Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 82214 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82214 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 411(@200wpm)___ 329(@250wpm)___ 274(@300wpm)
“Yeah?”
She sighed loudly, a hum escaping like she was wondering whether to speak her mind.
“What’s up? I know about your dreams of being a sexual deviant, so there’s not much more to surprise me with.”
She laughed, and the sound was the first I’d heard that didn’t sound . . . timid. “I wanted to know if we could be friends. It might be nice to know someone in a strange world.”
“And we all know Dallas is a strange place. Sure, we can do that. I’ll even show you the best places for photos.”
She giggled. “What?”
“Sorry, I’m remembering the photos on your phone. I didn’t go through emails or anything, but I did see your photos.”
“First minute of friendship, and you’re already a creeper!”
“Hey, but creepers make the best friends with benefits. You know, if you want to entertain the deviant begging to get out.”
Her soft inhale of breath made me wish more than I wanted to that she’d take me up on my offer, even if it were a joke. I couldn’t figure out whether it was because I hadn’t had sex in a while, before that night with her, or if there really was something forming between us.
“I’ll think about it,” she said. “But I’m probably going to be too busy to go full deviant what with starting a new job and moving and all that.”
That was more than I expected. “Don’t sound too broken up about it.”
She laughed. Thank God, she laughed.
“Can I ask why you have so many photos of water, landscapes, and stuff? That’s literally all I saw. That and stuff you probably saved from TikTok.”
“And Pinterest,” she corrected. “I’m not sure. I don’t do much, and when I go places, I like to see where I am. I like to sit in silence and collect myself. Like meditating, but without the religious part.”
“I don’t think meditation requires religion, does it?”
“Mm, not sure. Now I’ll have to look it up.”
I smiled. “Well, I have a few places in mind where we can meditate on a few things.”
“Pervert.”
“Be gentle.”
“I’ll show you gentle.”
I refrained from further perversion and let her lead the conversation. It was nice that she was letting me have fun. Darlene had always hated it, and as I thought that, I realized I had been comparing the two of them the whole time. Darlene and Christie. But if I were honest with myself, this was the first time in a while that I had actually put thought toward how I felt about someone, and it was hard not to compare her to the woman who had become my baseline.
The more Christie and I talked, the more I wished I could see the light in her eyes when she talked about things that excited her, and the more I wanted to make her laugh by touching her in the sensitive places I had yet to discover. She was so refreshing, and I wanted to do so many things with her just to see what would happen and where it would take us.
I wanted her here, in my arms, her smiles turning to moans and her hands moving across my skin. I wondered what all that would feel like now, with context, with what we knew about each other. We weren’t strangers anymore, and sometimes that changed everything.
“Oh, crap, I gotta go. I’ll be late.”
“Okay, that’s fine. Call me if you need a booty call.”
“Yeah, right. Bye.”
“Bye.” She hung up, and I stared at the phone. In hearing Christie’s voice, in our back-and-forth trying to get her phone back to her, it had felt like we’d chased away the things that would have kept us from getting to know each other more in the first place. We’d started out as lovers to become enemies, and now we were friends.
We’d been through a lot in just a few days, and now we were discovering each other, I couldn’t help wanting to see how much I could learn.
I’d planned to try to see James tonight and had been too afraid to call Darlene. After talking to Christie, I felt calm. If only I could stay that way.
By the time I convinced myself to call Darlene, the phone rang too long, and I prepared for it to go to voice mail.
It did.
I hung up to text her instead, but then Darlene’s name showed up on my screen.
“Hey,” I answered.
“It’s late. Why are you trying to come over?”
“I was busy today.”
“You’re always busy.”
“No, not . . .” I took a deep breath. This didn’t have to be a fight. I had to be careful. “I want to see my son, Darlene. I have a right to.”
“James, come and talk to Daddy.”
Excitement flooded my body when I heard feet thumping on the hardwood.
“He’s coming.”
“Daddy?” The phone made loud crackling noises before the soft voice found its way to the phone. “Hey, Daddy!”