Dare Me (A MFM Ménage Romance)

by Vivian Ward

  “Oh my God! I’d completely forgotten about that! Yeah, that was fun,” I laugh as I replay that night in my head. “I’m probably going to go to hell for as bad as she got her ass beat by her mom. I’ll never forget those smacks that we heard coming from her bedroom window after I made that call.”

  And I won’t. It was awful. Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! They all rained down in hard, quick cessation. I felt bad almost as soon as it happened. But her naked boyfriend running out of the house with his blue jeans covering his little pecker was priceless. For being the quarterback, you’d think he would have run faster, but I guess he was probably too scared.

  “Do you want me to help you carry your bags in?” he asks as we pull up to my dad’s driveway.

  “No, thank you. I can get it and thanks for picking me up.” I grab my luggage out of the backseat. “This is only a very small part of my wardrobe. I have the rest of it being sent, and it should be here in a few days.”

  “Okay,” he gets out of the car and walks me to the front door.

  “Thanks again,” I say.

  “Lunch was great. Maybe we can do that again sometime?”

  His question isn’t a casual question. It’s direct, and he’s waiting for an answer.

  “Are you asking me out?”

  “Maybe,” he glances around the neighborhood and then locks eyes with me. “Actually, yes. I am. I’m asking you out. How about if we have dinner tomorrow? I’m entertaining a potential new client and would love to have you dangling off my arm as eye candy.”

  “Seriously?” I crinkle my nose and laugh. “Okay, I’ll go.” He opens his mouth to say something, but I cut him off before he utters a single word. “But only as friends.”

  “If that’s what you want to call it,” he winks. “I’ll pick you up around seven?”

  “Sounds good.”

  He leans down, invading any personal space that is remaining between the two of us. He’s so close that I am consumed with the smell of his mint gum. Tenderly, sweetly, he kisses my cheek and for a minute, my skin tingles. I’m not sure if it’s the mint that’s making my skin tingle or his kiss, but I imagine that it’s probably the latter.

  “Have a great day, beautiful,” he says goodbye as I pop open the front door.

  “Thanks, you too,” I turn and go inside before my I trip over my own two feet.

  How does that man still have such an effect on me as a grown woman who hasn’t been around in so long?

  When I walk into my old bedroom, everything is still the same—well, except about three inches of accumulated dust. Dad hasn’t touched a thing since the last time I came home and visited a couple of years ago. I flop onto the bed, tired from traveling, and think about my luncheon with Trent.

  In the past, I would never consider dating him, but he looks so good. Too damned good. Butterflies begin stirring deep in my belly as I think about what he looks like now that we’re all grown up and all the things he said. He’s still the same old, familiar, yet incredibly sexier man than I saw the last time we bumped into each other.

  Trent’s a self-made millionaire and has spent several hours in the gym; that’s for sure because it definitely shows. I didn’t notice it until we were standing on the front porch, but when the sunlight hit him, I could see more definition in his body than I had noticed when he first picked me up from the airport. I wanted to rake my fingers across his taut torso, but I stopped myself before I did anything foolish.

  I don’t know. I could see myself dating him. Yep, totally.

  I imagine we date for a couple of years, and he proposes. Maybe someplace downtown. It has to be one of the most romantic places in all of St. Louis because of the Arch, the riverfront and all of the beautiful things it has to offer.

  Our wedding would be pure bliss. We could have one of the biggest, most upscale weddings in the history of St. Louis and invite everyone we know. I’m sure our wedding announcement would be printed in the Post-Dispatch newspaper. We could have our honeymoon all across Europe, traveling to various areas, enjoying everything from backpacking to dining at the finest restaurants and making love in the fanciest hotels.

  Shit! The wedding!

  I picked up my phone and dial Karli, my best friend who is actually getting married.

  “Hello?” she answers.

  “Hey, girl! I’m in the Lou!”

  “You’re home already? I figured it’d take you a lot longer to get back. How was your flight?”

  “Good. When do you want me to try on my bridesmaid dress?”

  “Any time you’d like. If you want, you can even come have dinner with us tonight and stay for a while.”

  “Oh, I can’t do that. I’m waiting for my dad to come home from his doctor appointment. I haven’t even seen him yet, and I’ve been back for almost three hours. I can come over tomorrow before I go out to dinner with Trent.”

  Shit! I hadn’t meant to let the cat out of the bag.

  It’s not even a real date. Is it?

  “What? Wait a minute! You’re going on a dinner date with Trent? Trent Richardson?”

  “No! I mean, yes. No, I mean, I’m not going on a date with him, but a dinner meeting. With one of his new clients. A potential client, anyway.”

  “Uh-huh! Girl, you better spill it!”

  “It’s not that big of a deal.”

  I don’t know if I am trying to convince her or myself but either way, I can feel those butterflies fluttering around as their wings sprout and take off in my stomach. For a moment, I am glad that I am alone. No one can see the rosy glow my cheeks are filled with as they heat up while I picture Trent from when we were out on our lunch date earlier today.

  “Joline? Are you home?” I hear my dad’s voice as the front door clicks shut.

  “In here,” I call out to him. “Listen,” I talk into the phone, “my dad’s home. I’ll call you later.”

  “Okay, talk to you soon,” she says.

  “Okay, and not another word about Trent! Bye.”

  The call ends before I can get that last bit out; she already hung up.

  “Hey, dad,” I walk down the hall and greet him with a hug. “Oh, I missed you so much!”

  After he finishes squeezing me, he holds me out at arm’s length and looks me over.

  “The older you get, the more you look like your mom. You’re so beautiful, and I’ve missed you so much.”

  “Awe daddy, thank you. I’ve missed you, too,” I kiss him on the cheek. “How was your appointment? What did the doctor say?”

  “You worry like her too,” he chuckles. “I’m fine. The doctor said that I need to up my dosage or my hands will get worse, but don’t worry about me. Let’s hear about you.”

  “Oh, daddy! You know how bad your arthritis can get. What did he say about the pain?”

  “I didn’t tell him, but that’s enough about me. How was your flight? Did Trent pick you up on time? Did he take good care of my baby?”

  “My flight was fine, and yes. He was waiting for me before my plane even landed,” I bite my lip as I picture him sitting across from me at the table in the restaurant. “And then we went out to lunch—he said you insisted.”

  “Good,” a warm smile pulls at the corners of his eyes. “Where did the two of you go?”

  “Helen’s. Do you know they haven’t changed the menu there since we were kids? It’s crazy that they still serve the best onion straws on the planet.”

  As we stand there talking, it dawns on me that I need to get a game plan together. I need to get a new resume written and get myself back on the job market ASAP. Jobs in St. Louis are competitive, and if I want to find anything that pays well, I have to bring my A-game—and do it fast.

  “What’s wrong, baby?” he asks, noticing that I am hardly paying attention to him.

  “I’m worried. What if I don’t find work right away? Or what if nobody good is hiring?”

  “So? That means you get to keep me company a little longer. I’m not getting any younger, yo
u know?”

  “That’s not what I meant,” I rest my head on his shoulder. “I’m just worried that I won’t find a job and two things will happen. I’ll run out of money, and I won’t have enough to buy a new car.”

  Before I made the decision to come back to St. Louis, I spent every penny that I could trying to stay in Vegas. I looked for another job, but it seemed like I always applied right as the position was being filled, and it usually being filled with one of my old co-workers at that. What if the same thing happens all over again?

  Aside from the Trent and Zack situation, having a job that I hated was another small part of the equation as to why I left. I worked the night shift answering phones for an insurance company who handled 24-hour claims. It didn’t pay well, and there weren’t many people to talk to which kind of bothered me because I’m a people person.

  To purchase a plane ticket and have my personal belongings shipped back home, I had to sell my car. It was a last minute decision, and I hated doing it, but I had to because I was broke. Actually, I’m still broke. It cost almost everything I had to get here and have my things forwarded. Of course, I didn’t tell my father the real reason was that I was penniless.

  No, I told him that it made sense to just sell my car since I was moving back so that I didn’t have to worry about getting it back home and that I could car shop for something new.

  “Have a little fun. You just got home, and you haven’t even had a minute to have a meal with me or hang out with your friends. You can borrow my car if you need to, and if push comes to shove, you can get a rental car until you find the one you want.”

  “Thanks, dad. Speaking of, do you mind if I borrow your car tomorrow? I would like to visit Karli and try on my bridesmaid dress to make sure it fits.”

  I had taken my measurements in Vegas and texted them to Karli so that she could give them to her seamstress. I hope that I did them correctly because we won’t have enough time to do any major alterations before the wedding.

  “Sure. How long do you think you’ll have it? I wanted to play bridge with my pals tomorrow evening.”

  “Oh, tomorrow evening?”

  Shit, I was hoping he wouldn’t ask me anything about tomorrow evening.

  “If you need it, I can cancel I suppose.”

  “No, Dad, you keep your plans.”

  “Aww, I don’t want my baby sitting at home when she could be doing things. Maybe I can cancel this week’s game,” he offers.

  “I won’t be sitting at home,” I blurt out. I don’t want him to cancel his weekly gathering with his friends. “Actually, I’m supposed to meet up with Trent,” he immediately perks up and arches his eyebrow when I say Trent’s name. “It’s nothing, really. Just a dinner date.”

  “A dinner date? Shouldn’t he be coming to pick you up then?” He chuckles and nudges me with his arm. “You know, I sure would love to see you two together. He’s such a good boy.”

  “Dad, he’s hardly a boy. He’s a grown man.”

  “A grown man with lots of money and plenty of businesses. You wouldn’t have to work if you ended up with him,” a glimmer of hope twinkles in his eye. “You could stay home, make me a few grandbabies, and live the good life.”

  “You know I’m not about the money. I’ve never been like that,” I snap.

  “No, dear. I didn’t say you were. I’m thinking more about your old man. These medications the doctor has me on get expensive, and I could use a few bucks,” he teases me.

  I know his words are harmless and he doesn’t really mean them, and he doesn’t expect me to be with Trent. But I also know there’s a hint of truth in it. He would like to see us together, and he would like me to be taken care of.

  “I’ll give him a call later and ask if he’ll pick me up, and I shouldn’t be at Karli’s too long. I’m just going to try on my dress and do a little catching up.”

  “You finish getting settled in, and I’ll start some dinner,” he shuts the door behind him as he leaves.

  I would never admit this to anyone—okay, maybe to Karli—but I am excited about going on a dinner date with Trent. Sure, I played it off as no big deal to my dad, but in reality, I feel nauseous just thinking about it. I can’t wait to see Karli and see what she thinks about everything.

  Chapter 3

  “Girl, that dress looks fantastic on you!” Karli compliments me as I step out of the bathroom with my bridesmaid dress on.

  “You think so?” I smooth the wrinkles out of the bottom of the dress. “It’s a little tight around the middle. Maybe we should see about letting it out a couple of inches around the waist.”

  “Nah, I like it. Looks good on you, but you’ve always had a nice figure. Some of us,” she waves her hands down the length of her body, “have to work for what we want. We’re not all blessed with what God gave us.”

  “You’re so ate up,” I toss a throw pillow at her. “I’m going to change out of this thing before I end up ripping it.”

  “I’m going to fix some ice cream. You want some?” she calls into the bathroom as I change back into my sweats.

  “What kind?”

  “Chocolate fudge brownie.”

  “Yeah, I’ll take some.”

  I am dying to tell her about Trent, but I don’t want to be rude. She is so busy telling me about all of her wedding plans and showing me all of the colors that I can’t stop her from bragging about her big day.

  “So has Chris picked out all of his groomsmen? I remember you telling me that he was debating between two people for the last spot” I shovel a heaping scoop of ice cream into my mouth as if that’s going to somehow make me slimmer to fit into the already-tight dress I need to wear.

  “He’s had them picked out for a while, but his cousin Dwayne backed out on him, so he had to refill the spot.”

  “That sucks; glad he could get someone to do it. Who’s it going to be?”

  “Trent Richardson,” she says giving me some serious side eye, grinning at me.

  I almost choke to death on my ice cream, and it feels like I am going to pass out. Coughing on the massive chunk of brownie that is still lodged in my throat, I struggle for air.

  “Are you okay?” she asks, beating on my back.

  “Yeah,” I try to swallow. “Can you get me a glass of water?”

  It feels like the chunk of brownie is never going to dislodge itself and it’s burning my throat.

  “Here,” she hands me a cup of water. “What happened?”

  “Oh my God, girl. You could at least warn me that you’re trying to kill me!”

  “Sorry. It was the Trent thing, wasn’t it?” she laughs.

  “Mmmhhmm,” I crinkle my face. “When were you going to tell me?”

  “Honestly, I didn’t think it would be a big deal until you told me about your date with him when we talked on the phone last night. Which, by the way, you never gave me any real details about anything so start spilling it.”

  “I was going to! I’ve been dying to tell you all day, but you were so busy talking about the wedding that I didn’t want to interrupt you.” The look on her face tells me that she is going to murder me if I don’t get on with the news. “Okay, so my dad had him pick me up from the airport and from there, he took me out to lunch.”

  “Wait a minute. You didn’t tell me that the two of you went out to lunch. Where did you go? What happened?”

  I throw my head back, resting it on the overstuffed cushions of her couch and smile. “It wasn’t just any lunch. Karli, he even remembered my favorite restaurant—and remembered what I ordered! When I was with him, it was like I was a teenager all over again. It was an amazingly simple, yet incredible lunch date.”

  “Do you think you’ll…you know? Hook up?”

  “That’s the thing! I have to go out with him on a dinner date tonight, and that’s what I’m most worried about.” I roll my head off the back of the couch and look her square in the eye. “You remember how those boys used to chase me back in the day? I don�
�t know if I can keep him at bay. It was hard enough as a teenager with all of those horny ass hormones raging through my body, but now? Girl, a sista has got to get laid!”

  “I know that’s right!” we high-five each other in agreement.

  “Oh! My clothes are still in route from Vegas, and I don’t really have anything nice to wear tonight. Could I borrow something of yours?”

  “What’d you have in mind? I love playing dress up!” she motions for me to follow her into her bedroom. “Do you know where the two of you are going?”

  “I think he’s trying to impress a new client or he’s trying to get this guy to be a client or something of the sorts,” I say as she flips on the light to her closet. “Anything nice will do.”

  “You’re straight trippin’. I’ll have you looking smokin’ hot!” she calls from inside the closet. “Do you like red?”

  “Depends. What do you have?”

  She promenades out of the closet showcasing an exotic red dress if that’s what you want to call it. There is hardly anything to it; I can see more open space than I do thread.

  “Oh, no! I can’t wear that,” I protest. “I’ll look like a slut!”

  “I guarantee if you wear this, he will not be able to take his eyes off of you! You’ve got to wear this.”

  “What else do you have?”

  “A black and gray pencil skirt that I wear when I go to the library,” she draws her lips into a hard line as she rests her hand on her hip. “Now you’re going to wear this, and you’re going to look hot.” She pauses for a second and snaps her fingers, “I’ve got the perfect heels for these too!”

  “You know, maybe I should just go shopping and buy something. I’d hate to spill anything on your—”

  “Here!” she materializes from inside the closet with a pair of candy apple red pumps. “These will match perfectly. And don’t be ridiculous! You won’t ruin it, and if you do, it won’t be from a spill. It’ll be because he’s shredding it to get to what’s under it!” she squeals.