by Anna Black
He turned her head to kiss her. He deepened the kiss, and then his hands were massaging her breasts. Then he picked her up from the sofa and took her to his bed. There, he slowly undressed her, and then he undressed. He climbed into bed and reached for her.
“Devon, are you sure it’s me you want?” she asked.
“Yes,” he said, looking her in the eyes.
She kissed him and climbed on top of him, straddling him, and he grabbed her breasts firmly and went right to left, licking and sucking her nipples, causing a wetness that she couldn’t remember having in a long time. She couldn’t wait to have him inside her.
“Aaah,” she moaned. Devon had skills when it came to pleasuring her nipples. Her pussy ached, but she didn’t want to rush him. He continued to please her breasts, and even though it was their first time making love, Christa wanted to please him orally. She broke away from his kisses and began to kiss her way down his chest, making her way to his stomach. She stroked him up and down before taking him inside of her mouth. She slurped and licked on it, intent on giving him the pleasure of his life.
Her pussy was ready. “I want you inside of me, baby,” she whispered.
* * *
“You want it, baby?” Devon moved his hand between Christa’s legs. He felt how wet she was, and his dick throbbed harder. He wanted to feel her too. “Hold on,” he said, reaching for the condoms.
Christa flipped on her back, and after Devon put on the rubber, he pushed her legs back as far as she could tolerate it and slid down inside of her. It may have been months for her, but he had found a way to get ass when he needed it. He hadn’t been ready to go there with Christa yet, because his main reason for hooking up with her was to make Leila jealous. After dating her for two months, though, Leila had announced that she was pregnant, something that he knew would put his mission of getting her back on hold.
He had continued to date Christa and half-grown to like her, but she still wasn’t Leila. As beautiful and talented as Christa was, and as good as it felt to be inside her, she still wasn’t his Leila. And he hated using her, hoping to get back with Leila.
Christa lay in his arms, and he wished she were Leila. He wondered what his next move would be, how he could get back close to Leila. Since the day in the kitchen, she had been avoiding him and not answering his calls. He had gone by to pick up Deja the day before, and Leila pretended she had somewhere she had to be and rushed off without even looking him in the eye.
“Devon?” Christa whispered.
“Yes?” he answered.
“I love you,” she said.
His eyes widened. He had known this was going to come because he and Christa were somehow finally getting closer. He did care about her, maybe not love, but he said it back.
“I love you too,” he said, barely above a whisper but loud enough for her to hear him.
She drifted off to sleep, and he lay there, wishing he could go back in time and have a do-over. He would give Leila the world instead of grief if he could turn back the hands of time. He blinked back his tears and kissed Christa on the forehead before he finally went to sleep.
Chapter Fourteen
“Ray, you have a call on line one,” Catrice said over the intercom. Ray looked at his watch, and he knew it was Leila. He was late again. He was thirty minutes late, and the night before, he had been more than an hour late. He hated that some of his appointments ran over. He tried to run the gym and still do his clients, and it consumed all of his time. He had so many clients that wanted to continue to work with him, and his time was always taken.
“This is Ray,” he said after picking up one of the phones on the floor.
“Babe, you do know what time it is, right?”
“Yes, I know, and I’m trying to wrap it up, Lei. I got behind. I had some equipment over at gym two go down, and I had to meet the service guy over there, and that threw me off, love.”
“So, how late will it be tonight?” she asked.
Ray could hear the annoyance in her tone. “I honestly don’t know, babe.”
“Okay, I’m going to get the kids fed and into bed by myself again, and if I’m not too tired afterward, I’ll wait up.”
“Aw, babe, don’t sound like that. You know I’d rather be home than here. It’s just busy as hell, Lei.”
“I know, Rayshon, I’ll see you later,” she said, and they hung up.
* * *
Leila was disappointed that Ray was going to be late again. She put the baby down, and then her doorbell rang. She wondered who the hell was at her door without calling. She looked out the peephole and saw Christa.
She opened the door. “Ummm, Christa, what’s up, and why are you grinning so hard?”
“We did it, we did it, we did it,” Christa said, doing a little dance.
“Who is we, and what did y’all do?” Leila asked, walking back toward the kitchen with Christa behind her. Christa put her purse down, grabbed a wineglass, and went to the wine cooler. “Christa, what?” Leila asked, impatient.
Christa filled her glass before she spoke. She took a gulp and then looked Leila in the eyes. “Last night, Devon and I made love,” she squealed.
Leila tilted her head. Her first thought was, What the fuck? but then she remembered that Devon wasn’t her husband anymore. He was Christa’s man. “Okay,” she said, “and why do I need to know this information?”
“Because, Leila, I have no one else to tell. You know, after Michelle landed her thing with Vogue, we stopped talking. Well, she stopped calling me. That bitch! And now you are my closest friend.”
“Christa, I told you that I don’t want to hear a word about you, Devon, and sex. I’m not comfortable with that.”
“But, Leila, I am high right now off Devon, and I gotta tell someone. I’m bursting,” she said, walking over to Leila and grabbing her arms.
God, I wanna slap you, Leila thought as she looked at Christa. “Wait, if you have to tell me, I don’t want graphics, okay? And I have to get a drink.” She went for the wine bottle. After she took three good swallows, she said, “Go ahead.”
Christa started beaming and telling her about the candles and the dinner. She skipped the blow-by-blow in the bed and ended with, “He said he loved me.”
Leila was glad Christa was gazing at the ceiling and didn’t see the look on her face. “Really?”
“Yes, yes, he said it.” She clapped her tiny hands together.
“Wow, that’s great,” Leila said, glad that Christa was too caught up in her bliss to notice that her reaction wasn’t a good one. She moved to the steps and called the kids down for dinner. “Well, listen,” she said to Christa, “I have to feed my little ones and get them bathed and in bed.” She hoped Christa would take the hint to leave.
“Oh, I’m good, I’ll just have another glass and chill on the sofa,” she said.
Leila didn’t argue. After the smoke cleared and the kids were down, she realized it had been two-and-a-half hours since she had spoken to Ray, and Christa was still sitting on her couch. Why she was still there, Leila didn’t know, but what she did know was that she didn’t want to hear another damn detail about her and Devon.
She didn’t understand why she was feeling so cheerless about them. They had been dating for months, and she knew that they would eventually have sex, so she didn’t understand why it was bothering her. She didn’t want Devon, she had Ray, and he was definitely no second prize. Ray was loving, smart, funny, and successful. And the lovemaking with Rayshon was the epitome of good loving. He treated Leila better than Devon had ever treated her. So she didn’t understand why she had these mixed feelings about Devon being with Christa. She wanted that jealous, angry feeling to go away, but she didn’t know how to make it stop.
She took a deep breath and walked into the family room. Christa was on the phone, smiling and blushing. Leila knew she was talking to Devon, and she rolled her eyes.
“Christa,” she whispered.
Christa held up a finger, sig
naling for her to hold on, so she did. She went into the kitchen and started to clean. She looked at the clock and wondered what was keeping Ray. She grabbed the cordless and dialed his cell and got the voicemail. She called the gym, and when the automatic system picked up, she hung up.
She glanced over at Christa on the sofa, on the phone cheesing and twirling her hair, talking to her first love. Then she went to the freezer and snatched it open to see how many bags of milk she had pumped. After she counted three days’ worth, she grabbed the wine and poured herself another glass.
Chapter Fifteen
Ray wanted to head home, but Ankwan called him, telling him there was an issue with the system at gym one, and he couldn’t get it resolved. Ray tried to walk him through it over the phone, but Ankwan couldn’t get it to work, so after he left gym three, he headed over. It took him less than five minutes to do what was needed, and he wondered if Ankwan was really capable of running the facility.
After Ray finished, he walked around and looked at the bathrooms and locker rooms and made sure everything looked the way it should after closing. Everything checked out perfectly, so he figured he’d just have to come and give Ankwan another refresher on the system.
Ray was locking the door when he happened to see a familiar face on the street, pacing back and forth with the phone to her ear. She was yelling, so he walked over.
“Karen,” he called out.
When she saw him, she breathed a sigh of relief. “I think I have help. I’ll call you back,” she said into the phone and hung up. “Ray, oh my God. Thank God. I have a flat. I was on my way to Jay’s, and I ran over something, and it just made my tire burst, and I have never changed a tire in my life,” she said, frantic.
Ray looked at the tire. “I assume you have a spare?”
“Yes, I’ve had it forever. I’ve never had a flat tire,” Karen said.
He told her to pop the trunk, and he found a brand-new spare tire under the trunk floor. He took it out and put it on for her.
“Wow, thanks, Ray,” Karen said with a grateful smile on her face. “I had no clue where to begin to change a tire, and if I hadn’t seen you . . . Thank you so much,” she said.
“You’re welcome, Karen, but I need to be heading home.”
“Aw, come on. At least let me buy you a beer. I mean, Jay’s is, like, right up the street,” she said.
Ray knew he should say no, but a cold beer sounded nice after changing her tire. He looked at his watch. It was after eleven, so he figured Leila was sleeping anyway. He decided to take Karen up on her offer.
“Okay, but let me run back inside to clean up. And then just one beer, because I’ve got to head home. It’s late enough, and I know Leila is cussing me out.”
“How do you deal with that?”
“Deal with what?” he asked.
“The checking in and nagging and not being able to hang and have more than one beer if you wanted to?”
“Well, it’s called marriage, Karen. I don’t look at it as a negative thing. And if I wanted to have more than one beer, I would. It’s just that my wife needs me too. She’s home all day with my kids, and I know she needs a break. I’ll tell you the truth, I’d rather be with them than hanging out with sweaty-ass clients all day,” he said, and she laughed a little.
They went inside the gym, and Ray went to wash his hands and arms, then went to the front and grabbed a fresh T-shirt from the rack. When he pulled the old shirt over his head to change, he caught Karen biting her bottom lip and staring, but he didn’t say anything.
* * *
How she didn’t snatch Rayshon up back then was beyond her. She wasn’t going to stop until she had him this time. When she initially met him, she thought he was gorgeous. She got his number, and even though her girlfriend, Leslie, advised her not to call him at one a.m., she went against her advice and called him anyway. She had an idea that it may be a one-nighter, but she wanted him and decided to take her chances.
When she arrived, he opened the door looking fine as hell in his basketball shorts and no shirt. They didn’t talk much before he had her singing his name. He was such a passionate lover, and Karen hadn’t had sex that good in forever. She was hooked from the very first encounter.
The next morning, when he woke her, it was close to noon. He had her clothes neatly folded on a chair and offered her fresh towels to shower with and a toothbrush. She was impressed with the hospitality he showed her, and she was even more impressed when she came out to breakfast. She didn’t have a man at the time, and she remembered being on a loser roll. She hadn’t met anyone who treated her like a lady in a while.
She was surprised that he not only didn’t have her clothes on the porch, but he allowed her to sleep in, take a shower, and he made her breakfast. Before she left, he serviced her body again, followed by a gentle kiss goodbye. She was mesmerized, and all she knew was she wanted him and wanted him to be her man. She went home and sat by the phone the entire day, waiting for him to call, but he never did. After several unanswered calls, she made a courageous attempt to see him and dropped by his loft.
She felt foolish after he checked her at the door, and she had no idea the woman that she met in the hall that day was the one he was interested in and the one she would lose him to. She called him that evening, and she knew it was a brush-off when he told her that he didn’t do too much hanging during the week. She had asked him out anyway, and he told her that he’d hook up with her later. She agreed . . . That’s just how quickly she became caught up on him.
She called him for another month straight, and he never answered. She texted him several times, and he never replied. After a month of trying to get his attention, she eased up and would text or call him periodically to see if he’d ever reply. Not once did he ever respond. Soon after, his number changed, and he moved out of his loft. She was determined to locate him. She came across the business card that he had given her when they first met and saw a website address on it. She went to the website and learned that he had opened a gym.
She was devastated a couple of days later when she found out he had gotten married. She had fallen in love with Ray after spending just one night with him, and she couldn’t shake her feelings for him, no matter who she dated. She tried to move on, but Rayshon always lingered in her mind. Over the years, she had kept an eye on him, waiting for her opportunity to catch Leila slipping and take her man.
She was thrilled when she saw his third location going up across the street from her job. It was the perfect way for her to come back into his life without him being suspicious and without him knowing she had been secretly in love with him for six long years.
When she went in to start her membership, she asked the sales agent if Rayshon would be working at that location and if he would be taking on any new clients. When the agent said yes and that he had a few more slots available, she had taken one.
She counted down the days for the grand opening and excitedly waited for her first session with him. She didn’t know how he would react to her after all those years, but she was happy to see he was still the perfect gentleman she remembered him being. She just had to find a way to make him see that it had been a mistake for him to get with Leila when he had a perfect opportunity to be with her first.
“You ready?” he asked, snapping her back to the present.
She smiled and got up from the leather sofa she was sitting on, and they walked out to her car. She tried to convince him to ride with her, but he insisted he’d follow her, so she just agreed.
* * *
When they entered the club, there was a nice crowd. The only table they could find was in a corner toward the back. Karen excused herself to the ladies’ room, and Rayshon could tell she freshened up because her lips were glowing from all the newly applied gloss. He smiled a little because he was flattered, but his mind was nowhere near hooking up with her.
The server finally came over and took their drink orders, and since the music was a little loud, he slid his
chair a little closer so he could hear what Karen was saying.
By drink number three, he was feeling relaxed and forgot about the time and getting home. He and Karen were having a good time, and she had him laughing.
“Hey, what’s up, man?”
Ray looked up and saw Julian. “Hey, Julian. Man, what’s going on?” He saw Julian’s eyes landed on Karen. “This is a client of mine, Karen. Karen, this is Julian, the owner of this spot.”
“Oh, nice to meet you,” she said, extending a petite hand.
“Likewise,” Julian said.
“So, where’s Kennedy?” Ray asked.
“Oh, she’s home with the twins tonight.” Ray thought about Leila being home with his kids. “How is Leila doing?” Julian asked. “Cher told us that your little girl is beautiful.”
“Leila is doing well. I mean, the store closing was an ordeal, but she is doing well. And I won’t lie. My Rayven is just as gorgeous as her momma.” He and Julian laughed, but Karen didn’t. Rayshon could see that she wasn’t too happy to be listening to them catch up and talk about their wives and kids.
“Wow, that’s great,” Julian said. “We should get together sometime. You know, have a cookout or something. Here’s my card, man. Hit me up.”
Ray took it and went for his wallet to put it away, and Julian left.
“Wow, you guys are like two old married couples,” Karen said and took a sip of her drink.
“Yep, we are,” Ray agreed. He swallowed the last of his beer. It was time for him to head home.
“You sure you don’t want another?” she asked. “I’m buying.”
“Nah, I’m good. And I got this.” He pulled out his wallet, took out three twenties, and dropped them on the table.
“Hold on, let me finish this, and we can go,” Karen said.
“No, don’t rush on my account. I just have to head home,” he said.
“No, I’ll be quick, I promise,” she said.
Ray decided to hit the men’s room while she finished her drink. When he came out, he ran into Julian. “I’m about to head out, man,” he said. He and Julian shook hands.