Immediately aware of the smell of bacon hanging in the air and the sound of meat sizzles in the kitchen area, I woke up. Turning in bed, I reached out for Zion and met the uncomfortable cold emptiness of his side of the bed. My next action was turning for my phone on the ground next to my discarded jeans and saw that it was nine in the morning. Opening my eyes, I looked around the room that was being faintly lit by the sun streaming in from a small opening in the curtains.
I slipped out of bed and looked around for my things that Zion placed near the door before I woke. With my luggage in tow, I walked into the connected bathroom and took a quick shower before dressing in a simple purple shirt, pants, and socks that matched my shirt. After I was clean and dressed, I walked out the room seeing Zion wearing nothing but a pair of briefs that left little to the imagination. He was flipping a slice of french toast with one hand and downing a glass of orange juice with the other slamming the glass on the counter when he noticed my presence.
"Good morning," I said, walking up to him. He smiled down at me. The toast went to a plate full of other slices and he grabbed me when I was close enough.
"When did you get food from," I asked as he placed a crispy piece of bacon to my face. Taking a bite, I hummed with delight at the flavor.
"Angela called me this morning, which made it hard for me to fall back to sleep. It's a shame since I enjoyed holding you all night. Anyway, I went out and got some stuff from the grocery store down the street to make something for both of my boys." He kissed me on my cheek before feeding me a spoonful of well seasoned scrambled eggs.
"Is he up yet," I asked as Zion rested his hands on my waist. His phone rang from where it sat on the counter. Zion looked at the screen and then rolled his eyes.
"It's her again she called like five times. She wants something." He huffed out a long breath that smelled of syrup before he answered the call and placed it on speaker.
"Zion," she yelled. Her voice was deep and slurred. The sound of people in the background. Bass was blasting in the background. She must have still been at a party even though it was close to seven in the morning, her time.
"What do you want, Angela? I Cisco okay." He continued to feed me while he talked.
"Yeah, I think so. I dropped him off with my mom for the rest of the weekend." She sounded exasperated and distorted like she was jumping.
"You asked me to see him and then dropped him off at your mom's house. He wanted to spend time with you." Zion sounded annoyed but kept feeding me a slice of toast.
"I don't want to hear all of that. I called because I got the opportunity to go to Europe for the month with this new guy and he said he doesn't like kids," Angela said as the song hit a crescendo.
"So instead of picking your son over this man who will never like your son, you choose a man. I wish I could say that I'm surprised but you doing the opposite of what you are right now would be a real shock." He stopped feeding me and stared at the phone like he was looking directly at her.
"It's not like that. I just need this trip." The reasoning sounded hollow to me as an outsider which made me wonder how he was processing it.
"Yeah, Angela, it's always about you. Your needs always come before Cisco's. You can't keep walking in and out of his life when you want to." Zion looked at me apologetically. I felt like I was intruding but couldn't get up. There was a long pause before the line went dead. Zion visibly calmed when the call ended.
"Sorry about that I shouldn't be surprised by her but I always am. Anyway, how would you feel about going to a party tonight? My buddy Salazar is having a second one tonight and asked me to come through. And some dudes on the team want to meet you." He helped me off the counter, and we walked to the couch. I recognized the television had been on the whole time on mute. Sports highlights scrolled on the bottom of the screen while the group of commentators argued about football. He calmed down quickly from the call. He was used to coping and doing it quickly. It was something we had in common.
"I'm willing," I said as I looked at his tattoos. My hands began tracing the outlines of the black wording. There were a few names and scriptures adorning his upper body and arms. We stayed on the couch for most of the day until it was time to leave for the party. We wore matching glow in the dark skeleton costumes. It was basic but cute at the same time.
We drove through downtown in Zion's rental. The trip went at a snail's pace; Zion had to honk the horn on poor drivers more often than he should have had to. When we arrived at the club, fans asked Zion to take a few pictures while I stood to the side. When he got tired, we walked in and went directly VIP where his friends were sitting. Salazar was a brown-skinned Dominican man with a slender build and baby face.
"Sup y'all," said as we walked into the VIP section. Zion's teammates had the club packed with men and women dancing to music with deafening bass. There were only purple and black lights that made our costumes look cooler than they had under regular lighting.
"Yo is this him?" A blond-haired man wearing a toga asked. He pushed his hair back when he saw me and re-adjusting his toga. He was relatively handsome and based on my experience with men who were discreet, he was into me.
"Yeah, this is Cyprus, Kyle." Zion pulled me close in an act of possessiveness. He knew the look his teammate was giving me and his move was a warning.
"What's up, Cyprus?" Kyle asked while staring down at me too hard for my liking. he looked at him like a starving man would look at his favorite meal. Zion looked down at me as I turned from Kyle. Disgusted by what I perceived to be desperateness my nose wrinkled.
"Not much." I waved at him hoping that me disinterest was clear. Everyone started to after my wave. I smirked to myself while Kyle got red from embarrassment. His sexuality must not have been a big deal.
"Let's go get something to drink." Zion bent down and whispered into my ear, sending a chill through my body. We walked to the bar area and Zion ordered us both a couple shots of tequila that we downed immediately without a chaser.
"You want to go dance?" Zion asked me with a flirtatious smirk.
"Nope," I replied quickly.
"Why not, you don't have rhythm or something?" He was taunting me.
"I do."
"So what's the issue?"
"I don't enjoy dancing in public." I felt like I was talking through water. Like many things, I did not dance because my family had placed an idea in my head that it was shameful. Zion laughed at me already slurring his words showing my inexperience with alcohol.
"Well, too bad we came here to have fun," he stated then dragged me into the middle of the dance floor, ignoring people trying to get his attention. Zion spun me around and grabbed me by the waist, swaying us back and forth to the song that played. I was being rigid but I could tell the alcohol was kicking in because I felt my body relax into Zion's.
After three songs and another drink, I was having the time of my life. Soon I began throwing it back on him at the rhythm of the beat. The feel of me grinding on him was causing him to get hard, which made me smile with a sense of accomplishment. It was nice to be with a Zion who wasn't being so delicate with me.
I knew people taking pictures of us but at the moment I couldn't care less. I pulled off of him then turned around and jumped in his arms and started planting kisses all over his face then giggling like a child.
"Having fun baby," he asked, whispering in my ear once again.
"Yes, da-babe," I said, catching himself before the full word came out. Zion laughed hard at my mixup, which resulted in me slapping my hand on my chest in a playful manner. I kissed him while he carried me to the VIP sectioned where some of his friends were entertaining women or talking about the things they had to do. Apparently, Salazar had a monster screwball he'd been working on with the coaches. I couldn't have been any less interested if I tried. Zion, through our conversations accepted I wouldn't like baseball. We did not have to like the same things but as long as we liked each other I was sure we could make it work. If only he didn't have to leave on Monday to get his son.
A kiss to my temple to captured my attention. "I have an idea since I'm off and Angela's gone for the month how about I get my brother to send Cisco down here and we can all get to know each other better. You could stay in the hotel with us on the weekends and go back home on the weekdays for class and also to be with your friends. I know it's risky and early for you to meet Cisco, but if you're willing, I'd like to try it."
With an alcohol influenced brain I thought about what he had suggested. I wanted him to stay but shared his thought that it might be too early. "It is a little early for me to meet your son, but if you're comfortable with it, then I'm willing to try it. What do we have to lose? If it doesn't work out, then it was never meant to be."
"So is that a yes?" He smiled so wide I was afraid he would cramp. I nodded in response before he pecked my lips with his. Zion pulled me onto his lap and we began kissing roughly. His hands slid to my butt where he squeezed. I heard a few people whistle before the clearing of a throat brought us both back to reality. I just knew my cheeks were bright red when I noticed the attention we were receiving. I knew it would be an interesting month.