Scandal: Crossing Boundaries (Scandal Series #1 INTERRACIAL ROMANCE) (15 page)

She had objected at that, of course. It was strange, she said, for them not to arrive to the event with each other. But the whole point of it was that Zack did not want to be bothered with sticking around with her after the dance was over. If he came in his own vehicle, he could leave when he wanted and not be stuck talking to this couple and that couple.

Mandy had reluctantly agreed after much arguing, sparing Zack the headache.

But Mandy was the least of his problems.

He had been ignored by Keisha all week. She had not bothered to glance his way a single time, and even when she did roll call, she would not even look up from the clipboard at him when she called his name.

It hurt...bad.

And though Zack felt like he only had himself to blame, being stupid enough to care for someone who was unattainable and out of his league, he still could not bring himself to see the reality of the situation.

The thought of how he could never have the sexy woman, because of age, her profession and being married with kids, was driving him absolutely wild.

His friends had even noticed his sour mood during their locker talks. Randal had been the one to pry the most.

"Dude, what's wrong with this kid?" Randal had asked his friends, a couple of days ago when he saw Zack staring at the floor. "Looks like he died, went to hell, got fucked in the ass by a bunch of Satan's minions, and then was resurrected by Lady Gaga's fake dick."

It was almost how Zack really felt.

"It looks alright," Zack told the withered hag who stood beaming by his side.

"You're going to make a very lucky girl happy tonight," the woman said, making Zack want to hurl.

Ugh
, thought Zack.

Right then, his cell phone rang in his pocket. He quickly dug it out, thinking it was his mother...or worse...Mandy. But it was his dad.

And it was not good.

****

M
andy sighed as she stood with a group of chatty girls near a giant punch bowl. She was all dressed up in a pink, shimmery gown, her hair done up in curls that cascaded down her back in silken waves. Her makeup, while piled on, had been done by a makeup artist that made her look like a real-life Disney princess.

Her mother told her she looked absolutely stunning...she hoped Zack would feel the same.

The doors to the dance hall had just opened up, allowing the attendees inside, but Zack had yet to show up. It worried her that he was going to flake out on her, because he had objected to showing up in the same car...probably because he wanted to keep the distance between them.

But Mandy was trying...very hard. She wanted to get back together with him, but he'd completely shut himself down from her. The bad thing is; she couldn't figure out why.

She had no clue what she had done to turn him off from her. All she had ever tried to be is a great girlfriend to him and he'd suddenly told her one day that he wanted to break up.

Well, Mandy did not want to simply lie down and accept it. She deserved better than that. You didn't claim to be in love with someone and then the next day you're suddenly out of love with them. What kind of crap was that?

He was going to get back together with her whether he knew it or not.

She grabbed her purse that was sitting on the table behind her and took out her phone to send Zack a text.

Where are you?
- Mandy

After she pressed send, a jovial voice snapped her head around.

"Hey baby," Randal Baker greeted her with a grin, appraising her getup with an appreciative eye, "looking for a real man to dance with?" The big boy was dressed in an ill-fitting tux, standing just in front of the punch table, his stomach nearly bursting out of his dress shirt. Though the dancing had yet to start, there were already sweat stains on several spots on Randal's shirt.

Holding back a snort of disgust at Randal's fat stomach, Mandy asked, "Have you seen Zack?"

Randal made a face. "No, I haven't. Kid's been acting like a total douche all week, looking like he sniffed old wolf pussy." He paused, studying her curiously. "Why you want to know, anyway? Didn't you two break up?"

Mandy held down the wave of irritation that threatened to spill into her next words. "We're doing fine, actually," she boasted, tossing her hair. "He agreed to come dancing with me."

Randal looked around her, as if searching for something. "Well then, where is he at?"

"I was hoping you would know," Mandy said meekly.

Randal threw up his hands in exasperation. "How the hell am I supposed to know where he's at, when you just said he is supposed to be with you?"

Before Mandy could reply, a gravelly voice said, "Move out of the way, you fat fuck."

Anthony Lilly came walking up, his arm resting comfortably around a girl named Dawn Hanes, a slut in Mandy's estimation, holding a cup of punch with his free hand.

Anthony's trim body looked good in his tux. Too bad Mandy could not the same for his face. The girl on his arm, looked okay in her white and pink dress, but she was nothing to call home about.

Randal gaped in disbelief at Dawn and Anthony as if he could not believe the two were together. "Dawn Hanes, Tony?"

Anthony nodded with a proud grin. "Yup."

"You couldn't do better than that?" Randal asked disdainfully.

"Hey," Dawn protested, "what's that supposed to mean?"

Dawn, it appeared, wasn't too bright either.

"Where is the girl on your arm Goodyear?" Anthony asked. "Oh that's right, your fat ass doesn't have one."

"I'd rather have a blow up doll, than have that walking STD on my arm," Randal shot back.

"Hey, fuck you fatso," Dawn snapped hotly, finally catching on.

"Sorry Dawn," Randal replied smoothly, "I haven't been vaccinated yet." He then turned to Mandy and said, "If Zack doesn't show up, you can dance with me anytime." Then he walked off saying to anyone who would listen, "Y'all don't venture over there by the punch bowl if you don't wanna catch a case of herpes."

Mandy could only shake her head at all the silliness and hope that Zack showed up in the next few minutes.

****

K
eisha was in the middle of fixing dinner, listening to Davonte talk on the phone with one of his boys in the background, when her phone went off with a text message.

Thinking it was her mother, she continued to cut strips of meat in neat little squares.

For the past, week she and Davonte had hardly spoken to each other. She wanted her husband to come clean with everything he had done under their roof. It galled her, that Zack, a total stranger to their marriage, had immediately been able to tell her that her man was untrustworthy.

She had found Zack's unfounded claims that her husband was cheating on her ridiculous, but when she had thought about it, she had asked herself what was so ridiculous about it, besides the fact Zack did not even know Davonte?

The man had misappropriated their finances and refused to reveal all the details, so why could he not be hiding something else as well?

It's my fault for agreeing to be controlled in the first place.

Her phone went off again with several more text messages.

"Alright already," she muttered, sitting down her knife and going over to the sink to wash her hands.

She was suddenly curious as to who it could be, because her mother did not usually send her texts. When she picked up the phone, her heart began racing at the words on the screen.

It was Zack...and it was an emergency.

Quickly setting the meat into several zip lock bags to marinate, she rushed over to grab her coat that was draped over one of the kitchen chairs.

"Hold on for a minute, homey." Davonte moved his cell off his ear. "Where you going Keisha?"

Though she would rather ignore him, Keisha replied, "Going out for a little. I'll be back shortly."

"But where exactly are you going?" Davonte pressed.

"Don't worry about it," Keisha snapped, grabbing her keys off the counter and flipping her hair over her shoulder. Then she went over to kiss her babies on the forehead. They continued to play their game, unaware that their momma existed in the same reality.

"Keisha, get back here!" Davonte yelled, standing up from his seat as Keisha made her way to the front of the house.

But Keisha ignored her husband and rushed out the door.

"Z
ack?" Keisha called.

She had just walked in the Palmer residence. Zack's text had told her to come quick...something awful had happened. The directions had been straightforward.

I need to talk to you about something...it's terrible. Come to my place. The door will be unlocked. You have to see this now.

Her heart racing in her chest, she waited for a response while she looked around the foyer for someone...anyone.

There had been only one car in the driveway when she had shown up...Zack's car.

The Palmer residence was very nice. It made the Johnson home look like a mud hut from the stone ages with its expensive art and furniture. The walls and floors gleamed as if they had been recently scrubbed down, lending the air a fresh scent.

They must have some helluva maids.

Keisha noticed the many family portraits lining the walls of Zack with his mother and father. Keisha instantly recognized the mayor and she had to admit; Zack had inherited none of his father's looks, thank goodness. The mayor reminded her of some devious rat, waiting to do something sneaky behind your back.

Instead, Zack seemed to have inherited his good looks from his mother, who was a beautiful woman in her own right.

She was about to turn to leave the house when she heard Zack's voice calling from the stairway.

"I'm up here."

Her face twisting into a confused frown, Keisha made her way up the winding stairs, wondering what the hell was going on.

"Come down the hall and make a right."

Keisha passed several closed bedrooms before coming to a room with an open door.

There was Zack, sitting on his bed in a tuxedo, looking very handsome.

"Zack?" Keisha asked, confused. "What's going on? And why are you all dressed up like that? I thought something terrible had happened."

"Something terrible did happen," Zack said.

"What?" Keisha asked, worried. This was all making no sense.

Zack made a hurt face. "You ignored me all week."

Is this boy serious?
Keisha thought in disbelief.
See, I should have demanded he change classes instead of hoping that he would.

"What would you expect Zack?" Keisha asked. "What you want, is just a fantasy. It can't happen. Then you the nerve to insult me, telling me that my husband cheats on me when you don't know him from Adam." Keisha shook her head. "I think you are just a confused little boy, looking for something different to play with."

Zack gazed at her intently with his piercing eyes. "I am far from confused."

"Well, I am saying that you are," Keisha said firmly. "And since there is obviously no emergency, I will be leaving."

And blocking your number so you cannot waste my time like this again.

"But there is an emergency," Zack blurted quickly, standing up from his bed.

Keisha paused, half-turned. "What?"

"Earlier today I got a call from my father," Zack said, making his way over to her.  "He said my cousin got into a horrible accident."

"I'm sorry to hear that Zack," Keisha replied, meaning it.  "But why aren't you with your family?"

Instead of calling me and playing games.

"Because they had already left to the hospital," Zack replied. "And it's like two hours away from here. Before I could drive there myself there, my dad called to tell me that my cousin would be okay...said he would pull through."

Zack was close now and Keisha could smell cologne and underneath it, a fresh scent as if he had just showered.

"But that isn't the real emergency," Zack whispered.

"What then?" Keisha asked, almost hypnotized by those blue orbs.

Zack took Keisha's hand and before she could stop it, pressed it against his crotch. "This."

He was big...and very hard.

"It's been this way since I first saw you," Zack said, his voice burning with lust.

Keisha was so shocked that for a second, her hand remained frozen on Zack's hard dick.

"I need you," Zack moaned.  "So bad."

Snatching her hand away, Keisha yelled, "What's wrong with you! I am a married woman!" Her whole body was shaking, but whether it was from fear or anger, she did not know.

She turned to leave the room, but Zack grabbed her roughly, turning her into his arms. Down below, she could feel his hard on straining against his expensive dress pants, pressing up against her anxious stomach.

"You want this as much as me," he told her, his breathing ragged, his eyes searching her face. "I know it. Otherwise you would have never come to that park to tutor me...or here."

"No," Keisha objected weakly. "That's not true."

"It is," Zack told her. "Watch."

And then he kissed her, his lips smashing against hers with ravenous force. Fire immediately raged inside Keisha's chest as she swiftly melted like pudding into Zack's strong arms, feeling his eager tongue press inside of her mouth.

His tongue rolled around her tongue like an eel before he began softly sucking on hers, greedily sucking up her saliva. Then he went back to rolling around his tongue before returning to sucking. He was so hungry for her...and Keisha could not believe what a good kisser the young man was.

And to top it all off...he tasted
so
good.

His strong hands moved down her backside until they grasped her ass, squeezing her cheeks firmly. Suddenly breaking away from their passionate kissing, Zack brought his lips over to her neck, sucking on it, his breath scorching her throat.

A soft moan escaped Keisha's lips, but she suddenly jerked away from his arms, with a breathless gasp. "We can't do this Zack," Keisha breathed, her chest heaving.

Zack glanced down at his raging hard on, then back at Keisha, his eyes blazing with fire. "There is no way you're walking out that door," he told her, his voice hard like stone.