Excerpt of Love and Sportsball
Khadijah
I rolled over and nuzzled closer to the warm body. My eyes flew open. Body?
A person was in my bed.
As the sleep fog cleared, the events from the night before flew through my mind like one of those flip-books that came to
life as the pages picked up speed. All good, and hot, and . . . shit I shot up, whipping my head to the side.
“Wha? What’s wrong?” Shae asked, voice heavy with sleep mixed with alarm.
“Shit! Shit! Shit!” I threw the covers back and jumped out of bed. “I’m late.”
I glanced around the room in search of my phone, but it was in my pants, which were downstairs. Fuck. This . . . this was
why I didn’t let loose. This was why I had to remain focused because the first time I give in again I get all thrown off.
Shae scrubbed her hands down her face. “For what? It’s Sunday. You got church or something?”
I stopped to look at the woman in my bed. The blanket and sheet were pooled at her waist, leaving her naked on the top, and
she didn’t seem to care one bit. Why would she?
We’d been all over each other last night.
Her small dark brown nipples had tightened from exposure to the air, flooding me with more memories.
The sight of her was almost enough to tempt me .
. . almost. She glanced at me with a hunger that drew awareness of my own nakedness.
Covering up would be ridiculous at this point so I focused on the issue at hand.
“No. Family brunch that is in—” I paused to look at the clock on my nightstand again “—twenty-minutes and my parents live
thirty minutes away.” I took a breath and brought my hands to my mouth in prayer position. “I, um, hate to . . .”
She held up her hand while climbing out of my bed. I drank in the sight of her long, lean nude body once again. She’d been
an absolute bad-timing distraction, but damn, she was a sexy as hell one.
“I get it. I’ll get dressed and head out.” Instead of heading downstairs to gather her clothes, she strolled over to me. I
had to crane my neck up to meet her eyes. I didn’t resist when she wrapped her hands around my waist and pulled me to her.
God, she was soft and warm, and . . .
“If I leave you my number, will you call?”
I pinched my tongue between my back teeth as the light of day brought back all the reasons why this should be a one-and-done.
Hell, if not for Jah, it wouldn’t have even been a one. I wanted to say yes. I wanted to say we could meet up for lunch, maybe
get to know each other better. But I pushed those wants down. I wouldn’t and couldn’t let myself fall into old patterns. One
night. That’s all.
My goals now were to focus on my new job, and the five-year plan I had, which didn’t include even the possibility of anything
hinting at a relationship. Though I was getting way, way ahead of myself. Like always.
I shook my head. “I’m starting a new job tomorrow and I . . . The timing wouldn’t be . . .”
Shae didn’t say anything. Instead, she leaned and placed a quick peck on my lips. My body craved more, but I forced myself to step away.
“I need to shower. You can let yourself out, right?” I bit back the unless you want to join me that threatened to pop out as she stretched her languid form.
“Yeah, I can manage.”
I wouldn’t let myself get caught up in the lack of sparkle in her eye and the general flatness of her tone. We both knew what
this was. The worry over my tardiness kept me from walking her out. Plus, it provided a clean break. No prolonged or drawn-out
goodbyes. However, the idea she’d be unsupervised in my space prickled beneath my skin, but I didn’t have a choice. Before
I lingered on watching her long, graceful body, I darted into my bathroom. As the water heated up, I groaned at the sight
of my hair. A rat’s nest for sure, between the sex and the fact I’d been too worn-out to even braid it and tie it up for the
night.
I quickly gathered it up into a haphazard bun, forgoing the shower cap in hopes the steam would loosen it up a bit, and took
the quickest shower of my life. By the time I was dressed and my hair was reasonably tamed, I was beyond officially late and
surprised my family wasn’t beating down my door. Once downstairs, I snatched my jeans from the floor and retrieved my phone.
No surprise I had a series of missed calls and text messages. I was the punctual one. As I settled in my car another text
chimed through.
Jah: okay kinda getting worried now
“Serves you right,” I muttered to the device. I still couldn’t believe she’d left me last night.
I briefly considered making her sweat by not responding, but that would also inadvertently worry my parents, so I shot off a reply before hitting the road.
“Baby, are you sick?” Mom asked as way of greeting when I entered the house through the garage, which dropped me right in
her kitchen.
“No, ma’am. Forgot to set my alarm.” I gave her a quick hug and kiss on the cheek.
“Uh-huh. Help me carry these to the dining room.”
I grabbed oven mitts from the drawer then picked up one of the casserole dishes she’d pulled from the warming tray. The sweet
scent of her baked French toast hit my senses hard, and my stomach growled in response. In the dining room sat my father,
who got up to greet me. As well as Vance and his traitorous wife, who at least had the decency to look somewhat guilty. I
set my dish on the buffet with the other items.
“Alright, now that we’re all here, we can eat,” Momma announced. The pointed look she gave me made me squirm and amped up
my annoyance at Jah.
I grabbed a plate but stepped out of the way to allow my parents to fix theirs first despite my protesting hunger.
Jah bumped me with her hip and whispered, “So . . . any special reason you happened to be late for the first time ever?”
I narrowed my eyes at her. “You are never. Ever. Never. Going to be in charge of my transportation again. Ev-er.” I stressed
the last word.
“Oh come on, Dijah. I was tryin’ to help a sista out.”
I set my plate on the table and glared at her as she proceeded to do an exaggerated waddle back to her seat.
“No. What you did was abandon me and leave me stranded. So, thanks, but no thanks. No more help from you.”
Vance’s light brown eyes went wide as he looked at my sister.
“You left her?” Surprise and shock colored his tone.
Clearly, she’d given him a different set of events, which wasn’t surprising.
I liked my brother-in-law. In contrast to my sister’s personal brand of semi-controlled chaos, Vance was calm and logical.
I used to think he might be too buttoned-up and straitlaced for her, but somehow, they made it work.
“What y’all fussin’ about already?” Dad questioned.
Jah put on her sweetest smile. “Nothin’, Daddy. Khadijah is being her usual uptight self.”
“Wrong,” I defended, jabbing my fork into my pile of eggs. “Your youngest daughter had zero concerns for my safety and left
me at the club she took me to.” I shoved the bite into my mouth while I continued to glare at my sister.
“Jahzara!” Both my parents called out her name.
“You know folks don’t got sense these days,” Dad started with his attention fully on Jah. “We have always told y’all you have
to look out for each other. Because nobody got ya back like family. Just ’cuz you two are grown doesn’t mean that’s changed.”
His bushy brows were knitted together tightly and again she at least had the decency to look ashamed of her behavior.
“I was doing a good thing, though,” she rebutted with a small whine to her voice.
I shot her a “shut up” look because I knew where she was going.
“I got tired, but she was having a good time.” I didn’t miss the slick grin she gave before the next sentence tumbled out
of her mouth. “She met someone, and I didn’t want to be the Debbie Downer that ruined her night.”
I took a long pull of my OJ while mentally sending her “I’m going to kick your ass” thoughts. I wasn’t purposefully not being
open about my dating life—or lack thereof—with my parents, but I’d learned to stop talking about every woman who seemed to
sweep me off my feet only to be broken up two months later. It was a merry-go-round I’d had to get off.
After the last disastrous end, I’d put dating on the back burner indefinitely to focus on my career. Matters of the heart were not my friend because they wouldn’t conform like I wanted them to, but my parents remained hopeful. Jah’s pregnancy had taken the focus off my singledom.
For a while.
The short reprieve had been nice, but Jah’s comment catapulted me right back onto the figurative ride.
I bit into one of the crispy strips of bacon and chewed slowly. I knew more commentary was coming—though more from Mom than
Dad, he only ever wanted to know if we were happy and requested no additional details—but in true parental fashion, the two
of them ate with no rush, leaving me to squirm internally, waiting for the inquiry. It didn’t matter how old we got, silence
from Josephine Upton always made us feel like we were in trouble.
Shooting Jah another death glare, I decided to cut off whatever thoughts they might have before questions started coming.
“She’s overselling. It was a nightclub, by nature of the place you meet and talk to people. I hung out with a woman whose
last name I didn’t even get, nor did we exchange numbers. I won’t be seeing her again.”
That confession seemed to satisfy most everyone. I didn’t really care my sister appeared shocked by my statement. Her heart
might have been in the right place, but what she’d done was still shitty even if it had led to an amazing night. Regardless,
I wouldn’t be seeing Shae again.
I debated changing one more time, but decided against it.
I’d been torn between completely dressing down in a pair of joggers and a T-shirt, but it was way too casual for a first impression.
The navy slacks and white blouse paired with low pumps said professional yet relaxed.
This was my first day on the job, even if it was basically a meet-and-greet.