Riptide /GxG/(Completed)

THIRTY-FOUR

J A Z M I N E

The lack of words that had settled between us continued to fuel my discomfort as the sounds from the traffic I was currently trapped in continued to offer itself up as the only noise.

We had dropped Aria off her at her dad a couple minutes ago and since then this silence was our reality.

A small sigh slipped from my lips as I glanced down at the ankh-chain around my neck which I had made to replicate the one my grandfather wore during my childhood.

The man was the closest thing I had to a strong male role model growing up but we didn't really talk about his death in our family, and just like every painful thing in a black household it was swept under the rug never to be brought up again.

I guess that's why there is so much trauma and open scars associated with black people because we were never thought to heal, only to survive.

"Britt," I called out since I was no longer able to avoid the sense of awkwardness between us and she responded with a small hum.

I diverted my gaze from the road ahead to her as the long awaited freedom from the traffic prolonged.

"Why are you so quiet?" I asked looking to the side to meet her gaze.

"Nothing," She lied, leaving a questioning thought to enter my mind.

"Did I do something?"

"No,"

"Then what is it?"

"It's just Andre, he has a new girlfriend," She explained frowning and I matched her expression trying to figure out why the father of her child having a partner bothered her.

"Elaborate," I requested not wanting to fall into an assuming state as I removed my hand from her thigh while a bunch of unidentified emotions ran through me.

"No baby it's not like that," She announced amusedly, probably picking up on my change in energy. "Every time I drop Aria off there is a different girl,"

Her addition had understanding exploding me to prompt a nod.

"Are you still mad?" She asked and I chuckled.

"I wasn't mad," I voiced truthfully.

"Well if you aren't mad put your hand back on my thigh," She ordered and I smiled doing just that as I moved up in the traffic slightly.

"Have you spoken to him about it?" I asked her softly as our eyes met once more.

"Yeah, and he brought you up,"

"I had a whole six-month rule, didn't you tell him that?" I teased, earning a smile from her.

"Yes, I did,"

"Well baby you have full custody," I reminded.

"Yeah but I also don't want her not to spend time with him,"

"She can still see him, just not at his house until you guys work out the whole new girlfriend every weekend thing, and on top of everything else he does, I don't think it's such a bad idea," I added thinking back the inconsistency, the smoking, drinking, and cursing he did around her whi-

"You're right," She sighed.

"I always am," I murmured playfully and she laughed as I placed on my indicator since we were a second away from the exit.

"This is my last time ever saying that shit," She joked, making me smile as I took the right turn off the highway.

"Where are we going?" She inquired, knowing our exit was a few more minutes up.

"To my studio,"

"You're going to paint?" She asked, seeming to be more excited than I was.

"Yeah I have an exhibition/auction coming up in January,"

"What are you going to paint?"

"You,"

"Me?" She asked and I nodded, stopping at a light.

"Yes yo—"

"Jazmine I'm not sure,"

"Why?" I asked frowning since I hadn't really been inspired to paint anything in a long time but the need to have her displayed on a canvas was almost consuming.

"Exhibition/auction," She said leaving the event to be her explanation.

"I'll leave your face out of all the paintings," I offered and silence fell between us as she took it into consideration and I allowed it while silently hoping she would agree.

"Okay," She replied and I smiled, redirecting my gaze back to the road ahead of us to catch the light transitioning to green.

"You hungry?" I asked as I drove off.

"A little,"

"What do you want to eat?"

"I don't know," She stated and I chuckled while taking the left turn.

"Are you finished?" She asked and I nodded looking at the sketch I had drawn of her to paint at a later date.

"Yeah," I replied, placing it next to the other two I had sketched earlier as she stood up.

"Why can't I see them?" She questioned, walking over to me as I threw the cloth down to cover them.

"Because they aren't finished and it's a surprise," I replied as she sat in my lap, making me even more aware of the fact that her presence was enough to have my creativity awake and ready to be used.

"Is that the last one?" She inquired, relaxing into me.

"No, I wanna do one more,"

"Do I have to go back over to the chair?"

"No you have to get naked," I replied and she snickered.

"What?"

"We're—"

"Jazmine you're not painting me naked,"

"I'm not going to, we're going to have sex covered in paint on the huge white thing back there," I replied and she looked behind me at the thing that was spread out across the floor as a laugh left her.

"Jazmine no,"

"Why?" I asked and she sat there explaining herself most of which went unheard by me since I knew that in the end, she would agree to do it because with every reason she expressed her body was wordlessly going against it.

"I'll clean you after," I promised since the main reason for her was the cleaning up process afterwards, and she bit back a smile as she removed herself from my lap.

"Jazmine no,"

"Are you seriously trying to limit my creativity?" I poked playfully.

"Don't do that," She replied smiling as I moved to stand before her.

"How about a compromise?" I proposed as my eyes met hers and I could see the intensity of my heated gaze removing her every reason to say no one by one.

"A compromise," She repeated as I began to take off my shirt.

"We can start without the paint and after thirty minutes you can decide if you want to continue," I offered, pulling off my sports bra as well as shorts and she stood there looking at me shamelessly while the fabrics greeted the floor.

Her eyes traced every inch of my newly exposed skin and I made no move to shy away.

"Ok," She answered in a distracted tone as her gaze continued to litter my body and I smiled moving closer to her.

My lips immediately fell against hers for a delicate embrace while my hands greeted the straps of the dress she wore intending to remove the piece of clothing.

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