An Encore for Love

by Alexandra Warren

  “Happy Birthday babe,” I told her as I handed her the long, rectangular box sealed with a bow.

  Well… tried to hand it to her.

  But for whatever reason, she wouldn’t take it out of my hand, instead choosing to just stare at it as I held it out to her.

  “You really didn’t have to get me anything, Knox,” she said, her voice low as if birthday gifts were really that out of the ordinary.

  And maybe they were for us. Maybe I had done too much, maybe I was pressing too hard. But considering the pretty penny I had already spent to have the gift customized, it was too late to turn back now.

  So this time I practically shoved it in her hands when I insisted, “But I did get you somethin’. So take it, Ri.”

  She released another sigh, this one much heavier than the last as she finally took the box from my hands. And I watched with anticipation as she took her sweet time undoing the bow before peeking up at me once more as if to double down on her, “You really didn’t have to do this” statement. But instead of accepting the nonverbal message, I sent one of my own when I gave her a little wink that forced her to bring her eyes back to the box as she finally popped it open.

  The short gasp of air she took in let me know I had done a good job on the 18 karat yellow gold bracelet accented with a single ballerina slipper as the charm. And when she flipped the charm to read the message engraved on the back side, one she had reminded me of just a few nights back, I thought she was about to burst into tears.

  But instead of crying, she laughed her way through it when she read out loud, “The work of a dancer is never done, huh?”

  “If anybody knows that, it’s you babe,” I told her with a smile, using the same words she had used on me before adding, “Here. Let me put it on you.”

  She matched my smile as she handed the box back to me. And I made quick work of removing it from the holder, giving the empty box to Blaise so that I could use both hands to clasp the bracelet against her wrist.

  “Thank you, Knox. It’s... beautiful,” Amerie said, her eyes glued to the bracelet as she gave it a little jiggle.

  And while I probably should’ve been playing it cool for the sake of our company, I couldn’t help myself in replying, “A beautiful bracelet for the most beautiful woman I know.”

  The smile she wore in response made my admission worth any trouble it would potentially cause. But before she could actually reply, Miranda came and grabbed her by the arm as she said, “Amerie, you gotta come look at this cake!”

  Even though Miranda was already dragging her away, Amerie still peeked back to offer me another smile before disappearing into the crowd. And to no surprise, Blaise wasted no time asking, “Yo… what the hell is up with you two?”

  “We’re cool,” I answered with a shrug, snagging one of the flutes of champagne from the server and downing it in a few easy gulps.

  But no matter how much or how fast I drank, I could still feel Blaise’s skeptical eye on me when he replied, “Nah, y’all ain’t cool. Y’all are better than cool. I haven’t seen Amerie be that sweet with you in years.”

  “So? What’s your point?” I asked, trying not to give away too much.

  Even if Blaise was one of the closest people to the both of us, I still wasn’t sure how much Amerie wanted him to know. And truth be told, I really didn’t know what any of it meant.

  Still, Blaise didn’t give me much of a choice to keep things discreet when he flat out asked, “You had sex with her, didn’t you?”

  “Man, chill with that. You know these mics pick up everything,” I whispered, peeking around to thankfully find the camera crew focused completely on Amerie meaning no matter what audio they might’ve picked up, it more than likely wouldn’t appear on the show since they didn’t capture the visual to match.

  But the dynamics of the show clearly meant nothing to Blaise as he pressed, “So… is that a yes or a no?”

  Instead of answering his question, I grabbed another flute of champagne, taking a few short sips before offering, “This champagne is really hittin’ the spot.”

  “I knew it!” Blaise shouted, clapping his hands together as if he had just solved a damn cold case.

  And even though he had been right all along, I was still quick to remind him the same way I had to remind myself, “But… that doesn’t mean anything.”

  Of course, Blaise was quick to brush me off. “Nigga, yeah right. If Amerie let you… do that, then it definitely means something.”

  “It means she wanted it and she got it. That’s it,” I reasoned with a shrug, still trying to play it down.

  But Blaise read right through my actions, read right through my words when he asked, “Is that what you’re telling yourself? That it was only… that? So you won’t catch feelings like the last time?”

  Again, I shrugged. “Nah, that’s just what it is until Amerie shows interest in anything beyond it. You know I don’t know how this shit works, Blaise. Just gotta follow her lead and hope for the best.”

  “Or, you can take matters into your own hands and prove you’re actually worth a damn now that you’re all old and washed up,” he teased with a little bump to my shoulder.

  With anyone else, I might’ve been legitimately offended. But since it was Blaise, I had no problem teasing back, “Bruh, ain’t nothin’ washed up about me. Just because your ass is husband of the year and shit doesn’t mean I gotta be too.”

  “Soon to be husband,” he corrected before continuing, “But anyway, I’m happy to see this. To see y’all like this. It’s been a long time coming, man.”

  While I wished I could’ve been as confident about it all as he seemed to be, I still knew there was a lot I had to do to prove myself when it came to gaining Amerie’s trust back. So instead of jumping on the happy train with him, I simply replied, “Yeah, whatever. We’ll see what happens.”

  “Don’t see. Act. Let her know you’re serious about her this time. That you’re not gonna fuck it up again,” Blaise insisted as if it was really that easy. And maybe it was. Maybe I was overcomplicating things by downplaying my own feelings.

  But regardless of how I felt, I also knew how she felt when I told Blaise, “Nah, man. I told you she’s chillin’. And she’s already said she doesn’t want that to be a part of the show so I gotta wait til’ the cameras are gone to make any real moves.”

  “Or, you could just… give the viewers a little tease. Go dance with her or somethin’. That’s innocent enough, right?”

  I played the idea over in my head as I reasoned out loud, “They did say they wanted to get as many shots of us together as possible. And we’re both dancers, so why wouldn’t we dance together?”

  Blaise put a hand to my shoulder as he agreed, “Exactly. But you better hurry up before ol’ boy gets to her. He’s been eying her since she showed up.”

  The confident grin fell from my lips as I peeked towards the same direction Blaise was already looking to find his evaluation completely accurate. R&B ass Liam was eying Amerie like she was the last burger on the grill as he approached her from behind. And I watched intently as he took her hand, giving her a spin to check her out before pulling her in for a hug; a hug that had his hands landing a little too low on her back the same way he had done after their performance.

  Once I saw him leading her out to the space reserved for dancing, I knew I had to make my move before it was too late. But I also knew any old ordinary dancing wouldn’t be enough to actually steal Amerie’s attention.

  I had to do something special.

  So instead of heading towards her, I headed towards the DJ booth, asking for him to play a particular song before finding Miranda and letting her know about my real birthday plan for Amerie that had her way more excited than I expected her to be. And considering it had been on my mind long before I even knew Amerie and I would be on such good terms, I felt excited as well.

  While I went to grab a chair, Miranda went to grab her sister, hardly bothered by the confused look
on Liam’s face as she pulled her away. In fact, Amerie seemed the most bothered of the two, her face pulled into a scowl as she tried to make sense of what could’ve possibly been as urgent as Miranda was making it. But I had a feeling she wouldn’t be as bothered once she realized what was going on. In fact, I planned to make sure of it as I cleared a space in the crowd to make room from the chair that Miranda was bringing her sister to; the chair I’d be using to get revenge for everything Amerie had done to me that night in the studio.

  The second she recognized the signs, she tried to sneak away. But Miranda caught her once again, setting her in the chair just as the DJ began to play So Anxious by Ginuwine, a song I knew Amerie loved considering how many times she had rode me cowgirl style to it in the past. But since that wasn’t exactly an option at the moment, I planned to give her the next best thing as I took off the suit jacket I was wearing and gently tossed it at her, taking my time to roll up my sleeves as she waited anxiously for what was next to come.

  “Fuck her up, bro!” I heard Elijah shout from behind, eliciting a roar of laughs from the crowd surrounding us as the smile on Amerie’s face grew even wider. And while I was glad to see her being a good sport about it all, I also knew I was going to do everything in my power to make her regret this being a public affair.

  Once the first verse came around, I wasted no time going to work, obviously catching Amerie off-guard considering the way she immediately covered her face with her hands the second I made even the slightest move towards her. And since there was no way in hell I was going to let her off that easily, I straddled her seat so that I could pull her hands away, running them down my chest before letting them fall to the crotch of my pants.

  “Oh?” she asked with a seductive grin before I moved away from her, doing a mixed combination of pelvic thrusts and body rolls for the crowd’s amusement before gliding my way back to her on my hands and knees.

  If we were alone, the fact that she was wearing a dress would’ve been severely taken advantage of. But since there was no missing the fact that multiple people in the audience had their phones out recording the whole ordeal, I decided to crack her legs open just enough for me to see she wasn’t wearing any panties before grinding between them as if to give her a preview of what would surely be coming later that night if left up to me.

  She giggled as I did my best Magic Mike impression while I heard my brother yell from the crowd, “Somebody give this man some dollar bills!”

  And low and behold, it didn’t take long for a few to be sprinkled on top of us as I held onto the back of Amerie’s chair while I grinded against her lap in sync with the bass of the song. My face hovered over hers as she tilted her head back to meet my eyes, her bottom lip pulled between her teeth when she reminded me, “Everyone is watching us, Knox.”

  “You know I’m the last person to give a damn about that,” I told her as I moved my face to the crook of her neck, brushing my lips against her skin as if it really was just the two of us in the room. And I really wished it was only us two once I heard Amerie moan in response before she quickly tried to cover it up with a cough.

  “Too much for you?” I asked with a grin as I moved away, finishing the song with a sequence of random choreography I remembered from old shows as the DJ mixed in a new song. And once the song was completely switched over, I helped Amerie out of her chair, leaning in to give her a little kiss on the cheek before whispering in her ear, “That was only the beginning, babe. I’m far from finished with you.”

  While I fully expected Amerie to say something snippy in response to put me back in my place, the provocative expression on her face spoke volumes, letting me know birthday cake was clearly not the only thing on tonight’s menu. But unfortunately, there wasn’t much I could do about it in the moment since Amerie was immediately pulled away, forced to mix and mingle with some of the other guests for the sake of the network since they were the ones who had paid for the party.

  Still, no matter who she was talking to, she still managed to keep an eye on me. And I only knew that because I was instinctively keeping an eye on her too. Even when the whole crowd was serenading her with the birthday song, her eyes still somehow found mine as she nodded towards the exit and mouthed, “Bathroom,” making my eyes go wide with interest, especially once she followed it up with a wink to confirm that she had said what I thought she did.

  With anyone else, I might’ve thought I was imagining things. But since I knew Amerie, knew what she enjoyed, and knew how high spontaneous sex landed on that list, I followed the one-word instruction to a tee; finding the only private bathroom located down the hall from the main party room and waiting for what had always been used as her signature knock while also being sure to turn off my mic set.

  When the pattern of knocks finally came, my heart damn near leaped out of my chest as I went to unlock the door and stepped behind it, giving just enough room for Amerie to slide inside without anyone being able to see me. And when she closed and locked the door behind her, I was surprised to find a piece of birthday cake in her hand.

  “Thought you might want some,” she said with a sneaky grin, digging her hand into the frosting and sucking it from each of her fingers.

  “I know you didn’t send me down here for cake, Ri. So what’s up? Why you got me in here huh, birthday girl?” I asked teasingly, stepping to her and wrapping my arms around her waist as she tilted her head back to meet my eyes.

  “You know exactly why I have you in here, Knox,” she replied, taking another stab at the frosting before demanding, “Take off your pants.”

  “Oh, so you think you got it like that?” I asked as I stepped back, already working on my belt as I watched her pinch a piece of cake between her fingertips and drop it into her mouth.

  And through her chews she replied, “I don’t know. You tell me.”

  As if my pants now being around my ankles weren’t any indication, I was still sure to tell her, “It’s your birthday, babe. You can have whatever you want.”

  “Well what if it wasn’t my birthday? Do I still... got it like that?” she asked, her eyes low as if she had already drunk too many glasses of champagne.

  But since I didn’t recall seeing a single glass in her hand, I didn’t stop her from dropping to a squat in front of me when I looked down at her and replied, “Most def.”

  With one hand, she pulled my dick through the hole of my briefs, marveling as she held it in her hand before going back to her plate of cake that was now resting on the edge of the sink. And I watched in awe as she used a finger to scrape a dollop of frosting off the top, gently spreading it against the tip of my dick before cleaning most of it off with one long swipe of her tongue.

  “Damn, babe. All that sugar is gonna make your teeth fall out,” I told her, tossing my head back as she stroked me in her hand; the sticky combination of frosting and spit creating a surprisingly pleasurable friction.

  And I just about lost it when she replied, “Well having no teeth will definitely make this a lot easier,” before taking my whole dick into her mouth, not even gagging when I felt it hit the back of her throat meaning I had to marry her as soon as possible. Not just because she was sucking me like a damn pro, but also because she had no problem doing the shit in the bathroom at her own birthday party.

  Hell, it honestly felt like it was my birthday as I rested my hand against the back of her head, being sure not to completely ruin her hairstyle since we’d eventually be going back out into the public. But for now, that was the least of my worries as I picked her up from the ground and sat her on top of the sink, pushing her dress over her hips and aligning my dick with her opening before gliding inside with ease.

  She immediately wrapped an arm around my neck to pull herself closer, making me go even deeper as she rested the opposite leg against my shoulder.

  “Flexible ass Amerie,” I thought to myself as I found my rhythm, continuing to drive inside of her as her little pants of pleasure practically forced me to fuck her eve
n harder.

  Her voice was hoarse when she screamed my name as the sink rocked against the concrete wall, surely alerting somebody as to what was going on. But none of that even mattered - nothing in the world mattered - as Amerie began to throb around me on the brink of a well-deserved birthday orgasm.

  Even when she did get hers, that didn’t exactly prompt me to stop. Not because I wanted my own, but because I wanted her to get another, and another, and however many it would take to remind her that this was what she could have all the time if she gave me another chance.

  Was I really so desperate that I was fuckin’ her brains out just for a shot at a real relationship?

  I wasn’t sure.

  But instead of searching for an answer in the moment, I pulled out, painting Amerie’s thigh with my cum as I groaned through my orgasm while Amerie collapsed against the mirror behind her.

  Her breathing was heavy, her clothes were disheveled, and a few pieces of her hair were stuck to her face. But that didn’t stop her from swiping at the mess I had made on her leg with her finger before pulling it into her mouth and groaning in response the same way she had done with the frosting.

  “Man, I missed your freaky ass,” I told her between breaths, reaching to grab a bunch of paper towels so we could clean ourselves up.

  And as I handed a few to her, she replied, “Come on, Knox. That was hardly freaky.”

  “To your standards? No. To the everyone else’s? Freaky as hell,” I insisted with a laugh as she shoved me out of the way so she could hop down from the sink, immediately making herself busy fixing her dress in the mirror.

  “You can love it or leave it. I am who I am,” she offered, almost arrogantly, as she fluffed her hair around in the mirror, returning it to its original style with ease.

  And instead of using my hands to pull my pants back up to where they belonged, I used them to wrap Amerie in an embrace from behind, speaking through the mirror when I told her, “Definitely lovin’ it, babe. Always have, always will.”