Lighter Shade of Brown (Urban Fiction) BWHM

Chapter 3 Part 2

Cleo stared down at the car scared that if she moved it would disappear. The Chevy honked twice. Without so much as a glance at Liberty, she swallowed her nerves and descended the stairs. Slowly she approached the car, thinking about what she was going to say. Damn baby, you must be wrecked, because you been crashing my head all day. She gave herself a mental bitch slap for that corny ass line. If she said that bull, he'd probably crank the Chevy up and leave without saying a, damn, thang.

Out of time and damn near out her mind, Cleo opened the passenger's door and slid in, the velvet seats kissing the backs of her thighs.

C's gangsta leaned in the driver's seat like he was sprawled out on a throne. "What's up, Trouble?" C's said, his voice causing every nerve ending in her body to spark to life just to say hello.

"Nothing," Cleo said in a breathless whisper. "What you doing here?"

"I told you, I would see you later?" C's leaned closer to her and ran a finger over her recently healed eye. "Girl, you knew I was coming. Just couldn't stay away any longer." He inhaled, his nostrils slightly flaring, as his eyes slid closed.

A sheen of sweat coated her head where her forehead met her hair line. "Yeah, but..." She ran out of words and god given sense as his eyes reopened to capture hers. Damn. She was done. Just done.

"But what?" He asked, teasing her with a knowing grin that dragged her attention to his mouth.

An impulse to press her lips to his took root so deep in her, it made her mouth water. "I don't know?" She swallowed. "I thought that was just something to say." She finished weakly, trying to look anywhere else, but at him and his tempting mouth.

"Damn, baby. Who you been running with?" C's laughed. "I don't just talk to hear myself. If I say something then that's what it is. No jokes. No games." Slowly, he dragged a finger up her upper arm, leaving goose bumps in its wake. "Especially when I'm dealing with you." Two intense chocolate brown orbs penetrated her skull, searing her to the brain and mind fucking her good and proper. "You feeling me, baby. Holla at me." His fingers encircled her arm in body blistering heat. In a, too smooth for the humbug fashion, he pulled her closer.

Cleo fell in to his arms without fight to the first. Her usual defenses were down and they probably weren't coming back up anytime soon. Hook, line, and sinker, he had her. He wanted a friend, she could be that. It wasn't nothing but a thang. Hell she'd be the best friend he'd ever had as long as he kept her in his space.

"What you want me to say?" Cleo asked, her voice cracking.

He drew his eyebrows together. "What you mean, 'what I want you to say?'" Sliding his arm around her shoulder, he pressed her closer to his side. "Say whatever's on your mind. Let me know what you want. 'Cause I can't lie. I'm diggin' the shit out of you. And yeah, I know you young and thangs, but I ain't trying to take it there yet. I'm patient. I can wait for that." He waved a hand back and forth between them. "I wanna see where this goes. See if it can potentially be something. You get what I'm saying?" He stroked her collar bone with an index finger.

Her breathing slowed until it eventually came to a stop, while time kept right on ticking away. He was waiting for her to say something. The problem was, she seriously didn't know what to say. All of those feelings and sensations he provoked within her were new. Hell, everything he'd said dangled somewhere over her head just out of reach. She opened her mouth, but indecision and the inability to string together a sentence snapped it closed again. When his body stiffened, and tension compromised his flawless features, she realized her time was up.

"I think I do," she said, cutting her eyes up at him to peep his reaction. "This is my first time around the block. You asked me who'd I been running with, truth is, nobody. Ain't no dude ever came at me like this. You're the only one." She stopped speaking to let her admission sink all the way in. When his gaze widened, she nodded her head and continued. "I'm not like these girls from around here. Don't expect me to have a ready-made comeback to whatever you spit, 'cause you think since I'm from the Ninth I've heard and did this all before. It ain't the case. Not even close." She covered his hand with hers. "Now aside from or in answer to-I'm not really sure at this point- to what you had to say, I'm liking the mess out you too. And I'm down for whatever. Whether it's friends or maybe more than that. I don't know. I'ma leave that up to you."