Preseason Love (26 page)

“I know I sound like a party pooper, but my body is beat,” Byron offered as we exited the restaurant. “I've been doing some intense conditioning this week. Gotta be ready for preseason, love.”

“It's cool. We can go back to the room and chill out.” My week had been pretty crazy as well so I was completely satisfied with relaxing in the lap of luxury.

We walked into the suite to find the beds turned down and a complimentary bottle of champagne.

“Are you up for a little bubbly?” I asked Byron.

“I'm down if you are.”

“You open the bottle and I'll get the glasses.”

“Let's toast to us,” Byron said.

Two glasses of champagne and a little cuddling on the cozy terrace led to passionate kissing. Tongues were tussling and swirling with lust. Hands were slowly exploring foreign territories. Things were quickly getting intense. Byron placed his index finger under my chin and tilted my head so that our eyes met.

“I'm about to go take a shower before this goes any further,” he said.

“That's probably a good idea.”

“I'm always full of good ideas, love.”

I grinned at him. “Seems that way.”

Byron took my hand as he sat on the edge of the chaise lounge. “You clearly know that I'm feeling you, but I'm not trying to pressure you about anything. Make no mistake about it, I would not mind taking things to another level. But I got us separate rooms because I want you to feel comfortable. When you are ready, let me know.”

I was surprised by his candor. “I appreciate your extra effort to make me feel comfortable. I really do.”

It seemed as though the smart professional athletes had learned a lesson or two from the Mike Tyson and/or Kobe Bryant scandals.

Byron stood and winked at me before disappearing into his room. It was evident that he was excellent at running game. He didn't know that I would not be falling for it on the first night.

•  •  •

The morning sun forced my eyes open bright and early. The ocean view was paradise. My complexion was in need of a serious golden boost, so breakfast by the pool was the first item on my agenda. I put on my hot-pink bikini with the sequined flower on
the left boob, slathered on enough SPF to avoid any potential sunburn, and left a note for Byron to join me by the pool.

An elaborate glass elevator with breathtaking views of the endless sea and white sand beach carried me down to a life of luxuriating by the water. I ordered breakfast and checked my cell phone. Kari had called five times, never once leaving a message. My Jolie left a message, but I had already called her back to let her know that I'd made it. And Dev left a message:
“Chick, call me back. I gotta tell you about my run-in with Kari just now.”

“Fuck!” I said aloud, totally oblivious to the fact that other resort guests surrounded me.

I started wracking my brain.
What would I say? How could I spin this?
I called Dev immediately.

I wasted no time after she answered. “Hey, I got your message. What happened?”

“Oh nothing,” Dev responded very distantly.

“What do you mean nothing? You said that you ran into Kari. What happened?”

“Oh yeah, I did. No big deal.”

“No big deal? But your message sounded like there was something to report?”

“Look, there wasn't! He didn't even ask about you,” Dev snapped.

I noticed Byron headed in my direction, so I quickly wrapped up my call. “That's strange. Look, I gotta go. I'll holler at you later.”

Byron took his seat next to me and kissed my cheek. “Who was that?”

“Excuse me?” I turned to look him in his eyes, quite taken aback.

“Who were you on the phone with?”

“Not that it's any of your business,” I said, playfully rolling my eyes. “It was my roommate.”

It's a little hard to snap on someone who'd just spent who knows
how much money taking you on a lavish, last-minute vacation. However, something about his question did not sit well with me. I would save that conversation for a later date. What I needed to figure out was my explanation for Kari. If I still wanted to keep things in a good place with him, I had better come up with a feasible story.

“So what would you like to do today, love?” Byron said, snapping me back to reality.

“I thought that it would be nice to spend a relaxing day by the pool.”

“That's cool. It's whatever you want to do. I'm gonna need an umbrella, though. My family is from the islands, but I'm not built for all of this one-on-one with the sun,” he said, rubbing his beard.

“Well, a girl like me is, and our attendant is the slim little dude with the dirty blond ponytail to the left of the bar.”

“You are so damn feisty,” Byron said as he smiled at me.

We spent the day lounging, dipping in and out of the pool, and enjoying each other's company. Byron told me stories of his childhood adventures growing up in Houston. His parents were still together, but his voice was filled with an air of resentment toward his father for what seemed like past issues of infidelity. He spoke as though he were still the little boy trying to protect his fragile mother. I did my best to respond with minimal commentary, as it was better to simply listen rather than comment.

Byron was starting to become sexier by the moment—especially after a few glasses of rum punch.

“The sun is about to set. We should take a walk along the beach,” I suggested.

Byron looked at me with a gleam in his eyes. “Let's do it, love.”

I stood and grabbed a couple of towels from the towel bar.

“Bring your glass for a sunset toast,” Byron instructed.

“Look at you, Mr. Romance.”

“When in Rome….” Byron laughed.

Byron and I walked down to the white, sandy beach. We found a quaint little spot by a huge black and gray rock to spread out our resort towel. He popped open the bottle of Veuve Clicquot that he'd purchased from the pool bar. As the sun began to set, Byron made a toast. “Here's to continued success and new relationships.”

Our glasses clinked as our eyes locked. His rich chocolate skin had a flawless glow in the Caribbean sunset. His long, dark lashes blinked as he gazed deeply into my eyes. The fullness of his juicy bottom lip grazed mine before our kisses fully met.

“I always prefer to seal my toast with a kiss when I'm in the company of a gorgeous woman.”

“That's sweet,” I said. I knew that he probably said that to all of the ladies, but it was my time and that's all that I would worry about.

Before Byron could utter another word, I leaned in and pressed my lips against his. I suckled on his plump bottom lip and ran my fingers through the slightly scruffy beard that was growing in. His cologne lingered in my senses and I felt the passion rising to new heights with each exchange of tongue flickering. Our lips were interlocked and our tongues twirled with the moisture of lust. Tonight there would be no referee; we were both ready to play straight through to the final buzzer.

He softly pressed his lips against my neck before moving down the center of my chest. “Are you sure this is what you want?” Byron asked.

“Positive,” I replied with sheer confidence.

The bulge in Byron's navy-blue swim trunks was rising and calling for attention. I obliged by sliding my hand down the front of his shorts and grabbing a hand full of his erect manhood. It would take two hands—or more—to fully manage the Mandingo warrior caged in his trunks.

He untied and removed my swimsuit top in one fluid motion, laid me back on the beach towel, and began caressing my breasts juggling as much as he could handle with two hands. He licked and sucked me into submission. The sun had completely set and aside from a glimmer of light in the distance and the reflection of a full moon, we were relatively sheltered in darkness.

Byron's tongue slid over every inch of the inner portion of my thighs, the warmth from his heavy breathing caused an eruption of creamy wetness to ooze from my body. I was anticipating his arrival. Byron threw my legs over his shoulders and went deep-sea diving into my private ocean of sweet white waters with his tongue. He caused convulsions in my body that were foreign and unnatural. My left foot almost caught a cramp from the repeated reaction to a magical pleasure I'd never known. Byron wasn't a selfish lover; he liked to please as well.

After I was fulfilled—which gave him great pleasure—we moved on to the final minutes in the game. He was up by one so I climbed on top of him to solidify a strong finish. With my legs on either side, I bucked back and rode his Mandingo adding in extra swirls for added pleasure. He gripped my ass. I felt him thrusting deep inside of me. Byron's eyes stayed locked on mine until he could not hold his gaze anymore. His eyes rolled back in ecstasy. He moaned and let out sounds of pleasure.

We attempted to brush the sand off of one another while smooching and giggling at our risky escapade. Trying to avoid
any awkward encounters, we crept along the back pathway to our suite. Byron kept smacking my ass to rush me along. Our massive shower would be the scene for round two.

As the sun was beginning to break day, Byron rolled over in my direction and pulled me into his comforting grasp. I'd cracked the sliding glass door open before we wore ourselves out and fell asleep. The soothing sound of the ocean in the morning was tranquil. The atmosphere, coupled with the comfort of being snuggled up in Byron's arms, was paradise.

“Fuck that, Scottie! You fucking lied to me!” Kari yelled. “I ran into Dev at Slate. You sure weren't vacationing with her.”

“Let's be clear. You need to calm down and stop cursing at me. We're in public, Kari.” My voice was a little above a whisper so as not to draw any additional attention to an already uncomfortable situation. The low lighting and relatively romantic ambiance at Tillman's lounge was a deceptive reality for the circumstance. “I didn't lie to you. You're getting all worked up over nothing.”

“Oh, it's nothing? You run off to God knows where and lie to me about who you were with, but I'm overreacting, right?” Kari spat back through tight lips and clenched teeth, never taking his eyes off of his glass of Scotch.

“Please look at me,” I attempted to shift Kari's gaze in my direction, “At least give me a chance to tell you what was going on.”

“I'm listening.”

“I've had a lot on my mind lately. You know that I've been working really hard to earn a promotion since I got to The League and I needed to get away and clear my head. I found a last-minute deal to Barbados and when I mentioned it to Dev, she was down. But her finances didn't work out the way that she thought they would, so she couldn't go after all. Once the plans
changed, I really didn't think that I needed to double back and explain all of that to you. I took off.”

“See, that's part of the problem.” His eyes were fixated on me. “I don't think you care enough about me or our situation to explain things to me, ever.” I could hear the frustration in his voice slipping into exhaustion. “You dish out whatever you want whenever you want and I'm supposed to take it. Scottie, I'm not your ex. I'm not out to hurt you or do you wrong.”

Damn. Did he just go there?

“That's not fair.” I didn't want to come at him too harsh by saying what I was really thinking—“that's bullshit”—because that would only make things worse.

“I'm sorry, Kari, for everything that I've put you through. I know that I can be difficult to deal with. If you're not feeling this”—I motioned to me and him—“then I totally understand and respect your feelings.”

“Here you go being extreme again. I didn't say that.”

“Then tell me what you are saying.”

“Communicate with me. Treat me how I treat you. Give me the same respect that I give you. That's it. That's all I have to say.”

I could barely see Kari's eyes. As I sat in silence with Kari, I realized that I had feelings for both men. My emotions were being pulled in two different directions. I hadn't come to a place that I wanted to let either disappear from my life. Until I could sort out my feelings and identify my true desire, I resolved that I would live in the moment.

After the screaming silence filled our space for far too long, I turned to Kari. “I care about you. I really do. Thank you for always being straight up with me.”

I searched his eyes for a glimmer of hope.

“I'm going to work on communicating better,” I continued. “It's
an area of development.” I said that with a smile, hoping that would lighten the mood.

Thankfully, after a moment of pause, Kari flashed his gleaming white smile and lifted my hand from the table placing the palm of my hand on top of his. “Let's get out of here, Scottie.”

•  •  •

“It's an easy question, Scottie. Do you want to see me or not?”

Byron had unexpectedly called my work line, which always made me nervous.

“You know I want to see you,” I whispered.

“Okay then. I'm flying you out this weekend.”

“What exactly do you have planned for me while I'm there?”

“Look, don't worry. You'll have a damn good time in my city, love,” Byron said, with an air of confidence exclusive to him. “Chicago will show you nothing but a good time as long as you're with me.”

Byron made the arrangements as promised and before I knew it, the wheels were up and my next stop was Chicago O'Hare Airport. Unfortunately, one lie begets another and the only people that knew of my true destination and location were my parents. My Jolie warned me of playing with fire, but the intensity of a multiromance lifestyle suited me well. I rationalized that men participated in the same game of chance all the time without an ounce of hesitation or remorse.