Arthur Sakho

"Get up," Trevon's deep voice sounded in my ear and sent tingles down my spine despite how tired I was.

"Mmm." It came out more of a whine than a suitable response. I turned to my side to avoid him.

He shifted on the bed closer to me. His warm hand shook my shoulder, but I refused to open my eyes. "You didn't do your homework yesterday. You need to wake up and go do it."

I rolled my eyes even though they were still closed. I cuddled more into the blanket and turned my head so it was buried in the pillow.

"Come on, Art," he said. "We played all night last night. You really need to get up."

My eyes opened and I turned so I was on my back. He was naked beside me. His lower half was under the blankets, but his top half was bare in all its glory.

"Play? That was making love, handsome. Since you confessed your love to me yesterday." I ran my hand down his chest, his stomach to his hip.

"Fine," he said, "since we made love all night long you need to get up early now to do your homework."

"Or," I said and slipped my hand underneath the blankets to grab his member. "We could continue last night."

"No," he said and he removed my hand even though he was beginning to harden. He got out of bed and put on his boxers.

I pouted.

"Don't give me that look," he said. He rounded the bed and put his thumb on my jutting bottom lip. "You love dance," he said. "You need to keep up with your school work to continue dance. Don't slack off just because of me."

I sighed. "Fine." I swung my legs over the side of the bed and got up. "I'll go do my homework. Kiss me first." His deep eyes drifted from my eyes to my lips. They lingered on my mouth a moment before he leaned in and kissed me. It was a sweet, chaste kiss. But that only lasted a moment. It didn't take long for the fire to heat between us. We took each others lips in our mouths, our tongues swirled with each other. His strong arms came around my waist and crushed me to him as my arms came around his neck and clung to him desperately. Somehow we ended back on the bed with him hovering over me. Our hard ons pressed together with only the cloth of his boxers between them.

"Sweet stars, skies and bees," I panted heavily.

"Why do you taste so good?" he asked against my lips.

I slid my hands down his back to the hem of his boxers. I started to slide them off. My fingers brushed the flesh of his backside when he pulled back suddenly. "No," he said. "We can't get too wound up now. You've got work to do."

The extremely large bulge in his boxers said he was already wound up. I didn't argue though. I got up and grabbed my boxers. He left the room when he saw I was complying. I sat down on the bed and took a deep breath to calm myself. Then I finished getting dressed and went out into the living room. He was in the kitchen making coffee for himself.

"I'm leaving now," I said.

He met me at the door. His hands gently caressed my cheeks as he gave me a peck on the mouth. I wanted more, but figured he wasn't going to risk getting too heated again.

"I love you," he said and I felt the familiar rush of warmth that gushed through me same as it had last night when he said those words.

"I love you too," I said. I pressed my lips against his one last time before I left his apartment. He watched me from his door in his boxers as I got on the elevator. He stayed there until the elevator door closed. I sighed and leaned against the wall of the elevator. My boyfriend was the hottest man alive and no one could convince me otherwise. And he loved me. The corner of my lips curved up into a smile. I pulled out my phone and sent a text to my family's group chat.

Me: He says he loves me.

And just typing the words almost made me die from happiness. I couldn't contain myself. I wanted the whole world to know. I sent a text to Scott.

Me: He says he loves me.

The elevator door opened and I stepped out into the lobby. The concierge nodded kindly at me behind the desk. I beamed as I walked up to the desk.

"He says he loves me," I said.

The concierge smiled and said, "Congratulations, sir."

"I'm so happy," I called out to the almost empty lobby before I exited the apartment building.

I got into my car and looked at my backpack sitting on the passenger seat. "He says he loves me," I said to the bag. I picked up the bag filled with books and notebooks and hugged it tightly to my chest. "I'm happy," I said to it. Then I started up the car and drove the short distance to my own apartment complex.

When I got home, I faithfully did my homework. Then I showered and got ready for school. In each of my classes, I announced proudly that Trevon said he loved me. Some people ignored me, some people congratulated me, some rude, jealous ones rolled their eyes, but I didn't care. Nothing could ruin my day.

During my first class, my mom and dad sent me texts.

Mama: Congratulations!!! I am happy for you.

Papa: Yes, congratulations. But I need to meet him. Soon.

Mama: Chill papa. Don't scare away his new boyfriend.

Eva: Why are you texting each other so early in the morning? My phone won't stop chirping at me. Leave me alone. But also congratulations. I hope this one is a good one.

It was in between my next few classes that I got more texts.

Joseph: I agree with papa. We need to meet him soon and interrogate him.

Dave: Leave him alone. Don't scare him away. Let Arthur be happy for awhile first.

Joseph: I'm not trying to scare him away. I'm trying to make sure he is going to be good for our brother.

Marie: Arthur can make his own decisions about who is good for him. Congrats, Arty.

Lizzy: Jade says she loves you more than your boyfriend but that it's okay for your boyfriend to love you too.

Me: Ahh. My niece is too cute. She gets that from me you know.

Joseph: No. She's a lot cuter than you.

Dave: I'm with Joseph on this one.

Me: K. So what I'm taking from this is that I'm cute and that you're all happy for me. TY

I was on my way to the dance building when I got a reply from Scott.

Scott: Congratulations. I'm happy for you.

Why did that sound forced to me? Well, his boyfriend had broken up with him and he was currently single and lonely. I was an idiot. I shouldn't be rubbing it in his face. That hadn't been my intention though. I was just so excited and wanted to share it with him.

Neither Sam nor Danny were at the dance studio yet when I arrived. The freshmen Danny was dating was there. She was talking with her friends. They were already stretching out by the bar. I went to my usual space and began stretching.

"Why do you look so happy?" Danny asked. He began to stretch along side me. Samantha came up on the other side.

"Do I?" I asked. I touched my cheeks wondering what expression I had.

"Yeah," Danny said. "You've got a really goofy smile."

"Oh," I said. I tried to straighten my lips, but it didn't work.

"Why didn't you come in with your girlfriend?" I asked.

"Oh. We broke up yesterday," he said nonchalantly. "She said I didn't give her enough attention. She's probably right. Honestly, she's a little boring. Pretty, but boring. I kept forgetting we were even dating."

"What is it that is making you so happy?" Samantha asked from the other side of me.

I bit my lip in an effort to contain my excitement, but it didn't work. "Trevon said he loves me last night." I practically shouted and most of the students turned to look at me.

I hadn't realized Alice had arrived, but there she stood with the most horror stricken look I had ever seen on anyone. She looked as if she had just seen someone get murdered.

"Oh, I'm sorry," I said to her. I shouldn't be so excited in front of the person Trevon had broken up with.

She shook her head, swallowed and tried to smile, but it came out as some grotesque motion as if she was trying not to vomit. "You don't need to be sorry," she said, but it sounded like she was choking on her words.

Mrs. Madsen came in then and started class. I glanced at Alice occasionally as I worked with Danny. I lifted him. Alice stumbled in Samantha's arms. Danny lifted me. Alice almost dropped Samantha. Danny and I jumped together. Alice's timing was off as she jumped with Samantha and she bumped into Samantha as she landed. Samantha frowned at her, but Alice didn't notice as she moved on to the next ballet move.

I worked hard with Danny. I couldn't wait to dance this with Trevon in the audience. I imagined him in the audience as captivated with my dance routine as he was when we had sex. I had to quickly change what I was thinking or I would get hard.

Danny and I paused and we each took a drink from our water bottles. Alice's eyes lingered on the movement. I knew from her look there was a wall between us now where there hadn't been the day before. I should have contained my excitement better so that only Danny and Samantha knew that Trevon said he loved me. But really, I shouldn't have to worry about hurting Alice. How long was she going to hold onto this? Trevon was my boyfriend now. I should be happy he said he loved me.

After class, I pulled Alice to the side. "Maybe I should be more considerate of your feelings, but precious, Trevon is my boyfriend now. He hasn't been yours for awhile. I love him. He loves me. That's how relationships are supposed to progress. I'm not going to hide that."

"It's fine. Really," she said. "I'm fine." She wasn't fine, but I couldn't control her emotions. "I'm happy for you." But clearly she wasn't.

"Thanks," I said anyway.

She nodded and left. She was just going to have to get over it. He was mine and I wasn't going to hide him or our love.