Three of Hearts

Quincy

One Month After RRABF

“Niecy… hit submit.”

I saw the hesitation on my wife’s face, the fear of rejection evident in the way her hand lingered over the button on her laptop.

“Maybe we should skip next year. You know, give myself another year to prep and release more work.”

“Stop trying to talk yourself out of this. You belong in that room. I saw how your face lit up the minute we walked in.”

“Yeah, but…”

I grabbed her shoulders, softly kneading away the tension I knew was building there.

From the minute I decided Denise was the one, I knew I’d be signing up for a lifetime of offering words of affirmation.

Niecy was a magician with her pen, and yet she doubted herself so deeply.

It had been like pulling teeth to get her to publish her first book, which, like I knew it would, became a New York Times bestseller.

Reading and writing were her entire personality, and I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.

Anyone who knew better knew that women who read were the freakiest, nastiest little sluts on the planet, although after five years of marriage, I had only recently discovered just how far that side of her went.

Six months ago, she got word of the inaugural Real Readers of Atlanta Book Festival, and instead of signing up to participate as an author, she wanted to attend first and meet all her favorite authors.

I wasn’t much of a reader, but of course I read all my wife’s work, and she had manipulated me into “buddy reading” a couple of her favorites, as they called it.

She didn’t need to convince me to attend the event, though.

I was down to do whatever put a smile on her beautiful face.

I was more than happy to be the supportive husband dragging around her Hulken.

What I hadn’t expected was to be in a room full of so many beautiful black women who were eye-fucking both me and my wife.

The energy was unlike anything I had ever experienced, but I guess that’s what happens when you put a bunch of women who prefer reading porn to watching it in one room.

I was one of the very few people in attendance who had a dick, and I had never been more aware of it.

Aside from the palpable sexual tension radiating off everyone, the first day had been pretty uneventful for me.

I followed Niecy from line to line, meeting all her favorite authors and always hitting my cue whenever it was time to pull out my wallet to pay for whatever she was buying from each table or snap a photo.

She, however, was having the time of her life, but I don’t think either of us was prepared for the kind of fun that took place after the event ended.

“You nervous about possibly seeing her again?” I asked, my mind drifting back to that night and realizing that might be another reason for her hesitation.

“Nervous? No. Why would I be nervous?” she replied unconvincingly.

“Because I think… never mind.”

I didn’t want to start a conversation she wasn’t ready to have right before she submitted her application for her own table at next year’s event.

I watched her click submit while I simultaneously purchased our flight tickets and booked our hotel room.

We continued our normal night routine: dinner while watching a couple of episodes of Snowfall, showers, and then bed where I devoured my favorite dessert.

But both of us felt it. That unspoken yearning for something we had only gotten to sample once.

Because Nikki hadn’t left either of our minds.