To Buy a Vow Page 12

  When my alarm finally sounded, I got out of bed and shuffled into the bathroom. I emerged with an empty bladder, minty breath, and a slightly damp body. It was early, not even seven, and since my parents and my brother weren’t coming into town until later that evening, the house was quiet. I grabbed my keys and drove across the city to the gated neighborhood that Fred lived in. We’d made plans to get breakfast from the best spot in town, Chicken or The Egg. It was a tiny spot located in a poorly maintained area near Franklin University. They only opened for eight hours a day, from six in the morning until two in the afternoon, but the food was so bomb that they consistently had a line out the door at all times.

  I got to Fred’s and rang the bell idly. My mind kept bouncing between the search for my goddess and anticipating for the grub I was about to ingest. The door swung open, and Fred stood there with a huge ass smile on his face. I followed him into the house, closing the door behind me.

  “You’re smiling like you got a seat filler to hold our place in line.”

  He laughed. “I should have did that; but nah. This is the look of a man who had pussy for breakfast.”

  I joined him with a laugh. “Word? Well, since your ass already ate, then I guess I can ride out by myself.”

  “Bruh, don’t even play like that. I had a dream about that fish and grits last night.” I laughed. “I’m serious. Just let me cut shorty loose then we can make moves.”

  We walked through the front room into a wide open great room that comprised the kitchen and living room. I was surprised to see the woman Fred had met up with last night standing in the kitchen, eating a bowl of cereal. I couldn’t remember her name, but I knew that she was friends with the goddess.

  “Yo!”

  Both Fred and the woman looked at me, startled. “What’s good Hawk?”

  I ignored Fred and addressed the woman. “You were with the baddie in pink—Nedra—last night.”

  She cocked her head and squinted at me as if she was trying to place my face. All three of us knew that she knew who I was, so this little show was annoying but I said nothing while she contemplated. She nodded and spooned more cereal into her mouth. She made me wait for her to chew and swallow before giving me confirmation.

  “I was. My sis was bad as fuck last night.”

  No disagreement from me. “She left before I had a chance to get her number. You think you could hook me up?”

  She lifted an eyebrow. “You got a big dick?”

  My jaw hit the floor. “Whoa, what the fuck?!”

  Fred laughed hard and came to slap me on the shoulder. “My man’s dick is bigger than mine.” I shoved his hand off of me and pushed him away, choking on my laughter. This dude was always clowning.

  “Fred, shut the fuck up!” He was laughing so hard that tears were coming down his face. His girl stood in front of me, her face the picture of impatience.

  “So…”

  I shook my head and shoved my hands in the pockets of my sweats. I’d thrown them on this morning without thinking, but with this line of questioning, I felt the need to stretch the fabric so that it pulled away from my body instead of resting against me and giving away private information.

  “I ain’t answering that shit. Can I get the number or not?”

  She pouted and seemed really put out by my refusal, but she pulled her phone out of the top of her dress—a different dress than she was wearing the night before—and swiped at the screen. Soon, she was rattling off ten digits that I promptly saved in my phone under the name of ‘Goddess’ with her real name in the notes.

  I smiled my thanks, and Fred’s silly ass elbowed me. “Make sure we get invitations to the wedding, bruh.”

  I squinted. This was the second time I’d heard that in regards to this woman who I had met not even twenty-four hours ago. It was wild to me how something as simple as showing interest got blown out of proportion. I shook my head.

  “Chill out, Fred. I’m about to leave you right the fuck here if your ass don’t come on.”

  “Okay, okay calm down.” He moved behind the chick and wrapped his arms around her waist and whispered something in her ear that made her laugh and slap his chest playfully.

  I rolled my eyes. I stood there starving and this nigga was cakin’. They left out of the kitchen and returned five minutes later with Fred pulling on a crewneck sweater and the chick carrying an overnight bag. He grabbed her hand and called out to me.

  “Let’s roll, Hawk!”

  We all went outside, and I climbed into my car. They stood by a town car that I failed to notice was idling in the driveway. He’d called a car service?

  Man, Fred really went all out for these women.

  When he finally gave her one last kiss and damn near picked her up and put her in the backseat of the car, I breathed a sigh of relief. Soon after, he slid into the passenger seat of my SUV. I waited for the town car to back out of the driveway before doing the same and heading in the opposite direction. I glanced at Fred. He was sitting there, looking out the window with a cheesy smile on his face.

  “My dude, if you’re going to go through all of that with these women, you might as well be in a damn relationship.”

  He threw his head back and laughed hard. “Nah, man. I only do all of that with Ashton.”

  Confused, I glanced at him again. “Didn’t you just meet her last night?”

  He shook his head. “Not at all.”

  I waited for him to elaborate but he didn’t. I could take a hint, so I nodded and chuckled.

  “A town car, though?”

  “Man,” his grin stretched wide, “she’s lucky I didn’t put her ass in a damn limo.”

  “It was good like that, bruh?”

  He leaned back against the seat. “Shit, it was better.”

  With one hand on the wheel, I used the other to stroke my goatee. “Damn. I might be jealous.”

  Fred smirked at me. “What? No! Not my dude, the Celibacy King. Not you!”

  I laughed. “When are you gon’ stop calling me that?”

  “When you stop turning your nose up at these women and finally stand up in something wet and hot.”

  “Bruh.”

  I had no other words for Fred; all I could do was laugh. Chicken and The Egg wasn’t far from where Fred lived, and less than fifteen minutes later, I was pulling into the tiny parking lot. I lucked up and snagged a spot from someone who was leaving right when we arrived. We walked up to the building and sure enough, there was a line down the sidewalk. I glanced over a Fred.

  “You definitely should have used the seat filler.”

  He waved me off. “If you think I’m about to wait in this line, you’re crazy as hell.”

  The parking lot was opposite the line, so as we walked up the sidewalk, Fred stopped to talk to the attendant at the door. He dropped a hand on the young guy’s shoulder and gave him a friendly smile.

  “What’s up, man? About how long is the wait this morning?”

  The guy’s eyes widened, and his mouth dropped open.

  “Fr-Fred Pierce?” His eyes skated over me without a hint of recognition. The beanie, hoodie, and sunglasses I wore were hopefully working well to conceal my identity. If I were lucky, everyone would think I was just a part of Fred’s entourage.

  “Go right on in, man. No wait for you.”

  Fred looked back at me, a smug ass grin on his face, and tilted his head toward the door. I followed him inside where we were immediately ushered to a table in the back corner of the room. A waiter met us as soon as we slid into our seats and twenty minutes later, our food was placed in front of us.

  Fred bit into his fried catfish and closed his eyes in delight. “This is so good, bruh. And it came fast as hell, too. I swear I’m never giving up this celebrity shit!”

  I was face down in my raspberry-stuffed French toast but I lifted my head and glanced at him when he said that; the last part catching my attention.

  “This celebrity shit ain’t gon’ last forever, man.
One day you’re going to have to be a regular ass dude who waits in line just like everybody else.”

  His face twisted with incredulity. “Regular ain’t even in my life plan! Huh, and if I turn eighty and someone doesn’t recognize me and let me slide my old ass in the front of the line for the senior citizen breakfast special, I’ll give you one million dollars!”

  I snorted. “Okay, Fred.”

  “I’m serious, dude.”

  “I believe you, bruh. I just wonder when it’s time to hang it up and walk away. When do I get to live my life without the celebrity shit? Or start a family without worrying about them being hounded by cameras?”

  Fred sat back in his chair and eyed me shrewdly. “What are you saying?”

  I shook my head, forking another piece of the French toast into my mouth. As I chewed, I thought of how to answer his question. Fred wasn’t dumb; he knew what I was getting at; he just wanted to hear me confirm it. I gulped down my glass of sweet tea and wiped my mouth with a paper napkin, leveling Fred with an open gaze.

  “I’m saying, thirteen years is a long time and fourteen is even longer.”

  He dropped his fork and ran both of his hands down his face. “Why would you say this here, of all places?”

  I didn’t even have to look around the room to know that no less than five people in the cozy restaurant had their eyes on us. “I swear I didn’t plan this out. I wasn’t going to say anything until it was official.”

  He looked down at his plate; his expression pained. “So, you’re serious?”

  “As a mortician, my dude.”

  With a resolute nod, he retrieved his fork and continued eating his meal. Neither of us said another word throughout the meal. I had nothing to say, and Fred was probably still processing the bomb I’d accidentally dropped on him. Although I stayed to myself more often than not, if I would have labeled anyone my friend or even best friend, it would be Fred. He was only a year older than me and had taken me under his wing when I first joined the Clutch’s roster.

  Fred had been instrumental in establishing the ease with which I gelled with the rest of the team, as a rookie coming from a school whose basketball program wasn’t on D1 levels. The two of us had been dubbed the “Terrible Twosome” during that first year by the media, because of how we dominated the court. Our ability to anticipate what the other was thinking had helped us take the team to the championship five times, only losing once. I knew that my retirement would be hard for him; I just hope that he didn’t let it affect our friendship. Fred really was like my third brother.

  We didn’t linger at the restaurant long after we finished eating. Fred was stopped by a few more fans at the door, but after a couple of photos, we were able to get to the car and head toward the area. There was only one team practice before Sunday’s game, and that was simply for the players from different teams to get comfortable with each other. Today was the slam dunk contest and the rookie game. I didn’t know which event I was more excited to see. The dudes who participated in the slam dunk contest always came with some straight nasty moves, but those young dudes straight out of college balled hard.

  As we sat on the sidelines, waiting for the props to be set up, all I could think about was the phone number burning a hole in my phone. I’d been so frustrated that I didn’t have a way to contact the woman who had caused me to lose sleep, that now that I had her number, I realized that I wasn’t sure how I wanted to move forward. My first thought was to call her up right now and set something up for tonight after the rookie game. The look in her eyes when we were on that dance floor gave me some unforgettably vivid images of what might take place between us.

  Then again, the way she scurried off left me with the impression that whatever I had seen in her eyes was something she hadn’t intended. She’d almost looked spooked, in how she backed away slowly like I had been rabid dog liable to lunge at her throat at any sudden movement. Nah, I wouldn’t call her. She needed something passive from me, something that wouldn’t alarm her too much.

  I pulled out my phone and navigated to my text messages. It was time for me to reach out to my goddess.

  ♥♥♥♥

  When It's 'New Me, Who Dis?'

  Nedra

  In all of my thirty-four years, I had never second-guessed myself as much as I had in the past in the past twelve hours. Not even throughout this situation with Chris. If he was to be believed, there was nothing I could have done differently that would have saved my marriage. I guess I had to agree with him because when I thought back over the years, there was no one “ah ha” moment that I felt contributed to our demise.

  This new thing, however, was something completely foreign. I kept replaying the night before in my head, trying to pinpoint the exact moment when I made the wrong move. My morning could have consisted of that pussy massage that Ashton had mentioned if it weren’t for me thinking before I spoke. The opportunity had been right there in front of me and I ran from it like a lil bitch. My mama would be so disappointed in me. When I climbed into bed at one-thirty in the morning, I was horny and disgusted with myself.

  “Okay! I’m back!”

  I was pulled out of my thoughts by Ashton’s perky voice. She had instructed me to stay put while she left to get snacks almost an hour ago, and if I hadn’t been thinking about my fuck up then I would have called, looking for her ass. There was no way the line was so long that it took her forty-five minutes to get back.

  “Where have you been?”

  She lifted the two trays of nachos and the drink carrier that she held into the air. “Getting the snacks, duh.” She handed me one of the trays and gently shook the cardboard carrier at me.

  Once I selected an amber-colored beverage from the carrier, I dropped it into the holder mounted on the back of the seat in front of me and eyed her. “That seemed longer than it usually takes to get chips and beer.”

  She shrugged. “I have no control over the lines.” She sat her nachos in her lap and sipped from her own drink before giving me an excited look. “Ooh! Taste your drink, sissy! It’s so good!”

  I narrowed my eyes at her for a moment, but she didn’t look to be spilling information, so I shook my head and took a sip of my drink. Ooh. It was good. I nodded at Ashton.

  “This is bomb, girl. Where’d you find this?” It tasted like an artisanal craft beer, which was not something that I’d ever seen sold at any of the arena food kiosks.

  Suddenly, something on the court became very interesting to her because her eyes darted all over the floor where this season’s rookies were warming up for their game.

  “Igotitfromaprivateloungedownstairs.”

  She’d mumbled the words so quickly that they all ran together. I sat there, trying to break up the sentence when she bounced in her seat, nearly spilling the contents of her plastic cup.

  “Oh! Tell me about last night. What happened after I left?”

  Just that fast, my curiosity morphed into frustration. “Girl, nothing happened last night.” Nothing but my own self-sabotage, that is.

  She cocked her head and observed me. “Well, that can’t be true because you didn’t text me that you’d made it home until after one. So, what did you do between the time that I left and the time you made it home?”

  “I had some more drinks and danced with that guy from VIP.”

  “Hawk?”

  I shrugged. “Shit, I don’t know. Is that his name?” It sure as was hell fitting if so. Those first few moments after Ashton abandoned me in VIP had felt like I was being watched by a bird of prey.

  “He didn’t tell you?”

  I shook my head and sipped my drink. “No. He just ordered me a drink, stared at me like I was the second coming of Christ, and pulled me out to the dance floor.” It sounded so simple when I described it to Ashton, though, it was anything but. That man had devoured me with his eyes. I felt naked and revered, and it was the most nerve-wracking yet thrilling thing I had ever experienced.

  Ashton’s eyes lit up. �
�Ooh! Did you put your booty on his Gucci belt?”

  I laughed at her song reference. “I don’t know if it was Gucci, but I definitely sat my ass on that damn thing.”

  “I know that’s right!” She held her hand up and I gave her a high-five. “So, then what happened?”

  A heavy sigh escaped my lips as my momentary amusement fizzled. I sank back into my seat and recapped the ending of the previous night. The more I said, the deeper Ashton’s frown grew until I barely recognized her face.

  “Come on, Ash. Don’t look at me like that.”

  I watched as she forced her face to relax. “What were you going to say to him?”

  I already knew she meant on the dance floor. I sighed again. “I was going to ask him if he could put his celibacy on pause for one night.”

  Ashton gasped. “Ooh! You were feeling real bold, huh!?”

  I giggled. “Not bold enough. I didn’t say it.”

  She shook her head. “Not because you aren’t bold. I think you were just scared.”

  Somehow, Ashton had hit the nail on the nose. “Damn, how did you guess that?” I dug into my now lukewarm nachos as I watched her contemplate her answer. Finally, she shrugged.

  “I know you, sissy. This whole ‘fuck niggas, get money’ stance isn’t you. You’re not a one-night-stand type of chick.”

  I frowned, already regretting telling her about my new outlook on men. Maybe I wasn’t in the past, but I could definitely be a one-night-stand type of chick now. It was possible; hell, stranger things had happened. Like Ashton’s name being on lists and shit. Now that was strange!

  “Correction: I wasn’t a one-night-stand type of chick. It’s a new year; I’m trying new things. Just consider it my new year resolution.”

  She gaped at me. “Did you really just try to compare hoeing to starting a new diet or working out? Really, sissy?”

  I shrugged. “It’s the same thing when you think about it. I’ll be consuming more meat and getting plenty of vigorous exercise.”