by Linda Verji
“Thanks.” Logan offered him a smile before turning back to his phone.
“Why can’t you come?” Ari prodded.
Logan looked up from his phone to explain, “My mom’s having an Oprah phase.”
“What?” All the other men were confused.
“Apparently Oprah said that all families should have dinner together at least once a week,” Logan explained. “So now my mom, dad and I are eating out. And Lex is coming-” He paused when Lex gave him a threatening look daring him to force an invite on him. It was enough to frighten him and he sighed. “And Lex is not coming.”
“Ah!” Ari turned to Lex with a wide grin. “So that means you’re coming with me?”
“No,” Lex answered shortly.
“Why not?” Ari asked.
Why not? Because I slept with your sister. I’m not shameless enough to eat your food too. These were all the words Lex wanted to say, but he wasn’t suicidal. So he just shrugged.
“I know who can convince you.” Ari grabbed his phone from his pocket. The next second, he was talking into the phone. “Hi, Mama.”
That was the lowest move Ari could pull. He knew damn well that Lex had never been able to say no to Tanaya Henri-Latham a.k.a his and Freddie’s mom. The woman could charm snow into falling in the middle of summer. Within seconds Lex found himself meekly agreeing to go over to the Lathams for dinner. He shot Ari a furious look as he handed him back the phone.
Ari grinned back shamelessly before turning back to the phone to end the conversation with Tanaya. “Okay, Mama. Don’t worry I’ll bring him over.”
“Yo,” Logan called out as soon as Ari was done with the call. Eyes wide, he stared at Ari. “People are talking about Morticia.”
What? Lex immediately stood straighter as everything in him tensed. Why would people be talking about Morticia?
“Who are these people and why are they talking about my sister?” Ari asked.
“A friend just sent me a text asking me if I knew who Freddie was.” Logan handed his phone to Ari. “Rumor has it that she’s dating Wesley Drake, the singer.”
Oh, that! Lex sighed in relief. They already broke up. Nonetheless, he shuffled closer to Ari so he could see the text-message.
“Oh him!” Ari gave the text-message a cursory glance before handing the phone back to Logan. “Yeah, they’re dating.”
“Oh him? Yeah, they’re dating?” Red looked at Ari like he was insane. “That’s all you have to say after the whole speech you gave us about not touching your sister?”
Ari didn’t answer. He just headed to his car. Instead of moving to their own cars, the other men trailed him.
Michael who was just as incensed offered, “At least tell us that you tried to get rid of him.”
“I tried,” Ari confessed as he threw his backpack into the backseat of the car. “Even went to his studio and everything… but when Freddie found out, she threw a fit. She said she’d kill Percy if I ever tried that again. She even held a knife to his neck.”
Percy was Ari’s beloved pet turtle of twenty years.
“Go, Rericka!” Red laughed.
“See. This is why I don’t mess with her.” Logan gave them all a knowing look. “I told y’all she was a slitter.”
All that while, Lex was wondering whether he could use Percy too to get Ari to forgive him and let him near Freddie again.
“So you’ll just let him be?” Michael asked.
Ari just shrugged. “They’re going to break up anyway. He’s a punk.” Before anyone could call him out on the double-standards, he pointed at Lex. “You’re with me, right?”
The next few minutes were spent saying their farewells. Lex handed Logan the keys to his car since the man had hitched a ride with him before getting into Ari’s car. Frankly, he was conflicted about dinner with the Lathams. On one hand his guilt kept telling him that this was a bad idea. How could he eat with them after everything he’d been up to?
On the other hand, he actually liked having dinner with the Lathams. They were a warm family and had always been very welcoming to him. But more importantly, this was his chance to see Freddie after their night together. After three days of nothing – no phone-calls or messages – how could he turn down an opportunity to see her? He wasn’t even sure what he was going to say when they met. He just needed to see her again.
For the past few days he’d had more erotic dreams than he cared to admit, and Freddie had starred in all of them. Usually, he was the type to have fuzzy memories after a night of drinking. This wasn’t one of those days. He remembered everything clearly. How they’d kissed, how he’d touched her, how she’d touched him. How she’d felt in his arms and how it had felt to be held by her. How it’d felt to be inside her… everything.
Where was amnesia when you needed it? How was he supposed to go on acting like he didn’t want her after everything they’d done together? How was he supposed to keep from touching her, from kissing her? Maybe dinner wasn’t a good idea. What if he gave himself away?
Unfortunately, Lex didn’t get the chance to change his mind because minutes later they got to their destination. Even though the Lathams were reasonably well-off, they weren’t the kind to flaunt their wealth. Their home was a doll-house when compared to the Bishops enormous estate.
Their one-storey Mediterranean-style house was on a small lot and flunked by several similar-styled houses. For some reason, even from the outside, their house felt more homely than the monstrosity of a mansion that Lex had grown up in. The smiles that greeted him when he stepped into the house were a pleasant change too. No one ever smiled at the Bishops house.
“You’ve grown thinner.” Tanaya clucked as she took in Lex with motherly disapproval. The chubby, middle-aged, black woman squeezed Lex’s arm as if to check just how thin he was. Obviously, what she found didn’t make her happy. “Have you been eating?”
Lex grinned. “It’s nice to see you too, Tanaya.”
“You haven’t answered my question. Have you been eating?” Tanaya turned sharp eyes to her son who was currently kicking off his shoes. “I sent Ari to drop off some side-dishes. Did he bring them to your place?”
“Of course I dropped them off.” Ari snorted. “Where else would I take them to, Mama?”
Tanaya propped a fist on her hip as she glared at her son. “Then why is he still so thin?”
“Was I supposed to feed him too?” Ari countered with thinly veiled sarcasm.
“Leave the poor boy alone, Tanaya,” Ari’s father, Ulysses, called out from the living room. “That’s just his body-type.”
“It’s not right. It’s just not right,” Tanaya said as she led the way into the living room. “Ari, go to the fridge and get him some of those sandwiches we had for breakfast.”
Lex knew better than to protest. That would only make her want to feed him more. With a chuckle, he entered the living room. Ulysses was on the couch, playing a video game. If Tanaya was Freddie, then Ulysses was Ari. He had the same dark complexion, was really tall and athletically muscular. The only difference between the two men was the salty hair and Ulysses’s glasses.
“Oh! That’s mine,” a surprised Lex pointed out when he noticed that Ulysses was actually playing the game that his company had just recently launched.
“I know. This thing is addictive,” Ulysses said as he kept his eyes on the TV and his hands on the controller. On the TV, Ulysses’s avatar, a black man in combat clothes, was racing around the jungle, fighting off zombies and other monsters. “Ari told me about it and I haven’t been able to put it down since then.”
“He missed work yesterday because he played it too late,” Tanaya revealed.
“You’re one to talk.” Ulysses scoffed. “Or have you forgotten that you almost missed your flight last week because of this game?”
“I’m sorry,” Lex apologized as he sat down next to the older man. “I didn’t mean to get you all addicted.”
‘It’s not your fault that you’re good
at what you do,” Tanaya immediately dismissed. She shouted out. “Ari, where are the sandwiches?”
“Coming!” Ari shouted from the kitchen.
Frankly, Lex wasn’t as apologetic for getting the Lathams hooked on his games as he was grateful. Other than Logan, none of his family members had seen the game let alone played it. The Lathams had always been this way… treating him like he was the fifth member of their family. It was why he’d spent more time here than at his own home when he was in high-school. Which made his betrayal all the more deplorable. Would they forgive him if they found out?
In that moment, Lex’s guilt multiplied tenfold. What if he lost the whole family because of that one night? It was painful to think about. Yet, he still couldn’t bring himself to think of it as a mistake. He was a disloyal bastard, wasn’t he?
Speaking of Freddie, where was she? He took covert glances around the house to find her and listened more keenly to hear if she was in her room but got nothing. Unfortunately, he couldn’t ask where she was for fear that he’d reveal his feeling for her. But he wasn’t as sly as he thought.
When they sat for dinner, Tanaya immediately noticed Lex’s glances towards Freddie’s regular seat that was painfully empty.
“Freddie?” The older woman explained, “She went to Orlando with Winter. Some kind of girl’s trip.”
Disappointment crushed through Lex. He ached to see her. Why would she go on a trip right now? Was she missing him like he was missing her? Was she wishing she was in his arms as much as he wished she was?
What the hell was wrong with him? Lex gave himself a mental slap. How could he be thinking of holding Freddie when he was seated across from her parents and brother, eating their food? Shameless bastard didn’t even begin to describe him.
His guilt lasted only as long as dinner and getting to his house took. As soon as he got to the large, lonely house, he missed the warmth of the Lathams home. The interesting thing was that when Freddie was there, his house hadn’t felt cold or lonely.
Freddie. Thoughts of her immediately eclipsed all other thoughts as he sat in the living room staring unseeingly at the TV. Was she enjoying herself in Orlando? What was she doing right now? Was she thinking about him? How did she feel about them sleeping together? Was she still under the impression that she’d taken advantage of him? Or was she wondering about a repeat performance too?
Suddenly, he wanted to know the answers to all his question. He even grabbed his phone and scrolled to her number. He was going to send her a message but immediately thought better of it. What if she regretted it? What if she just wanted to forget what had happened? What if she was angry now?
With a sigh, he closed his eyes and slumped back in the seat. It was probably better for him to wait for her to approach him first. Yes, that’s what he’d do. Wait for her.
That was the plan!
Unfortunately, his finger had other plans. Somehow, his finger slipped on the screen and brushed against the call button. Lex was so busy sighing and thinking that he didn’t even realize that he’d dialed Freddie’s number until he heard her voice.
“Hello?” Freddie’s voice echoed from the phone. “Lex?”
Panic drove his actions. Without conscious thought, he hung up on her. It was only after he did it that he realized what he’d done, but before he could call her and apologize, she called him. Lex had to take a moment to catch his breath and straighten in the seat before he could answer the phone. How typical of Freddie… always taking his breath away.
“Hello?” he finally answered.
“Lex, is that you?” Freddie didn’t sound angry. If anything, she sounded excited.
“It’s me.” Despite the butterflies dancing in his belly, Lex was actually glad to hear her voice. Propping one arm on his knee as he held the phone to his ear, he asked, “Did you want it to be someone else?”
“No, no. Of course not,” she quickly responded.
The answer was probably innocent, but it sent warmth fluttering through Lex. She didn’t want it to be someone else.
“It’s just that you called then you hung up.” She hesitated a moment before asking, “Or did you call the wrong number?”
“No, I didn’t,” he quickly reassured.
“Oh!” She sounded happy again. “Why did you call me?”
Why had he called her? Lex had no idea, and he’d never been the type to think of quick lies.
He was quiet for such a long time that Freddie prodded, “Lex? Are you still there?”
“I’m still here.”
She paused a moment then asked, “Did you call because you’re still mad at me?”
“I was never mad at you.”
“Really?” Surprise echoed in her voice. “After everything I did?”
“You didn’t do anything I didn’t want you to do,” he said. Eager to correct her misconception that she’d used him, he confessed, “I wanted to sleep with you.”
“Wha… wha… Huh?” Freddie stuttered.
“You heard me.”
She gasped. “Lex!”
There. The ball was in her court. Now she needed to decide if she was going to play or walk off the court. Lex could’ve sworn that his heart had switched locations and was now in his ear because its thumping sounded much louder as he waited for Freddie to speak again.
It took a while but finally she broke the heavy silence. Her voice was hushed, almost breathless as she asked, “You wanted to sleep with me?”
“Yes.”
There was another long silence then she breathed out. “I don’t know what to say.”
His answer was silence.
“You don’t like me or anything like that, right?” she asked.
Somehow he knew that confessing his feelings for her wasn’t the best route to take right now. She’d run for the hills if he hit her with that information before she was ready. What he needed to do was slowly ease her into realizing that that night hadn’t been just a one-night stand for him. So instead of answering the question, he changed the subject.
“Where are you?” he asked even though he already knew the answer.
“Orlando, I came with Winter,” she answered before promptly steering the conversation back to where they were. “Does that mean you’ve been thinking about… about it for a long time?”
If by ‘it’ she meant sex then… “Yes.”
Freddie’s swift intake of breath echoed in his ear. He expected her to drop the subject then, but she didn’t. “For how long?”
For some reason the image of Freddie biting her lip as she nervously waited for his answer flashed in his mind. His cock instantly reacted to the image. Hardening, lengthening.
Rubbing his own lips, he answered, “Long enough.”
“Oh!” She breathed out heavily.
What was she thinking about? About him thinking about having sex with her? Was she turned on by the thought too? This time the silence lasted longer but he could tell from her breathing that she was still on the phone. Even her breathing was sexy. Lex had the strongest urge to unzip his pants right then, but that would be weird, right? This wasn’t that type of phone call.
“Lex?” Freddie finally spoke.
“Hmm?”
She paused for another long moment then hit him with, “I liked it.”
What? Her words were as unexpected as the bolt of electricity that shot through Lex on hearing them. If he wasn’t already hard, those words would’ve done it. She liked it.
Before he could ask for more details, she hung up.
CHAPTER 9
“Aaah!” Freddie screamed and tossed her phone onto the bed like it was hot coal. “Aaah. What did I just do?”
“That’s what I wanna know.” Winter, who’d been eavesdropping on Freddie and Lex’s whole conversation unabashedly, probed, “Did you just say you liked it?”
“I did.” Freddie, who was seated on one of the twin-beds in the room, nodded even as fresh panic seared through her.
“Wow! Wow!�
�� Winter shook her head. “You’re a brave one.”
Like Freddie, Winter was black. However, she was a lighter shade of brown, almost caramel-toned, thanks to Native American blood somewhere up in her heritage line. Though she and Freddie were about the same size, all her weight had gone to her hips which was why most people classified her as thick. To add insult to injury, she was also pretty. If she wasn’t her best-friend, Freddie would hate her.
The two women had met ten years ago at Freddie’s favorite apparel store where Winter was an attendant at that time (she was now an assistant manager). After discovering their mutual love for vintage denim, they’d struck an immediate friendship.
“No, I’m not brave. I’m just crazy.” With a groan, Freddie collapsed face-first into the bed. Her voice muffled by the covers, she asked, “Why didn’t you stop me from taking his call?”
“Girlfriend, you called him,” her best-friend informed her with barely restrained amusement.
“Yeah, but he called first. I was just returning the call. He started it. He’s the one who said he wanted to sleep with me first-” Freddie stopped to give another moan. She lifted her head to meet her friend’s gaze. “He probably thinks I’m crazy, right?”
“No, I don’t think so,” Winter soothed then promptly ruined it by adding, “He probably thinks you’re horny.”
She was right. Oh God! Freddie flopped back on the bed.
She and Winter had been in Orlando for two days now. It was supposed to be a fun-trip to spend some of their leave-days. Sightsee a bit, eat some good food, loll around in the hotel… basically relax. But Freddie had found it difficult to relax. Every time she tried, thoughts of Lex would mess it up.
Why hadn’t he called her? Was he really just satisfied with one night? Did he really just want to forget it all? When she and Winter got on a hot-air balloon with a lovey-dovey couple, she wondered if Lex was the PDA type or not? When they stopped by Epcot and tried their SPACE ride, her first thought was whether Lex would like it or would he get sick of all that spinning like her?
These constant thoughts of him were extremely disconcerting. Before their night together, he’d never been on her mind, never been on her radar. But now he was all she could think about. And it wasn’t just because of the sex. She’d had decent sex before but it had never left her this ravenous and craving more.
