Committed to You (24 page)

“Oh goodness.”

“Do you want to hear it?” he asked.

“Fine. Go ahead.”

“Do you want me to do the impression of her?”

I smirked. “You might as well. At least I’ll feel better while I hear it.”

He sat up a little, snapped his fingers, and shook his head from side to side. “‘You tell Ms. Evelyn LaKesha Thompson that she’s going to need to call me soon if she wants to hold on to her behind.’ I’m not exactly getting the threat, but it didn’t sound pleasant.”

“Basically, what my violent mother is saying is that if I don’t start answering her phone calls, she’s basically going to knock my ass off.”

“Why do you make that pleasant woman so violent?”

“Ha! My gun-toting mom? Violent? No way.”

“Call her. She’s awesome and loves you.” He kissed my nose again and lay back down. “On a much more important note, she said if I stayed with her longer than a week, then I could remodel your old bedroom too.”

“No way.” I gestured to the mannequins above us. “Don’t touch anything in my room. I don’t want to come back to your idea of elegance. You would probably have used condoms hanging from the damn ceiling.”

“Wow. Not a bad idea. It would damn sure be a conversational piece.”

“Stay away from my room, please.”

“You just don’t have any taste.”

“Yes, I do.”

“No, you don’t.” He captured my lips and caught me by surprise. Sure he kissed me many times, sure we tended to be drunk when we did, but this time we were very sober and so not in a setting to go crazy and wild with a meaningless make out session. He dipped his tongue between my lips and explored my mouth.
Pipe.
My insides liquefied. I gasped as he pulled me in, closer to him, our bodies melting together. My heart beats increased to erratic. That pitiful organ slammed in my chest each time Pipe lathered me with another intoxicating kiss. When he drew away from me, all I could do was pant and desperately try to catch my breath.

“What was that for?” I asked.

“You’re the answer to all of my dreams. If I chose to take it there with you, it would solve everything. Do you know that?” He didn’t lick on his bottom lip, he sucked on it as if savoring my taste.

“I have no idea what you’re really trying to say.”

“I’m just saying.” He sighed. “We’re the same, you and I.”

“Not sexually.”

“No. That’s our biggest obstacle.” He guided his hand down to his jeans and dove it inside.

I giggled. “What are you doing?”

“Checking the status of my dick after the kiss.”

“And what did you find out?”

“I’m a little hard, but not really. When I kiss you there’s this small warmth that hits me right on the head of my—”

“Okay. I got it. You get a little reaction, but what about when you kiss Frederick? Do you get hard then?”

“Hell yes. Evie, I’m hard when I just hear a voice mail message of Frederick telling me he’s on the way. I’m rock hard. I can’t even get rid of the erection until he’s taken care of it for me.”

“But now you’re just a little hard.”

“Kind of, yeah. But I can’t do any damage with this.”

I frowned. “Damn it, Pipe. That sucks.”

“Yes, it does.”

“But you’re the man of my dreams.”

He nodded. “I know. I’m the man of most women’s dreams.”

I hit his leg. “You’re going to have to work harder on being more attracted to me. I can’t live without you, baby.”

“Yep, that’s the answer. Or I’m going to have to figure out a way to make you a man.”

“Yes, I’m thinking that’s a good option too.”

“Well.” He licked his lips. “We could always add Jay to the mix. He does like to have more than two people in a relationship. I’m damn sure willing to dedicate my love to you and our lug-headed beefcake.”

“Too late. You already dedicated your love to us, and you only agreed to our friendship without any sexual requirements from us. You should have put sex in the deal.”

“True. I should have bargained for friendly blow jobs every now and then.” He lay on his side.

“You’re insane.”

“Yes, I am.” He stared at the ceiling. “So you’re really going to leave and go back to Coventon?”

“Oh yes.”

“You need help with the flight?”

“Yes,” I said. “I’ll pay you back.”

“No need. If you give me money I’m going to pull my pants down, wipe my ass with it, and stuff those shitty bills back into your pocket.”

“Is that completely necessary?”

“This is the way of an alpha man. Deal with it.” He yawned. “And will you be letting Jay or Cynthia know about your leaving?”

“No. Not until I’m already in Covington.”

“So you’re going to run away like a coward?”

“Yes, I’m embracing the punk in me and getting my behind out of here before I end up getting into bestiality or something else that’s even stranger. In one week, I’ve kissed three people!”

“Dear God. Three people? What a slut? You’re soul is marred and crusted with black. You know you’re going straight to hell now right? There’s no way of stopping it. Three people is outrageous. Forget that you know all three of them. Forget that you care about us. No way. The societal limit is one set of lips at a time and by God, Citizen, you better pay attention, you little whore you.”

“Oh be quiet.”

“Relax, Evie. I’ve kissed three people in a half an hour of sitting in a Jacuzzi tub on the rooftop of my hotel. It was a couple and their friend. Two guys and a woman, just how I like it.”

“You have problems. What are you going to do with a woman?”

“Play with these.” He slipped his delicious fingers near my nipples, didn’t go any farther, and brought his hand back to him. “Evie. Evie. One day I am going to figure out a way to make you mine. You’re the only one on this earth who accepts me for me.”

“Jay accepts you.”

“Only if it isn’t too bloody complicated.”

“Oh no. He accepts that too. He just gets scared of losing you to the craziness that you surround yourself with.”

“He won’t lose me.” Pipe closed his eyes. “I’m going to be safer.”

“Make sure you are.”

“And will you give him another chance?”

“Not now.”

“Why not?”

“Because after everything that’s happened, I’m just scared to love him again.”

“Or maybe it’s just that you’re scared of losing him.”

“That too. I like what we have now. Friendship.”

“Hmmm. Is that what the two of you were doing when I walked by early this morning, being friendly?”

“Shut up.”

“Jay’s not going to give up.”

“He will eventually. He’s been hiding from the news these days. I checked sports center. All of the cameras and news stations have been camped outside the college campus. Some went to his grandparents’ house. Others found out my identity and tried to interview my mom. There’s a clip of her wagging her gun at one and asking him nicely to leave.”

“Yeah. I posted that to Facebook.”

“You’re insane.”

“Hey, I tagged her in the video, and she liked it.”

“Thanks again for helping her get a Facebook profile. Life has now improved with her on that site,” I said with sarcasm.

“Hey, I do my best to enhance everyone’s lives.” He grinned. “but still, I’m serious. Jay’s not going to stop.”

“He has the NFL draft to prepare for and exams and a whole bunch of other things that will keep him busy and out of my hair.”

“No way.” He grabbed my chin and directed my view to his. “Jay won’t stop. Are you understanding me?”

“But—”

“No, all jokes aside.” Seriousness plastered onto Pipe’s face like some oddly shaped mask. He joked and clowned so much, the few times he spoke with this sort of sternness, scared the crap out of me. “Jay isn’t going to stop pursuing you. He’s been in love with you all of his life.”

“Fine, Pipe. We’ll just agree to disagree.”

“What are you going to do?”

“About what?”

“About the fact that Jay isn’t going to leave you alone.”

“Well he’ll just have to deal with me needing time away from him.”

“Will you be dating?”

“Of course.”

Pipe chuckled. “Oh this is going to be hilarious. You dating while Jay lingers in the shadows, throwing rocks at the guy’s head when you’re not looking. I might come visit you two after I hang out with Mrs. Elaine.”

“Please come.”

“What will you do with Cynthia?”

“Continue to be her roommate and … awkward friendish therapist person.”

“I think that she’s going to try and woo you now.”

“I think Cynthia’s going to have a lot of black eyes in her future, if she tries to woo me.”

He laughed again. This time it was the laugh that I knew and love, a loud ferocious noise bubbling up to the three mannequins dangling from the ceiling. “God, Evie. You have such an interesting life.”

“
I
do?” I pointed to the unicorn mannequin. “If you think my life is interesting, then I’ve really been going too far.”

“Maybe.” He giggled.

“Well, it’s back to normal times. No more marijuana, alcohol, or … dare I say, wicked threesome.”

“Awww. May the wicked threesome rest in peace.”

“And let the church say Amen.”

“So were you involved with both of these women at the same time?” Katherine Jones asked.

The studio cameras turned my way. I didn’t clear my throat or wipe the sweat beading up around my forehead. My new publicist had gone repeatedly with me on how to do this interview successfully. Katherine Jones hosted the biggest sports news show in the country. The network paid me a lot to get an exclusive interview, so much I considered how it would help my grandparents and me and couldn’t turn it down. My trust fund money remained on a strict budget, although I had ways of getting around the bank’s restrictions due to emergencies or educational expenses. Not that doing this interview was about money. It was about clearing Evie’s and Cyn’s names and getting the media spotlight off judging them and back on me.

“No, I was not involved with both.” The lies oozed out of my mouth like sludge. The taste of garbage clung to my tongue. But, America wasn’t ready to hear our real story. Telling the truth would fuel the media to bash Evie and Cyn even more. None of the big teams would touch me, according to my new agent. Even if they did draft me, companies would shy away from the sexual weirdo when it came to selling their cereals, shoes, and other products.

Lie. Lie. Lie.

They all said lie—grandparents, Evie, Pipe, my agent, publicist, Mrs. Elaine. The truth would bring pain and judgment, ridicule and the possibility of being an outcast from society. People would ignore the love and friendship that grew between the three of us. They’d only focus on the sex and the fact that we shared when we should’ve denied.

Lie.

Everyone claimed that was the solution.

Don’t tell the truth. Deny, Deny, Deny.

“Remember. America doesn’t want honesty. They want normalcy,” My publicist Jacob would say as he coached me through a mock interview. “You need to deny anything that gets them thinking that you are not within the norm.”

It seemed like a simple idea at the time. Now as I sat in the interview, facing Katherine Jones and thousands of households all over the country, lying wasn’t so easy to stomach.

“What was your relationship to Mrs. Evelyn Thompson?”

“She’s been my friend ever since we were kids.” I held my hands together in my lap, doing my best to not flick my thumb too much or tap my feet. “She’s always supported my dream of being a professional football player.”

“So you have never had a romantic relationship?”

“Never. We will be, and have always been, only friends.” I gritted my teeth, realized I was doing it, and stopped.

“Why did you kiss her?”

“Like I said earlier, I was just so overcome with the fact that I’d won the Heisman. I just went a bit crazy in the whole joy of the moment.”

Katherine Jones wasn’t buying my bullshit. Her cheeks shivered as if she was laughing at me and trying her best to keep it in. Anyone would have to be an idiot to think that Evie and I were only friends. I’d seen the kiss on YouTube enough. I captured her full lips and owned them like I always did—sucking on those cushions, exploring her with my tongue, and groaning from the sweet taste of it all. That kiss at the ceremony was wild and damn near pornographic. Evie and I looked like we were about to fuck right there, as if I planned to flip all the dishes and glasses off of the table, yank her beautiful dress up, prop her up, and slam into that sweet pussy from behind. Anyone could hear the tiny moan escape her mouth and witness the essence of pleasure skim through her eyes.

“Bullshit!”
was what Katherine Jones’s eyes said, but bullshit was what she would have to accept because that was all I was going to feed her tonight.

“Just friends?” she asked again.

“Yes, ma’am. Only friends.”

“Many believe that kiss was a kiss between two people that were well acquainted with each other’s bodies,” she said.

I smiled. “Well, I’m a good kisser.”

She couldn’t help but giggle a little. “But you must admit that there was something between you two.”