All I Want... Is You (3 page)

It was at that point that I didn’t know what to expect.

It didn’t matter, though.

I would have guessed wrong anyway.

“What haven’t you told me?”

“I’m married.”

“You wanna run that by me again?”

Damn.

Nice one, Morrow.

That headache was coming on again.

“I didn’t tell you before because… but you looked so damn good, and… I didn’t think you would have slept with me if you knew beforehand.”

Her instincts were dead on.

Not that I was a saint or anything, I’ve seduced and fucked married women before.

But after a major mistake I made with a married woman in college that ended with her losing tenure and her marriage, I swore I would never help someone commit adultery again.

It would have been different if her husband knew…

That’s different.

But in the span of a couple of hours, because my game was off, I had done exactly that.

All because I needed validation…

Shit.

“You hate me, don’t you?”

“I don’t hate anyone, but I guess you had to do what you had to do. It’s gravy, I probably would have lied to you, too.”

“None of the others cared all that much, and you never bothered to ask,” she smirked, her ‘sorrow’ no longer evident on her face.

She was actually pissed.

Wait a minute…

Others?

“Damn, I should have known better, but that’s cool, too, because I wanted it as bad as you did,” I admitted, laughing at myself on that one. “You’re right, this ain’t happening again, and you need to bounce.”

I needed some air.

The walls were closing in on me, and the sooner that she could get the fuck out, the sooner I could drop to the JR Crickets on Spring Street and get some wings. Dealing with this shit not only made my head hurt, but it gave me one hell of an appetite.

I ain’t gonna lie, though.

The pussy was still good.

You might think I’m wrong for saying that, but I really could care less. You weren’t the one knee-deep in that pussy and leaving handprints on that ass.

What a waste, and she had such potential, too.

For a minute, though, I did consider the real possibility of amending one of my rules.

I could dick her down whenever I felt like it, making sure that she called her husband to let him know that she was coming to fuck me.

I’m deadly serious about that sneaking around and cheating shit. If she wants some bad enough, she can be woman enough to let her husband know that she needs to get better quality pounding. Then he can either man up and handle shit at home or let her out so she can get her monthly maintenance.

I wouldn’t have to worry about her spending the night, and if I didn’t feel like having her over, I could make her pay for a hotel room that we could wreck for a night.

No worries about wanting to spend the holidays or getting a birthday present or all of the other sappy shit that I really wasn’t in the mood for after the bullshit with Stacy.

It was the perfect set up.

All she would have to do was say yes.

But the fact that there were ‘others’ irritated me to no end.

I was no one’s option, period.

So, she had to go.

Adios. See you next lifetime.

As I watched her pick up her clothes and hurriedly dress while she called me everything but a child of God for throwing her out of my condo, I got to the point where there was nothing more to say.

I mean, really, what the fuck was there?

If I’d paid better attention, I could have fucked Kristen and been in post-orgasmic bliss right now while my body was reenergizing to go for round two.

Oh well, that’s what I get for trying to prove I could get some new pussy when my game was rusty as fuck.

It’s alright, though.

I got mine.

She got hers.

And in the words of DMX…

What these bitches want from a nigga?

~Cori~

“
Come on, girls, we can do better than this!”

My girl Kyra was yelling at the top of her lungs over the music, trying to get the rest of us in line. We had been rehearsing for this gig we had downtown for the past few weeks, and we were all off sync. I think we all knew that a deal would be in the works if we impressed the producers over at RP Records, but it was causing us to press harder than usual.

The way we looked, we might as well have been booed at the Apollo Theatre, and Kyra was definitely not pleased with our effort.

“Look, I know you think that this deal can be wrapped up, but you need to get your heads right,” Kyra continued, finally turning the music off so she didn’t have to yell so loud.

“Relax, Kyra, it’s just an off night, that’s all,” that was Tracie, one of the other girls in our group,
Cazhe
. “We’ll be fine by tomorrow night.”

There were four of us: Kyra, who is our co-lead singer along with me; Tracie and Candace round out the group. Our manager, Cheryl, thought it would be a good idea to get us together as a group even though we were all solo artists. I guess in her mind she felt we could be an En Vogue type of group, but in my mind, there will never be another like those ladies.

“That’s your problem, T, you think that we can have an off night and everything will go smoothly,” Kyra fired back at her. “Well, what if we have an off night tomorrow? All this damn practicing that we’ve been doing will be wasted.”

“Okay, ladies, relax, let’s try to concentrate,” Cheryl watched us the whole time, trying to find the right moment to get us back on track. “The rep from RP said that the owner, Mr. Richton, will have his representatives, including his staff photographer, in attendance for the showcase.”

That got our attention.

Word had it that Mr. Richton rarely attended the showcases, but he trusted two people to let him know if an act was legit. One was his vice president, and the other was his top staff photographer, who had found a couple of platinum selling acts for him, but insisted on staying in the photography department because he wanted to become the company’s Director of Photography.

It was our job to impress those two people.

“Alright, I tell you what, let’s relax for tonight, we have been pushing a little bit,” I looked at the clock, and realized it was one in the morning, “Let’s call it for the night. We know the routines, and we know the songs, let’s just execute and get this contract, okay?”

“Alright, Cori, you’ve been right before,” Kyra backed down. She could be a hothead at times, but someone needed to keep things in line at times. I loved her for that.

“Good, because I don’t know about you girls, but I’ve got a taste for some wings from JR Crickets,” Tracie announced, rubbing her stomach. “Are you rolling with me, Cori?”

I needed to eat something, I hadn’t really eaten much that day, so I was good with making a stop by there to grab a chicken salad or something, maybe grab a wine cooler to help me sleep.

“Alright, I’ll roll and meet you there,” I told Tracie as we walked out of the studio. “See you ladies tomorrow night.”

It was a slow night for a Friday.

That’s saying a lot at this particular JR Crickets.

Considering Georgia Tech was right around the corner and even though the Varsity was right across the street, to be able to find a seat inside of that small diner was saying a lot.

We sat at the barstools up front after ordering what we wanted, and Tracie was already in rare form, flirting with one of the Tech football players to pass the time while I ignored his homeboy, who thought that I was supposed to fawn all over him because he was projected to be a first round pick in the upcoming NFL draft.

Whatever, I had no intentions of robbing the cradle, and he looked young enough to be my little brother.

I knew Tracie didn’t care because she was a dick tease anyway. She’d have that boy eating out the palm of her hand, promising him that the gold between her legs would be worth waiting a couple of weeks after the draft so he could fly her up to New York and give him the time of his life.

That is, until the order came up.

While I was listening to the shit that Tracie was absorbing and taking in from the kid, this man walks into the place like he owned it or something.

The arrogance on this dude was evident in his walk.

But his presence could not be denied.

Even the wait staff acted like he deserved their full attention, making sure that they spoke to him the minute they passed him.

To command that type of attention and all he was wearing was jeans and a polo shirt.

That got my attention.

Still, there was something about him that screamed at me that I did not want to get caught up, so I kept my distance, acting as if he wasn’t in the place.

His demeanor told me that he could have given a fuck.

Oh well, it’s whatever.

I came here for the wings and the salad.

Tracie’s attention was drawn to him, too. So much so that the youngster she was all into at the time all of a sudden faded to black. “Girl, what’s up with that fine piece of sexiness over there?”

“Who, him?” I feigned interest.

“Yes, Cori,
him
,” Tracie replied, turning my head in his direction after I had taken great pains to do otherwise. “I wonder what the deal is with him. He’s got all these folks snapping to like he’s got investment dollars in the place.”

“I’m not worried about him, T. He’s got playa written all over him,” I snapped my head out of her hands, making sure my body was not giving myself away.

Tracie had other plans as she locked eyes with him the minute he turned around.

Damn it.

I wasn’t in the mood to dealing with pretentious jackasses tonight.

He came closer, and the cologne that he wore was the first thing that consumed me.

It made me weak for him already, caused me to open my other senses to him, aroused the curiosity that I didn’t want to have at that moment.

I hated that shit.

“Good morning, ladies,” he greeted us. Damn, even the tone in his voice was commanding, and I felt like it would take me prisoner at any time.

Shit, I’m in trouble.

“Hello there,” Tracie answered, feeling my body language change. “We couldn’t help but be curious, you know, with all these people giving you all this attention. Are you one of the owners or something?”

“I’m sorry, miss?”

“Where are my manners? I’m Tracie, and this is my girl, Corina,” Tracie responded back.

“I’m Derrick, and no, I’m not the owner,” he smirked, amused by the assumption. “I’ve been coming here since I was little, and they know my father pretty well.”

I still couldn’t look at him, but I could feel his eyes on me.

I gathered my defenses, turning in his direction to speak and not be rude. “It’s nice to meet you, Derrick.”

I had to get some control over this feeling that he was bringing out of me, so I forced my eyes to lock with his. I knew it was a risk, because I have an affinity for confident men.

But when I looked in his eyes, I saw something else.

I saw hurt and vulnerability in his eyes mixed in with the confidence and swagger.

I think that’s what got me, and it was something that I couldn’t resist.

I had to have him.

But he didn’t need to know that just yet.

By the time that Tracie had a chance to say another word to him to see if she could be any more invasive, the sound of his name over the loud speakers interrupted the flow.

“Well, ladies, it was nice meeting you, Tracie and Corina,” Derrick stood up from his stool, extending his hand to both of us to shake our hands. “I hope that the rest of your night treats you well.”

“There’s no need in rushing off without getting your number, Derrick,” Tracie batted her eyes at him, shifting her weight in his direction so he could get a good view of her chest. “Maybe we can call you sometime, invite you to one of the showcases that we perform at, we’re a part of a singing group.”

“Oh really?” Derrick’s interest seemed to pique for a short minute, and then he went back to the demeanor of being smooth and nonchalant. “Well, I’ll tell you what… why don’t you tell me when you’re performing next, and I’ll make sure I stop by with some of my boys, see if you girls can blow.”

I was kinda put off by the fact that he didn’t want to give up his number, but I was intrigued that he had two fine ass women trying to get at him and he didn’t even flinch.

Yeah, he had player written all over him.

Still, eyes are the windows of the soul.

Something in his eyes told me there was more to him than the swagger that seemed to sweat off of him.

“We’re performing tomorrow night, near City Hall East,” Tracie offered up without a single thought. I guess she didn’t want to see him go without the prospect of him showing up somewhere else that we would be. “And bring your boys, we have two other girls in the group that wouldn’t mind a little attention after the set, too.”

“Fair enough, I’ll make sure of it.” Derrick replied, flipping out his Blackberry, which we affectionately called the “Crackberry”, and putting the information in. “Okay, you said near City Hall East, and you’ll be performing around what time, again?”

“Eleven.”

“Cool, locked in, and my boys have been texted on it, too,” Derrick smirked again after receiving a text back from someone almost immediately. “Ladies, would you mind posing for a picture? One of my boys wants to see who we’re supposed to be supporting.”

“Okay,” I replied, getting a poke in the side from Tracie. “C’mon, T, I’m sure his boy’s no slouch, either.”

After we posed for the picture, Derrick dialed someone, I’m assuming the one that wanted to see us, and spoke on the speaker phone, “Yo, Brian, these are the girls I just texted you about.” Derrick turned the face of the phone towards us and said, “Say hello to DJ Majesty, ladies.”

“Hi, DJ Majesty,” we yelled toward the phone, not believing that he was really on the phone. He had to be pulling some bullshit, trying to impress us since we said we were in a singing group.