The Lies: The Lies We Tell About Love, Life, and Everything in Between

by Christina C Jones

  I chuckled. “I know you’re probably trying to be on your gentleman thing. You can walk me up.”

  He stayed behind me when we walked in, presumably under the guise of catching me if I slipped getting up the stairs to the third floor. But really, I felt his gaze glued to my ass, which only heightened my liquor-induced horniness.

  Wait, who was I kidding?

  It was Kyle-induced horniness.

  I was so distracted that I missed the last step, and screamed as I slipped, and pitched forward. I braced myself for the sensation of hitting the ground, but it never came. Instead, there were strong hands at my waist, steadying me. I stepped onto the landing, and he was right behind me, pressing into my back.

  “You good?” he asked, and I tried not to moan as I nodded. “Go ahead and get your keys, let me make sure you get inside.”

  I moved away from him to dig my keys from my purse, not looking up until I’d unlocked the door. He stood there in the hall after I’d walked in, and I tossed my purse onto the table by the door. “Can you come in for a second please?” I asked, and his eyes were concerned as he immediately stepped inside.

  “What’s up? You okay?”

  “Yep,” I said, closing and locking the door. Kyle’s eyes went wide when I pushed him against it – I was only able to move him because I’d caught him off guard. Immediately, his hands went to my waist as I pressed against him, looking up to meet his gaze. “You know why I asked you in here, right?”

  He grunted as I grabbed him through his jeans. “I think I might have an idea.” He pulled my hands away from him, then turned us around, pressing me to the wall instead. “But… I’on know. You’ve been drinking, B.”

  “So?” I asked, reaching up to pull that band from his hair. I got a weird sort of satisfaction from seeing his locs fall around his face. “I’m sober enough to know exactly what you’re about to do to me.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “What I’m about to do to you?”

  “Mmhmm,” I nodded, twisting my fingers in handfuls of his locs, and tugging down. “You said I tasted better than that shot, right?” I whispered against his lips.

  “Yeah. I did. And I meant it.”

  “Prove it. Get down there and double-check.”

  Kyle grinned against my lips, and then his mouth was on mine. His tongue pressed at the seam of my lips, urging them apart as his fingers went to the button of my jeans. I opened my mouth for him, greedily accepting the pushing, urging, caressing of his tongue against mine as he tugged my jeans and panties down at the same time.

  He said I needed a distraction, right?

  I was already panting from the kiss by the time he dropped to his knees in front of me, unzipping and pulling off my boots before he tossed them aside. He yanked my jeans down the rest of the way, and then without preamble, his mouth was on me, and he was eating me alive.

  A shuddering sort of gasp left my throat as he hooked my thigh over his shoulder, burying his face between my legs. My hands gripped his hair, going back and forth between pushing him away and pulling him closer, but his arms locked around my thigh kept me open, and kept me from getting away. I squeezed my eyes shut as he ravaged me with his tongue, mercilessly, just like I needed.

  The loud ringing of my phone pulled me out of my blissful state, and I groaned. Kyle’s tongue didn’t stop moving as I snatched my purse up from the table beside me, and dug out my phone. I knew it would be Iris before I looked at the screen.

  “Hello?” I asked, trying to sound normal. I bit down on my lip as Kyle pushed two fingers into me. “What’s up?”

  “Hey… just checking on you.” I could hear the muffled sounds of the bar in the background. She’d probably stepped into the back office. “Did you make it home okay?”

  “Yep.”

  I couldn’t do anything except keep my answers short, with Kyle licking and slurping on me like I was dessert.

  “What’s that sound?” She asked, and I could almost see her face wrinkling into a scowl as she tried to figure it out.

  “The TV. Animal Planet,” I lied, as my legs started to shake.

  “Oh, okay… well, I was just making sure you got home okay. You weren’t really yourself tonight. I’m not going to push it now, but I hope you know, we will talk.”

  “Okay,” I gasped, them clamped my hand over my mouth to keep from whimpering as Kyle’s tongue flickered against my clit.

  “Are you sure you’re going to be okay tonight, without Zion there?”

  The pressure building in the pit of my stomach was about to peak, and Kyle was taking me there so hard, so fast, there was no way I wouldn’t scream.

  “Yes, Iris. I’m good. About to get in the bed.”

  “Okay. Rest up, and we’ll do lunch or something tomorrow.”

  “Yeah. Love you. Bye.”

  I hit the button to end the call just as Kyle closed his mouth over my clit, sucking and shaking and trying to kill me, obviously, because the orgasm seemed to hit me with the force of a freight train. I let out a scream that left my throat feeling raw, and my limbs went limp as my climax waned.

  Slowly, Kyle let my leg down, and stood up, bringing his mouth to mine again for a sex-flavored kiss that had the apex of my thighs throbbing.

  “I stand by my claim,” he murmured, and I draped my arms over his shoulders. “So what now?”

  I let out a contented sigh, then smiled at him. “Now, you help me not be a liar. Take me to bed.”

  He chuckled. “And turn on Animal Planet?”

  My own laugh quickly turned into a moan as he kissed me again, slipping his tongue between my lips. When he finally pulled back, I just barely had enough breath to tell him, “Sure. Why the hell not?”

  {four} his lies

  “Lil’ boy, I have been waiting on you all day! Where have you been?”

  KJ frowned, and jabbed an accusatory finger in my direction before he turned back to Fran, and started signing so fast that she looked up at me, confused. “What is he saying?” she mouthed, and I shook my head.

  “He’s telling you it’s my fault we’re late.”

  And it was.

  I’d lost track of time in my studio, putting the final touches on the beach themed ball and doing the first layer of protective coating. That hadn’t made me late to pick him up from school, just later than I wanted to be, when I still had to get home, shower, bathe him, and get both of us dressed to come out.

  Fran’s look of confusion turned to pursed lips, and she looked back down at KJ. “Tell your daddy he can’t be having you late like this. You’re my guest of honor!”

  “I am?” KJ asked out loud, and Fran pulled her head back.

  “Well, of course boo! Let me tell you a little secret, okay? You always are.”

  KJ’s face erupted in a smile as Fran scooped him up in her arms, and I followed them out to the dining room. She held him in a way that his hands were free, and she watched intently as he signed. I knew she didn’t know every sign he used, but she was learning, because this was how we communicated with him. The need to know sign language had been out of left field for everybody who cared about KJ. His hearing loss as an infant had created a new frontier for our whole family, but we were committed, especially Fran, even if it took her a little longer.

  That was one of the many things I appreciated about the woman.

  She came into my life when I was eight years old, right after I’d finally adjusted to it just being me and my Pops. The loss of my mother had hit me hard – when I was six years old, she and my father dropped me off with my Aunt while they went to the hospital, telling me they’d be coming home with my baby sister.

  Pops was the only one who ever came home.

  We loved my mother. Her loss wrecked both of us, but we made it through. My father and I were inseparable – when I wasn’t at school, he took me everywhere with him. At least… I thought.

  At some point along the way, he’d found the time to meet, and develop a relationship with Fran. When h
e first introduced us, I hadn’t wanted shit to do with her. There wasn’t anybody that could replace my mother, and I resented what I perceived then as an attempt to do just that. I was mean as hell to her – as mean as my father would let me be without whooping my ass – but Fran was kind, and she was patient.

  Eventually, I came around. Her warm hugs, sense of humor, and sweet potato pie made it easier. She loved my father fiercely, and he loved her right back – they were the kind of couple that was always on that touchy-feely shit, and didn’t care who saw it. I still remembered, still loved my mother, but as an adult, I could recognize that Fran was top notch.

  She’d insisted, from the beginning though, that she didn’t want me calling her “mama”

  KJ could call her whatever he wanted though, and she never minded. No matter what came out of his mouth, he always signed “Grandma”, and it also made her beam with joy.

  “Your daddy is down in the basement,” she told me, sitting KJ down at the table. “Go tell him it’s time to eat.”

  I followed her directions, cutting to the left for the stairs that led to my father’s “man cave” – the basement, which had been my living space before I left home.

  “Yo!” I called down the stairs as I descended, stopping at bottom to frown. “You’re playing pool by yourself?”

  He glanced up to acknowledge me, then went back to what he was doing, lining the pool stick up. “Not if you pick up a stick and join me.”

  “Can’t. Fran sent me down here to tell you the food was ready.” I glanced up at the ceiling as the doorbell rang, then back to him just in time to see him shaking his head.

  “Boy, I sure didn’t think I’d raised a punk,” he said in a somber tone, and my eyebrows shot up.

  “Oh, it’s like that?” I asked, laughing. “Since you’re talking shit, oh I can make time after dinner to tap that ass, how about that?”

  “Now that sounds like a son of mine,” he said, after finally taking the shot he’d lined up. He put the pool stick down, and rounded the table to pull me into a side hug, which he followed up by clapping me on the shoulder. “How you been? How’s those knees, boy?” he asked, and I kissed my teeth.

  “That shit ain’t funny, Pops.”

  “It is to me,” he chuckled, ignoring the sour look on my face.

  Ever since I’d left the NBA, my father had no qualms about teasing the fuck out of me about the injury that took me out. My father was, had always been, and would always be my biggest fan. Hell, the walls down here were covered in a paraphernalia from my short career in the NBA. He had, however, long contended that unless the ball was in my hands, I was clumsy on the court.

  That last game, I was the reason my teammates went home with another win on the roster. I’d made it all the way from the other end of the court, in a burst of speed that had the other team shaken up. I took it all the way to the basket, completing a contest-worthy dunk that made the crowd go wild. Ball went through like butter, I was feeling unstoppable… until my feet hit the floor, I slipped on sweat or something on the court, and my knees broke my fall with what felt like the force of ten thousand pounds. Trying to get up, my foot slid again, and my knee twisted under me – that was the injury I never came back from, and what had given my father fodder to call me “Butter Feet” for the next five years.

  He patted me on the back as we headed up the stairs. “I’m messing with you son. How’ve you been? You found you a young lady to settle down with yet?”

  I frowned. “Dude, I just talked to you like… what, three days ago? The answer is the same as it was then.”

  “And your answer lets me know you still don’t understand how quickly things can change,” He chuckled. “One day you swear you’re never going there again, and the next… you’re moving her in, making room for her toothbrush.”

  I shook my head as we reached the top of the stairs. “It ain’t going down like that for me. Not unless she’s a junior Fran, and fixes me one of those sweet potato pies that got you hooked.”

  He squeezed my shoulder, turning to me as we approached the entry to the dining room to give me a serious look. “Son… the sweet potatoes aren’t the pie that got your old man hooked.”

  “Man, ugh,” I laughed, giving him a playful shove as we stepped into the dining room. The smile on my face faded at the sight of Audrey, who I hadn’t been expecting, coming from the kitchen with a stack of plates in her hands. It completely died when I saw Matt, sitting his ass down instead of helping, and occupying the empty seat next to my son.

  “What’s up Dr. Polk?” I greeted, trying not to let my annoyance show on my face as I approached him, with my hand extended. My parents loved Audrey, and she was their grandson’s mother, so of course she was always welcome in their home. Somebody usually said something if she was coming though, and of course, this time no one had. And they especially hadn’t said I was going to have to share Fran’s mac and cheese with this corny dude.

  “You’re in the wrong spot, bruh,” I told him, giving him a firmer shake than necessary when he accepted my hand. “Go ahead a slide down a couple, and you’re good,” I said, with a reassuring nod and a fake ass smile, then continued through to the kitchen to grab whatever else needed to be brought to the table.

  Since his ass was socializing instead of helping.

  Fran gave me a “look” as I entered the kitchen, and I shrugged as I picked up a basket of warm, buttered cornbread in one hand, and a pitcher of iced tea in the other.

  “Kyle…,” she started, and instead of moving into the dining room, where Audrey was introducing Matt to my father, I stayed where I was. “I didn’t say anything because I wasn’t sure if you’d still come.”

  I sucked my teeth. “And miss Mustard Green Monday? Nah. I’m… cool.”

  “You just told that boy he was in the wrong seat, as if they were assigned.”

  “I’m… I’m just saying, I know you or Pops is going to want to be beside him, and one of his parents should be on the other side. Dude is pulling privileges he doesn’t have yet.”

  “You’ve never said anything about it if your Uncle, or cousins or something was over here, and you or Audrey ended up not beside him.”

  I nodded. “Yeah, cause they’re still family. If I’m gonna not sit by my son at dinner, I don’t mind that for family or something, but it’s not gonna be for Audrey’s boyfriend to sit by him. If that’s petty… okay. I’ll eat that. But I bet his ass moves to another seat.”

  Fran let out a hard sigh, but didn’t say anything else, so I moved along to help get the rest of the meal on the table. It ended up that Audrey was the one beside KJ, with Fran on his other side. My father sat between me and Matt, who ended up in the seat facing me.

  “Jeff, can you bless the food for us baby?” Fran asked my father, and he nodded. Afterwards, I watched Audrey fix KJ’s plate, waiting until he was served before I grabbed anything for myself. She must’ve felt my eyes on them, because she glanced up, giving me a cold look that I knew was about me not rolling out the welcome mat for her boyfriend.

  I grinned at her. I didn’t care, not even a little, about her being salty. It had been almost a month since I’d found out, four days before Valentine’s day, that she was seeing this dude. There still hadn’t been a formal introduction, any type of conversation about it, and yet she had his ass at my parent’s house for dinner.

  Her ass would skin me – and my dinner date – alive if this shit was the other way around.

  “So how are things up at the clinic?” Fran asked Audrey, as we passed the serving dishes around.

  The sourness Audrey had been wearing because of me dropped, and her whole demeanor warmed as she addressed Fran. “Really, really good. One of my patients who had been struggling hit a major milestone today. Cutest little girl, got hit by a car, and we’ve been working with her to get her mobile again. She held an orange today, which I mean… maybe it doesn’t sound like a big deal, but it is.”

  “Oh, we know. Remember
old Kyle here couldn’t even squat to take a shit on his own,” My father laughed, making me choke on the mouthful of iced tea I’d just swallowed.

  “That’s a bad word Pa-paw,” KJ giggled from the other side of the table, then chomped down a heaping bite of cornbread.

  “That’s right lil man, tell him,” I said, glad somebody around here was coming to my defense. “Tell your grandpa to stop being mean to me,” I signed, and KJ scowled as he turned to my father, dropped his fork, and did just that. The whole table erupted in laughter, and then we went back to our food, but a few moments later, Audrey had something else to say.

  “So, Kyle,” she started, clearly expecting me to give my attention to her, instead of my plate.

  “ ‘Sup?” I asked, with my mouth full of greens, and didn’t look up as I loaded my fork for the next mouthful.

  “Matt and I were talking, and we think it would be really cool if you could donate a few balls to—”

  “Only got two, Audrey. You already know that,” I said, looking up, and she rolled her eyes at the joke.

  “You know what I mean.”

  I nodded. “Finish telling me about the plans you and your boyfriend made for my time.”

  “Nobody is making plans for your time. I was just going to say, that we have kids at the therapy clinic who have NBA dreams, just like you did. For some of them, it’ll never be realized, but it would be cool if they had a ball as cool as the ones you do. It was just an idea though, you don’t have to do it.”

  “I know I don’t have to do it, but… I think it would be cool. We can talk some more about it. I’ve got time this week.”

  Her eyebrows hiked up like she was surprised, but then she nodded. “Cool. Thank you.”

  “Yes, thank you,” Matt added, and I had to struggle to keep my face from pulling into a scowl, and asking “was anybody fucking talking to you?”

  Luckily, Fran must have caught it, because she spoke up, shifting the conversation to ask Matt questions about himself. In my pocket, my cell phone vibrated, and I pulled it out under the table for a quick check.

  “What are you doing right now? – B.”