“Much better.”
We started to play checkers, and almost thirty minutes later the doorbell rang. I stood up and removed the robe. I tossed it next to Lance, and he smirked while shaking his head. He rested his arms on top of the couch, waiting for me to open the door.
“Who is it?” I asked.
“You already know who it is. Open the door.”
“I have company right now, Korey. I’ll call you later.”
“So? Screw your company. Open the door.”
I paused for a moment, then opened the door. Korey looked me over. When he stepped inside, he saw Lance sitting on the couch with no expression on his face. He looked too convincing and I loved it!
“Do you want me to leave?” Lance asked.
“No, baby. Stay right there.”
Korey stood in awe. His hands were in his pockets and he cut his eyes at me. “Why haven’t you been answering your phone? I’ve been calling you all day.”
I glanced over at Lance, then back at Korey. “Can’t you see? I’ve been busy. What is it that you want?”
“I just wanted to tell you that I did not send those flowers to Claudette. I was only playing with you earlier, and when I spoke to my mother, she told me she sent them. Now what?”
“Nothing. You assumed that I was jealous, but I wasn’t. I really don’t give a damn who sent them, but as I said, I’m busy tonight. You need to stop showing up like this, and it is such an inconvenience for me to have to explain our relationship to Lance.”
“I know that’s right,” Lance added. “And I ain’t happy about what’s going on, either.”
“Then step,” Korey suggested. “I need to talk to her about some things anyway, and I’m sure you already got what you came here for.”
“I always do,” Lance spat. “And since I’m right across the hall, I can have access anytime I want to. As for tonight, I’m not leaving, you are. Quickly state your business, chump, as I’m in a hurry to conduct mine.”
I wanted to crack up from the look on Korey’s face. Men were something else, especially the ones who were in relationships with other people. I knew he didn’t think he had it like that with me, did he? As he stood there looking stupid, I guessed he was starting to get the picture that good dick could in no way win me over. What one man could do, there was always another one who could do it better.
“Cool,” Korey said to Lance. “Have your fun tonight, but since you and Chase got this open relationship going on, I hope she told you about our time at the Christmas party that night. If you’ve been so good to her, then why was she off in another room fucking me? You ain’t all that, brotha, and don’t think that this is the last you’ll see of me.”
“I suspect not, and, as a matter of fact, she did tell me about that night. Said it wasn’t as satisfying as she had hoped it would be. I had to pick up where you left off.”
“Wait a minute,” I said. Now they were starting to go too far. Korey had no business telling what we’d done at the Christmas party. How dare he try to bust me out, especially when I hadn’t said one word to Claudette? And Lance shouldn’t have said that Korey wasn’t satisfying. I knew I’d want some of that dick at a later date, so I had to quickly clear things up. “I need both of you to exit tonight. I got a headache right now, and I am in no mood to deal with this.”
Lance got up from the couch, tossing his shirt over his shoulder. He stepped to the door and placed his finger underneath my chin to lift it. “I’ll see you tomorrow, cupcake. Sleep well.” He placed a juicy kiss on my lips, and adding a little something extra, he patted my ass. I was in no way mad, but he didn’t have to go so far. Korey watched Lance exit, and when he closed the door, Korey still didn’t want to leave.
“What do you want me to do?” he asked. “I apologize for joking with you earlier. I can’t believe you can’t take a joke.”
I opened the door. “Well, this isn’t a joke, Korey. I’m tired and I want you to leave. Don’t make me sit here and argue with you about this. I truly felt as if our relationship would never reach this level. You’re starting to turn me off and disappointment me. Don’t.”
He pouted and left like a whiny child who couldn’t have his way. Maybe he and Claudette had more in common than I’d thought. The childish behavior was, indeed, working me.
Chapter 5
The week went by pretty quickly. Friday was here before I knew it, and by then, Veronica was back to work. She seemed much better, and after I had shown her my mother’s house the other day, she couldn’t wait to move in. I hadn’t been to the house in months, because every time I went there it brought back bad memories of my father inappropriately touching me. Paid for or not, I would never live there again. Still, it was good to know that the house wouldn’t just sit there and go to waste.
At first, I didn’t even want to go inside, but when I saw how excited Veronica’s daughter was about the size of her new room, I felt at ease. The walls needed to be painted, and I had some plumbing work that needed to be done. Other than that, Veronica agreed to pay me $900 a month for rent, and she and I signed a rental agreement yesterday. I told her I’d help her paint the rooms, so we made arrangements to take care of that on Saturday. I asked if she’d heard from Tony, and she said he hadn’t called at all. She was so anxious to move from that house, but I made her promise to take care of mine. Even though I had some bad memories there, I still didn’t want a tenant who intended to mess it up.
I left for lunch, and went to the bank to cash my check. I kept reminding myself to call a certain financial planner so he could help me budget my money better, and when I pulled my car over, I searched for Steven’s business card in my purse. I dialed his number, but his secretary answered the phone.
“I would like to make an appointment to speak with Mr. Smith about financial planning.”
“Are you a new client?”
“Yes, I am. He was highly recommended by a friend.”
“Okay,” she said. “Let me check his calendar.” She paused for a moment, then spoke up. “How does next Friday sound? I can pencil you in for eleven o’clock.”
“You don’t have anything sooner? I was hoping to get in sooner.”
“Normally, he doesn’t come in on the weekends, but if that’s the only time you can make it, I’ll see if he can do a Saturday or Sunday afternoon.”
“Sunday would be great. Maybe around four or five?”
She put me on hold, and when she came back to the phone, she confirmed four o’clock on Sunday. She gave me directions to his office, and also gave me a list of things to bring. I thanked her and ended the call.
Before heading back to work, I stopped by the Galleria to get a pair of shoes I’d seen early on in the week. Just as I was leaving, I spotted Drake’s black Lincoln MKS parked in the parking lot, near The Cheesecake Factory. Since he hadn’t called me, I guess he had sobered up and was mad at me for setting his house on fire. I had gotten over it, but when I looked inside of the restaurant and saw him sitting at a table with a woman, it infuriated me.
I didn’t know if she was a client of his, but by the way he was smiling and touching her hand, I suspected not. I didn’t want him to see me, so I quickly walked away from the window. I looked through my keys, searching for one that had the sharpest point on the end. When I found it, I slowly walked beside his car, pressing hard on the key and causing it to scrape off the paint. The key left long, deep scratches, and it looked pretty good against his black shiny car. I smiled, and hurried back to work so I wouldn’t be late. When I got there, the receptionist stopped me in the lobby.
“Chase, these came for you while you were at lunch.”
I looked at the bouquet of red roses, and smiled because I knew who they were from. I read the card;
Answer your phone and talk to me, please. Can’t stop thinking about you, and if we have to play by your rules, so be it.
Sounded like a plan to me, and I couldn’t wait until the day was over so I could thank Korey like I w
anted to. The moment I got back to my desk, Claudette was already on her feet, and so was Veronica.
“Somebody’s in love,” Claudette said. “Are those from Lance?”
“No,” I said. “They’re from someone else. Someone special and someone I truly admire.”
Veronica poked me in my side. “You need to stop keeping secrets from us. I’m going to find out who this mystery man of yours is, and you won’t be able to keep him a secret for long.”
“No, she won’t. Not as nosy as we are, and you should be proud to speak about a man who gives you flowers. Korey is…”
I knew Claudette would throw Korey into this, and as she went on and on, I sniffed the roses and excused myself to go call him. I went to the closed-in stairway that was an emergency exit. I sat on the concrete stairs and dialed his cell phone number.
“It’s about damn time,” he said. “Are you happy now? I purchased those myself, and I assure you that my mother had nothing to do with it.”
“Flowers don’t move me, Korey, but the thought was nice. I’m just horny and I figured you would be too. See you around eight and don’t be late.”
“Not a chance.”
“Not a minute earlier, either. I have some stops to make, so don’t expect me to be there until eight.”
Korey hung up on me, but that was fine with me. I expected him to arrive at eight, and I wasn’t surprised when the knock on my door came at 7:59 P.M. I was already naked, and when I opened the door, I took Korey’s hand and pulled him inside. I closed the door and cornered him in front of the door. My eyes searching his said exactly what I wanted, and I wasted no time removing his jacket and belt. I unzipped his jeans and, as I lowered them to his ankles, I kneeled in front of him. I had never given him oral sex before, but I felt up to it tonight. My mouth went into action, and I soaked him with my saliva. I tightened my jaws, giving extra attention to his head that was so sensitive. My hand was working with the rhythm of my mouth, and as I sped up my movement, Korey’s legs were weakening. I massaged his sacks while listening to him moan loudly.
“I am so fucked up,” he admitted. “What are you doing to me? Suck this dick, baby. Thank you for sucking this muthafucka like this. Damn, you’re good. Too, too good.”
He pumped himself into my mouth, and as I felt his dick pulsating, I backed my mouth away from it. I used the swift strokes of my hand to bring him to an eruption, and it was a good one, too. His lava oozed out, dripping down my hand like a hot volcano.
“Damn,” was all he could say. He gripped his dick to calm it, and I watched his ripped stomach heave in and out. I stood up, and picked up a towel from the table to wipe my hands.
That night, I was spent and so was Korey. We had done the wild thing all over my apartment, and were now in my bedroom, sprawled out on my bed. I was tired as ever, more so because I couldn’t get any sleep. Korey’s phone was ringing off the hook all night, and he had finally gotten up around three o’clock in the morning to turn it off. That allowed me to get a little sleep, but by morning, I was still feeling sluggish. I definitely didn’t feel like painting today, but I told Veronica I would help her, so I had to get up.
“Why are you up so early?” Korey asked.
“It’s already nine o’clock, and I told a friend of mine that I’d help her paint.”
Korey yawned and moved to the edge of the bed. As I walked by him, he grabbed my waist and sat me on his lap. “Have you thought about what I said?” he asked.
“You’ve said a lot. What specifically are you referring to?”
“About us hooking up as a couple. I’m feeling this, Chase, and I want to start doing some things with you, outside of this apartment. Personally, I think we can have a good relationship and I’m ready to do this.”
“What about Claudette? She would never accept you leaving her, especially for me. You would make work hectic for me, and I don’t want to go to work fighting with her about us being together.”
“Then, what do you want me to do? I refuse to be with a woman who I’m not feeling much for anymore, and you, yourself, recommended that I tell her how I feel.”
“I don’t care if you tell her how you feel or not, but just don’t tell her about me. It would really cause problems for me, and I don’t know if I can handle that right now. Give this a little more time, okay?”
“I think you want more time because you don’t want to give up old boy across the hall. Are you in love with him?”
I stood up and pecked Korey’s lips. “If I were in love with anyone, I wouldn’t be in this bed with you. My relationship with him isn’t that serious, and he’s only there for convenience. When I’m alone, I call him.”
“But you don’t have to be alone. You can be with me, and, trust me, this shit will work. You have yet to acknowledge our connection. Why are we letting what we feel for each other go to waste?”
“We won’t. But, just don’t rush this. I want to be sure that this is the right thing to do. When I’m able to look Claudette in the eyes and tell her that I’ve fallen in love with you, then we’ll make some changes. Right now, I’m not in love. I do, however, feel our connection, but it’s not enough for me right now. In time, maybe so.”
Korey and I cleaned up in the shower, and, like always, being with him in that manner was nice. Still, I was in no way ready for what he wanted. If he continued to turn up the pressure, I’d have to put Plan B in place, and that consisted of getting rid of him.
Veronica decided to keep it simple. She wanted all white walls, so we painted them room by room. Now, give or take, there were only seven rooms in the house, but the bedrooms weren’t that small. The kitchen wasn’t either, so it took us longer than expected. By four o’clock, I realized that I should have gotten someone to help us, so doing what I knew best, I called Lance. He was already out and about. He said that he could be there within the hour. I couldn’t believe how nice he’d been to me, and I appreciated his friendship so much. I realized that we had a lot in common. Just the other day, he’d stepped into the hallway with his cell phone, asking me to answer it.
Apparently, he didn’t want to talk to the woman on the other end, and he was trying to get rid of her. I told the woman that I was at his apartment, and I was his woman. She called me all kinds of names and hung up on me. Lance said that he’d been trying to ditch her for months, but she didn’t know how to take no for an answer. We laughed about the games we were playing, and I told him if he ever needed me again to let me know. The same went for him.
Veronica knew that Lance and I were just neighbors, so I asked if she wanted me to hook her up. I made it clear to her that he was a dog, but Veronica said she was just looking for someone to have some fun with. When Lance arrived, she was all smiles. She insisted that he was so handsome to her, and as he started to paint the hallway with his shirt off, she pulled me aside.
“Please tell him that I want to hook up with him,” she whispered.
“Calm down,” I said. “I promise to get around to it.”
I had seen Lance’s taste in women, and it was just okay. Veronica was a very pretty girl, but I wasn’t sure about her size.
“Whew,” I said, sitting on the floor, wiping the sweat from my forehead. Veronica sat next to me, sweating profusely as well. It was a good thing that her daughter wasn’t there with us; if she had been, she would have passed out from heat exhaustion.
Lance stepped down from the ladder and stood in front of us. “Why y’all sitting down being lazy? We are almost finished, and after I finish, there are one and a half rooms left to go.”
I fell back on the floor, sighing from the thought of painting one more room. I wanted my bed so badly, and I couldn’t wait to get home. “Can’t you finish the rest?” I asked Lance. “We’ve been at this all day and my arms feel as if they are about to fall off.”
“Mine too,” Veronica said. “Maybe we can come back tomorrow.”
That would cut into my time with Steven, so hell no, we weren’t coming back t
omorrow. We were finishing up today.
Lance picked up a bucket of paint. “I don’t mind finishing up, but I’m about to run out of paint. If somebody will go with me to get another bucket, I’ll have this done in no time.”
I was gaming for that, and I opted to go with Lance. We hadn’t eaten anything all day, so I got Veronica’s order for Chinese food. As Lance and I drove to Home Depot, I turned down the music so I could tell him Veronica was interested.
“Hey, Lance. What do you think of my friend Veronica?”
“She seems nice. This is only the second time I’ve seen her, but I can tell she’s a sweet person.”
“Is she cute?”
“Very.”
“Would you be interested in taking her on a date?”
He shrugged his shoulders, but didn’t comment yet.
“She said that she likes you. Could you see yourself being with someone like her?”
He shrugged again. “I’m not really sure, but personally, I kind of like somebody else.”
“You like a whole lot of people,” I laughed, referring to the women I’d seen at his house. “But I’m just curious if you’d take her on a date.”
“Nah, I don’t think that would be a good idea.”
“Why not? I think the two of you would have fun.”
He parked his truck in the Home Depot parking lot and turned off the engine. “It’s wouldn’t be a good idea because I’m digging a close friend of hers. There’s no doubt that I’d have fun with Veronica, but I think I’d have so much more fun with you.”
For whatever reason, I was stunned. Lance and I seemed to have this cute little brother-sister thing going on, and I didn’t think he was interested in me in such a way. I pointed to myself. “Me. You’re interested in dating me?”
“Yep. Why not you?”
“Because…” I really couldn’t think of a reason, but I said, “No. You shouldn’t want to date a woman like me. You and I both play too many games. It would be a mess. I can’t believe you suggested something so ridiculous.”
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