AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Right. Fuck!” she impersonated. “Jesus, this is so sad. I didn’t really like the woman, but I don’t think she deserves to be hurt or dead either. Somebody needs to get Chad off the streets.” Her honeyed, somber tone glided out of the phone, acting as a centerpiece in the middle of my two-chair, oak kitchen table.
“And we will, baby,” I pledged to her, checking the time on my electric stove. “It’s seven. I need to get ready for our night out. I’ll see you in a bit.”
Always the clown, Andre mouthed, “Baby?” then made air kisses at me.
I gave him a bird salute and ended the call with Cherise. He and I parted ways for me to get equipped for my date. For a moment, I stood in the bathroom mirror and just marveled at my luck turning; my dream girl was about to be mine. That still hadn’t sunk in fully after I had exchanged the casualwear for a shower and combat fatigues.
Tucking my pants in black hi-tech boots was all I had left to do. I was more than ready should Chad surface again with a fight on his demented mind. He had declared war for Cherise, and on Cherise, thus me too. I planned to win it by any means necessary without a single hair moving out of place on her head.
“Ready, Tobin?” Andre inquired from the other side of my bedroom door. He didn’t have to change and had been twiddling his thumbs on the brown couch while I suited and booted up. Not giving a damn about unpacking, he had stashed his gear in the spare room. “It’s seven-fifteen.”
I stood up from the bed. “Yep. Let’s go.”
Cherise
“This is the first time I had to dress down for a date, and I’m more nervous about this one than all the ones that started in a five-star restaurant,” I told Malaysia as she curled the last lock of straight hair for me.
“Cherise, for the one hundred and thirty second time, it’s not the clothes. It’s how you feel when you wear them. On the other hand, that outfit is banging, dressed down, or not.” She had a point.
My blue and white ombre belly top and ruffled pants paired with tennis shoes were pretty cute. The set of glittered lips on my chest would definitely draw attention. I changed the subject, repeating the things about Chad I had learned from Tobin and his visiting friend. Patting the curl into place, she sprayed a choking mist of hairspray all over my head then patted that too.
“There, done. It’s sad about Eva.”
After fanning the mist away, I took a long look in the oval mirror in my bathroom. “It really is sad. I hope she’s okay.” I prayed Chad had not hurt her.
Malaysia unplugged the wand curlers, setting them on the marble countertop to cool. “God willing, she’ll be okay, and the next time, she’ll look beyond a man’s exterior before judging him fit for her company. Like I had to learn to do.”
“Amen,” I murmured, getting up to go in my bedroom and grab my purse.
The doorbell rang at the same time.
“I got it,” Malaysia apprised me on her way out my bedroom. Well, shit. I dashed out behind her, breaching the hallway. She was already halfway down the stairs and uncatchable. “I have one thing I want to say to Tobin.” One thing was an abundance when concerning her.
“Malaysia, play nice,” I urged, tracing her steps and hating that her long legs were faster.
She flung the door wide. “Hey. Come in. Let’s chat for five seconds. I’ll do all the talking.”
He and I made a sizzling brown eyes to gray connection. Legs weakening, I put on the brakes at the bottom of the steps. Crossing over to him wasn’t an option. I’d have walked on my mouth that had hit the floor. The raw essence of him had struck me dumb. Mother of God, he was fine as wine in camouflage. His tight, black t-shirt framed drool-worthy bulges of brute power. His trim waist flared into well-made hips and thighs. All I could hear in my head was, “Lord have mercy.”
Malaysia was not impressed as she directed him into the front room. “If anything happens to my sister at that carnival, I’m will fuck around and kill everybody that was in the vicinity, Tobin.”
He perused my body, miming, “Beautiful,” before recognizing her. “Hey to you too, Malaysia. She’ll be safe. Trust me.”
Malaysia wandered away, glimpsing back at him. “I’ll trust you after you bring her back in one, breathing piece. Have a good time.” That was as civil as she was going to get.
He called after her as she vanished into the kitchen, “That’s the plan! Ready, sweetheart?”
Only if he was going to scoop me off the stairs because I had melted down them. Walking on my own was a stretch when complete mush inside. I didn’t have to go to him after all. He came to me, reaching for my hand. Needing a stable link to the earth, I took it. Only his strength kept me upright as we traveled outside. Dusk had moved in. He was in the lead, scanning the area while guiding me to his truck. Giving me a hand up, I slid into my seat, sightseeing in his territory. Usually, we were in mine. It was a nice change to be in his.
He climbed in and off we went. “I figure we’d start in the middle of the carnival and work our way outward back to our ride.”
“Sounds like a plan to me. The closer we are to the truck when it’s time to go, the better. I’m not in shape period.”
Chuckling quietly, he cut his eyes my way. “Could’ve fooled me. So, tell me about yourself from beginning to end, Cherise.”
The tables had turned. I regaled him with my story. It wasn’t that long or that entertaining. He seemed to
find something stimulating about it, asking questions when I went vague in some places deliberately. He was truly listening, and that pulled on my heartstrings. Since I listened for a living, I knew how important it was to have that in a partner. To have him do the same for me was utterly appealing.
