recognize / b.simmons

1

amari was used to the attention she received from men; she'd been dealing with it for as long as she could remember. but who could blame them? amari was beautiful and there was no denying it.

but the attention was never something amari worried about. what she worried about was making the wrong decision with the the wrong person, which is why most of her relationships were just physical. she never fucked on the first date, she had established that rule on her first day in los angeles. anyone who knew the way amari moved would call her a hoe and assume her body count was over 20. they were wrong. she'd only been on LA for a few months, she hasn't had the time to mess with that many people anyway. her body count was under 10 and that's all that mattered.

her body count was low partially because amari had a type: rich. and there was nothing wrong with that. it's not like she needed their money (she made her own and had enough to go around), it was just a preference. amari liked to be treated anyway, and if he was broke what was she going to do?

amari was currently at the bar, harmlessly flirting with the man sitting next to her. he was cute, but not cute enough for her to kiss. even drunk. he was nice and kept calling her beautiful. it annoyed her but she went along with it because, well, the attention and the drink he just bought her was nice. but she wasn't sure that she could deal with another shitty attempt at flirting from him.

"hey, it was nice talking to you, but my boyfriend is waiting for me. i'm sorry!" amari lies, fake pouting at the end to really sell it to him. the mans lips part, about to say something, but amari hurried off before she could hear what he had to say.

amari heads back to her section and takes a seat on the couch, squishing next to her best friend, nia. "where you been, girl?" nia asks loudly.

amari shrugs and holds up her glass, "finessing," she says and nia smiles and squeezes her arm.

"that's my best friend," amari smiles and nia goes back to talking to the guy sitting next to her.

amaris eyes scan the club, taking in her surroundings. there were people everywhere, the building was probably at max capacity. she takes in all the people around her, dancing, talking, making out, looks at them having the time of their lives.

her eyes land at the section from across the way, less that 150 feet away. there were three men sitting on the couch, surrounded by women in tight dresses and high heels. amari fits the description, but she's over here on her own.

the one that catches her eye out of the three, though, is very lightskin with a beard and a curly fade. amari can't keep her eyes off of him.

the man laughs at something one of the girls says, and when he looks up he locks eyes with amari. she doesn't try to hide the fact that she was staring, just smirks and tilts her head to the side. he's not sure what to read this as, but he politely dismisses himself from all the women around him and slowly makes his way over to amari.

amari smiles to herself and takes a sip of her drink, her eyes never leaving the man's. he was way taller than she expected, nearly towering over every person in this room. she wasn't sure if there was going to space for him to sit, but she decided to cross that bridge when they got there.

he reaches amari and she flips her ponytail over her shoulder. his eyes rake over her body and take in the dress she's wearing: a silk emerald green mid thigh length dress that cross-ties in the back. she was wearing black strappy heels and a simple gold 'A' necklace.

"yes?" amari asks playfully at the man. he smiles and she scoots over as much as she can to make room for him. the large man sits and she gets a good look at him. very cute.

"you were the one looking at me," he says back and she laughs. he licks his lips and decides to be bold by grabbing her by the hips and placing her on his lap. normally, amari would've said something outrageous, but there was something about him that drew her towards him so she went with it by giggling.

"bold, aren't we?" she asks, turning her head to look at him. his left hand rests on her left hip and his right on her knee.

"i gotta start somewhere," he laughs and so does she and why is she giggling so much? "i'm ben." he introduces himself and on a regular occasion he would extend his hand for a handshake, but this wasn't regular.

"ben," the way she says it is music to his ears. it rolls off her tongue nice and sweet. "i'm amari." she says and puts a hand over the one that's on her knee.

"let's dance."

———-

hiiiii i hope u like it. i'll be changing to POVs soon