An Unconventional Love: A Novella (3 page)

rich.

“You’re awfully chipper this morning.”

Truth be told, chipper was an understatement.

In fact,
exuberant
felt more fitting.

It pained me a little to know that what had occurred the night before was limited to those particular moments but it was surely nothing to hang my head about. I got what I wanted with no attachment nor expectations.

It was...
ideal
.

“Yeah, I’m feeling good today. Real good,” I replied, struggling through my last set of bench press. Saturday morning workouts were my thing regardless of what my Friday night looked like and I had finally found a workout partner who could keep up with me in Jamison. He was new to town, working with some promotions company and luckily shared the same fitness level as me. Though Jamison and I weren’t that close yet, we often bantered with each other between sets; usually something about his job and girlfriend or about my flavor of the week.

“And you’re half-ass’n your reps so somebody must’ve wore you out.”

I racked the weights with Jamison’s assistance before I said, “Damn, is it that obvious?”

“It really is, bruh. So tell me about it. Was she bad? I know she had to be to get with ol’ Richie Rich,” he said with a laugh, mocking the nickname I had acquired.

“Hell nah man. I don’t kiss and tell. It was a one-time deal. You know how I do.” It wasn’t that I didn’t picture myself settling down, I was just positive it wasn’t gonna happen anytime soon. I had things to accomplish before I could give all of my focus to some woman including getting my little sister out of high school and into a good college, loan-free.

“I do. And since I’m no longer allowed to indulge in such activities, though me and my girl do it frequently and well, I gotta live through you. So spill it.” I took a swig from my water bottle, giving me a few seconds to review all that had occurred. I hadn’t expected to run into anyone at that damn talent show, especially not someone that looked like her.

And it was
her
.

The girl that had an attitude out of this world but used it so attractively that it didn’t matter. So of course, being the lady lover that I am, I took a chance, not intending to fuck but also not ashamed of that fact that I did indeed want her. When she obliged to my wishes, it was bound to create something memorable.

“I met this girl, invited her to have a drink, and we fucked. The end.” There was no way I was disclosing the emotional ass version that played in my head.

“What she look like?”

Perfection.

“Eh, she was straight. About 5’5, maybe 5’6, curly honey blonde hair, ass for days…” Jamison busted out laughing before I could finish my falsely-unenthusiastic description. “What’s so funny?”
              “Her name wouldn’t happen to be Jasmine, would it?”

“Damn. Don’t tell me you hit that too?”

His face tightened up as he responded, “Oh double...triple...
quadruple
hell nah. She’s umm...she’s good friends with my ol’ lady.”

“No shit?”

“Yeah, she’s a cool girl and all but I uhh...hope you strapped up.” The way he said it, avoiding eye contact, had me instantly worried especially considering I had forgotten that small detail during our time together.

“Why you say that?”

“She’s very...how do I wanna put this...sexually exploratory.” I understood what Jamison was saying regardless of the way he tried to sugarcoat it.

“So she’s a ho?”

He put his hands up, tightening his face again as he said, “I didn’t say that. She just keeps busy that’s all.” I could appreciate Jamison trying to be respectful about it. And being who I was, there was no way in hell I could judge her considering my lifestyle was similar enough to it.

“I got you bruh.”

“She’s cool though, like as a person, once you get past her attitude. You gonna see her again?” I would’ve loved to see Jasmine again but I knew that was virtually impossible. We had both decided that our time together was purely about sex so I definitely wasn’t going to be the sucker that tried to go back on the agreement no matter how tempting it was.

I wasn’t quite ready to disclose that part to Jamison either, so I simply replied, “Come on Jamison, you know me. One and done. Always.”

jasmine.

“So you’re gonna come to the concert with me right? Jamison is going to visit his folks in Arizona this weekend so I need a date.”

I couldn’t believe I had become second stream to everything Ariel. Jamison was cool and all but I didn’t appreciate suddenly being the afterthought.

“Ohhh so I’m like your side chick now? When bae’s away, side chick gets some play?” She laughed me off, giving me a playful swat to the shoulder.

“Shut up, Jaz! I know you said you wanted to go but had no one to go with so I thought I’d extend the invite. You know...being the great friend that I am.” Though she was surely a great friend for dropping by my apartment after work with food for the both of us, I knew I couldn’t let her off that easy. 

“Yeah, the same great friend that wasn’t even thinking about inviting her bestie to the concert of the year,” I replied, as I took a bite of my salad that wasn’t hitting the spot like it usually did. I typically did a decent job fighting off the cravings from the
not-so-good-for-you
foods but my sweet tooth was begging to be soothed. A trip to my emergency candy stash was definitely in order once I made it through my greenery.

“Anyway, are you gonna come or not? I mean the tickets were complimentary so I’ll find someone who’s gonna use them if we’re not.” Working in the music industry, Ariel was always getting tickets for different events but hardly ever used them because she was so wrapped up in developing her still pretty new company and balancing that with spending time with her man as if they didn’t work together.

“Are you kidding me? Of course I’m coming. You know Drake is my future husband. I’m trying to be the next girl he writes some depressing ass love song about.”

Ariel choked on her salad from laughing at me. She took a long swig of her water, clearing things out before she said, “Jaz, you are something else. Like...I don’t know how I deal with you but I
really
don’t know how you deal with your damn self.”

“It’s a gift. You know, one of those things that not everyone can get blessed with. Kind of like big dicks. If God just went around handing them out to every guy, can you imagine how fucked up our world would be?” I got chills just thinking about such a catastrophe.

“I actually can’t but I’ll take your word on it.”

“Of course you will considering it’s no secret that Jamison got blessed. I mean, your hips are spreading and everything.” Though I had laid eyes on Jamison first, he was definitely more of a match for Ariel regardless of how jealous I was of her getting piped down on the regular.

“They are not!” She gave her hips a once-over rub before she asked, “I mean, you’re just joking right?” I couldn’t help the free opportunity to tease her about her natural, womanly changes; the same changes I had came to terms with right around senior year in high school.

The boys certainly weren’t flocking for nothing.

“Uhh...no. He’s clearly been putting in work, boo. Do your jeans still fit?” I knew how I got
my
big booty into jeans but I was sure the process was a little new for Ariel. Not that she was a virgin before Jamison, but I was about 90% sure he was the most her petite frame ever had to accommodate.

“Yes they still fit! Actually...now that I think about it, I have been jumping up and down a little more to squeeze into them…”

I shrugged my shoulders as I said, “Maybe its baby weight.”

“
Baby weight?
Very funny, Jasmine. Jamison and I are
extremely
careful. We’re both way too busy to even think about having kids.” I could pretty much echo her sentiments about having kids though I was sure it was a lot further off for me than for her. I mean, she was the one in the cutesy little relationship with the love of her life. Surely they would be getting engaged and popping out babies in no time.

“You don’t have to think about it for it to happen. All it takes is one little swimmer.”

“Well it takes one hell of a swimmer to escape latex and find an egg to connect with in my birth-controlled body.”

I shrugged again. “So you’ll be having a strong baby.”

Ariel gave me a death stare as she said, “Shut up and eat your salad, Jasmine.”

rich.

Note to self: Never bring a girl to a Drake concert.

That’s all I could think about as I watched my flavor of the weekend, Isabella, scream her lungs out for Drake’s attention. Even with her heavy accent, you couldn’t mistake her pleads for Drake to let her have his babies. Isabella and I were just kicking it, as I typically did with all of my ladies, so I really wasn’t in a position to trip about it. And I definitely didn’t mind the idea of him dealing with her babies instead of me.

Isabella was crazy.

Like rumors that she had pulled a knife on her last boyfriend several times crazy.

But that wasn’t enough to scare me off considering her insane sex game made up for any threat she could potentially pose.

As Drake continued his ode to the ladies performing all of his slower, R&B songs, I took the opportunity to scan the crowd. There were a lot of guys but the audience was mostly filled with googly-eyed women, all ready to throw their panties on the stage; Isabella included.

Since it didn’t seem like he was planning on going back to rapping anytime soon, I decided to take a personal intermission to the VIP lounge. There weren’t a lot of people in the lounge since the headlining act was on stage, but there were a few mixing and mingling as the performance played on the televisions mounted in the area.

I made my way over to the bar and was just getting ready to take advantage of the complimentary spirits when a woman walked in and interrupted my train of thought. She looked mouthwatering-good in a dress that turned her ass into an asset and heels that made her legs look just long enough to lock behind her head by the ankles. In fact, I knew they were long enough to do so because I had tried it out a few times with great success.

She paid me no mind as she skipped in front of me in line at the bar and asked for a bottle of water. Even the bartender had a hard time focusing on the simple task as his eyes were too fixated on her body.

Once he finally calmed down and handed her the water, she turned around and practically ran right into me. I expected her to go off, but instead she gave me a little seductive smirk that made me feel embarrassingly excited.

Down boy.

I licked my lips before I cleared my throat to say, “Miss. Jasmine.”

“The guy formerly known as
Daddy
. What’s up?” I was surprised by her casual tone considering more than half of our initial interactions had consisted of little spats.

“Nothing much, just taking a break from the concert. You here by yourself?” It was the most indirect way I could ask her if she was seeing someone. Not that I cared the first night we hooked up, but I just wanted to make sure nobody was gonna come at me for talking to their girl.

“With a friend. You?”

“Same.”

“Cool. Well I won’t hold you up. Enjoy the show.”

She went on about her way before I had the chance to elongate the conversation. The fact that she had been so cordial while looking too good left me hella curious. And even though I was there with Isabella, Jasmine had quickly bumped her out of my plans for the evening. There was no way I could execute what Isabella probably had in mind with Jasmine invading my thoughts even more than she already had been lately.

Snap out of it, bruh.

I ordered my drink and quickly made my way back out to the crowd just in time to catch Drake performing one of my favorite songs,
Trophies
. As I rapped along with him, I glanced over to my left and saw Jasmine with her friend that was surprisingly a girl, vibing out as well. They rapped the song word for word to each other, using hand motions just like the rapper used. It was oddly attractive to see her enjoying the show as a true fan of artistry and not just a girl tryna get chose.

My attention must have lingered for too long as Isabella yelled in my ear, “Papi Chulo, is she one of your putas?!”

“What?
My putas
? No Bella, she’s not one of my sluts.” For once, the little bit of Spanish I had picked up from my Latino homies back in high school was paying off.

“Well why you keep lookin’ at her?”

“I was just fascinated that she...knew the words. That’s all.” It was a true fact though there was a little more than just her knowing the lyrics that fascinated me.

“Mmhmm. Whatever you say, papi. I just know you better be even more fascinated by me when I’m wearin’ that ass out tonight.”

There was no doubt in my mind that Isabella would make it her personal mission to get all of my attention now that she caught me checking out another girl. Little did she know, that other girl she was making her competition had set those standards to a record high. So high that I was no longer interested in what Isabella had to offer.

But of course I couldn’t let her know that, so instead I wrapped my arms around her waist, letting my hands take in handfuls of her ass before I whispered in her ear, “Fascinate me then, Bella.”