“What’s the matter, baby? Too much what?”
“Too much ‘Pharrell’ going on. Do you realize you have pictures of yourself in every nook and cranny of your house?”
“People like Pharrell. Like you do.” He untucked the shirt from his jeans and unbuttoned it in a deliberate, slow pace. Without taking his eyes from her, he spun the shirt around in the air before throwing it on the bed. His hips continued to sway.
“Put your shirt back on and stop talking in the third person about yourself,” Savvy instructed him. Although Pharrell’s six-pack abs were sexy, Savvy’s disgust deleted the enjoyment of seeing them. “Seriously. Why do you have a naked picture of yourself floating on a cloud? Who told you that is okay?”
“No more questions. Come to Pharrell. Argh.” In a flash, Pharrell wrapped his arms around the back of Savvy’s thighs and hoisted her with ease into an air bear hug. The already short dress, raised beneath her butt. He nuzzled his face into her stomach before looking upward with a lustful smile.
“Put. Me. Down.” Through clenched teeth, Savvy emphasized each word. She eyeballed him and wagged her finger in his face. “You better put me down, or I swear I will punch you in your throat.”
“Come on, girl. Why you fightin’ against Pharrell?” He laughed and swung Savvy back and forth in an uncomfortable slow dance.
“You’ve got the wrong woman. The wrong woman.” Savvy yelled and kicked her legs and flailed her arms like a swimmer to get out of his tight grasp. “Put me down. Now.”
“Damn, girl. I see you want to play hard to get.” He let her body slide against his before placing her feet on the ground. He squeezed her tight against his bare, shaven chest, nearly flattening her breasts as he gyrated his hips in a slow circle.
Savvy shoved away from Pharrell with all the force she could muster. She hurried to straighten her dress and tug it into the correct position in the back. “Have you lost your mind? I’m out of here.”
Out of breath from Pharrell’s sudden outburst of passion, Savvy shook her head and backed toward the door. “I can’t do this with you now, or ever. I’m leaving.” Savvy turned on her heel and dashed through the hall.
Pharrell rushed after her to the door. “Savvy. Don’t leave. I cooked a gourmet meal for you. Expensive lamb. You know like I do; we’re ready to go to the next level.”
“I got one bite of my food before you started in on me.” Savvy raised her hand in front of him. “Stop where you are. I’m not interested.”
Pharrell froze in his tracks. He gawked and blinked as if surprised. “See. You Black women are all the same. You can’t appreciate a good man when you see one. How can you not like being with Pharrell?”
Savvy grabbed her purse and opened the door. “You Black women?” Savvy spat. “Oh. Now I get it. You pitied me and figured you would give this Black woman a chance to enjoy you?”
“Exactly. I’ll let you change your mind and come back in.” Pharrell stood in the entryway with arms flung in wide expanse to his sides. Swinging hips jutted forward.
Savvy glanced back at Pharrell in all his fineness. “Nah. You’re a self-absorbed, conceited, freakshow. You have lost your cotton-pickin’ mind. I think you’d better go back to your freak nest and enjoy yourself, by yourself. Bye.” She marched to her car and sped off without another look in his direction.
After leaving the neighborhood, she instructed the Bluetooth in her car to call Olivia and got her voicemail. “Girl. You ain’t even gonna believe what happened at Pharrell’s house. I can’t make this stuff up. I’ll fill you in on the recap tomorrow.”
NINETEEN
Olivia
Olivia’s eyes flew open. She rotated her head to the side to check the time. The digital clock read 6:18. Moaning, she rolled onto her back. She’d had a nightmare about being with Malcolm. In her dream, he’d come to her house uninvited and they ended up having sex. “Yuck.”
Olivia threw back the rumpled covers and rose to sit on the side of the bed before standing to head to the bathroom. She yawned and caught her reflection as she passed the mirror.
She began to pivot away when something caught her eye. Leaning in closer as she tugged the skin on the side of her neck, a purplish, raspberry shaped bruise appeared on her dark skin. Flashes of Malcolm sucking on her neck penetrated her mind.
Baffled, she scratched her head and noticed her nakedness. She remembered wearing her favorite unicorn pajamas last night. She couldn’t figure out why she didn’t have them on now.
Olivia bolted from the bathroom, bare-bodied to the living room. The pajama top lay on the floor and the bottoms were on the sofa. Olivia gasped.
“No. No. No.” Olivia snatched the phone from the coffee table and speed-dialed Malcolm’s number.
“Hello?” Malcolm’s sleepy voice grunted through the phone.
“Malcolm. Wake up.” Olivia ordered and yanked on the pajamas.
“I’m awake. Whassup?” Malcolm yawned.
“What happened last night?” The vividness of the dream gave her hope it wasn’t a reality.
“Hold up. Let me go into the kitchen. Everybody’s still asleep,” Malcolm whispered.
Olivia heard shuffling on the other end of the line. The sound of Malcolm’s footsteps and the closing of a door emanated through the phone before he spoke again. “I’m back.”
“I have a hickey on my neck. I hope I pinched myself in my sleep. Is my mind playing tricks on me or did you come to my house last night?” Olivia paced the floor from the living room to the kitchen and back with the phone gripped to her ear.
“Yes.” Malcolm didn’t offer any additional words.
“Yes?” Olivia held her head with one hand in despair and stopped pacing. “I think I’m going through some type of mental disassociation or something. What happened?”
“What do you mean what happened?” Malcolm whispered.
Olivia’s fingers raked through her hair. “I had
