“William is black.”
Black? Well, well, well. What a coincidence. “Really.”
“Are you shocked or surprised?” She worries at her lower lip. I love being able to read her expressions like this. Skype video chats are a beautiful thing.
“Maggie, honey,” I start. Now it’s my turn to grin widely. “I’m not.”
“Are you sure?”
“I am.”
“I mean you’d tell me if you were, right?”
“Of course I would. I think it’s amazing you had to fly across the country to find the guy who makes you feel the way you do. I bet you might never have met each other in New York. I mean you were holding on to your single status with your life.”
“I’m so relieved to hear you say that. I haven’t told my sisters or my parents yet. I wanted you to be the first since we’re so close.”
“Maggie, trust me on this, I’m surely not one to judge. Not after this past weekend.” I guess this is as good a time as ever to spill my guts.
“Huh? What are you talking about?”
I take a deep breath in, down the rest of my wine for courage and launch into confession mode. “I’ve been infatuated by this very tall, incredibly elegant and drop-dead-gorgeous black British art buyer who’s popped by the gallery every week since I started.” I say that in one go. I don’t even take a breath. I leave Xander out for now. I need to break this to her gently.
“Wh-what?” Maggie’s dumbstruck expression is priceless. “You have a crush on someone and it’s only now you tell me?” She crosses her arms over her chest.
“Don’t pretend to be offended. It took you three weeks to tell me about William.”
“Touché. What’s his name?” She’s so excited.
“Ethan Akuna.”
“Sexy name.” Her voices dips low when she says that.
“Sexy man,” I retort, matching her sultry tone.
“Hello, girlfriend!” She lifts her right hand up and I do the same. We high-five each other virtually. It’s this thing we started doing to celebrate big moments in our lives when we went to different colleges. “What does the object of your affection look like?”
“I’m not sure how to describe him, Maggie. He’s just pure dark perfection in my book,” I coo.
“Oh, I know.” She claps her hands together. “Use an actor. For instance William looks exactly like Anthony Mackie. People tell him all the time that he could double for Falcon. He gets a kick out of it since he’s a huge fan of the early Captain America and Avengers movies.”
“Wow. Your beau looks like a superhero and he has superpowers.”
Maggie’s eyes widen and her lower lip quivers. Suddenly she bursts out laughing as my joke sinks in. “I guess you could say that,” she manages when she regains her composure.
“Not bad. Not bad at all.” I nod appreciatively.
“I know.” She smiles and lowers her eyes to her lap. She’s doing it again. She’s gushing. She must really be into this guy. “Now it’s your turn. Give me a visual for your beau.”
“It’s not like that. He’s more of an obsession than anything else.” And someone I shamelessly made out with in a private room of an upscale lounge. “It’s definitely not a boyfriend-slash-girlfriend situation like William and you.”
“Just answer the darn question, woman.” She waves as you do when you want to rush someone.
“Idris Elba has a young look-a-like walking the streets of London and he doesn’t even know it.”
“Seriously?” Her jaw drops. “You didn’t even put on your training wheels on and you didn’t even start in the middle. You just went right to the top of the food chain?” I guess I did. She brings her eyebrows together and from the way her mouth is gaping, I’d say she’s pretty shocked. “We’re talking about one of the hottest black men in the world.”
“I swear, Maggie. The man is as regal as an African king. Very much like the black British actor.”
“This guy sounds lip-smackingly delicious.” Yup. “So what happened over the weekend?” she asks.
“I bumped into him at Hush.”
“Oh, yeah, there’s so much for us to talk about, I totally forgot to ask about that infamous lounge. What a coincidence that he was there. How was it? Did you spend the evening together?”
I nod. “It was off the charts. And yes, I did.”
“Did you make out with Mr. Idris Elba’s look-a-like?” She waggles her eyebrows like an eager tween. I nod again. “Good girl,” she exclaims. “Look at you taking a huge step forward.”
“Did I mention his best friend was also at the club?” I play coy. “And did I mention that I also made out with him? It was the three of us in one of the private VIP rooms.” Since Maggie is only the second person in the world I’ve told this story to, I’m not sure I’m wording it right. Maybe it was too much in one shot. Then again, is there a proper way to reveal that you spent an illicit night with two hot men? I don’t think so.
“You did what?” Maggie shouts. Her eyes are practically bugging out of her head. I don’t blame her. This is quite the shocker.
“You heard me the first time.” Over the next hour I tell her everything. I start from that Wednesday when Ethan came for that earlier morning meeting, to the evening at Hush, to what I shared with Jackie yesterday morning. Since we’ve always been fairly open about our sexual relationships, I don’t hide anything. The only thing I keep to myself is the secret Jackie revealed to me. It’s not my own to tell. When I’m done, we just sit there staring at each other. Maggie’s face is still frozen in stupor. “Say something. Scream at me, insult me, call me a slut, but please talk to me,” I plead.
“Wow. I mean wow in all caps.”
“I might not have had sex in eighteen months—”
“I still don’t know how you could survive that long without it,” she interrupts. “I don’t think I’ve gone without for more than three months and that was torture.” I fold my lips up. It’s not a smile. It’s more me resigning myself to my past. “Oh, oops. Sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.” She flashes me a guilty smile. Maggie knows my history.
“It was easier to wear a chastity belt than to keep falling for the wrong guy,” I say dismissively, waving my hands in front of my face. Even when Maggie keeps her relationships to casual fucks, she seems to always score a porn star king in bed. I end up with the complete opposite. “The few lackluster encounters I’ve had didn’t make me crave sex—on the contrary. Ethan and Xander changed all of that. They make me want to do very bad things.”
“Jesus Christ.” Maggie’s head jerks back in surprise. “Is that for real?”
“I can’t make that stuff up.”
She shakes her head and blinks a few times. “I guess not.”
“It was truly the most amazing night of my life, Maggie. Every cell in my body was tingling from all the naughty things they did to me.”
“Did you actually talk about sex in a positive way?” she asks.
“I did, didn’t I?”
“Hallelujah, girl! Your sex drive is back online,” Maggie cheers.
I smile. “I don’t think I’ve ever had one, but Ethan and Xander woke up parts of me that have been dormant for a very long time. I mean, this could all be nothing more than a passing thing for them—and I’m aware of that—but they made me feel like never before.”
“Good for you, honey. It’s about time. I won’t lie. You being with two guys at the same time threw me off for a minute—okay, maybe three.” She giggles. “I didn’t know what to think, let alone what to say. The second I saw your beautiful face on this chat, I knew something was different. I didn’t know to what extent. Now it all makes sense. Is what you shared with those two conventional? No, I don’t think so. Is this something that would freak out every single member of our family? Heck, yeah. Should you put the brakes on it? Hell, no. Not after what you described.”
“Really?”
“Go for it. Enjoy this ride as far as it takes you.
Soak it all in without restraint.”
“I can’t tell you how much it means to me to hear you say that. Jackie and you have made it so much easier for me not to perceive what happened as something vile people do. I mean, don’t get me wrong, it felt amazing at the time, but then I started feeling so guilty. I know now that although it might not be everyone’s cup of tea, it doesn’t mean it’s bad.”
“I totally agree. So are you ready to forget all about Paul and his deceptive ways?” Maggie treads carefully. She knows how devastated I was when Paul revealed his true self.
“I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to forget that jerk,” I spit out.
“You know what I mean, Dee.”
I sigh. “I do,” I concede, averting my gaze.
I dated Paul Creedon for three months. He’s a year older. He has a great job as a visual merchandising and window dressing assistant for the TJ Maxx department store chain. There are so many things that made our relationship strong—well, at the time I thought we shared a good thing. He’s fun, spontaneous, a great listener and he’s so caring. I told him after our fourth date when things got hot and heavy that I was saving myself for when both of us were sure. He never had a problem with that.
Three months into our relationship he declares it’s time. I agreed. I felt comfortable with him and I also felt this might be a long-term thing—sex was the natural next step. Since it was our first time, Paul took it upon himself to create a magical evening for us. He invited me to his place and when I got there I was completely dumbfounded. He had decorated his apartment with such a romantic vibe, I was touched. After a delicious diner and the best wine I had ever tasted, we started making out on his couch. A few minutes later, he pulled away from me and asked me to wait. He said he had a little surprise to make this night memorable. I was excited beyond words. It felt so right.
Thirty minutes later, Paul was still locked up in his bedroom. I started to worry. When he opened the door, my jaw dropped. There was Paul, a six-foot-tall man, dressed in women’s underwear—complete with bustier, garter belt and stockings. He didn’t stop at that. He was wearing full make-up, including red lips, a wig and super high heels—I didn’t know they made them in his size. I was dumbfounded. I didn’t know what to say or what to think. I blinked, hoping my eyes were playing tricks on me, but no, Paul was still standing there all decked out like a drag queen. When he declared with a huge smile on his face that he had bought me the same outfit he was wearing in my size, I started to really panic. He thought it would be so powerful for both of us to be dressed alike on the first day we made love. Love? My ass. And if that wasn’t enough, he also informed me that he had bought a strap-on cock for me to use on him—a giant fifteen-inch one. When he showed it to me, my eyes bulged so wide, I thought they were going to pop out of my head. He added it isn’t branded the Great American Challenge for nothing. He wanted to make sure I fuck him real deep. He also declared he’d been using dildos ‘up there’ on his own for a while, but he wanted me to take control of his orgasm tonight.
A wave of nausea hit my stomach as I took in his words. I just looked up at him as if he were this scary monster. Since I had lost my voice, he took a few steps closer to me. I jumped to my feet with my hand up, grabbed my stuff and ran out of his apartment like a bat out of hell. I cried for a week straight.
Maggie’s voice brings me back to the moment. I lock eyes with her. “Paul had a cross-dressing penchant—and a fetish for all sorts of weird stuff—that he should’ve revealed from day one.” That’s putting it mildly. “It was wrong of him to withhold that kind of explosive information from you until the night you two decided to have sex. I’ve said it a million times, it had nothing to do with you. You did nothing wrong. You were bamboozled like the rest of us. So I repeat my question, Dee, are you done letting that confused idiot define how desirable you are as a woman?”
I found out six months after I had walked out on Paul that it was more than just a penchant. I bumped into one of his ex-girlfriends at a new artist’s showing in Soho. We had met at a party the year before and she remembered me. When I told her Paul and I weren’t seeing each other anymore, she shocked the hell out of me when she said she knew exactly why. My stunned look fueled her and that’s when she confessed that Paul had opened up about having a transvestitism fetish when he had accompanied her to Victoria’s Secret. Just like me, she ran. I wish Paul had had the courtesy to tell me well in advance.
“Hmph.” I snort again. “Had you asked me that question on Saturday morning, I don’t think I would’ve been able to say yes, but everything is so different now. The way Paul led me on for months is still a huge slap in the face. He did more to chip away at my already fragile confidence than all my other boyfriends combined. It’s been a year since I’ve even allowed myself to look at a guy, let alone be interested in one. I needed time to process it all. Just like you, I’ve never even considered being with a black guy before, but living in New York and now London changes a girl—of course in my case, you have to multiply that by two.” We both giggle. “So to answer your question, it’s a resounding yes.”
“Hurray,” Maggie cheers. “Are you going to tell your two black gods you want to see them again?”
“I’ve been mulling it over for the past couple days. Jackie said not to rush it. She was dead certain I’ll wake up one morning knowing I’m ready.”
“I never thought of it like that before, but maybe she’s right.”
“I’ll be honest, Maggie, it’s overwhelming and a part of me is still very much trapped in my past shitty relationships, but another part is so incredibly attracted to Ethan and Xander. I still can’t believe I tiptoed out of my comfort zone and I didn’t even consult with you beforehand for guidance.” Wow, that’s another first for me. “Those two are breaking down my walls and I don’t even know them yet. And guess what?”
“What?”
“I’m totally okay with it. I’m not petrified enough to go back and hide in my little hole. On the contrary.”
“Holy shit, did you just open yourself up to possibilities?” Maggie asks.
“I guess I just did.” I beam proudly.
CHAPTER 4
Ethan
I was supposed to get back to London on Tuesday late afternoon around the same time as Xander. However, things didn’t quite turn out that way. On Monday morning Ashley texted me to find out if I was available for an urgent meeting in regards to their new artist Calysta Knight. Needless to say that I jumped on a plane back to London the second I was done with my meetings in Dublin. I was certain we were going to meet at the gallery, but Ashley suggested we meet at a restaurant instead so that we wouldn't get distracted. You can imagine my disappointment. I was hoping to catch a glimpse of our sexy Texan. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be.
After a delicious lunch, Ashley announces that Calysta has changed her mind on postponing the sale of those sixteen pieces she painted during her recovery. She didn’t expect this level of excitement from the British market and since she’s still drowning under medical bills, she decided to release them sooner rather than later. As a result, they’ll be in London within the next ten days. As Ashley was sharing the good news, I was already listing the potential buyers who would love to get their hands on one of those exclusive creations.
Over dessert, Ashley divulged that she overheard Piper, Katrina and Delilah chatting in the kitchen yesterday morning before they headed out about the American’s fun Saturday night at Hush. Ashley mentioned that she immediately thought of me since she knows it’s one of my favourite spots in the city. I simply nodded. Why offer more information than necessary? Although I played it cool, that was the trigger for me. Neither Xander nor I have heard back from Delilah. She might not have been in touch, but clearly our evening is still on her mind. It was so intense between the three of us, I’m not surprised she’s hesitating. That said, I’m not a very patient man. It’s time to swing the pendulum in our favour.
After making sure Ashley gets in
to a taxi, I trek to a nearby park, pull out my phone and log into my Gett account—it’s the company I always use. It doesn’t take me long to find exactly what I’m looking for. With a huge grin plastered across my face, I call my best friend. Hopefully, he won’t be stuck in a brainstorming session. He has a big day in Dublin grooming his new rising pop star artist, Kylie Daniels. If he’s trapped in a recording studio, I’m screwed because his phone will most likely be off. I’m too eager to share my plan to have to wait. It’s my lucky day. Xander answers on the first ring. “Hey, mate.”
“Hey, Xander. I guess I caught you at the right time.”
“Yeah, I just finished my last meeting and I’m heading back to the hotel and then I’m off to the airport to catch my flight back home. How was your meeting with Ashley?”
“It was worth coming back early for. At this rate, I’ll have to hire more staff soon.”
“Brilliant. You’re definitely on fire. Speaking of our little vixen’s boss, were you able to bump into Delilah?”
“No. Things didn’t quite turn out as I expected.”
“What do you mean?”
Over the next few minutes I fill Xander on my lunch with Ashley and her interesting revelation.
“The reason I’m calling is because I want to see her again—”
“So do I, Ethan. She’s on my mind all the time. It’s nearly obsessive. Sometimes I can’t seem to focus on anything else.” He lets out a long exhale.
“I’m in the same boat,” I confess.
“I thought this business trip would be a distraction, but I was wrong. It’s only making me miss her more.”
“Same here. Patience is a virtue others possess. Not me.”
Xander laughs. “Tell me something I don’t already know.”
“I’m going to ignore that sly comment because I’m too much in a good mood. I have an idea that might persuade Delilah to make a decision faster.”
“I’m all ears, mate,” Xander says.
“Everything was fast and furious on Saturday with her. I have a feeling her uncertainty surrounding our unconventional proposal might be getting the best of her.”
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