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“There was a time when I believed in building walls and shutting people out based on our differences, but now I’m the kind of man that tears walls down.”
“Yeah, but how do I know that’s not just a line of bull?”
“Look at Kemara and Channing. They’re building a future, and it’s a beautiful thing,” he said.
Jeb had a point. Yet common sense kept grounding me in the fact that we could never work.
“I’m not my sister,” I said, convincing myself what I just experienced in that bed could never happen again. Not with a once openly racist man who just so happened to be a whore.
&nb
sp; Kemara wore her heart on her sleeve. She believed in the inner good of people. I was the skeptic that slipped and fell for the bullshit one time with Rodney. I would never fall again.
“You’re not your sister. I’m not my cousin,” he said.
“And what’s your point?”
“The point is if they can be happy, there’s no reason we can’t. You can have whatever you want in this life, Tameka. You just have to be open to receive it.”
That’s not how this works, I thought as I slid my feet into my shoes.
“Will you take me back to my car?” I asked again.
Jeb pulled back the covers and got out of bed. I looked away from his nakedness—a beautiful sight I indeed would remember for a long time.
“If that’s really what you want, Tameka,” he said.
“Yes, that’s what I want.”
“Fine. I’ll change your mind about us. Just wait and see.”
I couldn’t stop him from giving it a shot, but I knew it wouldn’t work.
Chapter 6
Jeb
I watched her back out of her parking spot and pull away. She drove fast as if she were fleeing a crime scene. My stomach knotted into tight bundles as her vehicle moved further and further away. Wanting someone that didn’t want you back sucked. Sex with her was what fantasies were made of. To pull out of her was a regret itself. I wanted to feel that connection forever, yet she had a different theory on the magic we shared.
Lost in thought, I sighed then drove around the building to make sure everything was secure. Then, I headed home a little after three in the morning. Even though I was the club’s owner, I didn’t want the cops to get suspicious of me strolling through the empty lot.
At home, I lay in my bed, and her fragrance covered me. It was an amazing blend that was everywhere I turned. I couldn’t get her out of my mind. I wondered what she was doing. I thought about her until I drifted off to sleep.
The next morning, I awoke and showered. I called Channing to see if we could meet up on his lunch break. He chose the corner diner a few blocks from where he was working on a house. Channing was sitting in his usual spot when I arrived. He’d ordered himself coffee and me water. He smiled and nodded at me as I approached. “What’s up, cuz? Sounded important.”
I wasn’t sure Channing would find the importance of getting together to talk about Tameka, but it was a national emergency to me. I waved down the waitress to order myself a coffee then went straight into it. “I really don’t know how to bring this up without just bringing it up,” I started.
Channing arched an eyebrow and laughed. “What are you talking about, man of mystery? Go ahead and spit it out because something is clearly bothering you. It’s all over your face.”
“Okay…it’s like this,” I started but paused and leaned back in my seat. “You have to swear you won’t say anything to Kemara.”
Channing frowned and shook his head firmly. “I can’t keep anything from my wife. It’s like she knows when there’s something I haven’t told her. That’s why we tell each other everything.”
I respected that about Channing. He had always been an honest man with a lot of integrity. I wouldn’t ask him to keep something from Kemara if I thought it would hurt his relationship. However, in this instance, I really didn’t see how this tiny secret would harm anything. Spilling these beans could piss Tameka off, and perhaps, she would never speak to me again.
“I respect that, Channing. I do, but I really thought maybe you could honor the bro code this one time. It’s not anything against Kemara. I just don’t know how she would feel about it. More importantly, I don’t know how Tameka would feel knowing I told you.”
Channing set his coffee cup down and quirked a brow at me. “Tameka? She has something to do with this?” he asked, intrigued.
