A Chance at Loving You

by Christine Gray

“I’ll go down to meet the executives. We’ll be at the bar…and your cell is behind the pillows,” she thumbs towards the couch on her way out.

  The silence overtakes the room.

  “Sit.”

  “I’ll stand,” I grumble. Are

  “Is what my baby says true?”

  “She’s not a baby, Phil.”

  Did I just use that as my defense? He and I have been friends for years. The least I can do is be honest and look him in the face. His expression is unreadable. I won’t hide behind a drink, either.

  “For the record, I never spoke to Dani like I’ve done today. I never saw her as nothing more than little Dani, I swear,” I promise.

  “Uh-huh.”

  “I had no clue she had been crushing on me until she came to me on the morning of her eighteenth birthday to confess her feelings. I was shocked…and I told her no way could anything happen between us. I mean, she’s your daughter, we’re friends…and I’m old, but she just kept on coming, not giving up.”

  “Well, she gave up by getting married,” Phil remarks with a slow shake of his head.

  “Hey, hey,” I begin to take a step towards my friend. “I swear…what happened just know, I don’t know what-“

  “Maybe if you would have taken your head out of your ass and done it sooner, my girl wouldn’t be shackled to that fucker,” he states.

  For the first time, Phil reveals what he’s been thinking. I’m a bit taken back, and it shows.

  “Come on, man,” he huffs. “You think we didn’t know about the way she felt about you?” he shifts his tone, “Dani and Austin…Mrs. Dani Wisener,” he sings in a high pitch, girlie voice. “She wrote that shit on everything. We had to talk her down every time you brought one of your flavors of the month around. That’s why I told you to stop doing it. It wasn’t because of Rainbow, it was to keep Dani from getting in one of her moods after you left,” he explains. “You obviously feel something for her. Why didn’t you speak up before?”

  “I should have when she came to me after the rehearsal dinner,” I mumble.

  “Hold up,” he snaps. “She tried to get you to stop the wedding, and you did nothing,” he shrieks in disbelief.

  This time, I do hang my head.

  “You’re fuckin’ kidding me. You know how hard it was for me to give her away to that asshole? Now, you wanna make a move? Why?”

  I toss my hands up in the air.

  “It’s not that I didn’t want to, I just, just…this is crazy. We’re friends. I helped raise her, and-“

  “Your boy never stood a chance, Austin.”

  Another shot is fired. Well, I see I’m the only one that’s been walking around thinking I was holding on to secrets. Then again, I’m ecstatic that Nathan never stood a chance. Now, that would have been one helluva cluster fuck, for sure. Even still, me dating Dani would cause waves.

  “I don’t want my girl used, Austin.”

  I hold on to my desire to say, too late.

  “Marriage is something I’ve never considered for me,” I say instead.

  Phil nods, as he considers my words. “Neither did Zahn, but I bet he marries your actress. Neither did I, but I’m marrying Rainbow. Look at us, man. We’ve done it all, had it all, and you’re right, we are old. You really think these young bitches sucking our dicks really care for us? She had Ryan when she was sixteen. When I was running around the world playing basketball and making movies, she raised my boy on her own because I didn’t want to be a dad. I’ve drug Rainbow for years. I want to do right by her. I’m going to commit, make an honest woman of her, actually be faithful,” he promises.

  “So, if I go there, I can’t fuck it and leave it,” I reply.

  “Like you said, Dani isn’t a girl anymore, so I can’t dictate anything. Things might be different if feelings weren’t already involved…and I’m not just talking about Dani, Austin. Rainbow and I aren’t blind. Maybe the dumb reasons you listed before were holding you back, but don’t let our friendship be one of them. You always had our blessing.”

  I swallow hard at the prospect of actually having what I’ve been longing for. I close my eyes tight to drown out all the voices telling me not to be a fool and the one voice cutting through them all to encourage me to go after what will make my life complete.

  CHAPTER TWO

  DANI

  “Please, excuse me.”

  I don’t wait to see if the man that’s been chatting me up agrees. I quickly distance myself while I punch Mitch’s number. As soon as he picks up, I’m talking a mile a minute.

  “Shut up and listen. Austin is on my jock. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but it’s happening. It’s really happening,” I cheer.

  I’m damn near light-headed with excitement.

  “Jesus, are you serious? Are you sure?”

  “I’ll break it down later, but yes, no doubt in my mind. He said it,” I whisper in a rush.

  “Okay, so how you gonna play it?”

  I nibble on my acrylic nail. “Fast and loose. I’m going to make his ass suffer.”

  “I’m all for sticking it to the man, but watch yourself.”

  “Oh, I’ll balance it, but he’s going to lose a few pounds in this chase,” I huff.

  “You have to keep me in the loop, please!”

  “Nightly reports, I promise,” I chuckle.

  From my viewpoint, I’m able to see the flow of people heading our way before they see me. For now, I allow my love for Austin to become visible. I lick my dry lips. He was always one to wear his money. The tailored black suit hugging his lean, muscled frame is no different. My father and Austin turn heads, as they stroll down the polished marble tile. Tanned skinned, tall, piercing icy blue eyes, sharp cheekbones with a 6 o’clock shadow makes for quite a strong impression on any warm-blooded female, no matter her age.

  “I gotta go.”

  “Okay, have fun, good luck.”

  Mitch’s voice is faint, due to my rush to hang up, but I heard him. I really don’t want to give the man a fighting chance. However, I’m going to use him just the same. I don’t put it on too thick, just enough to ensure that Austin notices the flirting going on between the guy and I. What happened in the cabana is still fresh to conjure up enough worry and jealousy.

  “Dani?”

  Austin calls my name while he glares at the red-headed man. I take my time to finish my statement before acknowledging him.

  “Dinner tonight? Well, I have a massage scheduled, but afterwards, I’ll see. Ah, my father and friend are here. Shall we?”

  Austin jerks me back when I attempt to move with the crowd.

  “Cancel,” he demands.

  “I didn’t agree to dinner.”

  He rolls his eyes. “That fuckin’ massage, cancel.”

  My eyebrow notches. “I’m still tense. I’m in need of, hey!”

  The tapping of my sandals echoes on the tile, as he drags me in the opposite direction. We barely make it around the corner before he grabs me by the shoulders. He pauses, as if he’s trying to decide what to do next. I would have taken a kiss. Instead, he shakes the shit out of me.

  “Are you fuckin’-“

  My words get as jumbled as my brain when he starts to shake me again. I open my mouth to speak, only for him to go three for three with another hard shake.

  “I didn’t even say anything,” I cry.

  “I just know you’re going to say something to piss me off,” he spits.

  “Me? No, boy blue, you’re pissed at yourself, not me.”

  “Don’t call me a boy,” he hisses.

  “Will, you ain’t a man. A man wouldn’t be afraid to take what he wants,” I taunt.

  “I’m not scared,” he grunts.

  He forces me to the wall, as his body presses into mine.

  “Come back to my room…I’ll show you.”

  My heart is in my throat. I pray I can keep up this act of indifference.

  “Oh, I don’t think it’s your confidence you
want to show me…but this here…”

  My hand travels between our crushed bodies to cup his engorged dick. Austin inhales and releases it on a sigh. I marvel over the fact that I’m holding my own against this man. Shit, he’s a big dick fucker. Not only does he have length but thickness, too. His lids become heavy with lust while I stroke his cock.

  “Bitch, AH!” he fumes while trying to back out of my grip.

  “Where are you going, Austin?” I tease. “I thought you like it rough.”

  “Let go, Dani,” he growls.

  I tighten and twist his dick and balls in my hand.

  “I can’t deal with your mix signals. You want me, now you don’t. Are you going senile?” I joke.

  “I’ll get you back for this,” he hisses.

  “Whatever,” I smile with a deep eye roll.

  I’m damn near crushing him by now.

  “Shit,” he groans. His hands shake, as they try to comfort his aching unit when I finally release him.

  “You should soak that old thing in ice,” I chuckle.

  “Why? Your mouth should do the trick,” he tosses back.

  I open my mouth wide and make a gagging sound. I make a big show of sanitizing my hands, as I walk away. He’s as crazy as I am for laughing at our painful flirtation. The game is on.

  **

  AUSTIN -No

  She wants me. Dani can put up her walls and rake me over the coals, but she wants me. Love doesn’t just disappear. However, I gotta say, she’s fuckin with my mind. While I was able to hide my feelings for her in the past, I’m poor at poker now. Why does she have to be so damn appealing, and not just to me, either? She has a sparkle about her that makes people smile, laugh, and take notice of her among so many.

  I notice that her compassion to make people feel worthy of respect is a powerful thing. I must admit, I’m guilty of not looking certain people in the eye because I’ve led myself into believing they aren’t worth my attention. The people within our group are no different. However, Dani stops to make a joke with the workers on the floor we pass. She looks others in the eyes to smile and say hi. The shock on those men and women faces, followed by their response, is priceless.

  That kind of attention I can handle. It’s the physical kind that gets under my skin. I know she knows it, too. With what she did at poolside with a goddamn stranger on replay in my mind, I know she’s willing to fuck anyone of these men chasing her if the mood strikes her. I’m not having it. I’m not letting her out of my sight. I might lose out on this deal, but that’s an L I’m willing to take.

  “You’re going to get red’s ass kicked,” I whisper in Dani’s ear, as I walk behind her.

  “Leave me alone,” she growls under her breath.

  I punch my palm to re-enforce my warning. Quickly, she shoots me a bird, before pretending to listen to our tour guide.

  “I would love to give you a private tasting in your room.”

  I narrow my eyes, as I step a bit closer behind the two.

  “I wanted to try out the steak. I heard the restaurant’s selections of meats are to die for. Is it true it melts in your mouth?”

  I grind my teeth. I make a move. Dani maneuvers the man out of my reach.

  STOP! She mouths behind his back.

  If she thinks she can treat me like a damn dog, she’s crazy. I lure her into a false sense of winning. At this point, I haven’t heard two words of the presentation of the Vegas hotel, resort, and casino. I don’t care that what I’m going to do will embarrass Dani. It’s the end result that I am after.

  I make a big show of looking at my Rolex.

  “I’m sorry, are you needed elsewhere?”

  I pretend to be mildly taken back by the woman’s question.

  “Oh, no forgive me. I just noticed it was time for Mrs. Dani’s medications.”

  “Oh, Lord…yes, we can stop for a short break,” the woman nods.

  Phil frowns. He’s clueless, but he doesn’t say anything.

  Dani’s head snaps around to lock eyes with everyone in the group. Of course, they want to know what’s the issues she needs medicine for.

  She chuckles, “I’m not, I don’t need, he’s confused. Nevermind him,” she waves me off. “Please, continue.”

  “Are you sure?” presses someone in the group.

  “Yes, he’s-“

  “I don’t see how you’re going to clear up your STD. That’s why you’re still suffering with it now.”

  Dani’s face mirrors the flabbergasted expressions of those in our group. She works her mouth to come up with an audible denial but comes up short. I take great joy in the way Mr. Red Head puts a bit of distance between himself and Dani.

  “Yes, a break,” the guide finally finds her voice to say.

  “No!” shouts Dani. She turns on me to cuss me out in a low growl that carries. “You nasty son of a bitch. Why are you-“

  “Don’t get funky with me for caring about you…and freckle face over here,” I thumb in the man’s direction. “He doesn’t want to get burned by-“

  “Shut up!” she snaps.

  I take her fist to the gut without flinching. She draws me to eye level by jerking on my silk tie.

  “Go on with your smug self. You think you stopped something, huh? Well, I’m going be a healthy bitch from so much Vitamin D now that you’ve pissed me off. I was just teasing, but now,” she pauses to release my tie, “one a day, you sack of shit.”

  “I’m going to sew your ass up,” I hiss with a beaming smile.

  Dani cranes her head back as if she’s seeing me for the first time.

  “Ah, you’re having second thoughts about getting what you’ve wished for,” I chuckle.

  Clamping her mouth closed, she marches away. I take great pride in knowing I’m the one that put an extra stomp in her steps.

  “You can’t be with her all the time.”

  “I’m going to be her new shadow,” I promise.

  Phil’s hand strikes my back. “To the victor-“

  “Goes the spoils,” I finish.

  Phil shakes his head. “You’re both going to tear each other apart,” he laughs.

  **

  DANI

  “That bald fucker with his Mr. Clean ass got some nerve. Oh, he’s a bold asshole,” I grumble.

  Thankfully, the door to my suite is equipped with a door stopper. With the force I kicked the metal door open, the knob would have put a hole in the wall. With each hard step I take, I shed an item of clothing until I’m panting in nothing but my bra and leggings. The rage radiating through me is so strong, I have to blink back the tears clouding my vision. To hell with the fact that if Austin is willing to lie about my health status to deter men from messing with me is noble. The point is he’s willing to play dirty. Well, I can be a filthy bitch, too.

  “You know what?” I hiss into the empty room. “Yeah, let’s see…”

  I snatch up my cell. I no longer have a desire to be alone, which had been the plan for my evening. I had every intention to stay put, flirt a bit, and wait for Austin to turn up at my door. However, now I’m going to follow Whitney Houston’s lead. I wanna dance with somebody. Oh, yes, I will be feeling the heat with somebody, and the fool don’t have to love me.

  “Hey, Kwaye. I changed my mind. I would love to have dinner with you. Huh? No, no, I haven’t been running. What you mean I’m talking funny? I-I’m just a bit worked up, that’s all. Yes, I’ll be in a better mood later…shit, do you want to do dinner or not? Then stop questioning me. Great, I’ll see you then.”

  I frown at the cell in my hand after hanging up. I contemplate I might have traded one annoying male for another. The knock followed by my father calling my name through the door breaks my thoughts.

  “I was giving you time to pop your meds,” he laughs.

  I don’t see the humor. The expression on my face says as much.

  “This is what you asked for,” he smiles while strolling into the room.

  “I asked to be lied on
and made into a fool?” I wonder.

  “When you asked for Austin’s eye, yes.”

  I’ve seen the stance before. The ramrod back, squared shoulders, the wicked glimmer in his brown eyes, my dad is about to drop a little wisdom. As if I’m still a child, I settle down on the sofa to become a sponge.

  “Dani, I know I can be a hard man. The way I say things can be sharp, like glass, but the truth is always there…if you can see past the delivery. I didn’t have to be of the Tribe to understand it as a kid. We were all brown skins living in a white world. Austin can be ruthless when he’s fighting for what he wants…as he should be,” he adds as an afterthought. “Now that you’ve gotten a taste, do you still want to proceed?”

  I let the silence enter the room. I want to ensure that when I utter my answer, he will take it seriously.

  “I don’t want to be his here and now.”

  “You want forever?”

  “I’ve talked so much shit to Mama about her life with you. I can’t do the same thing.” I admit.

  “Well, it’s so easy to see the speck in another’s eyes,” he nods, before glancing away to pause for thought. “Back in the room, when you left, I told Austin the same.”

  I swallow hard. “What did he say?”

  I know my Dad won’t lie to me, no matter how much the truth will hurt.

  “He said, he wasn’t of the marrying kind. He pointed to me to serve as his example.”

  “Right,” I grumble. “The pack of the pussy snatchers to die alone while adding as many names to their long list of easy lays.”

  “If that’s the case, then our pack’s broken.”

  My eyebrow notches upward.

  “Your Uncle Zahn has fallen, and he’s not trying to get up,” he confides.

  “No way…really?” I shriek at my dad’s slow nod.

  He fishes into his pants pocket to retrieve a small box. I stare, confused at the priceless tear dropped shaped emerald perched on top of a diamond, silver band.

  “They can send up a flare for me, but I’m happy to say, I’m man down, too. When your mother gets here, tonight….I’m asking her to marry me. I’ve already booked a church in town for the ceremony.”

  Stunned isn’t strong enough of a word for what I’m feeling. From the ring back to his face, then back to the ring is all I can manage to do.