“I don’t have to be here all the time for us to be friends. Besides, I’m here now and that’s what matters. You seem like you could use a friend and I’m here. Question is, do you want me?”
I part my lips to say yes, but not in answer to his real question. I don’t know where the thought comes from. I’ve never been so drawn to a man in my whole life.
I pause as I have that thought. It seems right. I don’t remember much, but that thought feels accurate.
“Don’t you have to get back home?”
He shakes that pretty head. His hair spilling onto his forehead. I want to reach up and push it back into the neat waves he had it combed into.
A look crosses his eyes for a moment. Then he does something that steals all the breath I have left. He smiles, showing a pair of white teeth. Perfection.
Damn.
“I’ll go back when I have to. For now, I’m in town to hang with some friends. Problem with that?”
I roll my eyes. “Have fun with your friends. I don’t trust you,” I lie and storm off.
Chapter 16
A Friend
John
It wasn’t my plan to be here more than a few days at first, but I haven’t been able to force myself to leave. I’m finally breaking through to Roni. The tension between us has started to die down. Well, not the sexual tension. That’s only growing by the minute.
With each day that passes she’s taking on more weight and her face is becoming fuller. God, she’s gorgeous. That heart-shaped face has starred in my dreams on many nights. Even now, as I walk into the gym her face is the first thing I’m looking for.
A slow smile comes to my lips when I find her. She’s jumping rope as sweat drips all over her skin. Skin I’ve wanted to touch on more occasions than one.
Her sports bra shows off those nice plump tits that are glistening with her perspiration. What I’d give to lick every single bead that’s dripping between her breasts. Roni falls between a redbone and bronzed brown God crafted just for me. A color I wouldn’t mind seeing across my sheets as her silky skin calls to me.
“Hey, John,” someone calls out, but I don’t stop long enough to see who.
I wave and allow my feet to carry me to the corner of the gym where my new friend is focused on her task. She looks great. Her ribs have healed and she received the all clear a few days ago.
I was glad and a bit disappointed, to be honest. For two weeks I’ve had her to myself during training sessions. Now, I have to share her with everyone.
Sort of.
“Good morning,” I say as I stop in front of her.
“If you’re here to chastise me, you can leave. I said what I said.”
I shrug my shoulders. “Not my business,” I reply.
She stops jumping and turns her pretty eyes on me. I’d sell my right arm for the chance to pull her in for one kiss. It would be a long and deep one.
I’d only let her up for air after I had my fill, but something tells me I’d never have enough of Roni. Which is why I beat back the urge to grab her and pull her into my chest. She’s one drug I’m wary to sample.
“Bull crap and you know it. They sent you to talk to me. I thought we weren’t going to lie to each other, friend.”
“You’re assuming things, friend.”
She folds her arms over her chest, causing me to drop my eyes to her full mounds. Fuck, she’s put on weight in all the right places. I look lower to her curvy hips. Those thighs are thick enough to cradle me for the long hours I’d spend putting in enough work to get a paycheck.
“You didn’t come to breakfast?” she says, changing the subject.
She’s good at that. Nate did inform me that she’s been difficult today. She was pretty aggressive in her physical combat training. Although she’s been cleared, Nate’s worried about her injuries.
“I had to get some work done to send back home.”
She chews on her cheek for a few seconds. “Are they asking you to come back?”
“No, not yet.”
“Oh.”
“You want to talk about what’s going on? You seem… high strung. You should be pacing yourself.”
“I thought you weren’t here to talk about that,” she says with a pointed look.
I hold my hands up. “I’m not. I actually wanted to see if you want to get out of here. You, me, and a bar. What do you say?”
She looks up at me cautiously. I smile and tilt my head to the side. I know she’s been wanting to get outside these walls. I figured it would be good for her and admittedly, I thought I’d find out what’s going on in her head.
“You buying?”
I broaden my smile. “Always. It’s not in me not to treat.”
“Fine, but I need something to wear. I’m not going out in one of those Men in Black suits.”
I reach into my back pocket and toss her the other reason I’m here. I watch her face as she drops the rope and catches the item. It’s adorable how confusion turns into realization, back to confusion.
“A wallet?” she says as she turns the blue custom-made leather gift over in her hands.
I shrug. “There’s some money and a few cards in there. You’ll have to hand the cards back over after, but you’re welcome to use them to get whatever you want while you’re out.”
She wrinkles her brows. “They give you this?”
“Does it matter?”
She slants her pretty eyes at me. I hold her gaze as I grin. No, the money, cards, and wallet didn’t come from Nate and his team. The ID did, but the rest are on me—and man, did I have to go to bat so she could have them.
I needed her to have this. No, I couldn’t tell anyone why because I’ve been avoiding that answer myself. Along with the answers to why I’m still here, why I want to spend more time with her away from here, and why I can’t wait to see her in something other than workout clothes or the suits everyone here wears.
“Yeah, it does.” She pauses and licks her lips. “It does, John. I don’t know why, but it does.”
And we add another to my millions of questions. Nate has nothing on Roni or where she’s from. She hasn’t told him a thing to help with the background check.
It’s like she never existed before she was taken. No facial recognition has come up, her prints didn’t get a hit. She’s a mystery. Yet, the way her words come out tells me something deeper is at the root of everything about her.
“The ID is from Nate. I asked him to get it for you.”
She pulls the ID from the wallet and frowns as she reads it. “Roni Black?” she says, looking up at me. “That’s some racist bullshit.”
I laugh and shake my head at her. “Black is my last name. I’ve had brothers all my life. Now I can say I have a little sister.”
Her face crumbles and I’m not too sure what to think of it. “Little sister?”
I open my mouth to reply when Torque walks over. He’s the only other person Roni talks to. The kid seems to cling to her.
“Hey,” he says as a blush takes over his cheeks.
“What’s up? Listen, I need to make a few calls and get some more work done. Paige, Bobby’s wife will take you out shopping. Be nice.”