Chapter 5
Seth
About an hour later, we leave the indoor basketball court to go outside. Everyone is sweaty after our game, and I’m ready for a cold drink. The backyard is still filled with people, but now the kids are running around the yard. I spot my daughter and she’s in Layla’s arms in the pool. She’s still wearing the sunglasses, but now Layla has a big straw hat on her head.
She looks over, and our eyes lock for a minute. At least until I lift my hand and give her the middle finger. She does the same to me and looks away. To piss her off, I peel off my T-shirt and get in the pool. I take Jasmine from her and hold her in my arms.
She rubs her eyes and puts her head on my chest.
“As I was saying,” she says, turning back to Jeannie, ignoring me completely, “it was a complete disaster. I mean the man was fine with a capital F. He checked all my boxes in the looks department. Tall? Check. Bald? Yes, please. Dark? The perfect shade. The problem happened thirty seconds in when he opened his mouth. He said he was looking for a woman who would listen to her man. What the fuck do I look like? A dog who needs to obey? And that wasn’t the worst thing he said,” she says, completely outraged.
“What can be worse than that?” Jeannie asks. I pretend to be busy playing with Jasmine but I’m eager to hear what she says next.
“He says it’s a requirement that his woman cook him three meals per day. Then he asked me to list all the dishes I can cook.”
“He said what?” Jeannie asks. “No way.”
“I told him the thing I make best is reservations.” She cackles at her cleverness, and so does Jeannie. I reluctantly admit to myself that’s a good answer.
“I mean, I like cooking for my husband,” Jeannie says. “He loves it, but he appreciates it whenever I do it.”
“I like cooking, but I’m nobody’s mother, and you will not treat me as such,” Layla says, and the girls high-five. “It was over for me after that. That’s why his ass is single,” she throws in. “I think I’m just going to enjoy my summer and try dating again in the fall.” She sighs dramatically. “Maybe the summer heat makes men crazy.”
“That’s code for insecure little control freak,” Jeannie throws in.
“Right! I mean, I’ll listen in bed. Sometimes,” she says with a grin. I start to cough at that thought. I look at her again. Her personality sucks, but she’s very pretty. She has perfectly straight teeth and when she smiles, she looks downright playful. I bet she would be a great time in bed. I chase the thought away before my body starts to react.
It’s not her. It’s the fact that I’ve been celibate since before Jasmine came to live with me. I don’t want to have different women in my house like I did before her. Besides, my reputation is bad enough with all the lies that seem to swirl about me. As of today, three women are claiming to be pregnant with my baby, even though I haven’t been near pussy in a year.
I bet Layla would feel good. I could make her moan. I start to cough at the thought.
“I will let you choke to death, Whorekowski. And keep your germs to yourself.” She wipes her arms. “Gross.”
“I think he took one look at you and made up that story just to get away from you. That face and especially that attitude,” I say with a cackle. Jasmine hears and she laughs too. “He probably didn’t want to be with a woman with a forehead bigger than his.”
Her eyes narrow. “Anyway,” she says slowly before turning away from me, “let’s get out of this pool. I’m hungry, and I don’t like being this close to whores.” I watch as she lifts herself out of the pool, and I was not prepared for the sight of her walking away. She’s in a white two-piece, and even from here, I can tell her ass is firm. It looks like a perfect peach as she bends down to dry her legs with the towel.
“No!” Jasmine says as she starts to cry. “No!” She lifts her arms in Layla and Jeannie’s direction. Layla walks back over and leans down to reach for her. I know I shouldn’t. I know better, but instead of handing Jasmine to her, I grab her wrist and pull her into the pool. She falls in headfirst.
Jasmine starts to clap and bounce in my arms, and I let out a big belly laugh when she emerges. Her hair is completely soaked as she sputters. She finally opens her eyes and splashes water at me. I do it back, but because I’m over a foot taller than her with the arm length to prove it, the splash hits her hard. She wipes her eyes and glares at me when she opens them.
“Why are you such a jerk?” she asks. “I didn’t want to get my hair wet.”
“Then don’t get in a pool.” I splash her again, but softer this time. That’s when I notice a mark on her cheek. I take a step closer to her. She gasps and steps back, but I grasp her chin. “Who did this to you?” I run my hand on her cheekbone, and she grimaces. “Did one of these idiots you’re thirsting after put his hands on you? What’s his name?” I run my thumb along the bruise. She grimaces and pushes my hand away.
“It’s nothing like that,” she says. “It was an accident.”
“Don’t make excuses for him. Just tell me his name. No man is going to put his hands on a woman. At least, I think you’re a woman,” I add. I don’t want her to think I care about her. “I can’t tell just by looking at you.”
She inches closer and points a finger at my face. “That’s one thing you will never, ever know from personal experience. But it wasn’t a man. If a man did this to me, they would never find his body.”
“Then what happened?” I ask, not fully believing her.
She opens her mouth to speak, but she must think better of it. She snaps it shut, pulls my daughter out of my arms, and puts her on her hip.
“None of your freaking business, nosy jerk,” she says. She hands Jeannie my baby and pulls herself out of the pool. She turns and sloshes some water in my face before she runs away, giggling. Her perfect peach ass bounces, and I imagine taking a big bite out of it.
I shake the thought away. She probably tastes bitter. No, thank you.