.”“It’s always humid.”“That’s not true.”“We live in Georgia.”I laughed and looked back down at my phone.We’d been talking about the father-daughter dance for almost an hour.Technically, we were supposed to be studying.Nobody had opened a book.Nia had already picked her dress.Dark green.Her dad was wearing a matching tie because apparently she’d ordered it herself after he said he was wearing whatever he already had in his closet.Brielle hadn’t bought anything yet, but she had seventeen dresses saved on her phone and hated all of them.She’d shown us every single one.Twice.“I think I want my hair up,” Nia said.“You just said curls.”“Curled and up.”“That’s different.”“No, it’s no
*KACIE*I had planned on having a normal day.A day like any other, with not much of anything going on.I looked out the window and saw my car.I couldn’t remember the last time I washed it.It was covered in dirt and debris of some sort.It didn’t help that it was once white.Now it had turned all shades of brown, with black streaks of dirt running down the sides.At least I thought it was still white underneath all that shit.I figured since I’d spent so much time cleaning up my life, I might as well clean the car too.So I grabbed my keys and headed to the car wash up the street by the gas station on the corner.Life had become calm and quiet.Which felt almost disrespectfully normal.No phone calls in the middle of the night.No police officer standing at my door.No dramatic messages waiting for me when I woke up.Nothing that warned me my past was about to walk up beside me while I was scrubbing bird shit off the hood of my car.It was Saturday.Warm.Too warm, honestly.Kayla w







