Chapter 33
Olivia
Now
“The date started off pretty good,” Katrina says. “Until we pulled out those cards.”
As soon as I left Carmello’s house, my first instinct was to call Veronica.
Way back, she’s who I would’ve dialed after something cute happened with her cousin.
But instead I tried Denise and it went straight to voice mail.
Laniah answered on the second ring and squealed over the phone, asking if she could bring Kat, then they both rushed over.
They’ve been here for two hours and what started as a kitchen conversation ended with us laid out on the big couch at my rental, the TV on for background noise.
Kat’s in the middle of us, her head on a pillow propped on Laniah’s lap while she fills me in on how the date-night trial experience went.
I tell them about the idea Carmello and I had to pair the deeper questions with certain savory dishes so that people know what they’re getting and aren’t surprised when the questions feel like prodding.
“I hope that keeps them from doing damage on the dates, but do you think it’s in Carmello’s best interest to not have them at all? ”
“Girl, no matter how you decide to do it, keep the cards,” Laniah says.
“Issac and I were already so solid, but there were things we needed to talk through that neither of us had the courage to bring up. It’s been a tough year.
Now, I think we’re both feeling even closer than we already were.
” She pokes Kat’s forehead. “And thank God for the cards because my bestie here would have certainly wasted her time on that man.”
“Shit, I’m about to purchase a deck from you and Debra to keep in my purse,” Kat says.
I smile. “At least tell me you remember what question set off the red flags.”
Kat scrunches her nose. “The real question is which one didn’t raise red flags all over the place.
” She’s a storyteller. She doesn’t even have to sit up to do it well.
“But I asked this dude…What were you willing to accept in relationships that you’re not willing to accept anymore?
And he had the nerve to say, and I quote, ‘back talk.’ I laughed and told him he joked like my momma.
But then he went on about how women these days feel free to disrespect men, and he’ll never make a wife out of someone with too much to say. ”
I blink at the audacity. “What the fuck? So some of them don’t wait until marriage to start opening their mouths for outlandish stuff, huh?”
“Nope. And he also revealed that he doesn’t do a lot of foreplay in bed.
He said he doesn’t ‘eat pussy’—with a straight face.
” A wave of heat hits me, remembering how good Carmello looked with his face between my legs, and I have to pinch my thigh to focus on Kat’s voice.
“If we weren’t there for a trial experience, I would’ve walked out on him right there. ”
“I’d never ever be able to be with a man who doesn’t like foreplay,” Laniah says. “Issac…well, let’s just say we had a lot of it that night.”
“Bragging-ass bitch,” Kat says with a lot of love in her voice.
“But for real, because sometimes the foreplay is even better than the sex. Lord knows some of the men I’ve been with knew how to wield their tongue but had no idea what they were doing with the other tool God bestowed on them.
So thank you, girl. Because at first, the man had a lot going for him.
Educated, nice to look at, probably makes just as much money as I do, doesn’t have kids.
What he did have was stinky breath, but I was being delusional: singing I can fix that in my head. ”
This sends me and Laniah into a fit of laughter, and I’m tempted to tell them about what Steven said in the kitchen, how on point he was, except Kat looks a little sad suddenly so I keep it to myself, but it does make me reconsider a match for her with Steven.
Until she says, “Dating in my midthirties has been terrifying. It’s like shopping on clearance racks and half the men are busted as hell while the other half are already being claimed by other women in the store.
I’ve decided to be celibate for a while.
I need a break from looking for love. Especially with all the other stuff I’ve got going on.
” Kat briefly retreats into herself, a frown on her face.
I have the urge to ask where she went, but I’m not sure it’s my place.
I watch Laniah run a comforting hand over Kat’s hairline, and it relaxes me too.
“But anyway,” Kat says, smiling again, “enough about me. How do you feel about your man having a kid, Livy girl?”
I feel warm at the new nickname. “Carmello’s not my man…anymore,” I say.
“If his heart eyes look anything like yours right now,” Laniah says, “I’m positive we’ll be having a different conversation soon.”
“I’m leaving for Tokyo,” I say. “I know y’all remember.”
Laniah and Kat shoot each other looks like they’ve been talking about it privately, then I hear the hope in Laniah’s voice when she asks, “Do you really have to?”
“Do you really want to? That might be the better question,” Kat says, and there’s the same sound. My heart flutters. I think I’ve just made some new close friends.
“I don’t know,” I say, smiling. “To answer your question, it doesn’t bother me that Carmello’s a dad.
He’s a good one. And his son is so cute.
But…what if he’s bugging out already? What if he’s regretting what happened, or thinks that an alarm literally going off to stop us from exploring is a sign? ”
“Don’t freak out about him not texting you,” Laniah says, reading my mind.
One of the reasons I’ve been so anxious is because he hasn’t reached out since we split earlier, and I don’t know if he’s having regrets after saying we should talk before rescheduling.
“He’s probably just thinking deeply about it, same as you.
The situation is complicated because of your past.”
“Laniah would know. She had to think and think before she secured her man,” Kat says.
Laniah picks a pillow up and fakes like she’s going to smother her best friend.
“Wait.” Kat laughs. “I forgot to add that you had a good reason.”
I watch them and realize how happy I am to be here, and suddenly I’m smacked upside the head with a pillow.
Laniah’s the culprit. She shrugs like she’s innocent, and I think she’s not the only one who will miss doing friendship in person while I’m in Tokyo.
“You zoned out over there, Liv,” she says.
“But Kat’s right. Issac was understanding.
I had a lot of heavy shit going on. I can just imagine what a second-chance romance is like in real life. Give Carmello time.”
“But,” Kat says, “would it be bad if all he did was give you good sex before you leave?”
“If I become addicted again, yes,” I say.
“Then simply don’t become addicted,” Kat says. “Remember, you’re the prize. He’s the winner. Get you a fine Japanese man and move the hell on.”
“Kat doesn’t do big feelings like that,” Laniah says, reaching over to touch my hand where it’s resting at the back of the couch, “but I have to say…I don’t disagree.”
***
I’m still high off of their positive energy twenty minutes after Laniah and Kat leave, so when I hear the doorbell, part of me hopes they left something here and we’ll be able to squeeze one more “and another thing” in before they go.
But when I open the door, it’s Carmello who’s standing on the front porch.
My pulse picks up at the sight of him. Just a few hours ago he made me come in a way I haven’t in years.
I’m flushed in the face when I say, “Hey.”
He smiles a little. “Hey.”
My eyes flick to his truck. The tint is dark enough that I wouldn’t be able to see if someone was inside, but my mind is looking for an innocent reason he’d be here.
As it stands, him showing up at my door looking finer than he did earlier in that all-black outfit and assessing me with those dark eyes makes for quick fantasies. “Where’s Teddy?” I ask.
“He’s watching a movie with my cousin before bed,” Carmello says. “I’ve got an hour before Zeke has to get to a gig, but I hoped that’d be enough time to…talk if you wanted to.”
I wonder if whatever is going on between us is ending much quicker than it started. History does have a tendency to repeat itself. “And we couldn’t do that over the phone?” I say it teasingly, but inside I just want to postpone the inevitable.
“I needed to see you,” he says before he lets his gaze wander down my body.
“But now that I’m here…” Goose bumps break out across my bare arms. I can feel my heart beat.
He meets my eyes again, and the want is visible on his face before he takes a step toward me.
“I wasn’t envisioning you’d be standing in front of me braless.
I can see your nipples through your white tank top, Olivia, and I can’t remember what I thought we should talk about.
” He takes another step, locks me in place with his arms at either side of the porch rail.
“And there is something I still owe you if you’re prepared to receive it. ”
I steady my breathing while a rush of feelings floods through me, then I push him away and nod to the door. “Come on in, Carmello. This grown woman likes to collect on her debts.”