Love on the Highlight Reel (Connecticut Kings Book 2) (9 page)

This shit was crazy. I needed to tell Chloe to scratch it, so I could name something else. Something that actually made sense. I took a deep breath as I scanned my mind for an alternative to my current number three. Chloe said nothing. After a few minutes had gone by, I cleared my throat and looked up, meeting her eyes.

“When do we start?”

She smiled. “We already have, love.”

“You heifers are supposed to be
helping
me. Not laughing.”

Across the counter, Naima pressed her lips together as she carefully arranged sliced peaches on top of the crumb crust I’d watched her meticulously form into the pie dish she’d brought with her. Me, her, and Margo were all spread around my spacious, rarely used kitchen. We’d made these plans after the frantic phone call I placed on the way out of Jordan’s building. Now, it was Wednesday, and here we were.

Naima breezed in with vanilla bean ice cream and ingredients for her famous peach tart. Margo came bearing wine, plus something a little harder if necessary.

I brought the drama.

“It’s not our fault this shit is funny,” Margo drawled, with her gentle southern twang, courtesy of Birmingham. “Nobody told you to go rekindling old flames.”

I groaned. “I’m
not
. He kissed me, not the other way around.”

“And you didn’t kiss back?” Naima asked, grinning as she started another layer of peaches. She and I both knew the answer to that.

“Of course she kissed him back, and probably more than that.” Margo sauntered up to me, pinot sloshing around her third glass. “Tell the damn truth,
Nicki
,” she teased, sliding onto the barstool beside me and wrapping an arm around my shoulders. “You imagined climbing that big tall piece of chocolate didn’t you?”

“She sure did.” Naima shook her head. “Look at her face! Eyes all big, trying not to smile. She was
all
over that dick in her mind.”

“When you got home, you pulled out that big wall-destroyer I gave you last Christmas, didn’t you? Reliving those college memories.”

“
Stoppp, J,
” Naima teased, sprinkling the uncooked tart with brown sugar. “
I’m not going to be able to walk to class.”

“Will you
quit
?” I blushed, covering my face. I had no idea why I was embarrassed – and certainly no reason to be, in front of these girls… but still.

Naima grinned wider before she turned to slide the peach tart into the oven. “I will not. Girl, I was your roommate, and from the time that boy took your virginity to when you broke his little heart, I had to hear you yelling and screaming while he screwed your brains out. You’re gonna take this teasing boo.”

“Broke his heart, Naima?” I asked, crossing my arms as she closed the oven and turned around. “Are we really still living on the assumption that Jordan was
really
in love with me? He was Blakewood’s star athlete. A goddamned campus celebrity. I was probably one of many – not that he’ll ever admit that.”

Margo sucked her teeth. “Whatever you have to tell yourself to sleep at night girl, I guess.”

“Excuse me?!” I snatched up my wine glass, taking a big gulp before I continued. “Margo, you’re a sports agent! You know firsthand how trifling athletes are! At least when it comes to women…”

She shook her head. “Speak for yourself. I know how
some
of them are. And I know that others are… really good guys.”

“And you think
Jordan Johnson
is one of them? He who stays at the strip club? He who has a different model or actress or reality star on his arm every week? He who—”

“
We get it
,” Margo said, rolling her eyes. “You think Jordan is all about ass, not worth taking seriously, blah blah. But… I actually didn’t get the same impression.”

“That’s because
you
have never pulled his drunk ass from the strip club the night before a game.”

Margo arched an eyebrow. “Did they win the game?”

I wrinkled my nose. “What?”

“Did the team win the game the night after you pulled him out of the club?”

“Uh… yeah.”

“And how was Jordan’s performance?”

I took another sip from my wine. “Okay, okay. I see where this is going.”

“Damn, he did
that
good, huh?”

My turn to roll my eyes.

“When did you become such a Jordan Johnson fan?”

She shrugged. “Since I met him today about being his agent. He met with Chloe McKenna yesterday, and she gave me her thoughts. And you
know
Chloe isn’t with the bullshit. Everything she said about the kind of person he is was confirmed in the meeting with me. With a little bit of work, Jordan is gonna be a
problem
for these other athletes out here getting endorsements here, there, everywhere. I’ve already got some meetings I’m thinking about lining up for him.”

“So you’re
actually
taking him on? Margo, I asked you to meet him as a favor… I didn’t think he’d actually meet your lofty standards. I just wanted to at least
try
to put him in front of the best.”

“And that was all you
could
do,” Margo countered. “He did the rest himself.  Jordan is smart, charming, and a beast on the field. We just need to clean up his image a little. And
you
need to stop playing yourself… don’t act like you don’t want that man.”

“
Uggggh,
” I groaned. “I don’t! Yes, Jordan is all of those things you said, but he’s also arrogant, immature, and nowhere near ready to be serious with a woman.”

Naima snorted. “Girl please. That sounds like the same lie you told yourself when you broke up with him – instead of owning up to the real deal.”

“And what, may I ask, is the “real deal”?” I asked, frowning.

“That you couldn’t handle the fact that you were
really
falling for him. Falling hard. Falling
for real
. So you flipped the shit around on him, compartmentalized your little feelings and tucked them away, but it was never
really
resolved. That’s why your ass is freaking out right now.”

Margo nodded. “Mmmhmm, mmhmm. All these years have passed, but you’ve been around him with no problem, because you were able to keep him at arm’s length. The attraction was there, but you can ignore simple physical attraction. But then you two shared a moment… a
real
moment, and now you’re a mess. And that kiss… girl, where is a fork to stick in you, cause you’re done.”

I let out a loud huff. “
Ugh!
Whose side are you two bitches on?” I asked, looking back and forth between my friends. Naima, with her smooth chocolate skin and big curly fro, and Margo – caramel skin and never a hair of her pixie cut out of place. The two shared a smile, then looked at me.

“Whichever side gets you laid by someone other than lame ass
Cedrick Michael Rochester, the third
.” They said his name in unison, with a snooty, faux-British accent that I found it incredibly hard not to laugh at.

I covered my mouth with my hand as tears of laughter sprang to my eyes. “Don’t do that y’all,” I said, causing them to frown at my muffled words.

“What was that?” Margo scrunched her eyebrows together. “Was that… you want us to tease you about him… more?”

“That can be arranged, darling,” Naima said, still with that horrible accent. “As soon as I’ve returned from the loo.”

“Do turn on the telly on your way back, deary. I think Luther’s coming on.”

“I’m going to tell Chloe,” I warned, still trying to fight back a laugh.

Margo chuckled. “But we’re not making fun of her.
She
sounds posh and sophisticated. Ol’ Ceddy on the other hand…”

“With his James Bond wannabe ass. He still keep all those gadgets and shit in his pockets?”

“Now that’s just
mean
, Naima!” I exclaimed, crossing my arms. “I don’t tease you two about
your
men!”

Naima tried to cover a loud snicker. “Girl I don’t even like men, so tease away.”

“And
my
man is cool as hell,” Margo added, referring to her sports anchor husband. “Besides that, we’re not teasing you about your
man
. We’re teasing you about the guy you call when you need clean, convenient dick. Or… is it more now? I mean,
again.
”

“Hell no,” I answered, without hesitation.

“Probably because of Jordan. Your subconscious knows better – even when
you
don’t.”

I opened my mouth to argue, but quickly found that I…
couldn’t
. Well, I could, but it wouldn’t have been completely truthful.

Over the years, I’d gotten very,
very
good at keeping anything I felt for Jordan neatly tucked away in my mind. But it never escaped me that – as Naima had so tidily defined – I
had
to compartmentalize, and keep it out of the forefront of my mind. It was kind of a problem, when you claimed not to have feelings for someone, but inside, you knew that was a lie.

“I messed this up,” I whined, frowning at my wine glass. As if she’d read my mind, suddenly Margo had a bottle in her hand, topping me off.

“No shit, Sherlock.”

Naima nodded, her expression grim. “Yeah, you did. You’ve got ten more minutes until the tart is ready and I start dishing out ice cream, so talk.”

I groaned. “It’s like… if I’d taken the time to just be heartbroken, and mourn the relationship, over the years, I feel like this would have passed. I kept it all tucked away though. All he did was kiss me, and now…” – I smacked my hands together – “
Bam
. The feelings are all…”

“Bitch I’m back, by popular demand?” Margo supplied, sympathetically bobbing her head. “Yeah, it happens like that. So what are you going to do?”

I knocked back half of my wine in one gulp. “Do? I’m not going to
do
anything except tuck these stupid ass undergrad feelings back where they belong. What else would I do?”

Naima’s lip curled. “Uh… maybe give the man a chance?”

“A chance at what?”

Naima rolled her eyes, then turned to flip on the oven light and check on her tart. “Talk to her Margo.”

“No,” I snapped. “I don’t need anybody to “talk to me”. Why the hell are y’all
so
gung-ho for Jordan?”

“Because once upon a time, you loved that boy,” Margo said, waving a finger at me.

“Oh please.” I brushed her finger away. “We were in college, we liked each other, and then I realized how completely idiotic I was for being involved with the guy that every girl on campus wanted, and probably
had
. I never should have let myself get so involved with him. If he wasn’t so damned charming…”

“Is that how you remember it?” Naima turned around, propping her hands on her hips. “I feel like you’re bringing a whole lot of fiction into this memory. Because the way
I
recall, the circumstances around y’all getting together in the first place were—”