Page 75 of Me For You
“Okay,” she signed, then darted around the room picking up toys. Somee was already on her way up.
“Rylee’s ready for you and I’ve been informed that I can’t come because it’s for girls because you dance to girl music.”
She grinned.“I have a play list in I-S-O-U-N-D-S. It’s mostly Yarah and Samari.”
“Bruh, you have my sister listening to that raunchy ass shit.”
Yarah’s latest song with Fyre was nowhere near kid-friendly, and although Samari’s weren’t that bad lyric wise, the upbeat ones were with her husband A’so and they damn sure weren’t kid-friendly.
Her smile expanded.“The Yarah songs are mostly from when she was younger and the ones with Samari are the clean versions. I learned that lesson quickly. She’s curious and always learning. Even though she can’t hear the lyrics, she looked them up and I had to explain things I shouldn’t to a six-year-old.”
I chuckled.“I bet you did. So what’s the dance party thing all about?”
“I pick songs with heavy bass, turn the music up as loud as it can go, and place the speakers on the floor so she can feelthe vibrations from the basslines and we dance. We also have a playlist of approved songs with kid-friendly lyrics. She saw me dancing with Marlee, wanted to learn, and I promised to teach her. So we have dance parties.”
I crowded her space.“You know you’re never leaving, right?”
“You need to stop saying that before Rylee catches you telling me and believes I’m staying.”
“You are staying. I can’t dance, which means I can’t teach her how and I also can’t have dance parties because they’re for girls because you play girl music. Dance parties are one of Rylee’s favorite things so not having them is not an option.”
I placed my hand on her neck and moved my thumb over the softness of her skin before pressing the pulse point, which was jumping erratically. I leaned in close so my lips brushed hers before I pulled back to have enough space to move my hands.“And I want to see you dance. Preferably in a little ass skirt.”
I heard movement behind us and glanced past Somee, taking a step back just in time. Rylee came barreling out of her room with her hands moving.“I’m ready.”
She grabbed Somee’s hand and dragged her toward the room with the door closing as soon as they were both out of sight. What really fucking sucked was I wanted to be there.
I wanted to be a part of every single moment they shared because I felt like those moments belonged to me too. A few minutes after they closed themselves in the room, music blasted. I grinned because it was loud as hell but the room was well insulated so it was all good. I heard the heavy bass from the hallway, but the minute I was in my room with the door closed, their dance party was completely muffled.
While they had their dance party, I decided to take a quick shower and call my mom to check in. I was surprised that she hadn’t been blowing up my phone, demanding updates on howSomee and Rylee were settling in. She had the damn patience of a gnat but I guess she was trying to let me figure this out on my own. I also thoroughly believed my father played a major role in why I hadn’t heard from her.
“Hey baby…” she answered cheerfully, sounding winded.
“You good?”
“No, my doctor said I need to move more. Apparently walking back and forth through the house and to the mailbox isn’t enough cardio. She snitched to your father and he’s been making me do thirty minutes a day on the treadmill. I’m pretty sure this is grounds for divorce,” she muttered, making me laugh.
“She’s right though. You’re getting…”
“If you say older I’m adding your name to the divorce papers,” she fussed, making me grin wider.
“I was going to say more beautiful by the day. You want to make sure you’re in good shape so you can dodge those men trying to kick it to you so Pops doesn’t catch a charge.”
My pops was an athlete who played football most of his life, even professionally on a practice squad for a few years before walking away to coach at a local middle school. He stayed in shape with daily workouts, and although age caught up with him a little so he wasn’t game ready, he could still compete.
My mother, on the other hand, loved her ice cream and freshly baked goods. As an account manager at the bank, most of her day was spent sitting at a desk. My father was always on her case about getting exercise, so if her doctor was forcing her hand, my pops would run with it.
“Good save.”
“I learned from the best. You know Pops has game for days.”
“You’re running game on me, Land?”
“Nah, I meant what I said. I have the most beautiful mom in the world. It’s not game if it’s factual.”
“You’re full of shit and your father trained you well.”
I chuckled. “You need that though, so I’m glad you’re not giving him a hard time about it.”
