by PN Books
“What are you doing?” she asked, looking confused.
“It’s our ride.”
“What? But it’s so fancy.” She bent over and peeked inside. “This is like a Mercedes,” She remarked.
“It is a Mercedes,” I told her and she opened her eyes wide. “Now get inside, we have a schedule to keep.”
We got in and within seconds, the car pulled off. We drove for what seemed like miles. I tried to make small talk with Simone, but all she was interested in was where we were going. She couldn’t keep the conversation going without veering off into what we were about to do.
“But what if I’m overdressed?” she asked.
“Look at what I’m wearing. If you’re overdressed, then that would mean that I’m overdressed too.” I chuckled. “Just relax, we’re almost there.”
Sure enough, the Mercedes stop in front of the restaurant. Simone’s jaw dropped open.
“This is where we’re going?”
I didn’t bother to answer her question. I just got out and came around the other side to open the door for her. When she put her hands within mine, she had the biggest smile on her face.
“Wow, I really don’t know what to say.”
“That’s a first,” I joked and she poked me with her elbow. “Are you ready?” She nodded her head excitedly and we went in.
The online photos of this place didn’t do it justice. It was like a palace. I’m really glad to be in this suit and Simone in her dress. We fit right in. When the maître d’ saw us, he greeted us with a warm and inviting smile.
“You are both looking lovely tonight.”
“Thank you so much,” Simone spoke first.
“Do you have a reservation?”
“Yes under Benjamin Wood.”
The maître d’ looked at down at his tablet. He swiped his fingers in a few directions and then smiled.
“Of course. Right this way.” He walked in front of us and we followed. When we got to the table, he pulled out Simone’s chair.
“If you don’t mind, I would like to do that,” I stepped in.
“Of course, sir.”
“Mmm, such a gentleman,” Simone boasted. She sat down as I gently pushed the seat in.
After our orders had been taken, we started talking about our future. I finally let her in on how disappointed I was about Dwayne. She just nodded her head as I spoke. When I finished, she just smiled.
“What is it?” I questioned.
“You know, with the way that this world is going, I don’t think you’re up with the times.”
“What do you mean? I have Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and all of that nonsense.”
“That’s good that you have it, but how do you use it? Is it helping you? Is it helping your brand?”
“My brand?” I was confused. “What do you mean?”
“What I mean is, that this is a new era, this is a new day. The old days of getting drafted are pretty much about to be over. You have to get in another way.”
“You’re trying to say that I can’t get in the old fashioned way?”
“I’m sure you can. I think what I’m trying to say is that you can’t think that it’s only one way to get in the NBA. Look at you, you’re going to wait for a big game to come along and hope that you get seen by a scout, and that’s good, but it’s slow. You need to be doing more.”
“But I’m playing the best that I can.”
“Yeah, but besides us at the school, who else really knows?” She shot a look at me. “Do you know how many clips of you are out there on the internet?”
“Probably a few.”
“And none of them are from you. None of them lead to you. Do you realize all the clips about you playing ball go to someone else? Everyone goes to watch a video of you but it’s on someone else’s page or on the school website, but there is nothing that leads directly to you. You need to start branding yourself.”
I was really shocked to hear that. I’ve never heard anybody tell me that before. All I ever heard was that I needed to play hard and that maybe I will get seen by someone important, but what Simone was telling me was that I had to have my face out there. I had to put myself out there and have them come to me.
“That is pretty smart,” I nodded my head slowly. “I never thought of that. One of these days, we’re going to talk about that.”
“We can do that now.”
“Now, it’s about you and me. Let’s leave basketball out of this.”
“What about you and me?”
“I don’t think that I have to state the obvious. I like you.”
“You do?” she batted her eyelashes at me. She was always joking.
“You know that I do. The more I hang out with you, I can see that it’s more than a physical thing.”
“Physical? Are you really attracted to me?”
“Yes, why wouldn’t I be?”
She didn’t answer me. Luckily for her, our food came in. She just started picking at her grilled chicken salad. She wasn’t even really eating it, but she just made sure that her face was concentrated on the plate. I leaned closer.
“Hey, what’s up?” I asked. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” She still wasn’t looking at me. She then took a deep breath and dropped her fork. “Don’t get me wrong, I know that I’m cute. I might even be pretty but sometimes the way you look at me…”
“What about it?”
“You look at me like I’m so sexy.”
“But you are,” I told her seriously. “I don’t get it that the woman that sketched and designed that sexy dress for herself could not think that she herself was sexy. You are so beautiful and should be so confident.”
“I don’t know,” She sounded so unsure.
“You know what drew me to you on the first day that I met you?”
“No, what was it?”
‘It was your confidence. You just told off those girls and walked away like nothing could phase you. What happened to that girl?”
“She’s still here.”
“Good, because I really liked her.”
“I like you too.”
The rest of dinner went great. She got up briefly to use the restroom a few times. I guess the sparkling cider was getting to her, but aside from that, we were having a great time. She told me more about her fashion line and how it would be for all sizes. She was an English major but she wanted to go to a fashion school before she started her fashion line.
“So, what about you?”
“What about me?” I shrugged my shoulders. “You already know my plan. I’m going to get into the NBA.” She nodded her head very slowly. “Are you going to be like others and ask me what my backup plan is?” She shook her head ‘no’. “Why not?”
“Because plan B distracts from plan A,” she stated brilliantly. “But there has to be something that you want to do besides, just basketball.”
“To be honest, I haven’t given it much thought,” I confessed. “I guess if I even think about it, it feels like I’m betraying a dream.”
“So let’s put it this way. You’re in the NBA but now you’re about to retire, what are you about to do?”
“I don’t even know how to answer that question because that thought rarely crosses my mind.”
“Well, you better get to thinking about it or you just might end up on one of those awful reality shows.”
“Not even!” I chuckled out loud.
“You might be on there looking for love.”
“Hopefully not. Hopefully, I have that situation taken care of.”
“You hope to be married?” She sipped on her drink slowly but never took her eyes off of me.
“I do want to be married.”
“And you want kids?”
“Yup.”
“That’s so sweet and rare for guys our age. Our generation isn’t really into that,” She smiled.
“Well, I am. And I’m into you too.”
Our check arrived and I thanked
the waiter. I looked at the receipt, preparing for the worst, but there was nothing there but a note.
Your dinner was on the house. We are all big fans.
There was a smiley face at the end. That was one huge advantage of being in a town like this. If you played on the teams, people really knew you. I knew I was getting spoiled with all this treatment, but I heard that the football players were like gods amongst men. They got almost everything. I went into my wallet and put three $20 bills in there. The service was impeccable and I needed to find some small way to thank them.
“Are you ready to go?” I got up and extended out my hand. She just put her hand within mine. We walked out holding hands and it felt right. It felt like we were a couple for a while and this is just something we do all the time. We got outside and I took my phone out.
“What are you doing? Are you ordering another Uber?” She gave me a slick smile.
“Not just any Uber, but an Uber XL.” I laughed. “That’s how we got that luxury car.
“I can’t lie, I was very impressed but I’m not expecting that treatment, all the time.”
“Why not? If I got it, I will get it for you,” I looked at her. “You’re not some basic chick.”
“Thank you for that,” She smiled. “But please don’t order an Uber.”
“Why not? I want us to ride back in style.”
“I’m flattered, but I have a surprise for you. So, I need to get the Uber.”
“I’ll pay for it.”
“I’m glad for the suggestion, but I got this.”
When the Uber pulled up, I opened the door for her. I was curious to where I was being taken to but I was being as patient as I can. The comforting smile on Simone’s face was reassuring.
“This place?” I started.
“Yes?”
“Is it outdoors?”
“Wait and see B-Wood,” She winked at me. I shrugged my shoulders and just leaned back.
We weren’t on the road for long. We stopped and I looked out the window. We were by some houses, but I still was confused. Was she bringing me to a house party? I got out of the car and then opened the door for her. She thanked the driver and he was on his way. I looked at the houses, trying to figure out which one we were going to go into. I saw a house down the block that had people sitting out in front of it. I guess that was it and took her hand. I started walking towards the house but she pulled her hand away.
“What are you doing?” She was looking at me like I was crazy.
“I’m taking us down to that house. I thought we were going to a house party. Isn’t it that it right there?”
“I don’t know what that is, but that is not where we’re going.”
“It’s not?”
“No, we’re actually going there.”
She pointed across the street to where a hotel was.
*****
I’m surprised that I didn’t notice it at first. There it was. It was a tall, huge building, with some trees in front of it. It had bright lights that said that it was a hotel.
“A hotel?” I had to make sure that she was pointing to the right place.
“Yeah, I know it’s not as fancy as the restaurant, but it’s something nice and I can afford it. Are you ready?”
I nodded my head. “We’re really going in there?”
“Yes.”
“Are you sure? I don’t want to make you feel like you have to do this.”
“And how are you doing that?”
“By having dinner.”
“Oh dear,” she sighed. She reached out and touched my face. “Dinner was great but that’s not why I’m bringing you to a hotel. I’m doing this because of you.” I opened my mouth to speak, but she put her fingers over it. “And you are not pressuring me or anything. I appreciated you looking out for me, but I can make my own decision. And this is something that I want to do. Would you like to?”
“Let’s go.”
We checked into the hotel and took the elevator straight to the room. She opened the door and I followed her. It was a pretty fair sized room. There was just a TV and a queen size bed. We walked further and saw a door that led to the bathroom. It was all back with a white sink, white toilet, and all glass shower.
“Now that’s pretty fancy,” She joked. “I’m going to pop in there real quick if you don’t mind.” She walked in. I made my way to the TV and sat on the end of the bed frame. I located the remote and turned on the TV. I went straight to the sports channel.
“Good evening, we are here to bring you up to date with all that college sports stuff. We cannot believe the buzz that we are hearing. It’s not even draft season but there are rumors swirling around that a certain NBA team has been looking for someone to hire. It might be through free agent hire.” The anchorman went on but I had a clue of who he was talking about. He might have been talking about Dwayne. When I saw them shoot in front of the university, I got the message, Dwayne was probably going to be gone.
“So,” Simone came out wearing all this all black lacy dress. I blinked twice slowly because I was sure that my eyes were playing tricks on me. “You mind if we just take it straight to bed?”
“Just like that?” I turned off the TV.
“What are we waiting for?”
“I just remember you saying that you didn’t want to have sex unless it was your boyfriend.”
“I did say that.”
“So once we do this,” I stood up and held her hands, “you know that is going to make me your boyfriend?”
“I’m cool with that.” She kissed me.
She started to take off my clothes and I wrapped my hands around her waist. I pulled her close for a kiss. I could feel her heartbeat because we were pressed up against each other so close. I kissed her neck and walked her over to the bed. I grabbed and squeezed her because she felt so good. I couldn’t believe that this was happening. I was down to my boxers. I was so turned on, that I couldn’t contain myself. I put my knees in between hers so that I could open them. She then took a long deep breath.
“Are you sure that you’re ready for this?” I had to make sure. “I don’t want you to rush anything because of me.”
“Would you…” She grabbed me and put me inside of her. “I’m ready.”
We started off slow and smooth. She felt so great and I didn’t want to finish quickly, but she felt so right. Everything felt better than I thought it would. She was so into it and that made me want her even more.
After we were finished, I just held her, cradled right underneath my chin.
“So, were you serious about what you said earlier?” She asked craning her head to look at me.
“What are you talking about? So much has happened.” I winked.
“About being my boyfriend. Were you really serious about that, or were you just saying that?”
I smiled and kissed her nose. “I told you I did.”
“Well, I just want to make sure because I told you that I would have liked you to wait 90 days.”
“And why didn’t we?”
“Because you’re really sweet and I think that this will be different.”
“I think so, too.”
The big game against our rivals came soon. Right after we left the hotel room, everything moved at warp speed. Simone and I were constantly in contact. It was great, but at the same time, it was really distracting. I would be in the middle of practice and I could hear my phone go off. It was usually her showing me a picture of something or just with some randomness. If it wasn’t for the game, I would be into it, but right now I had one focus. Right now it was all about beating the rival team and getting into the playoffs.
“I’m sure you guys know more than me of how important this game is.” My Coach started with the speech. “Have you taken a good look at the court right now? It’s nothing but their fans out there. Yeah, we have some of our people, but remember we are in their house. They are going to be cheering for their team and booing you. They are going to be saying somet
hing really disrespectful towards you, but you have to tune it out. We have to go out there and make them eat their words. We have to go out there and make sure that they all go home pissed because we won this game. Losing is not an option to us, so don’t ever think of slacking up or easing up. If you feel like you cannot do this, then sit down on the fucking bench while everyone does, but if you’re out there, you have to give 110% nothing less. Is that understood?”
“Yes sir!”
“Let’s go.”
The first quarter of the game, we dominated it. We had a 20 point lead and everything. Aaron and I were unstoppable. When we weren’t sinking in shots, we were killing the other team in defense. I was always blocking shots, stealing the ball, or making sure that the opposing team was going out of bounds. It was great. By the time halftime got around, we were beat.
“I know that you guys are tired and that you want to throw the towel in, but you can’t do that. You have to keep it going. You have to. We didn’t get this far for you guys to lose. B-Wood and Aaron, I want you guys to rest.”
“Come on Coach. We can be out there, we’re alright.” Aaron said but he was so out of breath, it was hard to take him seriously.
“No, I don’t want you guys to be burned out by the time the fourth quarter comes around. I need you guys rested. We’ll have Amir and Kyle go in and play for you.” He told us. I wasn’t going to fight him on this at all. I was tired and I could use the rest.
The second half was going a bit slower. We still maintained a 10 point lead, but there were still one too many turnovers. Our replacements were playing fine, but the replacements on the other team were actually playing better. They were going in it for blood. It seemed like we were going to really lose the lead. I was antsy.
“Beat those bitches!” A fan screamed from rows behind us. Aaron and I turned and looked at him. He was wearing the opposing team's jersey so we knew who he was cheering for. “What the fuck you fags are looking at?” He nodded at us. “Look at these pussies.” He nudged the guy that was sitting next to him. “You guys think that you’re going to win this game with those bitch-ass ghetto moves that you’re pulling?” He laughed and his friend joined along. Aaron and I just turned back and ignored them. We knew better than to let his comments get to us. “Turn back bitches!” He screamed but we didn’t move.