AUGUST, page 2
I was already on that chapter and scanning the page. Seeing the word nigga had my eyes flying up to Mary.
“Uhm…”
“Start reading,” she softly ordered.
So I did. All was going well until I tripped into chapter fifteen. So deep in the book, I could tell when a nigga was about to have shawty bent up like a pretzel. Halfway through, my suspicions were confirmed. I started tripping over words, a little embarrassed to be reading this shit to Mary.
“Why’d you stop?” she asked.
“Uhm…” Because this nigga just threatened to fuck this girl on the stairs! I wasn’t about to read that shit! Especially because a nigga ain’t tasted a woman’s anything in too fucking long. My dick twitched in agreement.
Hearing Mary’s front door open, I was relieved.
“Hey, Grandma! Oh, I’m sorry to interrupt.”
Lifting my eyes from the book, they fell on complete beauty. Dipped in chocolate, she was like a fucking dream come to life. Her hair was up in a top knot with springy wisps dangling at her temples and behind her ears. What drew me in most were her brown eyes, staring at me behind circular rimmed glasses. Her juicy, clear gloss covered lips curved into a shy smile. Her deep ass dimples rivaled her grandmother’s.
Damn…
Not that I wanted to acknowledge it, but she was stunning. Then she smiled, again. That shit was so familiar I had to know her. Her smile tapped on my chest, opened me up, and caressed my heart in the softest way. However, the feeling felt like a punch to the gut. I found her too attractive. Making my escape was paramount.
“Hey, baby girl! You’re back early!”
“Oh, Grandma,” she replied with a chuckle. Her soft scent kissed my nose when she sailed past me. She bent to hug her grandmother tightly while reluctantly making eye contact with me. “The house was too quiet.”
“Well, look, you get to meet my new friend, August. August, this is my grandbaby, Asia.”
“Hey,” she spoke so softly.
“It’s nice meeting you,” I mumbled. “Mary, I’ll be back tomorrow to continue the book.” I’d give it to Riley Baxter. Her book had me intrigued.
“No, I’ll finish it tonight,” Asia informed me.
Bending my head, I said, “Aight.” I’d have to read it in my free time. “Mary, we’ll start a new book tomorrow. You have plenty piled up on that table, so pick one, and I got you.”
Mary laughed. “Uh oh, baby girl. He’s coming to shoo you out the way.”
A genuine smile graced Asia’s face. That fucking smile…
“He better not,” she said.
Damn, she was bad as fuck. By the way she stared at me behind those odd-shaped glasses, her ass knew it too.
“See you tomorrow, Mary.”
“Looking forward to it, young man.”
As I headed toward the door, I heard Asia telling her grandmother that she had to run to her car to grab something. That shit hurried my stride so she wouldn’t catch me on the elevator. Being in a compact space with Asia would trigger feelings in me that I wasn’t ready to explore no matter how lonely life had been. Hearing her footsteps behind me caused me to groan. This was about to be a long ass ride to the first floor.
Chapter Two
ASIA ANTHONY
Just an hour earlier…
Despite the bite of the cold January weather, I laced my skates up and prepared to feel the chill on my face. Hopefully, the wind’s fingers would dry my tears. Nightmares just didn’t play fair. They were unexpected and oftentimes traumatizing. Such was the nightmare I had last night. It traumatized me to the point I did something I hadn’t done in a long time—skating. I put skating down years ago, when my passion for it waned due to other life stressors.
However, in true passion fashion, skating was the only thing to bring me some comfort. As I put one skate in front of the other, I squinted my eyes against the cool air and pretended it was a warm, gentle breeze, instead of the 48˚ temperature it was right now. My glasses began to fog the quicker my feet glided across the pavement. Quickly, I turned on a dime and let the wind have my back. With self-taught grace, I moved backwards, the motion so easy to me that I briefly closed my eyes and just let my feet carry me.
With my eyes closed, the nightmare from last night flashed before me, causing me to nearly trip. Righting my steps, I grimaced as if the scary thoughts would somehow disappear. They didn’t. After several speed laps around the park’s walking trail, I slowed my pace. People were starting to trickle in with their children and most weren’t paying attention to the little ones. And anyway, it was cold out here.
Shaking my head, I decided that I wasn’t a parent to anyone. My thoughts on having children at the park in this air were just mine. Besides, hearing the children squeal in delight caused a small, bittersweet smile to kiss my face. Many would love to go back in time and be a kid again. Not me. While I didn’t hate my childhood, it was filled with so much uncertainty. Living from house to house and never making friends was hard as hell for a kid. Even the family I had didn’t know me for real. My cousins thought I was weird. My mom’s side of the family couldn’t stand me because of her. My dad’s side of the family treated me like the unwanted, child-out-of-wedlock that I was.
The only constant I had back then was my father’s mother. Elijah Smith didn’t give me his last name and never gave me more than a minute of his time. Whether his aversion to dealing with me stemmed from him having impregnated my mother while he was married, or the fact that he just didn’t want any more kids was lost on me. Whatever his reasoning was, he never let me live it down that I wasn’t supposed to be here.
I had a brother and sister who didn’t know me from a speck of dirt on the ground. They were older than me and had lived a life of stability—something I knew nothing about. As a kid, I had high hopes that one day my siblings and I could actually get to know each other. With each passing year, I realized that I was more delusional than I thought.
After one last lap, I moved to a bench to remove my skates and don my sneakers. The three-block trek back to my grandmother’s place needed to take at least fifteen minutes. By then I could erase any signs of the emotions from my voice. My grandmother was like a bloodhound. She sensed every fucking thing. While I wished to have her level of discernment, I didn’t want it. Not if it came at the hefty price she paid to have it.
Stuffing my skates inside my bookbag, I hoisted it over my shoulders and started out toward my grandmother’s place.
Present time…
The elevator had plenty enough room for two people. Well, two normal people. August had the body of a tight end, and he was tall as hell. And, Lord, did he smell good. I didn't mean the overbearing scent of a man's cologne. He had the natural, subtle scent of a man who took great care of himself. It was obvious by the clean cut of his thick beard and textured, tapered hairline that he was a man that loved looking and smelling good.
His lips were perfectly crafted and moisturized. My lashes were beautifully thick, but his were stunning. I couldn't place the exact skin tone of his, but it was darkly deep brown almost masking his plethora of tattoos.
Never had I considered a man gorgeous, but August was just that. There were certain physical attributes one needed to be considered as such in my eyes. August possessed every single one of them.
"It’s kinda weird to stare.”
"Are you talking to me?"
He looked around the elevator as if to say, who the fuck else am I talking to?
"What should I do, stare at one of the walls?”
“I’d appreciate it if you did.”
“You’re not all that.”
He chuckled. “Be for real.”
The elevator chimed on the first floor, releasing me from his hard, strange-eyed gaze. He scared me, truly. Still, as if he couldn’t kill me with his death glare when he ambled off the elevator. He went to the desk to sign out while I pretended to look at some business cards stapled to a brown board just by the sliding glass doors. Once August was done, I followed him out of the building. Glancing over his shoulder, his eyes met mine again. They seemed to have brightened from when we were in the elevator.
He stopped walking and waited until I was closer to say, “Can I help you?”
“You don’t remember me, do you?”
His face said that he didn’t recall me, not even slightly.
“Anastasia… fifth grade… Mrs.—”
“Whiskers. Yeah, I remember you now.”
I busted out laughing. “That was not that damn lady’s name. Her name was Mrs. Moseley.”
“Mane, her mustache was thicker than mine.”
Shaking my head, I said, “Still the same old August. You picked on me so bad back then. Just because I was taller than you.”
“And look atchu now,” he pointed out. “On the damn ground.” He licked his lips as he looked down at me. This time there was a hint of attraction there. That made me smile.
“So. I’m bad as hell.” Although shy, confidence on what I looked like was never my issue. Social anxiety was more of my issue. I hated people in my space.
He shrugged a shoulder. “Ya head is still big as fuck.”
Gasping, I punched him in his chest. The quick gesture caught us both off guard. Just like I didn’t like people in my space, I never breached anyone else’s space. He chuckled and rubbed the spot.
“No, it’s not!” I wasn’t about to let him give me a complex. Especially not since I didn’t allow any man to get to me like that. When it came to dealing with the opposite sex, I was a brick wall.
“We could’ve been friends back then. Instead, I spent fifth grade dreading the sight of you walking into class.”
“Another damn lie,” he drawled. “You couldn’t wait to see me.”
Narrowing my eyes at him, I hated that he was right.
“Asia!” Gasping for a different reason, I glanced behind August to see Chad getting out of his car. He wasn’t even in a parking space and had his music blasting like this wasn’t peoples’ homes.
August glanced over his shoulder and smirked. “Ya boyfriend doesn’t look too pleased to see you standin’ so close to me,” he stated.
Realizing I was standing all up on him, I moved back. My skin prickled like we’d actually touched each other.
“He’s my ex,” I mumbled. The ex I left in Atlanta. Chad knew damn well not to show up here. If Elijah found out he was here, he would shit bricks.
“Asia, I’ve been callin’ you. This why you can’t answer my damn phone calls?” With his face balled up, Chad’s eyes raked over August.
Once upon a time, I thought no one was finer than Chad. His dark skin was just the icing on the cake to a man with a great personality. Today, August proved that standing in any space with any man made his sexy looks stand out even more than they did when he was alone.
“Chad—”
“Nah, it ain’t,” August spoke over me, causing my brows to rise. Somehow he’d moved to stand partially in front of me. “Trust me, if she was slobbin’ on my dick you wouldn’t be steppin’ within fifty feet of her.”
My mouth fell. August spoke with such calm ease it stumped Chad into confusion. While I gaped at August’s unbothered expression, Chad tried finding something to say. Every time he opened his mouth, no words came out or he stumbled over them.
What was funny as hell was August standing there waiting for Chad to say something. He never took his eyes off Chad, and his expression never once budged. His energy had me stuck like I was starstruck; something I never felt about a man.
Finally, after realizing Chad had no come back, August tweaked my chin. The contact drew a scowl from Chad and nearly caused me to melt right there on the spot.
“It was good seein’ you, Big Head.” He walked off toward the parking lot with us staring after him. He never once glanced over his shoulder to have one last look.
August climbed inside a monster of a black truck and cranked it. Not until his taillights shone did Chad’s attention turn back to me.
“What happened to you needing to find yourself? I pull up and you in a nigga’s face. And you let that nigga put his hands on you. Meanwhile, I couldn’t dare do that shit.”
Although Chad was right, my perfectly manicured eyebrows lifted. “Excuse me, but that sounds too much like you trying to be in my business. Did Nesha tell you I was here?”
He shrugged. “C’mon, Asia. So what if she told me? She knows I’ve been tryna get back with you.”
“She needs to mind her business.” Nesha was going to get her ass cussed out.
“You used to be so damn sweet. Makin’ wigs done made you famous and now you don’t wanna fuck with a nigga.”
This time my head leaned back on my shoulders. “I think you left the last bit of good sense you had back in Atlanta.”
Nervously, he chuckled. “Aight, damn. But you gotta admit you used to be nice to a nigga.”
“Used to be. You proved to me that you didn’t deserve the nice Asia. So now you get the Asia every other nigga gets.”
“I thought you forgave me.”
“I did. Doesn’t mean shit, though. I’m still not partaking in another go ‘round with you.”
“But my mama is on my case about losin’ you. What the hell am I supposed to tell her?” Chad had the sad ass face down to a science. I’d fallen for his antics one time too many. Never again.
“First of all, we broke up over a year ago.” His obsession wasn’t cute at all. “Secondly, tell her I did what she should’ve done when it came to your dad.”
He winced like I hit him. “Aw, hell. That’s a low blow, Anastasia.”
“It’s the truth, right?”
Reluctantly, he nodded. “Aight, you got that. Just promise me you’ll think about givin’ me another chance.”
“I won’t promise you such a thing. Whatever’s meant to be, is going to be. But you better stay away from me before I sic SJ on you.”
He didn’t like my answer but conceded. Chad knew my boundaries. Once I was done with something, it was as good as closed. And even though my older brother was a no-good ass nigga, I used him whenever it was necessary. Sherman Junior actually coming through to handle some shit for me was the kicker. He was the older brother no girl wished to have. In all my days, he’d never once stood up for me. Truthfully, I believed the nigga hated my guts. However, Chad didn’t need to know that.
“Now be safe going back to Atlanta. You wasted all that gas for nothing.”
His face broke into a grin. “You still care about me.” The statement caused me to grin, too.
“Actually, I care about your mother. She’d be lost without you.” As I walked away, Chad laughed. He knew like I did that this was our last time seeing each other. Although he blew my phone up on the regular and popped up here, he wasn’t built to be the type of man who caused problems. His reputation was too much to forfeit chasing after an unwilling woman.
Besides, there were plenty of women in Atlanta waiting for this man to get over me. They were all too ready to be his main woman while he simultaneously juggled three other women. He claimed “fame” changed me. Meanwhile, he was an NBA player living off of all the fame he’d garnered over the last three years he’d been in the league.
“You’re still the finest woman I’ve ever known,” he said to my back.
Without even glancing over my shoulder, I mumbled, “Thanks.”
Being fine meant absolutely nothing to niggas.
After retrieving my duffle bag from my Range Rover, I headed back inside. I wasn’t inside the door good before my grandma brought up August.
“He’s somethin’ else, ain’t he? Ooooh wee! And he smelled divine.”
“He looks even better, Grandma.” There was no point in lying. August was top tier sexy and had the confidence to make anyone gag. Including me.
Grandma’s body shook with laughter as she howled. “Whew, chile! You better snag him, Asia. And don’t let that sour puss, Nesha, talk you out of it.”
Smiling, I shook my head and placed my duffle bag on the sofa. Picking up Grandma’s latest read, I saw that August made a huge chunk in it. I was impressed.
“Nesha isn’t a sour puss,” I stated. Meanwhile, Nesha was about to end up on my bad side. Before picking back up where August left off, I shot Nesha a text.
Me: Stop telling Chad my moves. I don’t like it.
“She is too. That girl is not your friend. Mark my words.” She wagged her finger with emphasis.
I wouldn’t get my grandmother started, so I dropped it.
“But back to snagging August.”
Laughing, I replied, “I’m not snagging that man, Grandma. August is someone I know from elementary school.”
Before my life started crumbling down, I wanted to add.
“Oh, really?” she asked, even more intrigued.
“Yep. He was mean to me.”
She scoffed. “Not August! He was such a gentleman. And he reads better than you.”
It was my turn to scoff, causing her to break out into laughter.
“What?” she exclaimed. “He does. His voice is all deep and poetic—like he feels the words he’s reading.”
“Mm, hm. Then maybe he should finish reading the book after all.” I was only kidding. By now I had already cracked the book open and sat on the sofa to continue.
“Gon’ head and finish this one. He’ll start a new one tomorrow, and I have the perfect book.”
“What?”
“Don’t worry ‘bout it. Now gon’ read to me.”
Chuckling, I curled up on the sofa, smelling August’s cologne on the throw pillow beneath my head. As I continued where he’d left off, I wondered how August’s life had been since his mother passed. That was years ago, but I wondered if life had treated him better since we were kids.
Chapter Three
AUGUST WELLS
When Asia opened Mary’s door, I had to talk myself through a fucking meltdown. Last night I promised myself I wouldn’t be anxious to see her. I had even hoped she wouldn’t be here today. Here she was, though, blinking up at me with those big ass brown eyes.
