Page 155 of Me For You
After thirty-six years together, my parents still flirted like they were teens. You could see and feel their love. Their marriage wasn’t perfect. I experienced their good and bad days, but they stood by each other, loved each other through the highs and lows, and were still committed to a lifetime together. If I had to sum up what I wanted my future to be with Somee, it was my parents. My blueprint was laid from the time I met them.
“Mmhmm, good save.”
“I told you Pops got game,” I teased and my mother rolled her eyes.
“Game getsyouplayed. Be careful with that, Land.” She shot him a playful glare and I chuckled, knowing that game was what kept their relationship from fading.
“We’re ready, baby. Roland and Miranda are out front.”
“That’s my cue, son.”
“Y’all have fun, but not too much. No three a.m. calls with me having to come get y’all.”
My father smirked. “I’m pretty sure we owe you a few three a.m. calls. Isn’t that how this goes? You grow up while we relive our youth. The roles are reversed.”
“I damn sure hope not,” I mumbled, thinking about my reason for the early morning calls. I gave my parents hell. I didn’t want that type of stress in my life.
“I guess you’ll have to wait and see.” My mother smiled mischievously before my father made his way to her, pulling her into his arms with a kiss I didn’t need to witness.
After our parents were gone, I walked down to the pool just as Marlee and Rylee were heading back to the house.
I spoke and signed,“Where y’all going?”
“TV marathon. I owe Rylee two seasons of Bear With Me.”She spoke the words to me but signed them animatedly to my sister, like watching cartoon bears going on adventures was going to be the highlight of her evening.
I fucked with the show heavy after watching a few episodes. When they added a bear named Ace who was a lyricist and always rapping through his situations, I was locked in. The voice for Ace was one of my favorite rappers, A’so. He secured the bag with that one. Kids and animation were a huge market.
“It’s my favorite show and Marlee’s too,”my little baby signed, not having a clue that Marlee was preventing a cockblock, giving me and Somee time alone since our parents were out for the night.
I glanced at Marlee who mouthed, “You’re welcome.”
“Let me get a hug then.”I lifted Rylee into my arms, squeezing her tight. All day in the sun, swimming, and playing in the ocean meant she would be out before the first episode ended and they were only forty minutes long.
They continued to the house and I made my way to Somee who was seated at the foot of one of the lounge chairs, legs crossed with her phone in the air, angled toward the beach. I sat down with her, dropping my legs on each side of her body, adjusting the back of the chair so I was comfortable and admiring the woman who had my heart.
When she finished taking her pictures, she dropped the device into her lap and smiled at me.
“I think Marlee is trying to give us space.”
“I figured that when she pretended that doing a marathon of Bear With Me was going to be the highlight of her night.”
Somee smiled beautifully.“Not too much on my show and stop acting like you don’t have the crew in heavy rotation too.”
“This season, yeah. I have to support the culture with my boy A’so.”
She rolled her eyes. “A real man is not ashamed of owning and embracing his guilty pleasures.”
I chuckled.“Then I’m real as fuck because I’m damn sure not ashamed of owning and embracing you.”
“Whatever.”Her pretty ass blushed.“Did they leave yet?”
“Yeah they’re gone. Now you can stop pretending like you weren’t rushing them up out of here.”
She smiled big as hell.“I wasn’t. Your mom kept bringing it up, telling my mom about the lounge since the environment was chill, the music from the live bands was loud, and the drinks were strong. I think they felt bad about bailing since the weekend was supposed to be about me. I just wanted them to enjoy their time here too.”
“Speaking of, did you enjoy your weekend?”
Her smile expanded fast as hell. “I did.” She lifted from the end of the lounge and made her way to me, draping her legs over my thighs. She leaned forward enough to reach my mouth for a quick kiss, but I gripped the back of her neck, holding her in place and allowing my tongue to explore for a minute longer before I let her go. The taste of rum and blueberries still lingered. Joy had them lit all day with those drinks and she kept them coming.
