Distracted

by Warren, Alexandra

  It shouldn’t have surprised me when Bryson decided to drop the bomb of Landon’s apparent infidelity on my last day working for him. It was like he just couldn’t come to terms with what was really happening; that we were really done with each other. It wasn’t like we frequented the same places or ran in any of the same circles, so I probably wouldn’t ever see him again.

  At least I hoped I would never see him again.

  Because every time I saw him, there was a rush of emotions that wondered what if, a feeling of guilt from getting so deeply involved, a curiosity that honestly led me to believe there was some truth to his actions beyond the constant seduction and manipulation, and…

  “Alright, babe. I’ll be back tonight. No need to wait up though. I’m sure it’ll be a later one than usual since we have a couple Philly players hosting.”

  I never purposely waited up; it was usually because I had too much on my mind to go to sleep.

  But tonight…

  Tonight would be different.

  I was on a mission.

  So I tried to sound as normal as I could as I replied, “Oh. Okay. Well I’ll just see you in the morning then.”

  Before he headed to the door, he leaned in to give me a kiss on the cheek. He probably thought he was doing me a favor by being nice to me after my guilty admission, but we’d be finding out who was really the bad guy tonight.

  &

  “Kennedy, you look ridiculous,” Chloe whispered as I pulled my hat low over my eyes. I thought the outfit was kind of cute; my black NY fitted cap giving an edgy look to the black leather skin-tight pants and black tank covered by a black blazer then complemented with a pair of black high-heeled sandals. But of course, Chloe was just being a hater as usual.

  I probably could’ve pulled the mission off alone, but something about having an accomplice made it real, though I hadn’t given her all the details of the situation. She ran her mouth way too much for me to tell it all.

  I kept my head down as I paid the cover charge and Chloe did the same. Then we entered the club trying not to look the least bit suspicious, though it immediately felt like all eyes were on us. The crowd was relatively thick, but I assumed that had something to do with the slew of basketball players Landon mentioned being in attendance.

  Speaking of Landon…

  I looked towards the stage and saw him at his normal post, observing the crowd before turning back to the dancer and using a push broom to collect her earnings as she finished her set. He tossed her a towel to wipe the pole down before helping her from the stage and handing her the money-filled container.

  Well this looks nor…

  “Oh, hell no! Did you see Landon touch that girl?!” My eyes were already beaming in their direction when Chloe spoke. The girl was smiling her little ass off as Landon followed her to the back.

  What the fuck?

  “Kennedy, did you hear me?!”

  I tried to stay calm as I responded, “I heard you, Chloe. I’m gonna go see what’s going on. Stay here, alright?” I didn’t have time to wait on an actual response as I was already headed their way.

  I was almost past the prohibited area when a big, burly man stepped in front of me.

  “Whoa, little lady. This area is for employees only.”

  Shit.

  Think, Kennedy!

  I put on the sexiest voice I could muster and told him, “I… umm. I’m new here. It’s my first night.”

  He seemed intrigued, crossing his arms over his massive chest to ask, “Oh word? What’s your name, sweetie?”

  “That’s for me to know and you to find out… big daddy.” I cringed on the inside knowing my real father would kill me if he ever heard me calling some random man that name. But the gigantic man only smiled, a genuine one I hardly expected from a guy in his position.

  “I hear you, mama. Well good luck tonight. It’s a lotta money out there to be made if you know what you’re doing.”

  “Th… thank you,” I stumbled as I squeezed past him.

  The back was loud with all of the ladies going on and on about how they better get picked for the baller’s section. I figured if Landon was doing dirt, he probably wouldn’t be doing it with all this company. So I continued my way to the back, passing a few offices before I found exactly what I was looking for.

  “Brandy told me it was big so I had to see for myself.”

  He let out an unrecognizable laugh as he replied, “I can assure you that Brandy wasn’t lying, baby girl.”

  I had already heard enough.

  I stepped in the room, announcing my presence with a question. “Oh, you can?”

  He muffed the girl to the side, approaching me with short, urgent steps. “Kennedy! What the… what are you doing here, babe?”

  I remained calm, refusing to cause a scene. “Just passing through, checking on my fiancé. But I see I should’ve done this little visit earlier so I could’ve figured out how much of a fraud you are.”

  “Fraud? Kennedy, it’s not what it looks like. I swear. We were just...”

  I held my hand up to stop him. “Landon, just save it, alright? Let me remember you as the good person you were, not the bullshitter you’ll turn yourself into if you say another word.”

  He looked on the verge of tears as he put his arms around my waist to say, “We all make mistakes, Kennedy. I… I fucked up just like you.”

  “Correction. You were actively fucking up for who knows how long and only feel remorseful because you got caught. I was brutally honest with you about my indiscretions. So like I said, save the bullshit. I’m done with this.”

  I tried to walk off, but he caught me by my wrist.

  “Kennedy, please. We can work this out. We can fix this.” His eyes held so much promise, his words sounded so sincere. But as I looked behind him at the girl that for whatever reason felt the need to stay and listen in on our whole conversation, I realized that I would be doing a lot more than settling if I took him back.

  So I took a deep breath before I confidently pushed out, “Landon… it’s been real.”

  His eyes zeroed in on me as I turned to walk away, out of the room and past the big burly man from before. I went back to where I had left Chloe and of course she wasn’t there.

  Damnit!

  “Kennedy! Kennedy, over here!” I looked towards the VIP sections and there she was, yelling over the shoulder of a guy I recognized as Wes. I was more than ready to go, but I certainly didn’t wanna knock her game. So I kept my head low as I headed her way.

  Once I made it up the short set of stairs, Chloe bombarded me with a shot glass.

  “It’s Wes’s birthday, so take the shot!”

  Wes stood nearby smiling as he lifted a shot glass of his own. I knew it probably wasn’t a good idea to start drinking in my current semi-frazzled state, but one shot wouldn’t hurt. So I clinked glasses with Wes, tossing it back and embracing the burn of the situation.

  Bryson

  I woke up to the sound of my doorbell ringing non-stop. I grabbed my phone to take a peek at the time and only found a slew of missed calls from Wes, probably trying to get in touch since I didn’t show up to his birthday party. After what had gone down with Landon, I didn’t think it was a good idea for me to show my face at the club again so soon. But I wasn’t ready to let Wes in on that situation quite yet, so I chose to just avoid it altogether.

  The doorbell rang a few times more, reminding me why I had woken up in the first place and forcing me to climb out of bed to tend to it. Since it was late at night, I was cautious as I peeked through the side window. But once I figured out who it was, I opened it immediately.

  Kennedy laughed her way from Wes’s arms to mine as she slurred, “Hiii, Bryson.”

  I caught her, stumbling back a little from the unexpected looseness of her frame.

  “What the hell is going on?”

  Wes had the nerve to laugh as he answered, “She got wayyy too lit, bruh. And I offered to give her a ride home, but she said sh
e wanted to come here.” Kennedy let out another laugh as I sat her down on the entryway bench.

  “She did?” Now that surprised me.

  He patted me on the shoulder with another laugh. “Yeah, man. So I listened to the lady and brought her here. Now if you don’t need anything else, I’d love to tend to her friend who’s waiting for me in the whip.”

  Ohh, that’s what this is about.

  “Nah, we’re good, bro. Thanks for getting her here safely.”

  “No problem, B-Money. Ya’ll be good now.”

  I watched as he jogged from my doorstep back to his car before I closed the door. Then I turned around and saw that Kennedy was nowhere to be found.

  Where the hell did she go?

  I heard a door shut upstairs and though I didn’t know how she could’ve made it up there so fast, I climbed the stairs two-by-two to catch up with her. I passed a bunch of open guest room doors until I landed on the only door that was shut; my bedroom.

  Not now, Kenn...

  I braced myself before I opened the door, not sure what I’d be walking in on.

  I didn’t see her right away. But as I went further into the room, I noticed a bump moving under the comforter.

  “Kennedy, what are you doing?” I asked as I approached the bed, stepping on a pile of her discarded clothes.

  Her voice was muffled as she rolled around on the mattress. “I’ve always wondered what these sheets felt like. I mean, I got to see them all the time. But to feel them on my bare skin... all 1,000 threads of Egyptian cotton. Mmm…”

  I sat on the edge of the bed, pulling the comforter back to see her face.

  Damn, she’s faded as hell.

  Her eyes sat low and slanted as she smiled when they finally landed on me.

  “Come onnnn, Bryson. Come lay with me.”

  I scooted a little closer, pushing her hair from her forehead as I told her, “Kennedy, that’s not a good idea and you know it. You’re drunk. Way drunk. You can stay here, but I’m going to the guest room.”

  She looked defeated as I tossed the comforter back over her face. It took everything in me to leave her alone, especially knowing there wasn’t much covering her body under the comforter. But there was no way I was gonna take advantage of her current state. People go down over shit like that way too often and I already had enough going wrong in my corner to risk another case.

  My hand was on the doorknob when I felt something smack me in the back of the head. I turned around, picking it up from the ground as I said, “Really, Kenn? Your panties as a parting gift?”

  She giggled, pulling the comforter up to her chin as she replied, “Just a little reminder of what you’re missing out on by sleeping in the guest room. Guess I’ll just have to… do it myself. All over these perfect ass sheets.”

  I took a deep breath as I tried to digest the idea of Kennedy’s innocent ass playing with herself.

  And that pretty ass pus…

  “Kenn. Scale from 1-10. How drunk are you?”

  She giggled once more as she answered, “Twelve.” Shit. “Mmm… I feel so damn good. And wet. And…” I fell against the door as I watched her kick the comforter off, covering my eyes like I was a kid watching the nasty part of the movie with my parents.

  “Quit it, Kenn. Shit, at least let me leave first.”

  Peeking through my fingers was a bad idea as she tossed her head back and demanded, “Watch me, Brysonnnn. Watch me… mmm…”

  Damn, she is wet.

  Her fingers glossed over as she strummed them against her swollen pearl. I was hypnotized as I watched her pleasure herself. My dick was painfully hard and I…

  “Shit, Kennedy. What are you doing to me?”

  Her eyes shut even tighter as she belted, “Fuckkkk, I’m about to…”

  Oh my God.

  It felt like the gates of Heaven were opening right in front of me as I watched Kennedy have an orgasm. Of course, it wasn’t the first time. But the fact that I had nothing to do with it definitely heightened the moment.

  When she finally came down from her high, she wore the cutest little satisfied smirk and all I could do was stand there in awe.

  Her eyes cracked open just slightly as she tossed out, “Goodnight, Bryson.”

  Then she dozed off to sleep.

  &

  My dreams were embarrassingly vivid as I unconsciously made use of Kennedy’s little pre-bedtime show. I still couldn’t believe she had gone so far. But I was honestly impressed by how much freedom she let herself have for a change, though I wasn’t sure how it related to everything else. Like how she ended up with Wes in the first place, and what was going on with her and Landon, and why she insisted on coming here instead of going home. But those were all questions that could be answered when I went back to the master bedroom.

  I made up the bed in the guest room, straightening up the little I had rearranged before I made my way a few doors down. I opened the door and the room looked completely untouched, everything in place like she had never been there at all. The only reason I knew I wasn’t dreaming was because of the note left in the middle of the bed, right next to the pair of panties she had slingshotted at me.

  I smiled to myself, rubbing the thin, lacy fabric between my fingers as I read the note.

  Some women simply don’t unveil every personality trait the first couple of times they meet someone. Some of us like to keep things a mystery until the friendship develops. You know, allow things to unfold. ;)

  Thanks for the hospitality and enjoy the gift,

  XOXO Kenn

  Kennedy

  The call came in before I could even make it back to my apartment.

  I smiled when I saw his name pop up, though I had absolutely no idea what I was doing when it came to him. I knew my moves had been somewhat reckless, at least from what I remembered. But at this point, it was too late to take them back.

  “Hello?”

  “Kennedy Wilson. Thank you.” I blushed unashamedly, knowing he couldn’t possibly see it through the phone.

  “What’d I do?” I asked teasingly as I turned into the parking lot of my apartment complex.

  He groaned into the phone as if he was remembering every detail that was honestly a blur to me. “Your performance last night was… impeccable. Five stars. Now what do I need to do to earn an encore?” A laugh boiled over before I could contain it.

  “There won’t be an encore, Bryson. It was just a… what’d you call it? Heat of the moment thing.”

  He let out a little laugh of his own as he said, “Well can I at least take you to lunch so we can… talk about it? Maybe not the fine details of you begging me to watch, but at least the motive.”

  Damn, I said all that?

  I quickly thought it over and no matter how warm the concept made me feel, the little ounce of control I had left told me otherwise.

  “Bryson, I don’t think that would be a good idea. Things aren’t exactly the clearest for me right now and I… probably shouldn’t have shown up to your place last night with all my baggage.” I was beyond grateful that he hadn’t taken advantage of me, though I highly doubted I would’ve regretted that part of it.

  He sighed into the phone, not quite disappointedly but still holding a different kind of weight as he explained, “Kenn, I’m your friend. Friends take care of friends, no matter how much of my willpower you drained by playing with your pussy in the middle of my bed.” Hearing him say it out loud caused a rush of embarrassment to run over me.

  “I’m sorry, Bryson.”

  “Don’t be. It’s all good. Just let me know when you’re ready to talk, alright? I’ll be here.”

  Though I had told Bryson more than once to his face that he wasn’t shit to me, I knew better now. He may have been a little manipulative in general, but he had certainly been an ally when it came to this particular situation. He didn’t have to open the door, he didn’t have to respect me, he didn’t have to...

  “Thank you. I gotta go. I’ll… talk to
you later?”

  I could feel his smile through the phone as he said, “Looking forward to it.”

  &

  “So… did you fuck him or what?”

  I thought about tossing my freshly broken off piece of bread at Chloe’s forehead for asking, but instead I flipped it back on her. “Did you fuck Wes?”

  She rolled her eyes like the answer was obvious. “Come on now, Kennedy. Is that even a real question? Of course I did. And he was… he was alright.”

  “Alright?”

  She took a sip of her martini - her third if we were keeping count - as she broke it down, “I’d give him a… B overall. A+ effort, B+ length, C- Stamina.”

  I took a sip of my water, still trying to fight the hangover from the night before as I asked, “Ahh, so Mr. Wes was a quick pumper?”

  She swatted a hand at me. “Quick is an understatement. But we’re not here for that. We’re here to find out what happened with you and Bryson. So spill it.”

  I sighed deeply as I gave her the most honest version I could without saying too much. “Nothing happened, Chloe. He was a complete gentleman; slept in a different room and everything.” It still surprised me that between us two, he was actually the one that made the responsible decision.

  “What?! You must really be in love with Landon if you didn’t let Bryson hit that.” Just the mention of both names in the same sentence made me cringe.

  “I… I do love Landon. A piece of me will always love Landon. But he… he’s not who I thought he was.” The irony of the situation still blew my mind. How he tried to belittle me for my honesty like he wasn’t out here pulling shit on the side.

  Ugh.

  As I was busy in my own thoughts, Chloe kept her eyes fixated on my face as if she was trying to get a read me. “Hmm… are you sure about that? Or did it just take someone else coming along for you to realize it?”

  “Maybe both? I don’t know, Chloe. This is still new for me.”