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“Don’t mention it, cuz.” Channing sat back in his chair and surveyed me with his piercing eyes. “What’s up with you? You look like you have something on your mind,” he probed.
I peered over the top of my beer bottle as I took another drink. Channing looked ten times better than I felt at the moment. As a matter of fact, he looked like life was treating him just grand. I was glad at least one of us was living good because life was kicking my ass.
“If you would’ve asked me that two months ago, or even a month ago, I would’ve told you things were going amazing, never better, couldn’t ask for anything more. But now? Now, everything has gone to shit.”
“Everything? Cuz, what the heck happened since the last time I talked to you?” he asked with confusion etched on his face.
“You know Rochelle and I were dating, and…” I paused and tried to figure out how I wanted to say this. When I first started dating Rochelle, Channing had been the first one to tell me about her reputation. I assured him she was a different person, and now I had to come back with my head tucked between my legs.
Channing nodded. “Yeah, I know you two are dating…and?”
“Well, things were great with her, and I thought she was the one,” I said. I caught myself and coughed when my voice cracked a little.
“I’ll admit I thought you two weren’t going to make it in the beginning, but then I thought you two being so much alike worked for you,” Channing said.
“Yeah, people thought we were meant for each other. Everyone did,” I said as I remembered both the warnings I was given about getting involved with her, as well as, the special moments we shared.
“I know, but you couldn’t resist having a sexy thing like Rochelle digging you,” Channing inserted with a smirk.
“Actually, you’re right, man. She made me feel like I was on a red-carpet when I took her out. We were good together,” I acknowledged.
“Excuse me if I’m really not seeing the problem here,” Channing said. “What has changed?”
I started telling him about Rochelle and the reason we’d split. “Men fell at her feet, and she knew it. That’s why her ego was the size of Texas, and I didn’t have a problem with her ego, but it did cause us to do a lot of breaking up to make up. The making up part was fun, but I had no option but to let her go for good when she cheated on me with Tyler,” I said. My blood boiled just from thinking about the man I considered a friend for years sleeping with my ex.
Channing’s eyes were wide in shock. “You’re BS-ing me, Jeb. I know Tyler wouldn’t bang Rochelle,” he said.
“That’s what I thought until I walked in and saw it with my own eyes. We got into a huge fight because of his betrayal,” I said.
“Tyler hasn’t seen a woman he doesn’t want to bang. Why do you think I didn’t invite him to my wedding? He has no boundaries whatsoever,” Channing said gruffly. “I’d hate to have to kill a man, but if he got out of line with Kemara, that’s exactly what I’d do to him.”
“You’re right. I knew he was a dirtbag, but I didn’t think he would be one to me,” I admitted.
“Well, you’ve been going through the wringer, but at least now you got that dirtbag from around you. Good thing you got rid of Rochelle too because if it wasn’t Tyler, it would have been someone else.” Channing shook his head. “Damn, you’re going to need another beer.” He went to the fridge and pulled out two more beers. When he came back into the room, he handed one to me.
“I needed to get that off my chest, but you’ve been in the honeymooning phase, and I didn’t want to bother you with it.” I popped open the beer bottle and savored my first sip. “Ah man, this is good. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. But you know you could have called me anytime,” Channing said. “This is an interesting switch up though. I remember when all you dreamed of was threesomes and swapping out girls like they were
going out of style.”
“Yeah, man. I used to be a dog, no two ways about it, but I didn’t cheat on Rochelle. I was good to her,” I admitted. “I thought she was the one.”
I thought about the first few months with Rochelle, and it should have been clear from the start she wasn’t the type of woman to take home to meet the family. Her arrogance was annoying. Her eyes were always roaming. Yet she made me feel like I was the man who could tame her, and she was the woman who could tame me.
“Well, be glad you didn’t spend years in a relationship only to find out she was a cheater,” Channing said.
“I guess that’s a plus.”
“It’s a damn big plus. Have you talked to her since the big fight?” he asked.
“No. She’s called a few times, but I don’t want to hear her excuses. What’s done is done,” I said. It took months to get the image of my friend on top of her out of my mind, so there was no way I wanted to talk to Rochelle and drudge up those thoughts.
“I hear you. Move on, and don’t look back,” Channing advised.
I was glad he didn’t say ‘I told you so.’ He’d definitely warned me about Rochelle’s promiscuity back in her college days.
“On a better note, I’m glad you and Kemara are having the time of your lives. You look happy, so I assume the sex is still amazing.” I hit him on the shoulder.
