Committed to You (7 page)

Outside the airport, Miami’s dawning sky boasted striking layers of fuchsia and hints of violet as the sun peeked up from the horizon and began to climb its way to the heavens.
Beautiful.
I would’ve taken a picture if Evie’s words weren’t weighing heavy on my mind.

“I’m giving you the option of being my friend, but if you push me then I’ll take that back.”

How could things have gotten out of hand so quickly? Two days ago I woke up between two beautiful women, both different in many ways and possessing their own special gifts. In regards to football, my arm had never been better. My team finished the season with a championship. My career seemed to be on its way. Plus, we were all happy. At least, I had thought we were.

Maybe I was the only one who was truly happy.

I turned around and looked through the thick glass. Cyn and Evie stood near the baggage claim talking. I couldn’t believe Evie came, after all that had happened. She still supported us when things weren’t good. She continued to be committed to our love, even though she kept trying to push us away.

Evie wants to just be friends. Going back to what we were will be the hardest thing I ever do.

A car honked behind me and then beeped a few times more. A gold and black Cadillac pulled up to the curb. I didn’t have to be a genius to realize that it was Pipe’s car. If the color didn’t give it away the music surely would have. Gangster rap blasted from the speakers. Tupac, I think. Apparently, he never got the memo that rich, gay white guys who loved to wear animal prints and pink g-strings never blasted gangster rap out of their cars.

His tires screeched to a halt. He opened the car door and stepped out, wearing tight black jeans, a red v-neck t-shit, and a striped gray and black suit jacket. That same fuzzy black hat he’d had on when he visited us up in Coventon sat on top of his head. He took his gold sunglasses off and waved my way. “Jay, you sexy beast. I’m so glad you came down to visit me.”

“We’re not visiting you. We’re actually here for a funeral.”

“Who cares? Funeral or freaky out of nowhere surprise trip to see me. It makes no difference. You’re here and we’re going to party.”

“No. We’re going to comfort Cyn and then head back up to Coventon.” I hugged Pipe. “Thanks for picking us up, man.”

“No problem. You and Evie back together yet?”

“Of course not.” I released him. “She’s more than pissed.”

“Over the TV kiss?”

“And other things.”

Pipe chuckled. “My dad and I may have laughed for a good hour over that kiss, Heisman Pimp. Did you see Evie’s face after it? People have frozen her expression into these images that are spreading all over facebook. Some have funny jokes under it or crazy sayings like ‘I know this motherfucker didn’t just kiss me.’”

I waved my hand from side to side. “I don’t want to hear about any of that stuff and please don’t call me Heisman Pimp in front of Evie. She’s already bitching about the nickname.”

“Well, they
are
calling her and Cynthia, The Heisman Whores. There’s even this video of two chicks trying to apply for a third position with you. It’s freaking hilarious and already got several thousand views.” He pulled out this thin phone that was much longer than mine. “Check it out. I just favorited it on my twitter.”

“Really, Pipe? Why would you favorite that?”

“Hey, I didn’t retweet it. Retweeting fucked up things about friends is disloyal. Favorited really funny fucked up things about friends is totally okay. Those’re the friendship rules of twitter.”

“Favoriting fuckedup things is disloyal.”

“No way.”

“Definitely.”

“Fuck. What about helping the hashtag for Heisman Pimp trend?”

“Even more disloyal.” I checked out some of the video. “This is so stupid.”

It was two Asian-American girls in tiny shorts and dressed in even smaller jerseys with my number, eleven, on the front. An erratic beat boomed out of Pipe’s phone.

“Pick us, Heisman Pimp.”
They wiggled their breasts in time with the music.
“We don’t walk with a limp and we ain’t no gimps.”

A highlight from my last game aired on CNN showed me running on the grass. Someone had placed the two women on the field in the same clip so it appeared like I raced toward them.

“This is horrible.” I shut it off and handed it back to him.

“Sure, their rap skills leave a lot to be desired, but I love their outfits. Besides, you shouldn’t expect Steven Spielberg filming here. They only had a few hours to put it together.”

I glanced over my shoulder. Evie and Cyn rolled their bags our way. “How can America take a few simple kisses out of context?”

“Because you tongue kissed two women, and no one is used to stuff like that. The masses hate different, even if it isn’t hurting them. But then, let’s be real here. You kissed not just two hot women, but two from different races, so you have that whole racial craziness added in. The NAACP’s official twitter account is stating that Evie is getting more hateful press than Cynthia.”

I massaged my temples. “At the time, I didn’t think it was a big deal.”

“Oh it’s a big deal. You just don’t judge people like others do. You don’t get it. You accept people for who they are, and move on.” Pipe patted me on my back. “Everybody isn’t like you, Jay. If you want to be out there in the public eye, then at some point you’re going to have to conform to the masses.”

“You haven’t conformed to anyone’s rules.”

“We all can’t be Pipe can we? And I’m not the one on TV.” He handed me his keys. “You have to drive. I want to hang out in the back seat with Evie.”

“No smoking.”

“We’re not going to smoke.”

“I’m serious. I’m not going to drive you around so you can get high in the back of the car.”

“Fine,” he said it too quickly, which told me he had something else up his sleeve.

The girls came out, both a bit groggy from sleeping on the plane.

“Hello, lovely ladies. If you’re hungry, I have a couple of Cuban breakfast sandwiches in there.” He embraced Evie and slapped her behind. Jealousy teased at my temple. It was the normal reaction to when Pipe’s hands were all over Evie. They had no attraction to each other, of course. But I still envied the ability he had to touch her any way he desired without any repercussions.

Always stressing about her weight, Cynthia yawned and asked, “What’s in these Cuban sandwiches?”

“Good stuff. Pork loin, Swiss cheese, pickles, yellow mustard, and scrambled eggs all in ciabatta bread. A nice and healthy meal.”

“It sounds like it’ll give you a heart attack after three bites.” Evie wrapped her arm around his waist as he guided her to the back. She hadn’t looked at or said anything to me since our discussion on the plane. I didn’t complain, at least she’d stopped shooting painful jabs to my gut.

“If you don’t like the sandwiches, there’re brownies in there too,” Pipe suggested.

Evie winked her eye. “Chocolate chip brownies?”

“No. Ecstatic brownies from the motherland.” He winked.

“Awesome.”

“Oh Evie, I have to show you this YouTube video. I just favorited it.” Pipe put his phone in front of her.

“Just great. You just have to show her that stupid video,” I called after him, but they ignored me.

Two hours and thirty plays of the Heisman Pimp YouTube video later, we cruised down the highway heading for Redland, Florida.

Pipe began, “I spy with my little eye—”

“This is dumb, guys,” I interrupted. “How can you even play that in a moving car? The only thing that you’re going to spy that everyone can always see is the highway, sky, and things in the car.”

“Stop messing up the game, Jay.” Pipe kicked the back of my seat. I frowned as he leaned forward and tapped Cyn’s shoulder. “Why don’t you go, Cynthia; maybe Jay won’t interrupt you.”

“Okay. I spy with my little eye, something royal blue,” Cyn giggled and chomped down on another brownie.

“Uh, the sky,” Evie replied.

“Fuck muffins,” Cyn said. “You got it.”

“You probably should stop eating brownies, sweetie,” Evie offered.

Passing a truck in front of me, I swerved the Cadillac into the fast lane and peeked at Cyn’s lap. Two more squares of Pipe’s Ecstatic Brownies rested on her thigh. “How many of those have you eaten?”

“Three.” She licked her fingers.

Evie and Pipe’s laughter exploded in the back. I scowled at them through the rear view mirror. “Are you two happy with yourselves? You’ve got her blown now. She should only be eating one of those things.”

Evie raised her hands in the air. “Hey, don’t look at me. I told her one square. Pipe puts a lot of marijuana in his treats. I warned her.”

“But both of you are eating three.” Cynthia shrugged.

“They’ve had a lot of these brownies in their lifetime. They can handle several in one sitting.” I looked in the rear view mirror. “Fucking deviants.”

Pipe slipped his hand inside of Evie’s shirt and pulled up a satin pink strap. “Since when do you start wearing pink?”

“It’s not all pink.” She leaned to the side and yanked down her shirt enough for him to see the whole bra, but barely enough for me to catch anything but a hint of lush breast. Still my dick hardened in my pants at the memory of what was under that shirt.

“Jay, watch out!” Cynthia yelled.

“Fuck.” I snapped my attention back to the road and stomped my foot on the brakes. I’d been close to slamming into a small car.

“Do you need me to drive?” Cynthia asked.

The peanut gallery in the back cracked up at her question. There was no way she could drive. Pale red tinted her eyes. Her words were mumbles and nonsense. Her movements achingly slow.

“I’m fine.”

“You almost hit that car.”

“Because I was checking something.”

“What?” She tossed another brownie square into her mouth.

“Evie, could you please get the rest of these happy treats from Cyn’s lap.”

“They’re not happy. They’re ecstatic,” Evie corrected.

“Just get the damn weed brownies away from the front.” I risked a quick glance at her in the mirror.

“Say please.” Her shirt now hung low due to Pipe’s messing with it earlier.

I focused on those soft, brown mounds. “Please.”

Sucking her teeth, Evie reached for the plastic bowl in Cynthia’s lap. I got a great peek at her cleavage. Those soft mounds begged me to touch them, but like the days long before Evie knew my feelings for her, I could only ogle. I was now back to being the horny kid that gaped at his hot best friend.

“You had my love and instead of cherishing it, you had to be greedy and put me in some crazy threesome.”

She moved in closer to Cyn and whispered in her ear, “How are you feeling?”

“Fine.” Cyn landed a peck on her cheek. The friendly movement between them triggered my now hard dick to jump in my jeans. “Thank you for coming with me, Evie. I don’t think I could do this without all of you.”

“No problem. I’ll be there for as long as I can.” Evie gave her a weak smile.

“The funeral should be in three days. Can you come? I don’t want to be in that house by myself. I know it’s asking a whole lot but—”

“Cynthia, don’t worry about any of that. Jay will be there.” Evie massaged her shoulder a little. “Just sit back and relax. You have a whole lot you’re dealing with. Just enjoy the Ecstatic Treats as long as you can.”

Through the mirror, I stared at Evie. “How long does the high last?”

“Three to five hours.”

“You’re lying right?” I asked. “After we check into the hotel, we’re going to her house.”

“No, we’re not.” Evie avoided my gaze. “We’re going to sleep. I already talked it over with Cynthia.”

“How many hotel rooms do we have?” Pipe called out behind her.

“Three.” I glared at Evie and then returned to concentrating on the road.

“Aww. So no love bed?” Pipe asked.

“Absolutely no love bed.” Evie sat back down.

“Three rooms? Why do we need three rooms?” Pipe asked.

“It makes sense.” I wished he would shut up.

“But that’s crazy. Evie and I can sleep in the same one. We only need two rooms.”

“I can afford three rooms so we’re getting three rooms,” I argued.

“So let’s see. You and Cynthia have a room, then I have one and Evie has one?”

“Yes.” I gritted my teeth.

“Evie and I can share a room. I’ll be where she is anyway.”

“No.”

“Maybe we should just get one huge suite for all of us. Then we can do the love bed.”

“No love bed,” Evie loudly exhaled.

“And we’re keeping the three rooms,” I muttered.

“That’s a waste of your money, man. I’m paying for my room,” Pipe announced. “And Evie can stay with me—”

“I handled the rooms so leave it alone!” I snapped.

“What’s wrong with him?” Pipe whispered to Evie.

“He’s an asshole.”

“Hmmm. No. It’s something else. I’m going to have to think this through. I’m going to have to peer into his aura.” Pipe squinted his eyes at me. If I hadn’t been driving I would’ve thrown something at him. Finally he clapped his hands and chuckled. “Aww. Are you hoping to sneak into Evie’s bed this evening, you little Heisman Pimp you?”

“Can you just be quiet for a few seconds?” Annoyance thickened each word.

Pipe gestured from me to him with his finger. “Your secret is safe with me. Game recognize game and all that lovely jazz.”

“It’s not really a secret if you say it out loud for everyone to hear.” Cyn popped another square in her mouth.

“Hey I thought I got rid of them all.” Evie frowned.

“I kept one.” Cyn laughed, her giggles rising in the car like a mad woman’s. Sure, it was a little funny, but nowhere near as funny as she thought.
They have her has high as the fucking moon right now. Fucking Pipe and Evie.
We all got silent and exchanged glances.

“I’m shutting down all ecstatic treats until tonight,” I declared as I passed a van on the right. Pipe and Evie mock saluted, then stuffed a few more squares in their mouths.

How the hell did I even get stuck with these two.