Renny and Dee

"Dee?" His hold on me relaxes and I slide down off of his body, back to earth. I open my eyes once more and stare up into his, but he doesn't let my arms from behind my back. I wait for orders. "Dee, baby, I promise I didn't come here specifically to do this," he whispers. He finally releases me to cup my face and draw it towards his.

"Is that right? So we're not gonna fuck on my kitchen floor?" I know he's trying to pace himself, but I might as well get in a few jabs to make it a genuine effort on his part. It's working, and he places a few more kisses on my lips before he sets me back from himself and leans against the counter again.

"Maybe later," he giggles, embarrassed. I grin and turn around to wash my peppers. I hope I look like I've got myself together, because inside I really, honestly want to wrap my legs around his waist and decide for the both of us.

"You staying for dinner, Renny?" He's silent, watching my back, probably my behind. Maybe thinking about the kitchen floor.

"Nah, I'mma go before you jump me again, baby. We've only had one date, after all." I laugh as he pecks the back of my neck.

"Excuse me sir, you started it, and that wasn't a date! I even told my sisters so." I choose a knife and a cutting board from the dish rack as he places a hand on the back of my neck. It's not helping to cool me down at all - he's still in danger.

"Well, I just decided it was a date, so you're a liar now," he says. "And I wanna take you out tomorrow. Preferably somewhere your family isn't."

I drop the pepper I'm carving spots out of and look over at him. "So you can do things to me without them watching?" I try to keep a straight face but a sinister smile slips out.

He sucks his teeth and drops his hand. "Girl, I'm leaving. You gonna be ready at nine tomorrow night?"

"Mmhmm." He smiles his smile and makes my heart beat a little more forcefully. A comfortable, lustful feeling settles on me. "What do I wear?"

"I mean, I didn't get permission to go through your closet, but you can wear a dress for me." I turn myself towards him and place a hip on the counter.

"What color? How long? How tight? How low?" I bite my lip a little, but I think tracing the body parts I'm referring to would be pushing too far.

He retreats, laughing and calling, "I'm not playing with you, Dee. Just something pretty, okay? I'll see you tomorrow."

It's only 2 pm, but I finish making dinner early and reheat it hours later.

. . .

I manage to Facetime my sisters before I get dressed, because if I go on a bonafide date without telling them I'll never, ever hear the end of it.

"You called Mommy yet today, Dee?" Charlie's driving home with a stack of plates from the restaurant for her two teens, who are now taller than me.

"No, not yet... I figured I'd call her later, after I come home from dinner."

She chances a look over at the camera to see me comparing outfits in the bathroom mirror. "With who, Dee?"

"So you know how I said I wasn't on a date last week and you said it looked like I was?"

"Deena I'm going to fight you."

I laugh nervously. "Well it wasn't but he asked me out yesterday, so now I guess I'm talking to him. He didn't tell me where we're going, either."

Rudy chimes in from her dark, blue-lit room, probably watching Hunter x Hunter again. "Dee that don't make sense, it doesn't sound like just talking."

I hold a classier A-line dress up to my neck; when he said pretty, did he mean pretty and sexy, or pretty and elegant? Better to choose something with all three.

"I mean I wasn't giving off dating vibes at all, and who tries to date their neighbor?" I make my decision: peach-colored drape-y dress is always a safe choice.

"Dee don't wear those stupid studs with that dress, you'll ruin the whole look. Get the wooden dangly circle ones," Charlie suggests.

"You always tryina push the wooden earrings onto somebody, what if the place isn't that classy?" Rudy says. I keep my mouth shut and hang little gold columns from my ears instead.

"Oooh, that's good, Dee," Rudy approves. "And I think you should still be on the lookout for feelings, Charlie said he looked like he was about to propose last week." They laugh together, probably over some conversation they had without me.

"Listen, if y'all don't stop fixating on this man I only known for two weeks-" I'm debating on whether or not I should go for makeup, holding my only eyeshadow palette in my hand.

"Just gloss, Dee, maybe mascara," Charlie advises. Rudy agrees. So do I.

"And listen, technically you known him for a year and a half, little sister. Y'all live ten feet away from each other." Charlie's sitting in her driveway now, holding the camera up to the front of her house. "Y'all see the mess these kids made of my garden? Lonnie thought the cilantro was weeds."

Me and Rudy come in at the same time: "It is!"

Charlie looks like she's thinking of cussing us out, but says instead: "It's not my fault y'all are mutants who can't enjoy flavor!" We laugh about stupid stuff until I finish accessorizing and drape my motorcycle jacket over my shoulders. "Pretty," she says. "He'll appreciate it."

"Alright, then lemme go, I'm gonna lock up the apartment before I leave."

"Deena." says Rudy. I look back down at my phone.

"Yep."

"What if he really, really likes you?" They're both staring at me through the phone.

I huff. "Then he really, really better get over it."

. . .

"Beautiful," Renny says. "I thought I told you pretty?"

I cheese at him and lean in to kiss his cheek. He smells like cologne. "You look handsome," I say. He does, in charcoal gray slacks and a hunter green shirt. The sleeves are wrapped tight around his arms.

"I be trying, you know." His gap shows with his smile and I fawn over him a little bit. "Let's go!"

We ride for about twenty minutes to a Mediterranean restaurant the next town over. He makes jokes about me having a motorcycle jacket with no motorcycle until our food arrives, and then about how I requested a glass of the sweetest wine they have.

"Listen, my preferences are preferable to me! I've tried to develop my palate and everything, I'm just a sucker for sugar." I take a second sip.

"You was sucking on me yesterday, does that make me sweet too?" he whispers.

I swallow my wine quick before I spew it across the table and whisper back furiously: "Renny, you know, I actually would've if you asked, lil hoe!" He's trying to start this now?

He leans back in his chair, grinning with his eyebrows up. "So on our way back home, you gonna suddenly develop a sweet tooth and ask me to pull over?"

"No, I'd take you back to my place, baby." I lean forward with my elbows on the table and watch his eyes drop to my breasts. "But you're not sweet, at all. Yesterday you tasted and smelled like outside," I giggled.

He sighs and leans forward to place a kiss on my lips. "Why not my place, my bed is bigger?" he whispers, eyes on mine. Fucking hypnotic eyes.

"Anywhere you want," I respond, straightening back up as our waiter comes around with dessert.

He stares down at his chocolate torte. "...And so if I wanna keep my jewels to myself and ask you out again tomorrow?" His smile has dropped from his face, and he looks thoughtful.

I laugh and shrug. I hope Charlie and Rudy aren't right this time. "That's up to you, I just follow you around for the food."

"Trifling," he laughs.

. . .

"I don't even know why you bother putting anything on then," Renny says. "Shea butter all day, every day!" We've been sitting in his dark car in the parking lot for at least a half hour, talking nonsense. I'm comfortable, sitting next to him.

"I used to hate using shea butter. I'd put it on before school and be sliding around on the gym floor!"

We just laugh for a while, until we're calm again. He's staring at the side of my face, so I turn my eyes to his and fall in again.

"I have fun with you," I say, smiling, under his spell.

"Then I'mma see you tomorrow?"

"I mean if it's all that," I say, rolling my eyes. He mushes his hand into my face, laughing. "But yeah. Who twists your hair?"

He runs his hand over the back of his head. "My aunt or one of my cousins, when they got time, but I'm about to find a loctician." His roots are about an inch out.

"Come over, or I'll come over to yours, and I'll retwist it." I don't know why else I'm offering, except that I want to take care of him for a little bit. I sit up a little, and though I'm smiling with him, I see now how easy it'd be to catch feelings for him.

"Alright, wifey," he says. "Let's head up."

. . .

"You seeing someone?"

I freeze and move only my eyes over to my sisters, one entranced by her eggs benedict and the other downing a mimosa. They won't look at me.

"Should I ask again, or should I just sit in the corner and let you ignore me, Deena?"

I straighten up in my seat. I don't want to ruin brunch. "No, Ma, I was just thinking about what to say, because like-"

"You could say yes or no." She looks at me over the rim of one of her favorite coffee cups, gray twists falling over her shoulder and catching the light, and nothing but suspicion in her eyes.

It's been close to two months, and I can't give a straight answer. I can't exactly tell my mother about not knowing whether Renny and I are friends or fuckbuddies. We haven't even fucked.

"Kind ooooof?" My voice goes up so high at the end of those words that dogs could come running. Mommy looks unimpressed, and her trademark Furrow of Concern is apparent in between her eyebrows. "I honestly don't know, Ma," I state plainly, looking her in the eye. "Whatever it is, it's not serious."

She drops the look and picks up a croissant. "Your sisters think it is," she states, and I openly stare daggers into their foreheads.

"Trifling hoes," I whisper under my breath.

"Y'all are all trifling hoes!" Mommy exclaims. "Nobody tells me nothing. I found out about Lonnie in Charlie's second trimester; you didn't tell me you was moving out until I found the apartment renting pages open on your laptop. But let me shut up." She purses her lips.

I sigh and reach for her hand across the table, but she pulls it away and asks Rudy for the preserves. "Ma, I didn't tell you I was looking because I wasn't even sure I could do it," I soothe. "Rudy's perfect-" an eye roll from Charlie- "and I can't account for Charlie's conniving behind-" a giggle from Rudy- "but I don't even know if this guy is gonna be around long enough to give the time of day." My sisters snort at the other end of the table.

My mother pensively chews her bread while considering the three of us. "Alright, baby," she says. "But don't be fooling around so easy with this boy if you're not keeping him around. He's somebody's child."

I grit my teeth against the truth. "Yes, ma'am, I know."

. . .

Friday evening rolls around and I'm petting Bella on his living room floor, watching Rick and Morty. He's grilling on the balcony; vegetarian sausages for me on one side of the grill, real beef patties on the other, asparagus up top. I brought homemade sweet rolls over, and sweet tea because sweet rolls dry your mouth out like nobody's business.

He walks in smelling like charcoal. "Food's ready, Dee, you better wash your hands."

"You act like I'm as dirty as you," I grin, unfolding myself and turning off the TV. He chases me to the bathroom, and watches me wash my hands.

"I like how red your skin gets under the brown when it gets warm," he says from the doorway.

"Red like Georgia clay," I agree, patting my hands dry. I use a couple pumps of the Vaseline lotion sitting beside the hand soap. I brought it over one day despite Renny whining that I was gonna be hanging nude women in the bathroom next.

"Lemme see." As I turn to him he brings my hands up to his face, pressing my hands against his jawline. There's stubble there, and it prickles against my palms as he rubs his hands over mine.

"Dee." His serious face again.

"What?" I'm staring at our hands, and not his eyes, so I can keep a clear head.

"I've never heard you ask 'what are we?'" He lets his hands fall to my wrists.

"Because we're neighbors," I smile wryly, but the smile falls as he drops his hands to his sides. He's looking awfully vulnerable right now, his head cupped in my hands like a lost puppy. Like Bella.

"Mm. Want me to tell you?" No. He steps into my body, hooking my arms over his shoulders and sliding his arms around my waist. "We're lovers," he whispers, locking me into an embrace.

A chill runs through my body, absorbed by his as he just holds me. I really shouldn't be surprised. I knew what was going to happen the day he showed up at my door. How well can I play this off?

"We don't do much loving," I point out. I'm trying to speak above the whisper we're at, but I'm scared of saying something dumb and irrevocable.

"We can change that after dinner," he informs me, kissing my forehead. "If you're down?"

It's such a bad, bad idea. The worst one he's had. "We'll see," I smile, into his eyes.

. . .

"I can't wait for my pee to smell like a science experiment," I say drily, remnants of asparagus stalks on my plate. "You threw down, Renny."

He's rubbing his stomach next to me on the couch, pants unbuckled and eyes glazed over. "I'm about to throw up," he grins. I scoot a couple of inches away in mock concern before he wraps his arm around my waist and pulls me close to him, laughing. I'm sleepy now, too.

"Deena."

Nothing good happens when he calls me like that. "Hmm?"

"You love me?"

If I look up at this man now, I'm undoubtedly going to say yes. I keep my eyes on the TV screen.

"....yeah." What the FUCK did I just say?

He slides his hand behind my neck to turn my gaze into his. "I love you, Deena. That's how we're lovers." I push my face into his shoulder so I can get the words out.

"Renny."

"Yes, baby?" He's stroking my neck and shoulders, steady and strong.

"I like sex, alright? But I stay away from feelings."

His hands slow. "Yeah?"

"And I really wanna say I don't love you, but I can't. So if we're gonna do this, just know this is new to me." Do I tell him I've never been in a serious relationship? Is that a big deal?

He smiles a little smile. "I got you, Dee." I'm still so tired. I drop every single thought from my mind and pull my legs up onto the couch, resting against him. He wraps an arm around me.

. . .

I wake up sore, sunlight hot across my eyelids. My arm is stuck under Renny, who's asleep in a half-sitting position, upper body slumped over the arm of the couch and arms still circled around me. I don't know how I'm going to get up without waking him. I usually wouldn't care. I snuggle briefly into his side and just breathe for a minute, enjoying the thrill it brings me.

"Ow." I lift my head in time to see him to stir and stretch, my body falling behind his even more. "Owww."

"Well stop moving, and I can get up, bonehead," I grouch. He looks down at me, sleepiness in his eyes. I chuckle.

"You look like the first day I met you." He thinks for a minute and covers his face with a hand, remembering the incident.

"I was coming to fight whoever was banging on my door," he chuckled. "You looked so pissed when I swung the door open."

"You weren't answering, and I wasn't sure whether you were home," I explained, lifting myself off of him. I take my turn to stretch, kneeling on the couch with my hands to the ceiling and aware of his eyes tracing my body, the hem of my shirt rising with the hitch of my shoulders.

"I know exactly which of those bodies on your wall are yours," he tells me. I pause and look over at him.

"You like what you saw?" I ask, straight-faced, letting my hands drop into my lap.

He wraps a hand around my neck and pulls so that I fall against him, and covers my mouth with his. "Mmm," he answers.

His body is warm under mine, and he settles my legs on either side of him.

"Dee, am I sweet enough now?" he breathes between kisses. I lift and drop myself experimentally onto his groin before dropping to the floor between his legs.

"You've always been sweet enough," I smile. "But I like you rough, too." I listen to his gasps and grunts as I reach into his jeans, still unbuttoned from last night, and lift his member out. Half-rigid, still growing, and maybe a little difficult to fit anywhere. I smile up at him and in a few moments his pants are at his ankles.

I tease his thighs with kisses, scratching lightly at his hips before resting my hands on his knees.

"If I was in the mood I'd make you beg, Renny," I tell him, head resting next to his length.

"You can't be making threats and not expect me to retaliate, baby," he grins, unfazed. I chuckle and lick him from root to end, the hot, bulbous length bobbing up and down when my tongue leaves it. It feels like he's holding his breath.

I take the head into my mouth and vacuum seal my lips, lifting my eyes to his as I trace whorls and circles across and into his slit. His eyes never close, but as I begin to slide more of him into my mouth he bucks a little, hands coming to rest on the back of my head.

"How rough can I be?" he growls. I press my legs together at the sound of his arousal and rake my nails down his thighs as an answer.

He chuckles and stands, making sure he doesn't fall from my lips, and wraps my braids around his fingers.

"Can I treat you like a whore?" he asks, and I moan in response. He begins to thrust, and I lift my eyes to his again to grab his hips and sink down onto his pole, jaw aching and tears threatening to spill from my eyes. His jaw is slack, eyes unfocused, watching me, but he tightens his hold around my hair. The pain pricks down into my core.

"And now you can stay there, bitch." The tears come, streaming down onto my chest, and I swallow repeatedly, releasing his hips to palm my own heat as he finally yanks me off of him after what seems like minutes. "Goddamn. Again."

I swirl my tongue around his tip and suck him back into my throat. I hum, and slip my hand under my waistband to pinch my clit with two fingers as he curses again and begins to bob my head on his dick.

The spit is collecting at the corners of my mouth and I take my free hand to wipe it away, but think better of it and instead go to cup his balls. He moans loudly and pumps faster, and I marvel, light-headed, at the contrast of a heavy sack in one hand and a wet mound in the other.

I look up again, giddy. His head is back, mouth open, almost constant groans coming from between his full lips. I strain to reach one finger beyond, and he spreads his legs further for me. I moan and finally press firmly against his perineum. "So fuckin hot, Dee," he slurs.

He starts moving my head on and off of his dick so fast I feel dizzy. The wet noise of him stuffing himself as far as he can into my throat fills the room until he groans deep and his length jerks in my mouth. I take charge and whip both hands around to cup his ass, bruisingly, crooning and humming as I push him all the way into my mouth, face nestled against the wiry bush at the base of his dick. He grips the sides of my head as he shoots warm and forcefully into my throat, the crushing force turning into caresses on my neck and shoulders.

I just return to sucking on his tip, flicking at the hole that just unloaded into my stomach. He shudders and laughs, pulling my head away from him at last.

"That's what I was keeping myself from this whole time, damn," he groans, dropping to his knees in front of me and pressing kisses all over my face.

"Yeah, you wanted to be all 'in love' first," I pant. He doesn't let me catch my breath and pushes his tongue into my mouth, swirling through the remaining cum and lifting my body into his lap.

"Recover first, damn!" I laugh. But he's already half-up again. I grind against him, losing my laughter and feeling my breathing go ragged as he concentrates his efforts over the hottest part of me.