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The next morning, I woke up to Jey kissing on my neck with his hands between my legs. He slept completely naked, while I was in his shirt. I was laying on my side and he was all up on me. We had only been asleep for a couple of hours. He wore my ass out and now he's trying to wake me up for some more. Jey is not built for the weak. Sheesh.

"Wake up, sunshine!" He says, face nuzzles into my neck. "Time to sit on my face..."

I laughed and turned flat on my back.

"We can do it like this too." He says getting on top of me. He began placing kisses on my stomach.

"You aren't tired from last night?" I ask

He looks at me like I'm crazy. "Nope. You're still tired?" He laughs

"I'm a little sore." I say

"I'm sorry... You had a good time though, right?"

"Of course." I say.

"Let me make it better." He begins kissing down my stomach again.

"Why, so you can put me in those porn ass positions again?" I laugh.

"I do be recording every now and then. You wanna make one?" He asks with a smirk on his face.

I laugh at his joke. "You're funny as hell."

"I'm serious."

"Oh...okay." I say

"So you wanna do it?" He asks

"I'll think about it." I smile but he's looking at me with a serious face.

"You a lil crazy ain't you? You have to be. That pussy was too good for you not to be."

I laugh as he slowly reaches over and grabs a condom off of the night stand. "I need you again."

"I want you again." He doesn't hesitate and begins kissing me hungrily. It kinda catches me off guard but of course I go with it.

The time between the foreplay and him entering me was quick. It was obvious what he wanted. It felt good having him first thing in the morning. This was something I would like to happen every morning but I don't think that's gonna happen right now, maybe in the near future.

********

After we were done, Jey was sitting on the side of the bed with his back to me. He was looking at his phone.

"We gotta check on the flight to SFO." He says

I pout and make a whining sound. "I don't wanna leave yet."

He smiles back at me. "Because of the dick or you wanna just be with me?"

"I wanna just be with you. I'm having fun."

"You like being around me?" He asks, turning back around.

I smile, sitting up in bed, the sheets wrapped around me. "Yeah, I do. It's not just about the... you know."

He chuckles, glancing over his shoulder. "Yeah, I know. I got that thang on me." He jokes. "...but that's good to know."

As he continues checking the flight details, I take a moment to appreciate the morning after – the connection, the laughter, and the curiosity lingering about the man now sitting on the edge of the bed.

He gazes at me, a serious expression etched on his face. "I appreciate that you feel that way, and trust me, I feel the same. But my current situation isn't favorable. I've got a lot on my plate, and diving into something right now wouldn't be the right move, baby. I hope we can figure this out someday and understand what it's all about. For now, let's just savor the time we have together." His words leave me feeling a bit uncertain.

I nod, understanding his perspective, but a tinge of disappointment lingers. "Alright, Jey. Let's just enjoy the time we have, no complications..."

"Yeah." he agrees.

"But....will I see you in San Francisco?" I ask

"I don't know." he replies with uncertainty.

"Why don't you know?" I pressed, waiting for his response. The silence stretched, and I sensed the answer was likely no. Confusion clouded my thoughts. We'd shared so much fun in this short time, and it felt like the beginning of something promising. His uncertainty left me feeling like he was hiding something.

"...you wanna stay another day?" he asked unexpectedly. I was ready to delve into the whys, but his proposal caught me off guard. Confusion lingered, yet there was a part of me urging to go with the flow.

"I'd like that." I replied.

"I wanna stay with you too." He admitted.

He leans over, planting a distracting kiss on my lips. I'm aware of his playful strategy, but I choose to let it slide. We've had a blast together, and I don't want to complicate things with premature expectations. After all, he's not officially mine—yet. Yes, I said yet. He's going to be mine.

"I see how you lookin' at me..." he remarks. "Chill..."

I giggle briefly. "What?"

"You fallin'. Don't fall in love with me." he teases.

"Why?" I ask.

"Because I'm not a good person..." he confesses.

"You seem good to me." I counter.

"I've done some things I'm not proud of." he admits.

"We've all made our fair share of mistakes. As long as you haven't committed any crimes that would put you in prison, I guess you're in the clear."

"Nah, nothing that serious. I've hurt some people, and it's not something I take pride in. Unfortunately, people end up hurt because of my actions."

"Life's too short to please everyone." I shrugged, taking his side. "But intentional harm is a different story."

"It's intentional. I know I shouldn't be doing some of the things I do. Sometimes, I just selfishly think about myself, and that's what lands me in trouble."

"Are you genuinely trying to change?"

"I attempt to, but I keep slipping up. It's not that I prefer doing the wrong thing; it's just that, sometimes, I genuinely don't care, and I don't care who ends up hurt." He explained

"Jey, I genuinely think you're a good person. I know we haven't known each other for long, but based on what I've seen, I like you. I like you a lot. As long as you're making an effort to be better, that's what matters. Everyone has slips; don't be too hard on yourself."

He smiles and kisses me on my cheek. "I like you too, Hazel. Thank you for leaving your phone on the seat at the airport."

I laugh. "I'm happy I did." I say. "I've had so much fun with you, and damn, I needed it."

He smiles. "That's the excitement I've been talking about."

I laugh.

"Let's go shopping," he randomly suggests.

"Shopping? I don't have that much room in my bags for anything new."

"We'll get more luggage. Get dressed. I wanna spend some money on you." he says, helping me up. "I gotta keep the excitement going."

"Spending money is exciting?" I ask

"Seeing you smile is."

His words immediately make me blush.

"Stooop!" I laughed and playfully hit his arm.

"Come on. We'll go wherever you wanna go." He says.

I'm just waiting for him to pull out a rope and duct tape. He's being too nice and it's almost kinda a red flag but I also feel like he's just being generous and genuine. It's nice but damn I almost wish for all this to be over so I can know what this really is. Real or fake. Will I survive or not? Crazy to say but I'm anxious now.

********

We finally got up to start our day. It honestly felt like we've known each other for a while, and it wasn't awkward at all. I felt completely comfortable with him, and that made me nervous because I really don't know this man. But when I was around him, I felt calm and content. When we were out last night, I felt safe. I've never experienced a feeling like this with a person before, and I liked it, but it was new and a little weird for me. However, I tried my best to welcome it. If he would've asked me to stay for another week, I probably would have. I actually hope that happens.

I had just gotten out of the shower and was doing my skincare routine when my phone rang. It was a FaceTime call, Danielle was calling again. I'm sure she's just calling to check on me.

"Hello?" I answer, then prop the phone up against the wall so I can continue.

"Hey, I was just making sure you were still alive. Glad to know you survived the night." She jokes

"Barely." I say

"What is that supposed to mean?" She looks at me like I'm crazy. "What happened?" She asks

I laugh. "Nothing like that. What's up?"

"I was just calling to check on you, to make sure everything was good."

"Everything's good over here. How are you?" I ask

"I'm okay. I see you're still there." She says

"Yeah, we're actually going to stay another day."

"Another day?"

"Yeah, I can't talk that much right now because he's in the other room but I like him and I believe the feeling is mutual."

"If you're fine with it, then I'm okay with it. I just want you to be safe because if anything would happen to you, I would literally murder everyone." She says and I know she's serious. Danielle will literally fight my battles. She's a great friend.

"After you have the baby." I say

"Right. After I have the baby." We both laugh.

I was bent over the counter scrutinizing the imperfections on my face, I felt hands on my hips and a body pressed against my lower half. Turning around, I faced Jey, who pulled me closer, his grip on my hips tightening as we kissed passionately.

"Excuse me?" Danielle's voice interrupts, reminding me she's on the phone. I had gotten lost in the moment.

I laugh against Jey's lips. "That's Danielle."

He lets me turn around but doesn't release my hips.

"Hi Danieeeellle!" He smiles into the camera.

"You fine as hell!" She says and I burst out laughing.

"Thank you." Jey says.

"She sent me your information, so if you do anything to her, I will hunt you down and kill you myself. It don't matter how fine you are."

"I don't think you have to worry about that." Jey says

"Yeah, I think if he was gonna kill me he would've done it already." I second that comment.

"I'm just saying... As long as she feels safe, that's all I care about." she says

"Do you feel safe with me?" Jey asks me, smiling and staring into my eyes. I feel the connection between us, and it's strong. He knows the answer to this question; he's only doing this for Danielle's sake.

"I felt very safe with you." I say with a smile.

"Okay, then it's settled." he looks back at the phone. "She's safe. You have my information, and we're having fun. There's no need for you to hunt me down and kill me."

We all laugh.

"So we're gonna stay another day because we like being around each other." I say.

She rolls her eyes. "Why do I feel like this is the beginning of something, and I don't know if that's a good or a bad thing. I can't tell yet."

"I don't know, maybe it is. Jey and I are just enjoying each other's company. I've never been to Chicago, and he has, so he's just gonna show me around a little bit. We're gonna reschedule our flight for tomorrow."

"Alrighty, just let me know if you need anything. You know I'm only one call away."

"Yes, I know. I love you. I'll talk to you later."

"Okay. Bye, Joshua Fatu."

He laughs at her calling him by his government name. "Bye Danieeeellle!" He waves at her, and I end the call.

"I'm sorry for that." I look at him through the mirror. He's still standing behind me.

"What's there to be sorry for? She's worried about you." He kisses my cheek, reaching for my phone.

"What are you doing?" I ask.

He does something on my phone then holds the phone up. He takes a picture of us.

"I wasn't ready." I instantly get irritated because the photo looks crazy.

"That was the point," he says. "Now let's take the real picture."

We both smiled and took the picture. He then takes another one, kissing my cheek, and another one, kissing my neck.

"Something to make you remember this with me." He places the phone on the counter and walks out of the bathroom.

I continued my skincare regimen, minding my business.

About thirty minutes go by, and as I'm putting on the finishing touches to my makeup, I hear Jey say something from the other room. I couldn't really make it out, but it sounded mad aggressive, like there was some anger behind it. I was taken aback because what the hell did I do for him to speak to me that way?

"Huh?" I said, confused. I walk out of the bathroom and search the room for him. "What did you say?"

I see him standing at the door with it open.

"Who the fuck are you?" Jey says, ignoring me. Well, I don't even know if he heard me. "You better answer quick before I slam this door."

I don't approach because I don't know what kind of situation this is, so I stand back and listen.

"I followed the location on my phone and ended up here," I hear a man say. Panic sets in as I instantly recognize the voice – it's my ex, Kevin.

I can't believe this. I turned off my location too late. I didn't think he would follow me. He's never done this before.

"What the fuck does that have to do with me?" Jey asks, his tone laced with a mix of irritation.

I walk up to the door and show myself. Jey barely moves to the side.

"What are you doing?" I ask, my eyes narrowing at Kevin for showing up.

"Nah..." Jey steps in front of me, shielding me. "Don't talk." He directs a stern gaze at Kevin. "What the fuck does that have to do with me?" Jey repeats, his tone sharp and confrontational.

Kevin appeared shaken, realizing he wasn't expecting another man to be present. Caught off guard, he stumbled over his words, facing the intensity of Jey's confrontation. As Jey pressed him, the situation clearly became intimidating, and a part of me felt a sense of satisfaction, hoping this might expedite Kevin's departure.

"I was about to say nothing, but you here with my damn girl—."

Jey cuts him off. "Your girl?" He questions. "Who?"

"Hazel."

Jey looks at me. "Oh, this your man?"

I shook my head to clarify that Kevin's claim was false. Jey's gaze remained fixed on me, seeking confirmation in my response.

Jey's voice carried a threatening edge as he confronted Kevin. "She don't know you," he declared, drawing a line between Kevin and me. His ultimatum echoed in the room, "You got 5 seconds to get out of my face before I beat your ass for knocking on my door."

Kevin, seemingly bewildered, turned to me with a plea, "Hazel, you're not gonna talk to me?"

My response was unwavering, "We don't have anything to talk about."

"We have a lot to talk about. What are you doing here with him?" Kevin's voice was strained with a mix of confusion and anger.

Jey scuffed, shooting me a look. "You betta get em before I get em."

I stepped in front of Jey, feeling the reassuring presence of his body against mine. A wave of warmth washed over me, but I knew this wasn't the time for distractions. I composed myself and addressed my ex-boyfriend.

"Kevin, I am single. As a matter of fact, give me my keys." I held my hand out.

"I ain't got em," he said.

"You do have them," I insisted. "Give them to me before I tell him to get them for me."

Kevin glanced at Jey, who stood there, staring at him intensely, rubbing his hands together.

"We can't talk first?"

Jey clapped his hands. "Aight..." He tried to step towards him, but I used all my weight against his body and grabbed the door to help me not tumble over when he tried to walk through me.

"I can't hold him back." I warn
Kevin. He went into his pocket and pulled out his keys.

"How am I supposed to get my things?" he asked.

"I told you before I left for you to get out; you thought I was playing. Have Danielle let you in." I snatched the keys from his hand, and I felt Jey step back.

I took my keys off and threw them back at him. "The fuck you doing following me?"

He throws his hands up and just looks at me like he didn't know what to say. He can't believe my actions. I've never been this done with him before, and he knows it. Taking my keys from him is a new level of finality. He's never seen me with anyone else before. I've never been with anyone else. I am done for real this time.

"I was trying... you ain't never did no shit like this before. "You with him now?" He asks.

"I don't owe you any explanation." I say folding my arms.

"Why are you entertaining this?"Jey asks, putting his hand on my hip.

"This what you doing? In this hotel laid up with him?" I don't say anything else. I just closed the door in his face.

"You okay?" Jey asks

"Yes. I'm totally fine. I should be asking you that."

"I'm good. I don't like that motherfucker showing up and knocking on this door like he was about to do something."

"I didn't hear anything until I heard you talking. I'm sorry he's never done anything like this before. I don't mean to drag you into this at all.

"It's all good. I know you're still in the relationship." He says

"No. I'm not, I'm done with him."

"I mean the breakup is very new. I don't expect you to handle this in any type of way, I was just upset he had the audacity to show up."

"Well, in his defense, he didn't know you were here with me. I think he was just as shocked as you were. He's never seen me with anyone else before. Even with all the bullshit he's put me through I've never cheated on him or started talking to someone else. He's always been able to pull me back in and this time he's not, I think he knows that and that's probably why he showed up here today."

"I'm gonna be honest with you baby, if you not willing to fight, he doesn't want the relationship that bad because if I was him, I would've beat my ass but he didn't do that he backed down."

"Well, in his defense again, you're not a small guy." I laugh. "I wouldn't be trying to get into it with you either."

"Man, it doesn't matter how big the guy is if that's your girl and you want her back, you gonna do what you gotta do."

"That's true. But that just goes to show what I was telling you about. He never stood up for me, and he never fought for me so that's the perfect example."

"Anyway..." he waves his hand at the door. "Now that that's over with. we are going to head to Michigan Ave. and we're gonna continue our day like this didn't happen."

"Okay..."

After that situation was over we drove to downtown Chicago. I've never been to Chicago. It was beautiful. The skyline is the best when I've seen way better than Atlanta or San Francisco. Now that I think about it, I've never really been anywhere besides Georgia or California. I think that's kind of sad. Maybe with my newfound freedom I'll try to travel more. Or maybe Jey and I can do it together. That's if this works out of course.

Before we started shopping, he took me to this little hotdog stand called Jim's and we stood on the sidewalk eating Maxwell Street polishes. I guess this is a Chicago thing and I really wasn't into it but the food was amazing. I liked the experience because it gave us more time to get to know each other. We didn't really talk much, but I did get to see more of his personality and he's hilarious. He's very goofy you can tell he likes to have fun and likes to tell jokes and jokes around with whoever he's with. I can tell there's many layers to him and I can also see that he's not willing to let me in on that just yet but I'm the same way right now. We just met yesterday so it's not like we are fully gonna open up to each other, even though we have already shared our bodies with each other.

Jey is very handsy. I loved the fact that he wanted to hold my hand while we were walking and I like that he has his protective nature. He's always asking if I'm straight or if I need anything. He's the perfect gentleman and that part is what makes me feel like he's not a serial killer, he's just a nice guy. He hasn't done anything to make me feel uncomfortable and I love that too.

Once we were done eating, we headed to Michigan Ave to shop. As I stated before, downtown Chicago was beautiful and it was kind of cool that he was able to show me around a little bit and go to some of the places that I've seen on TV. I wasn't too fond of him taking me shopping. Nothing like this has ever happened to me before where someone wanted to take me shopping like this and the way he was talking he wanted to spend a lot of money. We went into Niketown, and he literally bought himself five pairs of shoes and a few jogging suits and it was a high bill so it made me know what type of money he was planning to spend today.

We took his things to the car, and then we went to Gucci. We walked through the doors hand-in-hand, and we were instantly greeted by a short Middle Eastern woman, wearing all black. Her hair was tied back into a tight bun, and her smile made me feel welcomed.

"No limit. Grab whatever you want." Jey says.

"I'm not doing that."

"Why? It's on me. It's all good. Just get whatever." He says. "I told you I was going to take you shopping. Now you saw what I just spent. I'm serious. You want a bag? Some shoes? I know you like Gucci. You walking around with the matching purse to my backpack. What's up?" He says with a smile.

"I've never been told someone wanted to take me shopping, so I'm just not 100% comfortable with this. I don't know how to feel." I express

"Well, you already gave it up so it's not like I'm looking for anything else."

I laugh. "True."

"And if you don't want to give it up tonight I'm okay with that. I just want to do something nice for you. Remember, this is an exciting trip."

I laugh again but this time he laughs along with me.

He turned me around and placed his hands on my hips. I got a flashback of him rubbing on my pussy last night. I tried to force that image to the back of my head but he placed a kiss on my neck keeping me in that mindset. I feel myself getting wet. Why is my body reacting to him this way?

"At least, let me buy you a bag for your services." He laughs against my neck.

"DAMN!" I say as if I'm shocked but I know he's only joking.

"Do me a favor and grab a couple things." He says in my ear then kisses my neck again. "It'll make me feel better. If you don't I'm gonna pick some things out for you. Your choice."

"Fine, since you're making me do it." We both laugh.

His hands move around my waist and he pulls me closest to him. Damn, I love it here in his arms. Feels good but I know it's weird. I think I'm just feeling vulnerable because of the breakup. It was hard for me to break the feeling but then I felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, finally breaking my train of thought.

He takes the phone out of his pocket and looks at the screen in front of me. The contact name was just a simple "T".

"Who's T?" I ask

He sighs, "My babymomma. Let me take this call. I'll be right back."

I watched him as he walked out of the store and stood on the sidewalk. He looked around before answering his phone. The first words of the conversation looked to be a little intense, like this was something that had already been going on. He had to step away for a phone call last night too. Maybe she was who he was talking to then too.

I see his vein popping out of his neck and his arms wailing all around. And the quick and firm movements of his hands told me it was definitely heated. I wonder what the argument is about. He's kinda sexy when he's mad.

"You guys look good together." I hear a woman say from next to me. I whip my head in the direction of the voice. It was the middle Middle Eastern woman. She smiles.

"Oh, he's not my boyfriend." I say

"Really? You guys look very in love. He can't keep his hands off of you."

I didn't say anything, I just smiled as my attention went back to him outside. I wish I could hear what the convo is about. What's got him so upset? I don't like seeing him that way. I just wanna take his phone and end the call.

I guess she could tell I was fully invested in the silent conversation that was happening outside the window. I was very concerned about what was going on and she saw that and I guess tried to distract me.

"Let me show you these boots!" She says with a big smile motioning for me to follow her.

I was hesitant at first but what was the point of me staring at him. I decided to follow the sales woman to the back of the store.

"So we just got both of these in. They're part of our new fall collection." She points to the two pairs of boots. One pair were black knee high boots with the black and silver GG's all over. The other pair were stiletto booties with the same design all over as well. I fell in love with them.

"I love both!" I say taking a seat as she grabs a couple boxes.

"You look like a 38." She sits them down next to me.

"Yes."

I take off my shoes and try on the knee high once first. I stand and look at them in the mirror. Thankfully I wore a dress today and they seem to go perfectly with what I'm currently wearing.

"Yeah, those are hot!" I hear Jey say from behind me. He places his hands on my hips.

"Everything okay?" I ask

"Yeah..." he removes his hands and walks over to one of the duffles.

"Nothing that's gonna ruin the day isn't?"

"Nah... it's all good!" He says

"The conversation seemed kinda intense." I'm really trying to get info out of him but he's not budging.

"She's always tripping about something." He says, then turns to the saleswoman. "Let me get this."

"I'll get it ready." She leaves.

I sit down to take the boots off then he walks over and kneels down in front of me.

"Let me help you." He says locking eyes with me. He reaches for the top of the boot but runs his hands a little further up my thigh.

My heart starts racing. He smiles and slides the boot off then he does the same for the other one. He looks up at me and smirks.

"What are you thinking right now?"

"Like you don't already know." I say. "You're thinking the same."

"I am but it's my hands. I can't stop them from wanting to caress your body."

I sit up and lean in and we kiss. My hands went around his neck while his hand went around my throat and he pulled me closer to him. The kiss was serious and I'm positive if we weren't in the middle of this store we would be ripping off each other's clothes right now.

"You don't know how bad I want you right now." He says, against my lips.

"Uh, I think I do." I reach down and rub his bulge poking out of his jogging pants. He let me rub on it for a minute. He was enjoying it, eyes closed and all.

"I'll give it to you right now, right here." He mumbles while enjoying his dick massage.

"I'm sure you are but we can't do that right now. Save it for later." I bite his lips and he smiles.

The saleswoman walks back into the room and I remove my hand but before she could say anything, Jey spoke up.

"Box these up too." He says without looking at her and he stays in the kneeling position so she doesn't see his erection.

She grabs the boxes and looks at us. "I was telling her you guys look good together, and so in love but she told me you weren't her boyfriend and that's such a shame because you guys would make a beautiful couple."

Jey looks at me with a shocked face then he looks at her. "She told you we weren't together? I don't know why she doesn't like to claim me." He says "We've been together for years." He jokes

I burst out laughing and she laughed too. She knows he's joking.

"Well maybe you should make that happen." She says

He looks at me. "I wish I could..." he says.

I feel like there was something more behind that comment. I wish I knew what he was thinking. I'm starting to see the closer we get the more I see what's behind his eyes. Why would he say that in response to what she said? He could've easily said no or maybe but that was his response.

I watched as she left the room and I turned back to him.

"You wish you could?"

"... But you know we just met yesterday. That's jumping the gun a bit, right?"

"Yes , and no. Yes, because we just met but no because if that's what you want then like you said earlier, you're gonna do what you have to do."

"Yeah..." He says, and then he gets up and sits in the chair next to me. "You see anything else you want?" He asks, seemingly avoiding my comments.

"I think two $1500 pairs of boots are enough." I say

"Aight. I'm gonna pick something out." He gets up and starts looking around.

Something just doesn't sit right with me and as much as I try to avoid this little thing, because it does seem like it's a little thing, I just can't shake it.

He ended up picking out two handbags to go along with my boots, and he got himself another backpack and a duffel. Even though I felt there was something a little off he didn't let that change the overall vibe of the day. He still held my hand and he continued to show affection the whole time. Maybe it wasn't bothering him as much it was bothering me or maybe he didn't see anything was a problem.

*

To be continued...

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