Sample Sunday
Excerpt from
The Hookup:
“Who was that?” Todd asked.
“Toni,” Jada lied. “She probably wants to brag about something her husband has done, again. I’ll talk to her later. Right now, I’m enjoying finally spending time with you.” She leaned up and gave him a sensual kiss on the lips.
Once the movie ended, Todd excused himself to the bathroom, while Jada got up to put another dvd in. She heard her phone vibrate again. She grabbed her phone and looked at the screen. It was Brice again asking if she wanted some company. She quickly texted him that she wasn’t able to talk right now, and would have to talk to him later. She’d just been about to press send, when Todd walked back in the living room. She quickly put the phone back down, forgetting about Brice or sending the message.
“So, what are we watching now?” he asked.
“Get On Up,” Jada told him.
“That the movie about James Brown?”
“Yep, that’s the one.”
“Cool. James was the man. My mama loved her some James Brown,” Todd said with sadness in his eyes. He blinked several times, fighting back the tears that were threatening to fall down his face.
Jada hugged him. Todd always got sentimental when he mentioned his mom.
“I’m good, baby,” he said, kissing her on the cheek. “You’re the only person I’ve ever let see me get all emotional. Real men don’t cry.”
“There’s nothing wrong with a man crying. It just makes you human.”
They got comfortable on the couch, snuggled up, and watched the movie, or at least attempted to watch it. Todd was feeling a little frisky, and his hands kept roaming up her thigh underneath the blanket that was spread over their laps.
“What are you doing?” Jada asked him with an amused look on her face.
“We can watch this movie later, babe; I’m horny,” Todd said leaning over to kiss her as his hand moved between her legs. Jada tried to play hard to get, pretending that she was really into the movie, but she did open her legs just a little wider so his fingers had more room to roam.
Just as she’d decided to stop acting like she wasn’t all hot and bothered too, and was about to give in and give Todd what he wanted, the doorbell rang.
She and Todd looked at each other. She almost never had company, unless it was Todd, but he was already here.
“Who’s ringing your doorbell this time of the night?” Todd asked as he got up to go answer the door.
Jada shrugged. She had no idea, but she was soon about to find out.
***
Jada’s heart nearly stopped when she heard Brice’s voice, asking if she was home. She could only imagine the angry look on Todd’s face right now.
Without waiting for Todd to invite him in, Brice walked past him, straight into the living room. It didn’t get by Todd that whoever this dude was, he seemed to know his way around Jada’s crib.
“Jada, who the hell is this?” Todd asked her.
Jada looked back and forth between the two men. She had no idea what to say. She thought about using the ‘Oh, that’s my cousin’ excuse- like men usually did- but she knew Todd wouldn’t buy that.
“Brice, what are you doing here?” she asked, not bothering to hide the annoyance she felt in her voice. She’d already told him earlier that she didn’t think it was a good idea for them to see each other again.
“I texted you a couple of times earlier, but you didn’t answer. I guess I see why, now,” he said looking over at Todd, who looked like he wanted to punch his lights out.
“I thought you said that was your sister texting you?” Todd interrupted.
“I-I…ummm,” Jada stuttered. She literally had no idea what to say right now.
“Look, I didn’t mean to interrupt you guy’s night. I just dropped by to see if you found that earring that we dropped under your bed last night,” Brice said looking Jada squarely in the face, putting slight emphasis on the word, we.
Jada couldn’t believe Brice’s boldness. Putting her on blast like that was wrong on so many levels…and so unnecessary. She looked at Todd again. If looks could kill, both she and Brice would be dead.
“What the hell?” Todd yelled. “Who is this dude, and what earring is he talking about, Jada?”
Jada felt a migraine coming on. The night was not supposed to be ending like this. She wanted to kill Brice for just coming over unannounced like this, then having the nerve to mention that he’d been there the night before.
“No. I haven’t had a chance to look for it,” she mumbled. She felt nauseous, like that pizza she’d just ate would come rushing up her esophagus any minute now.
“I’ll just go look for it real quick and then I’ll be out of y’all way,”
Brice said, turning and walking in the direction of her bedroom.
For the second time, Todd noticed that Brice knew exactly where he was going in Jada’s house. He stared at her in the face, waiting for an explanation. He noticed that Jada looked everywhere but at him.
“Jada, you’d better start talking, right now,” Todd yelled. “Who the hell is that man in your bedroom looking for an earring that y’all dropped under your bed last night?”
“Todd, calm down; it’s not even like that,” Jada attempted to explain.
“Then tell me what it’s like; because from where I’m standing, it looks like you have something going on with him. Is he the guy you went to the movies with earlier?”
Just then, Brice came back into the living room. “Found it,” he said holding the diamond stud up.
“Great! Now, could you please leave?” Jada asked while clenching her teeth.
“Jada, are you okay? Did I do something to make you mad?” Brice asked.
“Just go, Brice,” she said.
“Well, can I call you later? Maybe we can go out again?”
“No, you can’t call me; and I already told you we won’t be going out again, either.”
“Wow!” Brice said. “Okay then, I guess I’ll be out. Again, I’m sorry for disturbing you.” Brice turned and let himself out, while Todd stared stone-faced at Jada.
“Did you sleep with him?” Todd asked her.
“No, I didn’t,” Jada said.
“How did his earring get under your bed, then?”
Jada knew that nothing she said would help this situation right now. “He did sleep here last night, but we didn’t have sex.”
Todd was unusually quiet and calm as he stared at her. He said nothing for several minutes, nor did Jada. After she couldn’t take the silence anymore, Jada spoke first.
“Todd, please say something.”
“What exactly do you want me to say, Jada? I come over here, trying to fix things between us, then some random guy shows up at your door late at night, asking about his earring. Why was he even in your bedroom in the first place?”
Jada looked down at the floor in shame. Telling Todd that she’d almost had sex with Brice was sure to hurt him, but what else could she say?
“You can’t even look at me,” Todd said. Jada could hear the hurt in his voice.
“I didn’t have sex with him, Todd.”
“But he was in your bedroom, right?”
She shook her head yes.
“Doing what?”
She had no choice but to come clean. She took a deep breath before she spoke. “After I found out that you’d blocked my calls, then I went to your place and saw that girl there, I was hurt to the core. So, I told myself that I wanted you to feel the same hurt that I’d felt. I was going to find some random guy and sleep with him, just to get back at you. I met Brice at a car wash while I was cleaning my car up. We got to talking and exchanged numbers. He called last night and we went out to dinner and dancing. Afterwards, we came back to my place.”
Jada could almost see the steam coming out of Todd’s ears and his nostrils were flaring. She was honestly afraid to tell him the rest, but she felt she might as well confess everything. If she told him the truth, maybe he’d forgive her.
“Did you have sex with him?” Todd asked again.
“No! We didn’t have sex but…”
“But, what?”
Jada took another deep breath. “We almost did. We were kissing, then one thing led to the next and we were in my bedroom. But I promise you, I told him I couldn’t go through with having sex with him, Todd. I was with him, but all I could think about was you. I missed you so much. He said he understood and was going to leave, but I asked him to stay and just hold me, because I didn’t want to be alone. He took his earrings off and put them on the nightstand, but one fell on the floor, under the bed. I promise you, that’s exactly what happened.”
Rather than respond to her confession, Todd grabbed his keys off the key ring on the wall and left, slamming the front door behind him.
Jada wanted to run after him, but she knew he needed his space. She sat on the couch and held her head in her hands. She was always accusing Todd of cheating, but she was no better than he was, right now. She called Todd, but her call went to voicemail after the first ring. She knew that he was deliberately ignoring her, and probably wouldn’t have anything to say to her tonight. She turned the tv off and went into her bedroom, where she curled up in the bed and cried herself to sleep...
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http://www.amazon.com/Hookup-J-L-Sapphire-ebook/dp/B0142ZWHAY
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