Grant stomped back to the bedroom, prepared to spout his new rules that had been tumbling around in his head.
“Zora, Winta, we need to ta---”
Standing in the doorway, Grant watched Zora kissing Winta passionately as she pistoned the dildo Garland had made from out of his erection in and out of Winta’s pussy.
Rule number three: never leave your hot girlfriend alone with an equally hot and horny neighbor.
“Fuck me,” Grant said and shook his head.
“Don’t worry. You’re next.” Winta winked.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Zora placed her hand on Grant’s knee as it bounced out of control under Garland’s dining room table.
She leaned over and whispered, “Are you okay, honey? You seem tense.”
He didn’t answer. Actually, now that she looked down at his dinner plate, he’d barely touched his food. What was wrong with him? Ever since last night after he’d watched her pleasure Winta, he’d been acting strange. Wasn’t like he hadn’t seen her and Winta go at it before.
Then he’d refused to come back to bed after they’d made love. Instead he’d slept in the spare bedroom. Zora had thought she’d heard him lock the door but she didn’t want to think that he couldn’t trust her so she never bothered to verify.
“Grant? Are you among the living tonight?” Garland asked.
Staring at the woman stroking her husband’s head as he knelt beside her, Zora smiled at the scene. What love Evan must have for his wife to give his complete trust to her. With her heart heavy and full of doubt, Zora glanced at her silent boyfriend, who kept his gaze down to his plate.
“Hello? Grant.” Garland snapped her fingers in his face.
The sound finally snapped Grant out of his thoughts. “What? Did you say something?”
Laughter erupted from Garland and Evan. Zora squeezed Grant’s hand tighter. Her belly quivered as she wondered what vexed her man. After all of these months, had he grown tired of this lifestyle?
Staring at him closely, she caught him peering at her from the side, peeking at her like a mischievous child. She loosened her grip. The first thought that hit her involved seeing Grant taking a raucous tumble with his boss. She shook that thought away. He loved her. If he loved her so much, why hadn’t he asked her to marry him?
“I’ve been sharing a wonderful story about finding a rare Frieda Kahlo painting for my gallery and you haven’t said a word,” Garland said. She picked up her wine glass. “I half-expected you to make some smart remark about my purchase. What’s wrong, Grant? Are we wearing you out?”
“Yeah, something like that,” he replied in a tone so low it sounded like a whisper.
Zora blinked when he pushed back from the table. Seeing him on the move jumpstarted her heart.
“I don’t know what you all have planned, but I’m feeling tired. I’m going to head on home,” Grant said. He held his hand out to Zora. “Come on.”
“Wait.” Garland held her hand up, which stopped all movement. “You have a bug up your ass and all of a sudden Zora has to go home with you? Why can’t she stay if she wants?”
“Damn it, Garland. Did you ever once think about the fact that not everything is about you?”
Cocking her arched eyebrow, Garland smirked before answering him. “No. It never occurred to me that the solar system does not revolve around little ol’ me.”
“Maybe I want to take my girlfriend home so that I can discuss with her about whatever you all think is bothering me.”
“Or maybe you’re jealous that Zora has adapted to the Fascination Street way of life faster than you. Maybe you don’t know what you want. Or maybe you’re just hiding something.”
On the final accusation, Grant’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. If Zora wasn’t mistaken, color rushed from his face. A thin sheen of sweat covered his upper lip. His anxiety transferred to her until she started fidgeting in her seat.
Grant released an unconvincing snicker and said, “Don’t be ridicu---”
The slam of the front door cut him off. As though the strong summer winds propelled him inside, Art rushed into the house, pulling Winta behind him. Instead of his cool demeanor, Art carried a harsh scowl on his face. Dressed in only pajama pants and Winta in the matching pajama top, Art let go of Winta’s hand to be able to grab Grant by his shirt and shove him against the wall.
A slouch by no means, Grant clamped down on Art’s wrists to hold his position.
“Jesus!” Zora bolted to her feet and tried to separate the duo. “Art, what are you doing?”
“You son-of-a-bitch,” Art growled between gritted teeth.
Red flashed in his eyes. He could have killed with that look.
“What’s going on?” Zora asked. She braced one hand on Art’s arm and the other against Grant’s chest to split the two bull-headed men.
“One thing,” Art began. “I asked you for one thing while I was gone and you couldn’t do that. I thought I could trust you.”
“Art, what is it you think Grant did?” Garland questioned.
“I asked you not to fuck my wife while I was gone.”
“I didn’t! I swear to you.”
“Grant’s right. I was with him the entire time.” Zora tried to gain eye contact with Art, who only stared more intently at Grant.
“But you let Zora fuck her.”
Silence fell on the room.
“I told you I wanted this anniversary to be special,” Art began, pressing harder against Grant’s chest. “I told you that I wanted her ravenous for me when I came home. Instead she tells me that Zora fucked her with the dildo Garland made of your cock. It’s like you fucked her.”
“No, it isn’t. I never touched her.” Grant pushed Art off of him finally.
“I didn’t know that’s what you wanted, Art.” Zora’s throat tightened. Her eyes became scratchy.
“That’s what I figured, Zora. I knew Grant would have withheld that little piece of information. So now what should have been special has been turned to shit because of you. If you can’t be open and honest with your wife,” Art shook his head, “I mean girlfriend, then you don’t belong here. Then I hear you had sex with Zora without a condom.”
A collective gasp from Garland and Evan brought Zora’s gaze to the duo.
“I forgot,” Grant said.
“You can’t. That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you about living here. It’s more than just you. It’s the group. So that’s two violations. I have no choice but to punish you.”
“Wait. It was my fault,” Zora said, pleading with Art before he handed down the disciplinary act.
Art continued without acknowledging Zora. “From this point on, you and Zora will be shunned from the rest of the group. No parties, no dinners, no get togethers and no sex with us. When your lease is up, I will not allow you to renew. You will have to move from Fascination Street at that time.”
“No!” Zora felt her chin quivering as she clamored to Art. “Please, he made a mistake. Don’t shut us out.”
Art held Zora’s hands to keep them away from him. “I’m sorry. But you two are a unit. Anything he does is a reflection on you, and vice versa. I can’t allow the delicate system we have here to be ruined by someone determined to do his own thing.” Art smoothed his fingers down the side of Zora’s face. “I’m sorry, Zora. It was nice knowing you.”
Securing Winta’s hand, Art left the house in the same flurry he entered.
“I think you two need to leave,” Garland said and stood.
This time Evan stood with her. With his incredible height and angry expression, he appeared menacing. Zora’s stomach knotted so much from the thought of losing these people that she felt nauseous. So as not to further alienate herself from the group by vomiting on their hardwood floors, she swallowed several times while holding onto her stomach.
“Please don’t do this, Garland,” Zora pleaded. “We can still be friends, can’t we?”
“Doesn’t work t
hat way here.” Garland leaned toward her husband and whispered something in his ear. When he walked away, Garland continued. “It’s all or nothing.” She averted her gaze. “I’m sorry.”
And from the tips of her toes to the top of her head, Zora knew Garland meant the sincere apology. No matter if her neighbor felt remorseful or not, Evan held the door open for her and Grant. With only his eyes, Evan demanded they leave.
Grant reached for Zora’s hand but she snatched it away.
“Zo?”
His voice made her feel numb inside. With her head down, her arms wrapped around her trembling body and taking determined steps, she stormed outside, wanting so much to look at Evan, fearing it would be the last time she would be this close to the man. But she refrained, desiring to keep just a shred of her dignity.
Once the door closed behind her and Grant, everything changed.
***
“See,” Grant began as he followed Zora. “I knew these people would turn their backs on us. I knew they couldn’t be trusted.”
The look Zora gave him could have melted a battleship down to nothing. “They couldn’t be trusted? You lied to me and Winta, and you have the nerve to say that they’re the problem?”
This time when Grant reached out for her he managed to snag her hand. She balled it into a fist.
“I never lied to you. How could you say that?” One tug and he had her in his face, just where he wanted her.
“Why didn’t you tell me what Art requested for Winta? He said no sex, didn’t he? You could have told me.”
“I thought he meant only me. I didn’t know he was talking about you, too.”
She rolled her eyes and it roiled his stomach.
“You still should have told me. I wouldn’t have done what I did to her that night.” She shook her head. “Damn it, Grant. When are you going to learn to trust people?”
“And when are you going to figure out that these people aren’t really your friends? A few mistakes and they drop us. What kind of friendship is that? I mean, after all of this you still love me, right?”
A bright flash from behind Grant illuminated the front of Garland and Evan’s house. Their yard light had been triggered. Zora’s attention turned to Art and Winta’s house. As though just her gaze had sparked it, their outside light came on as well. Zora peered over her shoulder to Brax and Lynia’s house. Within milliseconds, their outside light flashed on as well.
Even with crickets chirping away, Grant caught the subtle sound of door tumblers churning in their locks.
“Damn,” Grant said between gritted teeth.
A hard tug released her hand from Grant’s grip. “No.” Like a rabid lioness hunting for prey, Zora’s gaze darted around the newly-lit cul-de-sac. “We’re really out.” At the top of her lungs she screamed, “Don’t shut us out! Please! Don’t do this!”
Her overwhelming need for these people struck Grant like a smack in the face. He ran to her, standing in front of her to gain eye contact. Zora looked around him at the other houses like he wasn’t even there, or worse, like he didn’t even matter.
“Zora, stop. They’re just people. It’s not like we don’t have other friends. It was just sex.”
The last line got him a harsh shove that made him stumble back three steps.
“You can’t replace friends.”
And with her animalistic fury, she stormed off to the house, the house they would be moving from in about three months. Putting his hands to his waist, Grant strolled around the street trying to clear his thoughts.
What was it about this place that got Zora so worked up about it? Was she so caught up in the sex that she mistook it for friendship or was there actually something he was missing from this arrangement?
He scanned the front of each home. Three had their outside lights lit. His home, which housed his hopeful Zora, remained quiet with its light extinguished. In Zora’s eyes, Grant had fucked up big time. He had to make it up to her, with or without these people. If she loved him like he loved her, she would give him a chance.
***
Hunched down below her front window, Zora never imagined that she would have to stalk her neighbors to get an opportunity to talk with one of them. The week had gone by without a single word from them. Not a hello. Not a wave. Not a smile.
She continued her morning walk even though Lynia stopped walking with her. Phone calls to Brax on her diet weren’t answered or returned. Remembering those desperate calls hit her harder than she thought it would.
A chill traveled down her spine until she shivered as she waited patiently by the window. At the first sign of Brax’s door opening, Zora stood and rushed outside. The way he kept his head down as he went to his car, it wasn’t apparent to Zora whether or not he saw her coming.
“Wait!” she screamed as she ran across the court.
At the foot of his driveway, she planted herself, waving her arms in the air as he backed his luxury ride down the cobblestone drive. Expecting him to stop, Zora didn’t move from her spot until she noticed he hadn’t slowed down.
“Brax!” she screamed.
Zora caught him looking into his rearview mirror just seconds before he slammed onto his brakes and stopped short of mowing her down. If she could have run, she would have. As it was, her body remained cemented to her spot until Brax put the car in park and hopped out, storming toward her.
“What the hell are you doing?” he asked. “Why were you standing behind my car? I could have seriously hurt you.”
Zora breathed a sigh of relief. Just hearing Brax’s voice, whether he was yelling at her or not, slowed her racing heart.
Without thinking, she threw her arms around his neck and held him close. He still smelled of that musky cologne she’d always loved. Her hand touched the back of his head. He’d kept up the buzz cut and the short hairs tickled the palm of her hand. Things were the way they should be.
Then Brax grabbed Zora’s arms and brought them down. “No,” he said as though admonishing Lynia. “You and Grant are being punished. Pretty soon you’ll be out of the neighborhood. I’m not even supposed to talk to you.”
“Please, don’t do this, Brax. I need you and Lynia and Winta and everyone else here. It’s more than just sex for me. I need you to help me with my diet. I haven’t eaten all week.”
To punctuate her point her stomach grumbled so loudly that Brax peered down at her belly.
“Honey, you have to eat.” He touched her stomach.
Zora knew he meant the touch to be comforting. But her body reacted differently. A current flowed from her aching cunt. Her pebbled nipples strained against her bra cups. Knowing Brax’s uncanny ability to read physical reactions, she grabbed his hand that rested on her belly. She couldn’t let him go. Not just yet.
“Zora.”
But she ignored his questioning tone and eased his hand up to her breast.
To feel him snatch his hand away drained the life from inside of her. Her throat constricted. Her gaze met his. With all of the power she had inside of her, Zora kept from blinking and releasing the waves of tears held back by her eyelids.
“I’m sorry. You just don’t understand what’s going on here.” Brax ducked back into his car but did bring the window down to continue the conversation.
“Then make me understand. I didn’t do anything wrong. And Grant didn’t know he was doing anything wrong either. Why are we being punished? Why have you all stopped being our friends?”
“As free and as open as our lifestyle is, the rules are in place for a reason. They’re to protect us. If one couple doesn’t obey then there’s no choice but to cut them out like a cancer.”
The reference made her wince. She wrapped her arms around her body. Her tears flowed freely. What was the use of stopping them?
“If it isn’t obvious to you, then it is to the rest of us. You and Grant need to have a serious talk. And I don’t mean for you two to do this in order to stay in the neighborhood either. If you want your relationship to
last, you both need to clear the air. You and Grant are a unit. You need to act as one and accept the consequences as one. If you aren’t together, then the unit falls apart.” He threw the car in reverse. Without looking at her he said, “Good luck.” Then drove off.
The tears that erupted the further away Brax got seemed never-ending. Seeing him go went beyond just losing a lover. She’d lost a confidante, a dietician, a trainer and a friend.
And now she’d given up her job. She’d isolated herself from her friends and family. What did she have now? Where the hell was she supposed to go?
***
Lying in bed, Grant glanced over at Zora. On her side, she had a magazine open but he wasn’t sure she was even reading anything, much like him. He had a book in his hands and he’d read the first line over and over again for the last hour. The light in his vibrant girlfriend had been extinguished.
Putting his hand on her hip, he let out a long breath when she didn’t jump this time. Maybe she’d forgiven him for the mistake he’d made. Not telling Zora about Winta and the “no sex” rule was a huge mistake. But he would never apologize for wanting to have sex with Zora without a condom. They had been having sex that way for well over a year. And he wanted to have it that way for more years to come.
After setting down his book, he slid behind her. Since that night when all hell had broken loose, the two hadn’t made love. When he wrapped his arm around her waist, Grant could almost hear every cell in his body letting out a long sigh of relief.
“I’m sorry, babe,” he said for what he felt was the thousandth time.
“I know.” Zora didn’t turn her head to even look at him.
His thumb stroked her bare stomach underneath her t-shirt. “You know if there was anything I could do to make it up to you, I would.”
Zora flipped a page in her magazine. “I know.”
He nuzzled his face in her hair and inhaled her sweet jasmine scent. The smell inflated his dick until his only relief came when he rubbed himself against Zora’s juicy ass.
Fascination Street Page 27
