Talk a Good Game (2 page)

“
Did they make you add a picture?”
I asked in a rush.

Veronica shook her head.
“It
’s
optional so I declined. Although if the two of
you are interested I suggest uploading a photo. The last thing you
want to do is meet a man if you haven’t seen what his body looks
like. There are a lot of overweight men on that site,” she added
with an exaggerated shudder.

“
I know
that
’s
right,” Janelle said and gulped
down what was left in her glass.

“
Okay, get back to your story,” I
said, with an impatient wave of the hand.

Veronica smoothed a hand across
her curls before continuing. “Anyway, I set up an account and
browsed through the men.” She paused long enough to lick her lips
again. “Girl, once you weed out all the buzzers there are some fine
men on the site!”

I fell back against the seat.
“
Single
and
live in Columbia?” That was hard to believe. In this college
town all the good ones have already been snatched up. The only ones
left were someone else
’s
leftovers. I looked
over at Janelle and both our brows rose at the same time. “I guess
I need to check it out.”

She was grinning and nodding at
the same time. “Hell yeah.”

We raised our glasses in time for the toast.

“
Just be
careful.” Veronica looked dead serious. “There
’s
a
lotta nuts out there.”

I would definitely have to keep that in mind.

JANELLE

It was almost ten by the time I
pulled in front of my three-bedroom townhouse. As I stepped out of
my Honda Accord, my drunk-ass stumbled on the heel of my stiletto.
I knew I had no business driving tonight and should have accepted
Nyree
’s
offer to take me home. But my
ass had always been hardheaded.

I’ll give it to her. My girl be
watching me like a hawk most of the time and if she knew I had two
more drinks while standing at the bar, she would have snatched my
keys out of my hand so fast I would have seen stars. I know she
worries about me because I do have a habit of getting carried away,
especially when I
’
m old enough to know
better.

Nyree and I have known each other
for almost fifteen years and been best friends ever since we met in
drama club. Over the years we
’d
gone through
everything under the sun and then some. Tall and athletic, tonight
she looked posed and sophisticated in a black after-five dress.
Just once I would love to see her in something tight and skanky.
Hee-Hee! That shit wasn’t happening. Nyree had too much class for
that. A ho like me didn’t give a fuck. Sometimes I wondered how we
were even friends and then I remembered opposites
attract.

I stepped inside and was greeted
at the door by my adorable Pomeranian. “Hey Honey, sweetie,” I
cooed and scooped my baby in my arms and cuddled him close before
stepping back onto the porch and letting him out. Honey was the
closest thing I wanted to a child of my own. Kids just weren’t my
thing.

After Honey got done taking care of his business, we
moved upstairs to my master bedroom and I quickly shed my clothes
and those damn shoes. Black with rhinestones, they were cute to
look at but hell on my feet. I stepped inside my large walk-in
closet, glancing at the customs shelves filled with shoes. One
hundred pairs to be exact. The rest of the closet was lined with
designer clothes, some still with tags on them. I loved my room.
When I first bought the house I had taken two of the four bedrooms,
had the wall knocked down and converted the space into a master
suite that beat any of the shit I saw on HGTV.

I tossed my clothes into the
hamper and padded my luscious ass into the ensuite which was my
oasis. Heated floors, large jetted tub, Moroccan tile. The
beautiful thing about being single and living by myself is that
it’s all about me. My home was my pride and joy. Eventually I
wanted something bigger and grand but this would definitely do for
now.

It wasn’t until I stepped out of
the large glass encased shower and returned to my room that I
noticed the phone on my nightstand blinking. I reached over, dialed
in my password and listened to the message.

Yo,
Janelle
… this Al. When you gonna let me
kiss that sweet—

I hit Delete and slammed the phone
down. Alphonso was a real estate investor who had taken me to
dinner last weekend. I thought he had the potential of becoming my
newest sponsor until I saw the way he ate his food. It was so
disgusting, watching him slurp and slob that I had quickly lost my
appetite. After that performance there was no way in hell I could
have imagined him kissing my lips or any other parts of my body,
and I’d been avoiding his calls ever since.

I slipped into a cute pink nightie
I found at
Fredrick
’s
of
Hollywood
and then slid my feet into a
pair of cute white house slippers. I was just getting ready to head
down to the kitchen when I remembered our conversation at the
wedding reception.

What do you have to lose?

After my date with Alphonso, not a damn thang. And I
have to admit the possibility of meeting someone decent for a
change was too tempting to pass up. Face it, at thirty, good dick
was almost impossible to find. The good men were either already
married or sticking their dicks in something I refused to be sloppy
seconds to.

I went back into my bedroom,
reached inside my purse for the napkin with the web address on it,
and screamed when I couldn’t find it. I tried to search my brain
and decided I must have used it to spit out that piece of stale gum
right before the wedding cake had been served.

I grabbed my cellphone and dialed
Nyree
’s
number.

“
Hey Jae, you get home
okay?”

I blew out a loud breath. Never
have I been too drunk to find my way home. Let her tell it, you
would think I had a drinking problem. “Please. I’ve already taken
my shower.”

“
Oh good.
Gurrrl
,” she began,
changing the subject. “Rock has been blowing up my phone ever since
we left the wedding.”

“
Really?” He was some square she’d
been dating the last few months. “And?”

“
And I’ve been blowing him off. If
he was interested in talking to me, he should have done that while
we were at the wedding.”

“
You know why he didn’t. His wife
was there.” I flopped down on the bed.

“
Exactly. Rock
said he dropped her off at home and wanted to know if he could come
by my place and see me.” She blew out a breath.
“
Whateva.
”

I could hear something in her
voice that said she was almost tempted. I don’t blame her. Rock was
fine. And rumor had it he was slinging dick!

“
Girl, forget
his trifling ass.” Men like him will never know how to truly
appreciate a good woman. “Hey, what
’s
the website
Ronnie was telling us about?”

“
Black folks meet dot com. Why?
You about to sign up?”

“
Yep. I don’t
have shit else to do but go to bed, and I
’
m not
sleepy.”

Nyree suddenly yawned in the
phone. “Well, let me know what you think. I
’
m about to
work-out and then call it a night.”

That chick loved working out. The
only exercise I got came from fucking. Hell, I’ve read you can burn
over five hundred calories from dickercise.

I promised to holla at her after church tomorrow,
then ended the call and tossed my phone onto the bed. I went to the
kitchen, grabbed a bottle of water and moved up to the guest room.
I flicked on the light then took a seat in front of my desktop
computer. The whole time I was setting up my account, I was
grinning like a damn fool. I guess I was excited that something new
was happening.

I decided to call myself FoxTrot. After putting in
the initial information, it was time to talk about me. Something I
know all about.

First off… I like a man who keeps
it real. I’m not into the games and pretending you don’t have
another woman yet you’re unavailable every weekend. Come on. Silly
rabbit, tricks are for kids. I’m a grown-ass woman who demands to
be respected.

By the time I had completed the
first paragraph, my fingers were racing across the keyboard. I
probably shouldn’t have been putting up a personal ad knowing I
wasn’t in my right state of mind; but to be honest, I really didn’t
give a fuck. I couldn’t wait to see what happened next.

I finally went to bed around midnight and while I
was closing my eyes I remembered something my favorite aunt used to
say.

Be careful what you wish for because you might end
up with more than you can handle.

NYREE

After I got off the phone with
Janelle, I went into the spare bedroom and decided to do a round of
kickboxing. It was probably my favorite workout program. Besides, I
needed to sweat off some alcohol. I hadn’t drunk much but enough to
be considered intoxicated, which always made me nervous. I’m a
Master Sergeant in the United States Air Force and getting caught
driving drunk is not tolerated. If I lost my security clearance, my
career would be ruined.

I slipped on my gloves and put in
my workout DVD and went to work pounding on a bag in the spare
room. The entire time I was thinking about Gloria and how jealous I
felt. Weddings always made me feel that way which is why I didn’t
want to go in the first place. I wanted a man—my own man. But
finding one who had himself at least halfway together seemed to be
next to impossible. It didn’t make any sense. I was tall with a
nutty brown complexion and light brown eyes. I wore a short Rihanna
haircut and considered myself pretty. Hell, I was smart and
educated, and yet I couldn’t find a man worthwhile. I figured at my
age I
’
d have been married with two kids
by now. Instead I had neither. Sometimes I think maybe it just
wasn’t God
’s
plan for me. I don’t
know.

By the time I had gotten done with the video, I was
so fired up I repeated the workout before I finally headed to the
kitchen for a bottle of water. One quick glance in my refrigerator
and I noticed I needed to take my ass to the grocery store after
church tomorrow.

I heard a knock at the door that startled me. Who
the hell was over at this time of the night? As soon as I yanked
open the door, my heart jumped.

“
Rock… what are you doing
here?”

He stood there licking those delicious lips of his
and I felt my vaginal walls contract. Oh my, who could forget how
good they had felt stroking my kitty!

“
Hey beautiful. Can I come
in?”

Lord knows, I tried to roll my
eyes and act like I was angry to see him, but there was something
about Rock Curtis I just couldn’t resist. But I tried anyway.
“
I
guess,
” I said and released a long
frustrated breath before I stepped aside so he could enter. As he
passed I caught a whiff of his cologne. That man always managed to
smell so good.

I closed the door, locked it then swung around with
my arms crossed below my breasts. I was sweaty as hell and pissed
Rock had caught me looking a hot mess. Nothing worse than your
ex-boyfriend catching you looking less than perfect.

“
What do you want?”

He stood there grinning and still
licking his lips. “You. I want you.”

I ain’t gonna lie. His deep
baritone voice had my body quivering. I tried not to fall victim to
his voice or the throbbing between my thighs. “And what would your
wife have to say about that?”

“
I don’t
care what she
thinks.” He gave me a serious look, then sighed.
“C
’
mon Nyree. Give me a break.” He
reached out, took my hand and I let him lead me over to my sofa
where we took a seat. He turned so that we were facing each other
and I caught myself staring into those chocolate eyes of his that
always made me feel like I had been caught under some spell. “I
know I lied to you about my relationship with my wife and
I
’
m sorry.”

“
Sorry isn’t going to cut it,” I
snapped.

He shook his head. “I know that
now. When I saw you tonight, I realized I had been wrong. But I had
to come and tell you, I don’t love my wife, I love you.”

I was so sick of hearing his lies.
“If that was the case then why were y
’
all at the
wedding together?” My head was rolling around my neck.

He shrugged. “Appearances,
that
’s
all. She
’s
still my wife but after I saw you, I realized I can’t keep on
living a lie.”