Stay with Me (Strickland Sisters Book 1)

by Alexandria House

  After we were done filming, she said, “That was actually fun.”

  “Yeah, and you better not edit me out.”

  She laughed. “I won’t. Thanks for behaving yourself.”

  I reached over and pulled her onto my lap. “I told you I have self-control.”

  She kissed me and tried to stand up, but I held onto her. “Come on,” she said. “I need to go change these pants so we can go to dinner.”

  I adjusted her so that she was on top of my erection. “We ain’t going nowhere right now.”

  She grinned as she did something she’d never done before. She reached down and unbuttoned and unzipped my jeans, sliding her hand into them and grasping my shaft.

  “Mm,” she said. “You’re right. We definitely aren’t going anywhere.”

  20

  Three hundred thousand views? In two days? Ryan had made my video go viral! Okay, so I really wanted to get mad at the fact that I’d been putting in all this hard work over the years and Ryan just sitting next to me boosted my views like that, but I couldn’t. These women weren’t blind. The man was fine, hot, absolutely gorgeous. Who could blame them for their thirst when my ass was parched from the moment I laid eyes on all six feet of him?

  I broke my own rule and read some of the video’s comments. Many were about how cute we were together. A few were calling him by various names, everything except Ryan Boyé, saying things like, “That’s trifling-ass Trey,” so I figured he must’ve had a doppelgänger out there somewhere. A few people even commented on my actual review of the product, but the vast majority of the comments were about how fine and fuckable Ryan was. So I stopped reading the comments, because I wasn’t sure if I should’ve been pissed or flattered.

  I was on my porch, thinking about me and Ryan and how much I’d miss him when he left Tennessee. Then I told myself not to think about it, not to think at all and just enjoy what I was feeling, what he was making me feel. I shifted my eyes to his end of the duplex where he rarely spent any time anymore. Over the past few days since we became an official we, he’d eaten dinner, showered, and slept at my place among other very delightful activities. I’d lost count of how many times we’d done that, and it was amazing to me that after years, literal years, of having sex with Benny and then Khalil, I damn near felt like a virgin every time Ryan touched me. What he did to me, the things he made my body experience, were beyond logic and reasoning. No sex should be that good, but Ryan’s was. Hell, I had convinced myself that I couldn’t achieve an orgasm with a man. I was completely wrong. Like Nicky and Ryan said, those other men had no idea what they were doing or just didn’t care.

  And it wasn’t just the sex, it was the way he looked at me, listened to me, treated me. And I can’t lie and say I didn’t enjoy the way he pursued me and courted me.

  I laughed. And to think I had actually mourned not being with Benny and Khalil when neither of them was half the man Ryan was even on a bad day. I’d never see either of them the same way again.

  *****

  “You sure you have the camera angled right? Can they see my head?” I asked. My head was in the kitchen sink as Ryan prepared to wash my hair for a co-washing tutorial. I had done one before, but this video was sponsored by a new, black-owned hair care company. They’d sent me three bottles of their mango sunshine conditioner and were paying me well to try it out. I was prepared to film myself washing my own hair when Ryan volunteered to wash it for me. Our other video was approaching one million views, and I think he was enjoying the Internet fame.

  “Yeah, baby. They can see your big-ass head.”

  “My head isn’t as big as yours.”

  “Shiiiiiit, wanna bet?”

  “Is the camera on, negro?”

  “Yeah, damn, are you gonna edit all this shit we’re talking out?”

  “I’m gonna mute the sound and do a voiceover.”

  “So they won’t be able to hear anything we say?”

  “No, they won’t.”

  “So if I say you got the best pussy in the world, they won’t hear it?”

  “No, they won’t. But some of them might be able to read your lips, Mr. Project Oversight Manager. Keep playing and mess around and lose that job of yours.”

  “Sweetheart, they love me at Sable Inc. I’m invaluable,” he said, shedding his accent and replacing it with an ultra-sophisticated version.

  “Is that how you really talk at work?”

  “Most days. I know how to code-switch, don’t curse, play the games to get ahead.”

  “Don’t you work at a black company?”

  “Yeah, but it’s still Corporate America. Same rules apply for the most part.”

  “Hmm, you ready? You remember what I told you?”

  “Yeah, and I won’t forget to hold the bottle of conditioner up to the camera and let it focus on it.”

  “All right, let’s do this.”

  “I got it, baby.”

  I closed my eyes and smiled as he leaned over my back and began to wet my hair with the sprayer. Moaned softly when he started massaging the conditioner into my hair, letting his fingers graze my scalp. It had been ages since someone other than me washed my hair, and evidently, Ryan was just as deft with his hands on my head as he was other places.

  After he was finished and had wrapped a t-shirt around my head to dry my hair of the water without stripping it of moisture as instructed, I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him so deeply, I think I actually startled him a bit. But the way he had washed my hair, so gently, and on camera? Well that turned me completely on.

  He gazed down at me as I started tugging on his jogging pants, pulling them down over his ass. “The camera’s still rolling, baby,” he said.

  “I know.”

  21

  “Sooooo, when were you going to tell me about Ryan? It’s a shame I had to run across that hair-washing video on Facebook,” Nicky said. “That thing has a kazillion views! Girl, you are a genius for putting his super-fine ass in your videos.”

  I shrugged. “He asked to be in them. And if you took your ass home once in a while, Mama could’ve told you about us since she’s already met him. I mean, after all that whining about Daddy possibly putting you out, your ass is barely there now. Where are you staying anyway? Not with Warren’s fuming ass I hope.”

  She smirked. “No, not with Warren. I can’t deal with this whole ‘Mama and Daddy break-up’ thing. I was fine with pretending everything was normal, because hell, I’ve been doing that since I was born. I liked when our parents at least acted like they loved each other. But her putting him out, threatening him? That’s more than I can handle. And I’m not about to hang around the house and watch her cry and shit. That’d be too much for me, so I’ve been alternating staying with Grant and Antonio.”

  “I have no idea who these two people are, but I take it you’re screwing both of them?”

  “Not at the same time.”

  “Oh, well that’s a relief,” I said.

  “You think they’d let me stay with them rent-free otherwise? I gotta earn my keep somehow. And anyway, you’re trying to change the subject. We were discussing the man you’re screwing.”

  I rolled my eyes and glanced around the restaurant, trying to see if Renee had entered the place. Sitting across from my little sister in the Smoothie Hut, I recalled what Mama said about Nicky inheriting her whorishness from Daddy. I was glad that gene skipped me. That shit had to be exhausting.

  “Girl, that video was the most beautiful, romantic thing I’ve ever seen in my life! The way he washed your hair, and the look in his eyes when you stood up and kissed him. I bet y’all had some fun after the video cut off,” Nicky gushed.

  I had been apprehensive about leaving that kiss in, but I liked the way it looked. Evidently, so did a lot of other people. Of course I cut out what happened after the kiss, because that was way too hot for YouTube. “So you mean to tell me it took Ryan being in it for you to finally watch one of my videos after all these yea
rs?”

  “I’ve been busy trying to get my education. Duh.”

  “But you’ve had time to screw every Tom, Grant, and Antonio, though?”

  “Talk about a broken record. Is he in any other videos?”

  “Yeah, a dye review, and we just filmed a Couples Tag last night. It’s not up yet.”

  “A Couples Tag? That’s the one where you two count to three and then answer questions about each other at the same time to see how much you know about each other, right? I love those!”

  “Yeah, I’ve received a ton of requests on social media for us to do one.”

  “Angie, how long have y’all been together?”

  “Hmm, must be close to two months now.”

  Before she could continue her interrogation, Renee finally arrived looking harried.

  Nicky didn’t care how she looked as she exclaimed, “Damn! About time! I’m about to starve to death!”

  Renee fell into a chair at the table, and mumbled, “Sorry. Work is crazy. Let’s go order.”

  We all filed to the counter, placed our orders, and since I was paying, Nicky lost her mind, ordering two salads, two turkey wraps, and three smoothies, explaining that she would take the extra food home—wherever that was supposed to be—for later. That kind of concerned me and made me wonder what was really going on behind that carefree front she was putting up.

  As we settled back at the table, I set the vibrating coaster before me, and said, “Nicky, you can come stay with me if you really hate living at home that much.”

  She looked up at me with glistening eyes. “What?”

  “You’re my sister, and I feel some kind of way about you living with and sleeping with men who don’t even feed you.”

  Renee said, “Whoa, what’d I miss?”

  I looked at Nicky who informed Renee of her living arrangements.

  “You can stay with me, too. I know you hate Robert, but he’s hardly ever home now, so…”

  “And home with Mama is still an option, because I assure you, she is not sitting up in that house crying over Daddy,” I offered.

  Nicky frowned. “How do you know that?”

  I sighed, and said, “Please don’t say anything about this to her, but…” By the time I finished my story about Mama and her side dude, both Renee and Nicky wore slack-jawed expressions.

  Then Nicky grinned, and said, “Go, Mama! I’m going back home today!”

  Renee’s expression had morphed into one of alarm. “Mama is cheating on Daddy?”

  “Yeah,” Nicky responded. “And it’s about time!”

  I shook my head. “Well, it’s not right, but I understand why she’s doing it.”

  Renee said, “Wow.”

  “Back to you, Ang. So, this thing with Ryan is serious?” Nicky asked.

  I nodded. “We’re exclusive, spend most of our time together, and I enjoy being with him. And I don’t wanna hear no shit from you about me being in another relationship. It is what it is and I’m loving it.”

  Nicky raised her hands. “No shit from me, because Ryan is most definitely relationship worthy. I bet he’s wearing your ass out, too! Looks like you’re getting laid properly from the way you were swinging your ass on the way to that counter a minute ago.”

  “Nicky, please stop,” I said.

  “And he must really like the right side of your neck, because it’s damn near one big solid hicky on that side.”

  I sighed and tried not to smile.

  “It looks like he’s crazy about you, too. I saw that hair-washing video last night and it brought me to tears,” Renee interjected.

  I had to admit that when I was doing the voiceover and editing the video, my heart swelled at seeing him take such care with me.

  “And when he stopped washing your hair for a second and kissed the back of your neck and then licked his lips? Girl, I just melted,” Renee added.

  “I forgot about that part!” Nicky said. “That was hot!”

  That was my favorite part, another part I’d debated cutting but was glad I left in, mostly so I could see it myself over and over again.

  I smiled. “Yeah, he was sweet to wash it for me. Felt good, too. And he did a great job.”

  “I bet it felt better than good,” Nicky suggested.

  The little coaster started blinking and buzzing, so I left to get the food with Nicky in tow to help me carry it. We were at the counter getting the trays when a voice from behind me said, “You get anything for me?”

  I set the tray down and spun around to find Ryan standing there wearing a huge grin on his face. “What are you doing here? Did I tell you this was where I was meeting my sisters?”

  He pulled me into his arms and kissed me. “No, I actually just had a taste for one of their acai bowls. You being here is an added bonus.”

  “Come join us, Ryan,” Nicky damn near shouted from behind me. “We’re right over there.” I assumed she was pointing our table out.

  “All right, I’ll be over after I place my order.”

  Once Ryan joined us, Renee and Nicky just stared at him with these goofy-ass grins on their faces. I sighed. Ryan chuckled.

  “When are y’all gonna start grilling me? I know you want to,” he said.

  “Well, since you asked…” Nicky began.

  “Nicky, you better not,” I said.

  Renee leaned forward. “All I gotta say is thank you for making my sister so happy. She deserves to be happy.”

  He grasped my hand. “Well, we’re even then, because she makes me happy. Very happy.”

  “OMG, I literally love you two,” Nicky said.

  We four ended up discussing me and Ryan’s YouTube videos and not much else as we ate our food. It was a lively discussion, so I hadn’t noticed the table of ladies who’d evidently been watching us until all three of them approached the table, and one of them said, “Um, we were just sitting over there trying to figure out if you were really 4C Angie, and then we saw him and we knew it was you. Can we get a picture with you, with both of you?”

  Ryan’s eyebrows flew up. “Me, too?”

  “Yeah!” another of the ladies said. “We love both of you. We were just saying how cute 4C Angie and Ryan are together.”

  He looked at me. I hadn’t mentioned to him that I included his first name in the hair-washing video’s description. I’d simply introduced him as my boyfriend in the first video. I’d said his name in the tag video, but he knew it wasn’t up yet.

  “You two really should do a Couples Tag,” the third girl said.

  “We did last night. Baby’s got to edit it,” Ryan informed them.

  “Awwww, he called her baby,” all three women gushed.

  Ryan shrugged. “That’s what she is. My baby.”

  We took pictures with them, and after we reclaimed our seats, Renee asked, “So how does it feel to be a YouTube star, Ryan?”

  He shook his head. “I’m the costar, she’s the star, and I’m cool with it. Just as long as I can be with your sister, I’m good with whatever.”

  Nicky smiled and looked at me. “I want one just like him.”

  Renee said, “Hell…me, too.”

  32

  I fucked up. I mean, I seriously fucked up. I’d just finished getting reamed by my direct supervisor for making a rookie, first-year-on-the job mistake. I knew my boss was an ass, had seen him unleash on plenty of people before, but not me. Not that I didn’t deserve it. I sighed, rested my elbows on my desk, and squeezed my forehead. I didn’t do shit like this. Ever. But the fact remained that I did do it, and sitting before me was the evidence. Crammed into my office was box after box of substandard linens, towels, glassware, and travel-sized hygiene products.

  Audrey, the franchisee, had opted to purchase the items from a vendor other than the one that usually provided them to Sable Inns and Suites franchises, the company we had an exclusive contract with to provide these items. I knew why she did it, because it was cheaper to go through the other vendor. A lot of franchisees t
ried stuff like that to cut costs. That was why I was there. That was my job, to oversee everything from purchase orders to staff hiring to ensure shit like this didn’t happen.

  But it happened, and on my watch.

  Shit.

  I had looked over the order before she submitted it and somehow not paid attention to the vendor. When she signed the contract, the one I went over with her line by fucking line in my office in Houston, I made it clear to her that it was a must to use Sable Inc.’s partner vendors. The CEO was adamant about that, very nearly obsessive about it, because the company that provided our hotels with these items was black-owned, and he had made it his mission to support other black-owned businesses. So I made all of that crystal clear to her, thinking, assuming she would adhere to the rules she’d signed in agreement of. I thought and assumed wrong, and got my ass handed to me because of it.

  But the fact that she’d ordered this bullshit wasn’t the worst of it. I personally assisted her with making arrangements to return the items, and I got on my computer and ordered them from the correct company for her, but it would be two weeks before they could fulfill the order. Two damn weeks, which meant the opening of the hotel would be delayed for two weeks, which made an oversight that I might have been able to conceal from my boss one I was forced to report.

  I sat up and fell against the back of my chair, closing my eyes as my ears rang from my boss’s words. He was pissed, and rightfully so, asking me if maybe I needed to be replaced, if I was tired or maybe distracted, and then his ass took things too far when he said, “Maybe your YouTube filming schedule is hampering your ability to do your job.”

  That pissed me off, so despite the fact that I was on thin ice, I said, “Are you telling me what I can and can’t do with my free time?”