by Tyla Walker
“If you happen to kill me, tell my coach that I died in a cool way, like protecting you and Jasmine against a bunch of mobsters. Tell him, that they take their guns out, and I told them to spare the two of you. They shoot me, and I shield the two of you with my big manly arms, and then…”
“Okay, Batman, it’s not poisoned. It’s just a remedy I had back in my college days. You won’t die, drama queen.”
Despite how she says it, LaDasia has this cute smile on her face, letting me know that she actually finds my dying wish funny. I shrug and drink the remedy. I’m not really drunk. My beer count before I get drunk is at least twelve bottles. For hard drinks, eight shots. You can even get this information on my Rolling Stone interview last year.
“It tastes like coffee.”
“Because it is coffee.”
“Why did you have to call it like you discovered this special drink or something?”
“I just want you to be paranoid.”
“You are so sweet.”
The two of us laugh a little as we really enjoy these exchanges we have when one of us is teasing the other. Everything right now is comfortable, that time just passes by while we continue to get to know every stupid little detail about the other’s life.
We like it. I like it. And it’s nice to just lounge around like this. I usually have my phone, browsing the social media whenever I can, checking my status on the media, reading some fan mails, hate mails, and the weird mails you’re not sure where to put. If I’m not on my phone, I’m fucking some random hot chick I meet in the bar.
Right now, though? I can’t even think of anyone. All my thoughts are on my fiancé telling stories about Jasmine this time. I can tell how much she loves her. I’ve just met Jasmine, and I already like her so much.
Around midnight, I decided to go home. I don’t want to keep LaDasia awake this late when she still has a business to run tomorrow. The last thing I want is for her to t sick. Not sure what changed in me, but I am genuinely worried for her now.
However, before I left, I put the ring on her finger. It was a white gold band with an emerald in the center. There were small diamond hearts on either side of it.
“Jasmine helped me pick it out.”
“It’s beautiful,” she says.
There’s this sparkle in her eyes that I catch while staring at her reaction. I feel my heart beat a little faster when I focus my eyes on her lips.
This strange urge comes over me, and the idea of kissing her lips runs through my mind like a need, it’s slowly taking over my mind and body. This is the first time I have this strange urge to kiss a woman. Usually, women kiss me, and I just kiss back. If I do initiate, it’s just because I feel like it, and nothing more.
Right now, it’s different. This thing is different.
I begin to move towards her before I know it; she steps back and eventually stops when she has nowhere to go. Our eyes meet, sapphire against garnet, focus, and unwavering. She doesn’t blink, neither do I. My thumb slowly brushes her chin.
But I don’t kiss her lips. Instead, I kiss her on the cheek. “I had a really great time tonight. I had forgotten what it was like to just be a normal guy.”
She smiles. It’s a beautiful smile.
I left feeling a little warm and fuzzy inside. I’ve never felt like this before. Even in the car, I’m still thinking about her.
RING RING
I look to my phone as I get a call from Delilah once more. But this time, I don’t answer. It keeps on ringing; I end up turning it off and throwing it at the back.
I don’t want any other woman. Who I want is LaDasia.
Fourteen
LaDasia
What was that? I calm my heart as I finally close the door. My mind is still thinking about how he practically cornered me just a few minutes ago. I can still picture those intense eyes of his, how I felt like a prey under the gaze of a predator.
But it isn’t a bad feeling. It doesn’t make me feel like I’m in danger, only that I can’t look away. No. I don’t want to look away. I wonder for a moment if that really happened.
When I close my eyes, I can recall his lips drawing close, his eyes burning in this intensity I only had a glimpse a few times when he’s playing basketball; a deer in caught in the headlights, that’s probably what I looked like to him when he touched my chin.
Why am I still thinking of this? Because I can still feel his thumb on my skin as if he’s still touching me. I try to push the thought away, but the memory is burned in my mind forever.
I open my eyes, not wanting to drown in what could have happened if I pull him down for a hot steamy kiss. But when I blink, I picture the two of us lip-locking in this corner where we were. It’s weird because the more I imagine it, the more I’m feeling it’s actually happening to me right this very second.
The feeling of his hands fondling my breasts. His hot tongue inside my mouth as our kisses grow deeper, and his much bigger body pushing against mine.
I stop myself from going further into my sexy daydream the moment my hand starts to move towards my crotch.
Nope. Get it together, LaDasia.
I am probably a little drunk, and it doesn’t help that I haven’t had sex for a long, long time. My possibly drunk brain is also blaming Weston for being such a jock, such a handsome guy with such an amazing athletic body. And just an all in all temptation to fuck.
Fuck. I bite my lower lip as I sigh deeply at how hot and bothered Weston Frasier just made me with what he did.
If he asked, would I have given myself to him? Definitely. Wait, no. Definitely no. But maybe… I slap myself once and march to the bathroom to clean myself from all my dirty thoughts. After my quick bath, I even take some water to avoid a hangover.
I look at the sofa we were sitting on earlier, and I recall how I thought it was fun chatting with him. The thought makes me smile, and it pushes away whatever sinful thoughts I had just now, and it is now replaced with something else.
That’s when I decide to go to bed that night, thinking that he is a pretty awesome guy, despite what I had felt earlier. He had just been in his own world and not considering me or my business. I can understand that.
I sit on my bed for a while; my thoughts a lot calmer now that I washed my face. If I don’t have Jasmine, I’d probably be just like him.
I’m pretty sure that Weston and I are probably more alike than I thought. The only difference is that he got a basketball career with the fame included. As for me, I got knocked up by my ex, and that ex of mine left me with an unborn baby; Weston Frasier lives the celebrity life to the fullest, while I, LaDasia Andrews, has to learn to live for two.
But, I can still say that even if my life has been hard, I am still very happy with my baby girl. And I am still positive that especially now, Weston knows what he’s missing out on.
Why am I so sure, you ask? Well, that’s because he met Jasmine. The way he is with my ten-year-old already tells me that he discovered an awesome little girl.
As I finally snuggle into my bed, smiling like a fool as the proud mommy inside of me is being stupid right now, the long pillow I’m holding is squished between my thighs and arms. Then I stop to think about what it will be like if he is here with me. It has really been a long time since I have been in the arms of a man.
Weston will be sleeping on that side of the bed. He probably takes up most of the bed space since he’s tall, and he is not skinny at all. I’m not sure about this, but I think he’ll be the type to sleep in his boxers, topless. We’ll be facing each other, probably. But then I have a feeling he’s a cuddler in bed, he’ll most likely use me as a pillow. I guess that would feel nice. He has those large biceps, and I already know how much I like being hugged by them.
I shake myself out of my daydream. That was close. Weston and I are just pretending. He probably has three women waiting at his house to take care of his needs.
Now I’m seeing Weston fucking in his personal orgy of hot women willing to suck
his cock, offering their pussies to his mouth, fingers, and dick. Then they will all scream at how good he is at fucking them. It’s going to be this wild fucking festival.
For some reason, that thought upsets me a little more than it should. I know for a fact that he sleeps around with the girls in his club.
Still, for the first time in a long time, I fall asleep wishing for the love, warmth, friendship, and companionship that a healthy relationship with a man can provide.
The next day, Weston is hanging out at the deli during the lunch rush. If this keeps up, I am going to have to start doubling my orders.
Then, after the lunch rush was over, he asks me to go with him. He has an errand to run, and he needs my help with it.
Fifteen
Weston
Are you still thinking about me? Or are you sleeping now? I ask these questions to the open space as I find myself laying down in my room, alone. It’s late, I should go to sleep. But I’m not. Instead, I have been staring at the ceiling for hours. Thinking. Remembering. Wondering. All my thoughts are on LaDasia and how she is.
I, Weston Frasier, am thinking of a woman, ONE woman at that. It’s insane. When I think of any woman before, I’d just call them up, and they’ll be here in minutes. Then we fuck. Now, I find myself calling out to LaDasia in my head, but she’s not coming here.
My brain wanders back to that moment when I had my thumb on those luscious lips, the spark in her eyes, that sweet fucking scent she has on her that was better than any expensive perfume, and the feeling of her skin on my hand. I know I kissed her cheek, but what would it feel like to kiss her lips instead? To ravish her and hold her close.
I’m now thinking about her story, how she chose to persevere, and to work hard for her unborn baby. The thought of her struggling and crying as she fought alone is breaking my heart. I sit up, a hand to my aching chest as I think about it some more. LaDasia had that sad look on her eyes when she told me that story. And remembering it now gives me this unbearable pain like I’m hurting for her.
WHY? I don’t fucking know because this is the first this feeling ever happened to me. This is not even something I feel about basketball. This feeling is new, uncharted even. It’s terrifying, but it’s something I don’t want to let go either.
All kinds of thoughts whirl inside my head. Ideas like wishing I could have met her sooner. But knowing LaDasia, I bet she doesn’t regret all of it. Why would she? In the end, she gave birth to an awesome kid like Jasmine. And if all of those things didn’t happen to her, she wouldn’t have run the deli business. If she didn’t, then the two of us would not have met.
The last thought scares me. I’m not sure why I feel afraid if I didn’t meet LaDasia and Jasmine. Something happened this past few days, I’m sure of it.
I don’t know what the hell is happening to me, what changed, and why the hell is this woman keeping me up all night. But I know one thing, I don’t hate it. Not really. Sure it’s weird and new, even scary.
But it is not THAT bad. No, it’s not bad at all. It’s just novel to me.
I end up thinking about this all night long. How LaDasia had persevered in spite of all of her hardships. I didn’t know where her family was in all of this and was afraid to ask. I didn’t want to bring up any more past wounds.
I’m close to my family, my parents and I still meet up at least once a month, and I’m thirty-two fucking years old; we are that close. Plus, it’s not bad to be close to your parents. Just look at me! I’m amazing.
In addition to my thought, that is, I very much like Jasmine. She is smart, and even more than that, she has common sense and is witty. My teammates already love her, and they met her once! I mean, I’m the fucking same.
I can’t take away the pain of having a father abandon her, but I can do something else for her. And another idea pops up in my awesome and beautiful head. I grin to myself and finally pass out on my bed, snoring, probably.
The next day, afternoon, LaDasia is a little surprised when I take her to my bank. I withdraw a hundred thousand dollars. Then, I sit both of us down with the bank manager.
“What is this, Weston?” she asks, but I can tell she has an idea what this is.
“Just trust me, you’ll love it,” I reply with my signature grin that makes a thousand women swoon.
I look at the bank manager and nod, then I tell him to open up an account for Jasmine’s college fund, putting LaDasia’s name on it.
“Weston,” she protests with a stern look on her hazel eyes. “Don’t.”
I am expecting her to do this, so I came prepared. She looks to my hand when I take hers in it, giving her soft hand a firm grip. I make sure she’s looking at my blue eyes, so she knows I’m not joking, nor am I doing this because of the deal.
“It’s a gift, okay? And what do good girls do when someone gives them a gift?” I smile to her, and I see her stern expression waver. “After last night, I’ve been thinking about you and Jasmine. ALL NIGHT.”
I’m not sure why, but I kiss her hand, and I feel it tremble in my lips.
“I have more than enough money, and I really am fond of Jasmine.”
“That you are.”
She finally smiles, so I continue.
“So you will accept?”
She doesn’t respond quickly. It took a few minutes as I watch her think for a while until she finally gives in.
In the end, all LaDasia says is, “Thank you.”
The smile on her face right now is indescribable. I can tell I’m staring way too much since LaDasia turns away, embarrassed.
I find it cute.
The bank manager who I forgot is there just smiles at us and finally approves everything and makes us both sign the necessary papers.
Even though I know I have given the money, I still feel like I can do more. A college fund is good, but there is more to life than just money, as I am slowly starting to learn.
And that’s all because I met this wonderful woman and her fantastic kid.
Sixteen
LaDasia
At first, I was almost offended that Weston was giving his money to Jasmine. I couldn’t believe he gave that much money. But then, I think I’m being stupid and selfish. I’m sure he wasn’t doing it out of charity, but because he genuinely likes Jasmine. I’m sure of that.
Their bond these days is pure and genuine. They simply like each other’s company, and they enjoy it. I like watching the two of them together. Sometimes, I like it too much.
I just really wish they will be able to keep the friendship they built. I don’t want Jasmin to get hurt because of our little play—especially not her.
I feel really light-headed the whole day. Everything seems like a dream, it’s like my whole world changed entirely.
I feel really overwhelmed that Weston was willing to give a lot of money for Jasmin. It’s a huge help for me—for us. I’d be able to secure Jasmine’s future, and that makes me really happy.
Weston is still in my deli right now. He’s just hanging out while waiting for me. He insisted earlier that he will take me home so that he can see Jasmine for a bit. I can sense a soft side of him for Jasmine. I never knew I’d see him have a soft side for anyone but himself.
“Let’s go?” I softly tap the booth Weston is sitting in, and he turns to look at me immediately, flashing his most beautiful smile—the smile that makes my knees tremble.
He stands up, and we start walking side by side. I notice there are still some customers finishing their meals, or they’re only just waiting for Weston to leave. As if on instinct, I grab Weston’s hand and intertwine it with mine.
I refuse to look at Weston, I’m not sure if he likes my bold move, but I also feel him gripping my hands harder as we walk. That’s a good sign.
When we arrive in his car, I feel nervous as he might open up my bold I-wasn’t-even-thinking move. I’m not sure what to tell him if he does! What can be my reason? Some customers are looking at him with desire or something? It would make me
look jealous!
“I have an idea,” he suddenly blurts out while driving. He takes a glance at me, then back at the road.
I look at him for at least two seconds before answering, “what is it?”
“I think I will set up a scholarship for kids of single parents who are doing well in school,” he says proudly. He gives out a small smile. I can see that he really wants to do it.
I feel a warm, soothing feeling in my heart. I smile a bit as I look at him. “That’s a really great idea.”
“Right?” he asks with so much enthusiasm and excitement. “Will you be willing to help me set it up and oversee it?”
“What? Me? Why?” I sound surprised because I’m really am amazed!
He lets out a small chuckle, then takes a glance at me. “Why not? You’re a brilliant woman, and you have a lot of integrity. You’ll do a good job at it, LaDasia. I’m sure you will.”
I don’t know how to respond. I just look at Weston and then back at the road. Since I don’t know what to say, I take out my phone and pretend to do something really important.
I’m actually thankful he doesn’t bring back the topic. It’s not that I don’t want to. It’s just that I really want to, and I’m so overwhelmed about it. It’s giving me feelings that I never know I will feel because of him.
Jasmine runs out to greet us when we arrive. She looks really happy and joyful. “Hi!”
She gives me a quick kiss on the cheeks then runs towards Weston to give him a high-five. She also gives him a small kick on the legs, and Weston just laughs it off as he ruffles her hair playfully.
Weston stays for a bit then decides to leave when it starts getting dark outside. He just really wanted to see Jasmine for a bit, and I think he needs to go somewhere tonight. I don’t know where, and I don’t care, anyway. I hope.
I decide to see him leave, anyway. I guess it’s more polite that way. Yes, I’m polite.
