Chapter 16
After the first time we’d had sex, I met his mom.
After the second time we’d had sex, he met my best friends.
I didn’t have much dating experience, but I knew we weren’t doing things the typical way.
It was just my luck that my attempt to get back out there ended up being the best sex I’d ever had with the best man I’d ever met.
He made me feel so many different emotions—all of them good, but scary.
What is this?
I wasn’t sure what was going on. But when I looked over at Lamar, I couldn’t help but smile. I liked him, and I wanted to see him, but I’d asked him to be my date only because Aaliyah had said we had to bring one. Yet, after being reunited, the date felt more significant.
“You are so beautiful,” Lamar whispered, running his hand down my exposed back. His fingertips danced over my skin and sent a chill down my spine. “And sexy.”
“So are you,” I complimented him back as we stood off to the side of the party. I ran my hand down the lapel of his sleek black suit. “I like this look on you.”
The black-on-black double-breasted tuxedo suit was tailored to perfection. Because of his measurements, he had only a handful of suits, and each of them was custom-made to fit his proportions.
“You like this?” He stepped back, opening the suit jacket to show off the complete look.
I nodded. “A lot. I prefer you naked, but this is a close second.”
Clothed and unclothed, coming and going, the man looks good.
Licking his lips, he let go of his jacket and grabbed my face. “Is that right?”
“Yes,” I murmured, staring into his eyes.
And I meant it.
He leaned down and pressed his lips against mine. It was a soft, sweet kiss. I wrapped my arms around him and melted into his body.
I sighed contentedly into his mouth before pulling away. “I’m glad you’re here.”
“I’m glad you invited me.” He kissed me again and then looked around the lake house grounds. “This is cool.”
“You’re having a good time?”
“Hell yeah. Did you taste that food?”
I laughed. “The dinner was perfect.”
Chef Tiana Mason cooked some of the most delicious vegetarian dishes known to man, and Lamar had raved about the chicken from the first bite on.
The sit-down dinner had been an intimate gathering of Aaliyah’s closest friends and family—and their dates.
I knew a lot of the people there, and I was worried that it would be uncomfortable for Lamar.
But I was pleasantly surprised at how well he fit in, the ease with which he engaged in conversation with the people around us—particularly my best friends and their dates.
I knew how smart, funny and charismatic he was, but we had spent only a couple of days together, and we were mostly alone.
It had been eye-opening in the best way to see him with a bunch of people he didn’t know.
“This used to be my shit,” he commented as the DJ played a song from ten years ago.
The DJ had been playing hit after hit for the last three and a half hours.
More than a hundred people were spread about the lake house grounds in celebration.
Although the music had been good, Lamar and I alternated from the dance floor to the lake to sitting in the tent talking.
It was our first date that wasn’t a quiet one-on-one, and yet, we still carved out pockets of time to make it so.
“… so it takes me twenty minutes to write a work email in total,” I explained as we stood by the lake. “Two minutes to write it. And eighteen minutes to go over it with a fine-tooth comb so I don’t call someone mama when I meant ma’am.”
He burst out laughing. “Yeah, that’s tough. Has that happened?”
I gave him a serious look. “Yes. In a reply-all message that went to the principal, the vice principal, the guidance counselors, and the other teachers in the English department.” I put my hand on his arm. “I considered walking out mid-class and just transferring schools.”
Amused, he shook his head. “Damn.”
“Now, what about you?” I asked, looking up at him.
“Something embarrassing that I learned from,” he mused, rubbing his beard.
“Okay, so, it’s my first year with the Monarchs.
There’s ninety of us in training camp. They make cuts in August, and when I get the call, I’m hype.
I pull up to the practice facility, we call it The Lab.
I park, hop out the ride … and am immediately humbled. ”
“Why?”
He shook his head. “Practice squad parks in the back—past the dumpsters.” When my jaw dropped, he continued. “You have to earn your spot in the main lot.”
“Damn.”
Maybe it was the signature drinks running through our systems, but we simultaneously burst out laughing.
“I came to steal Jazz for a minute, but it looks like I’m interrupting a good time,” Aaliyah commented as she appeared with a glowing smile on her face.
“A good time is definitely being had,” I said.
“You did the damn thing with this party,” Lamar told her, gesturing around. “Thanks for letting me be here.”
“I’m glad to have you.” Aaliyah cocked her head to the side. “And I’m glad to have you putting a smile on Jazz’s face.”
His palm crept up my spine. “And I plan to keep a smile on her face.”
My stomach fluttered.
“Oh, I like that,” she cooed, shifting her eyes between us. “I like him.”
“Yeah.” Biting my bottom lip, I peered up at him. “I like him, too.”
Aaliyah squealed giddily, and Lamar grinned, letting his fingers dance up my back.
“I’ll go get another one of those drinks and let you two talk,” Lamar stated before walking away.
As soon as he was out of earshot, Aaliyah wiggled her eyebrows. “I thought you said you two were friends.”
“We are friends,” I said, unable to stop smiling. We made our way to the dock. “There are some definite benefits that have come with the friendship though.”
“I bet!” She stuck out her tongue and then laughed. “But let’s be real, you two are not just friends. That man looks at you like you hung the sun, the moon, and the stars.”
I directed my attention over to where he was getting a drink. “He does?”
“Yes. And it’s not just him. The way the two of you look at each other is so beautiful. I think he may be the one.”
Stopping on the dock, I rolled my eyes. “Girl.”
“What?”
“How many drinks have you had?”
“That doesn’t matter. I’m telling the truth. I’m calling it now. He is the one!”
“How many drinks?”
“A lot, but that’s not why I’m saying that.”
I laughed loudly. “You’re one to talk. You’ve been grinning since your Cinderella moment.” I touched her hair that had mysteriously gotten sweated out early on in the night. “And didn’t you start the night with a blowout?”
She put her hands on her hips. “I’ve been on the dance floor all night.”
I pursed my lips. “Yeah, okay,” I replied sarcastically. “That’s not the only thing you’ve been on.”
We cracked up.
Spotting Nina, we tried to wave her down, but she was too enthralled with her date.
“Nina!” I yelled, right when the DJ switched to a different song.
She heard and made her way over to us.
I saw all thirty-two of her teeth as she approached us.
“The two of you look happy as hell,” she remarked when she was a few feet away.
We teased Nina about her situation, and then she turned the heat on us. Aaliyah didn’t deny that the man who’d swept her off her feet for her birthday was her man, but she said nothing was official.
Yet.
Nina claimed her date wasn’t her man because of a technicality.
But that’s not how it looks.
And I told them that Lamar and I were just friends because that’s what we were—even though the whole night felt like more.
And if I count the first time we hung out, it’s only our third date.
It was possible I was just as delusional as my friends.
“What are you scared of?” Nina asked.
As the alcohol coursed through my system, my mind sent me back to a realization I had weeks ago.
Lamar, I answered silently. Lamar scares me.
Maybe I was scared of my own feelings. Maybe I was scared that it was just a fling for him. I knew I liked him, and I didn’t doubt that he liked me. But his career didn’t allow for a relationship, and I wasn’t really interested in putting myself in a position to get hurt.
“I am enjoying myself,” I admitted after they started double-teaming me. “That doesn’t change the fact that we’re friends. It’s only our third date. And the first time we’ve seen each other since June.”
“So?” Aaliyah countered. “I saw the way you two were looking at each other.”
“And you think we didn’t notice how you two kept sneaking off?” Nina pointed out. “Making out behind the tent. Fucking behind the house.”
“No, we didn’t!” I protested over their laughter.
Nina shrugged. “Before the fireworks, I just assumed you took his fine ass around back and climbed him like a tree.”
“That sounds like something you would do,” I countered.
She nodded. “And would!”
“He’s good-looking, big and tall, charismatic, interesting.” Aaliyah started listing some of Lamar’s qualities. “You both love football and he looks like a football player.”
I nodded. “He is.”
“He makes you feel good, and I haven’t seen you smile like you’ve been smiling in a really long time.” Nina squeezed my shoulder. “It looks good on you.”
“You already admitted you like him,” Aaliyah said.
“And you already admitted you fucked him.” Nina held up two fingers. “Twice.”
The birthday girl cocked her head to the side. “You definitely downplayed this ‘friendship’ because from where I’m standing, it’s true love.”
Nina and I groaned in unison.
I rolled my eyes. “You want everybody to be in love so bad.”
We were laughing and joking when Aaliyah’s cousin Tamara and her wife came by with a tray of drinks.
“We want to toast my cousin,” Tamara said after we all had a drink in our hands. “Where are your dates?”
We all gestured to the three handsome men huddled together in conversation. Her wife took the rest of the drinks and went to go get them. When she got back a couple of minutes later with the men in tow, we were all weak with laughter.