Jake helped the tiny woman into the passenger seat of his car. She wasn't blackout drunk, thankfully, but she looked exhausted. He made sure her hair was out of her face in case she had to throw up and gently buckled her in.
A warm feeling blossomed in the man's chest when he watched her curl up in the seat and drift off to sleep. This date had gone better than he had expected, and he was excited for their future. Destiny was just his type with her skinny body, long curls, and baby doll lips.
She was so cute he wanted to pick her up and keep her in his pocket. He was amazed that a woman like her existed, especially in a place like his shitty apartment complex.
He knew the moment she moved in that she would be a problem for him. This became more apparent when they actually spoke to each other. He found that she was extremely interesting when he wasn't just ogling her ass from across the apartment.
They both liked museums and retro horror movies and had been bullied for a huge chunk of their lives. She reminded him of someone he knew back in high school.
A Black girl by the name of Simone, whom he had a childhood crush on for a good chunk of his life. Simone had rejected him before he met and fell for his ex.
So when he met Destiny, he had assumed she was Simone somehow and felt like he was going insane coming across her again. She would have aged gracefully since they were kids. And when he found out she wasn't even related to the fierce woman, he was gobsmacked.
Jake had been wrapped around the younger woman's finger without her even realizing it, and that made her so much more tempting.
If she was the devious type, she could have worked him like a dog. But she was sweet and as innocent as can be, so instead she treated him with nothing but respect.
"Mm..." The dark-skinned woman mumbled sleepily before yawning.
Destiny looked adorable like this, and he wished he could sit and stare at her forever. He sighed and closed her door before hopping into his side of the car and locking them both in.
The man wanted to ravish Destiny anytime they were alone together, but he restrained himself. Because he could tell, even though the twenty-year-old was eager to be with him, she still had fears about what was to come.
She was incredibly inexperienced when it came to having sex and making out. From what little she told him about her childhood, her parents failed at giving her even minimal sexual education.
If Jake were to ever meet the elderly couple, he would probably get into a screaming match with them. It was clear that whatever they taught the little chocolate drop, it had made her feel scared of the world.
Destiny acted as if she were a hideous toad all the time when she had a banging body with a 4.0 to go with it. She was a beauty who had brains with a sweet soul that shouldn't have been taken advantage of.
This all coupled with her age made him fiercely protective of her even before she confessed her crush to him. He felt guilty for having sexual dreams and fantasies about her because she was too vulnerable.
Jake had to admit that Destiny was lucky to move into such a nice apartment, as she was very naive. He wouldn't have been shocked if someone took advantage of her if he and their roommates weren't in her life.
This all left him feeling guilty that he was her first serious relationship. The man sighed and put his keys into the ignition, his old car sputtering to life with a gust of smoke. He had talked to his friends about Destiny, and they all had been cautious about their arrangement.
They asked him if he was sure that sleeping with someone so young was a good idea. He rebuked them and said that they hadn't slept together yet, but still they urged him to reconsider. Their words were harsher than he wanted to hear.
"Do you really want to hold her back from having a normal life?" One of his coworkers had asked him with a scowl on her face.
She was a mother with a daughter two years younger than Destiny, so she came at him with anger when she found out. "Would you feel comfortable with your sister dating a guy a decade older than her with an ex-wife meddling all the time?"
Jake scowled and gave her a look. "What are you trying to say here?" He hated the way she spoke to him.
Her tone was like she was speaking to some slimy pervert going after schoolgirls. He hated that shit with a passion, especially from someone he had been working with for years.
"You know me. You know that I would never take advantage of someone." He felt sickened by her following words.
"Anyone can be an abuser, Jake." She sneered before slamming her hand against the table they had been arguing by for the past half hour.
Everyone else looked over at them with wide eyes. A hollow feeling grew in his stomach as he realized they'd overheard everything. "You have no business being with someone so young. What is this, some sort of midlife crisis because your high school sweetheart cheated on you? You had to get someone young and innocent to get back at her?"