"Can anyone live with Eartha Kitt?
That's not for me to decide
That's for someone who decides to live with me to decide
Not for me
But are you willing to compromise within a relationship?
To compromise? What is compromising?
Compromising for what?
Compromising for what reason?"
Mahalia – "Hide Out"
Her hand felt like a tiny bird clasped in his.
Even with his short thick fingers, her slender ones were so delicate in his hands. She didn't want to dance. He made her do it anyway. She protested but went with him even as he felt the hesitation in her boots.
Kris Montana was a strange one.
Big talk came out of her plump lips and no matter how annoyed she looked it was hard to take her seriously with that dimple in her chin and those softly bowing legs in her tight jeans. She had a little booty that looked perky with the slight sway in her back on her small stature. Well…not everything was small on her.
Erik did his best not to stare at her chest when he rolled down the window of his truck when she was sent to find him for Biandro's drunk behind. She looked extra cute with her make-up and the eyeliner she wore made the slant in her eyes more prominent.
But that rack though.
Jesus.
It was just there. And it was real. Augmented breasts didn't jiggle like that. The sweatsuit he saw her in at their brunch date did an amazing camouflage job because he never would've guessed that Tinker Bell had the most interesting body he had seen in a long time. Texas Black women, like most Black women to the south of the U.S., had bodies that could stimulate the imagination. Whatever a man wanted, Texas had it in abundance. However, Kris had an unusual face and build for him, and that quirkiness piqued his interest considerably.
Erik sat next to her at the end of her shift and she looked at him like his breath stank or something. He didn't think he was annoying, but her body language made him think that she wanted him to go run out in the street and get hit by a car. What woman had ever treated him like that?
When she checked him about commenting on her person, he took it to heart. Not her type was the vibe he picked up on and he found this stupefying because of her directness. It rattled him. All the fine bitches he could pull, had pulled, and had sitting and waiting for him in the cut…this odd duck barely wanted him near her? Goofy ass.
She started moving around in time to the music on the stool and the look on her face when he suggested she go dance cemented the need to take her out there himself. That bold mouth, the surly glares, and the hand on the hip attitude all but disappeared. There was just her soft delicate hands fluttering like frightened bird wings.
Doe-like eyes stared up at him when they put together the entire dance sequence. She made him smile when she messed up a few times and just stood there with her eyes closed like she was silently berating herself. He nudged her to keep going and he was rewarded with a tentative grin on her face.
Vanessa began showing off as usual, and Erik tried to keep Kris close to him, keep her eyes on him. The vulnerable look on her face as he swung her out made him draw her in close.
Fuck.
When her breasts smashed against him, he tilted his hips back just a little to keep from rubbing up on the wrong place and poking out when he shouldn't. She had him thinking thoughts that he wasn't expecting. Especially when he caught a whiff of her perfume up close. It was the same fragrance Brandy had on at the fair, but it smelled more intense and more arousing on Kris.
Everything about her in that moment had him pressed to know her better until her boyfriend showed up. He knew she had a boyfriend. She told him that. A long-term boyfriend that she was secretly living with at her grandmother's house. Erik saw the man and the first thought that ran through his head was to punch the nigga in the jaw. As soon as he thought that, Erik questioned why and the only thing he could think of from jump was that her man got to crawl into bed with her and see her naked. He got to palm those breasts and stroke those bow legs at night.
His racing brain brought up images of Arletta, Vanessa, and Brandy…all baddies…but his body was responding to…
A woman who didn't think he was worth a damn.
A woman who had laughed in his face when he was doing his thing to bag her cousin.
Erik spent the rest of his break time at the bar sipping on Henny and watching Vanessa flit around the saloon all giddy.
He messed up with that one.
Instead of just staying home and relaxing to decompress from weeks of not being in his own regular bed, Erik had called Vanessa on his cell to try and smooth over any hard feelings she had. After an hour of talking, she suggested that he come over to her place for a nightcap and he went. He ended up spending the night with her and having incredible sex.
The rest of the week he bounced between Vanessa's bed and Arletta's until the latter had to go out of town for her job. Arletta was a corporate personal assistant and the time he did spend with her was fun. She was spunky. Spontaneous. She never questioned him about Vanessa when her avatar popped up on his phone. He actually started to miss her when Vanessa hinted at getting back together as a couple again.
Sitting in his truck he told her no and she pouted for five seconds before crawling onto his lap and kissing him. She was revving up for some truck fucking when Kris interrupted them.
"Ignore her," Vanessa sighed in his mouth.
"It might be something important," he said pushing Vanessa off of him. The evening became less enticing once Kris left with her man.
On an arid early morning with a big blue sky and wispy cirrus clouds, Erik poured himself fresh ground coffee inside a stainless-steel thermos and left his house to go take his daily walk to the stables.
Biandro was already up talking to Selena in their on-site office.
"Morning," Selena said.
Erik stared at Biandro and his cousin looked to be nursing a hangover as he stroked the side of his left temple.
"Morning," he said.
Biandro gave a head nod and Erik left it at that.
"Mimi should be dropping her foal any day now," Selena said.
She typed on her laptop and the clickety-clack sounds seemed to bother Biandro.
"Let's go for a walk," Erik said to Biandro,
Selena looked up from her computer as Biandro hesitated.
"I wanna go look at Mimi," Erik said.
Biandro stood up and grabbed an empty coffee mug on his desk. Erik held up his thermos.
"The good stuff," he said.
Biandro held out his mug and Erik unscrewed the lid and poured a good amount for him. They strolled out of the tidy office and passed by a few ranch hands on their way to make patrols for the still elusive cougar. Luckily, no more dead cattle were found, but there was plenty of dried gray sausage-looking scat deposits filled with rabbit fur on the outskirts of their ranch.
Pop Pop and Nana Rae were already inside the main horse stable looking in on the six-year-old sorrel-colored mare.
"Mama is ready," Nana Rae said scratching the mare's nose.
Big Man was housed right next to Mimi since he was the father and Erik sucked his teeth to make his horse come to him.
Pop Pop took one look at Biandro and knew his grandson was still working through his feelings with Monette. Erik didn't know who told Nana Rae about the news, but their grandmother stayed tight-lipped about it.
"You ready to be a daddy, huh boy?" Erik whispered to Big Man.
Mimi neighed as Nana Rae showered her with affection.
"Asha is going to be so excited when the baby gets here," Nana Rae said.
"She's going to do the barrel race in North Carolina. The doctor cleared her ankle," Pop Pop said.
Selena's twelve-year-old daughter Asha was the youngest cowgirl of the family who fractured her ankle falling off of her horse while doing a full gallop out on their land. A rattlesnake had frightened her horse Levi and he reared up tossing the girl on the hard ground.
"Me and Caddo are going to compete this year," Erik said.
"Good! Been a long time since any of you have had fun out there like that," Nana Rae said.
His grandmother gave him a sly look.
"You ever give Kris a call?" she asked.
"She works at the bar," Biandro said.
"When did this happen?" Nana Rae said with sudden excitement in her voice.
"Last week," Erik said trying to pretend he was interested in Big Man's newly braided mane.
Nana Rae gave Mimi a kiss.
"Oh, I know sweetheart. You are ready to have this baby. You and I haven't ridden together in months."
She stepped back from the stall.
"Come up for breakfast after your ride?" she asked.
Erik nodded. Nana stepped back but didn't know Pop Pop was directly behind her.
"Watch it, woman," he said grabbing her hips.
"If I back it up, whatchu gon' do?" she said.
"Hey now," Erik said giggling as his grandfather seemed flustered by the question in front of them.
Biandro smiled and Erik nodded to him to go saddle up his horse Popeye so they could go ride before it got too hot.
Pop Pop snagged Nana Rae's hand in his and they strolled out of the stable together.
"He back in the big house?" Erik asked.
"He's back in the big house," Biandro said.
"They ever say what got him kicked out this time?"
"You know she ain't gonna let nobody in her business."
Erik opened up Big Man's stall and placed his bridle on him.
"Should we walk her?" Biandro asked looking at Mimi who stuck her head over onto Erik's horse's side and nuzzled Big Mans's right ear.
"Nah. I don't want to get out there and have her foaling on us."
Erik led Big Man over to where he kept his gear and began the task of saddling and tacking him up. He was done in ten minutes and Biandro met him in front of the stable office where Popeye gave big Man a soft nickering sound as they greeted one another.
They headed out together in a northern direction and the first thirty minutes were ridden in silence as they both observed their family land and enjoyed the sunlight on their faces. Erik sipped from his thermos that he still carried with him.
"Monette called me early this morning."
"Yeah?" Erik said glancing over at Biandro.
They stopped to look at thirty sheep running loose. Nana ran her ranch the way her grandparents did, rotating various types of farm animals to naturally keep the land fertile. Chickens roamed free also and they were looking into goats and turkeys too.
"She wants me to keep Ramon for the rest of the summer after North Carolina."
"That's cool, man."
"I'll bring him back with us. He's excited."
"Asha will be too."
Biandro nodded.
"That's all she can talk about. Selena is making plans for them to go to Six Flags."
"Biandro—"
"Thank you for gathering me up last night. I honestly went to TLS to be around happy faces and I just…got lost in the sauce."
They rode a little further and watched a couple of gophers peek at them from hidden holes.
"I don't think she's into this guy she's engaged to. When I asked her about their marital plans she couldn't give me a definite wedding date."
"How does Ramon feel about it?"
"I can't tell. When I see him I'll know the real deal, but for now, he's just excited about staying with me until school starts back up."
They reached a long stretch of open land filled with short grass and wildflowers. Stuffing his thermos into a saddlebag he gripped the reins on Big Man.
"Giddyup!" Erik called out tapping his boot heels into Big Man's side.
Erik ran his horse at a full gallop allowing the animal to stretch its legs fully. Biandro did the same with Popeye and they raced until they came upon some herding cattle foraging. Some were resting and sunning themselves.
"Let's head back," Biandro said.
Erik took a little more time looking around before he sucked his teeth and tapped his heels on Big Man again allowing him to gallop once more. Biandro didn't race him this time. It was almost eight-thirty by the time they returned the horses to an enclosed pasture where they could graze freely. Big Man went up to Mimi right away and Erik watched her enormous belly move on one side with the foal inside.
"Right on time!" Nana Rae said.
Selena and Pop Pop were already seated at the breakfast table in the big house. Erik and Biandro cleaned their hands and joined the others at the table as Nana Rae placed a big platter of hashbrowns on the table to join the other food already ready. Scrambled eggs, gravy, bacon, toast, grits, and fried fish were ready to be feasted on. They held hands and said grace, and Erik ate his fill as his grandmother speculated on the new market value of the cattle, the possibility of teaming up with another organic food company, and the amount of money Erik could make studding his Friesian horses as opposed to selling them.
"How is Kris doing at TLS?" she casually tossed in.
"Okay. She's only been there a few days. I saw her last night."
"She like it?"
"I guess."
"You didn't ask her?"
"I was busy."
"We should go down there next week," Nana Rae said touching Pop Pop's wrist.
"Your grandmother and I were thinking of having my birthday party there," Pop Pop said.
"Oh no, Asha can't come then. Neither can Ramon," Selena lamented.
"We can have a small family thing here at the house so the kids can celebrate, but we thought it would be fun to bring out all of our old friends and really have an old-fashioned shindig," Nana Rae said.
"Whatever you all want," Erik said.
There was more small talk until Erik, Selena, and Biandro were ready to get to work. His cousins went to their office to handle the horse boarding side of the business and Erik wandered over to see about his prized breed.
The Friesians were kept in a separate stable and enclosed pasture area and he watched them do their morning walkabout. Checking in with his small staff he had calls to make and horseshoes to replace. He was hands-on with his babies and the rest of his day was caring for them until it was dinner time. He skipped lunch and opted to eat alone downtown.
Picking a mid-level restaurant, he enjoyed crab legs and crawfish while checking his social media feed. He called Brandy again, but he was still getting her voicemail even though she did text him back once saying she would be free in a few days.
Playing hard to get. It didn't matter. Arletta would be back the next day, and Vanessa was always ready for him.
He went home and made night time rounds to check on his equines and Mimi before turning in for the night. Vanessa called him but he told her he was tired. Lying on his bed, he left the bedroom window open so he could have the smell of the ranch lull him to sleep. Erik dozed off but woke up when he had a lucid dream of dancing with Kris again. He kept trying to teach her some new steps, but she kept tripping over her feet and falling and Erik kept trying to catch her. Each time he did, her breasts rubbed up against his arm. She seemed oblivious to it and he grew bold, reaching out to touch the handfuls of softness. He woke up immediately with a hard-on that wouldn't go away until he stroked himself.
He envisioned her standing next to his truck door again with her eyes looking up at him and those big tits snug in her skin-tight work shirt. He beat his meat as he saw himself with his truck door open as Kris jumped a little bit, just enough to make her breasts bounce for him. When he grew close to spilling all over his fingers, he imagined himself bending Brandy over and nutting all over her lush ass. He ejaculated with three intense spurts that left hot white streaks on his stomach.
Erik spent the next few days only working at the ranch. He visited Arletta once and took good care of her. She couldn't get enough of him and he was glad he cooled it with Vanessa for a minute because Arletta was hungry for the dick. He bent her every which way and she allowed him to do anal before he left her alone to recharge for another day. After an absence of a week, he scheduled himself to do some TLS time to cover for a bartender on vacation.
Skin extra brown from being in the sun all day, a fresh line up and new cologne on his skin, Erik felt ready to be around loud noise and party people again. He stepped into TLS brimming with energy.
"How's it going?"
Kris's boyfriend stood in all black clothing with the white lettering of "Security" spread across the breast pocket of his work shirt.
"Jordan," he said holding out his hand for Erik.
"New bouncer," Erik said shaking his hand.
"Yeah. Starting today. Finished my certification a few days ago."
"Cool."
Jordan was taller than Erik by two inches. He had a sturdy build and a strong ruddy complexion with a winsome smile to match. Erik passed the man up to put away his belongings in the manager's office. The saloon was already busy even though it was only five in the evening.
"How many other people applied for the bouncer gig?" Erik asked Blue.
"Five decent ones. Four trash applicants. Why? You don't like the new guy, Jordan?"
"If you like him, I like him," Erik said.
"He was the best of the bunch. He'll be with Trey and Yancy through closing."
Erik peeked out of the two-way mirror at Jordan. He was chatting it up with Yancy who had his hands spread out demonstrating something to him.
"Did you know he was Kris's boyfriend?"
"No."
"Well, he is."
"Is that a problem?"
"Nah. As long as he can do the job—"
Erik saw Kris saunter in with another server. She greeted Jordan then headed toward the office. He walked out before she walked in and passed her up going to the bar. Once she clocked in, he snuck a peek at her as she took over the middle section in front of him. She had advanced to handling the busiest area in the place.
"I need two Fuzzy Navels and a Saturday Night Special on the rocks," she said.
Erik mixed her drinks while she kept her eye on the floor. She tapped her toes to the DJ mix in her sassy brown boots and when she turned around to grab her drink orders, she had a smile on her face for him.
"You're in a good mood," he said.
"Been practicing the staff dances," she said.
"Excited about that?"
She lifted the tray and her eyes drifted over toward Jordan.
"Among other things," she said.
He watched her deliver her orders and take new ones, her smile infectious with the customers who found her bubbly persona attractive.
Erik kept an eye on her for the rest of the night and occasionally she crossed paths with Jordan. The two of them acted professionally together and Jordan was actually a very cordial fellow even with the most boisterous of patrons. The night grew busier and Erik fell into a comfortable work rhythm. When it was time for his break, he went out to his truck for a cigar respite. He was checking his cell for messages when he heard a tap on his driver's side window. He rolled it down and saw Kris standing there. Again.
"I wanted to thank you for giving Jordan the job," she said.
She handed him a small carton. Inside were three chicken street tacos.
"They told me you forget to eat sometimes, so I brought you something," she said.
"Thanks. But Blue did the hiring. I had nothing to do with Jordan getting picked. I didn't even know he applied."
"Oh. Well…thank you for hiring me then."
"You're welcome."
"Enjoy," she said.
Her face was raised up in the way that he fantasized about days ago and his eyes took in the deep line of her cleavage. He swallowed thickly and looked away. She walked back around to the front of the saloon.
Eating the food she brought him, he finished up his break thinking about her. What was it about Kris that had his grandmother so adamant that she was the one?
Beyond the physical attraction that was clearly there for him, he knew nothing about her that would make him think they were compatible. She appeared enamored with her boyfriend and Erik found it puzzling that she was on his mind all night.
He walked back into the saloon in time to see the staff doing their group dance. Kris was doing her best but she still had a lot to work on. He watched her turn left when everyone else went right, and she mixed up a grapevine step with a kick-ball-chain move throwing off another server in her section. She laughed and covered her face with a drink tray and customers clapped their hands for her anyway. He grinned as he cut up some lemons.
Goofy ass.