Three is a crowd

Hello Loves,

Take a moment to enjoy today’s sample from my upcoming project, Rocking This Thing Called Love.

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Sample Sunday ~ Three is a crowd

Less than ten minutes later, we stood in line outside an obscure building tucked between a small pub and some sort of late-night coffee shop. “I’m sorry, beautiful, this is work.” He held up his ringing phone, then shot me an apologetic gaze. “I’ll just be a minute,” he proclaimed, before stepping out of line to answer the call.

Taking a few steps when the line advanced, I looked down at my own phone when it buzzed in my hand. A little surprised but more curious than anything else, I waited for my phone to unlock then went straight to my texting app. The first message he sent was the same three emojis he’d posted underneath my picture.

Dre: You wearing the fuck outta that outfit, but Steve Urkel is too busy playing in his phone to notice.

A gif of Chris Tucker playing Smokey shaking his head followed his message. Instantly, my head snapped up from my phone. Whipping my neck from one side to the other, I looked around for him only to come up empty. I did, however, see Tyler standing with his phone stretched out in front of his face. He’d put on his glasses and appeared to be looking hard at something on his phone. After another quick sweep and still no signs of Dre, I replied to his text.

Me: He’s on a work call, if you must know.

Dre: And he had to step away to answer it <eyes emoji>

Me: The better question is, where the hell are you? And why are you minding my business?

“I’m back. I’m sorry, that took a little longer than I anticipated.”

“No worries. Is everything okay?” I pretended to be interested while doing yet another damn sweep of the area.

“It is now. But work is the last thing I wanna talk about,” he declared, while wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me up against him.

I wasn’t exactly thrilled with his position considering my crazy ass baby daddy was somewhere watching me in the cut, but it had its advantages. The biggest one being Tyler’s inability to see my face. Discreetly ― for both Tyler and Dre’s sake, I stretched my eyes as far as I could, trying once again to find Dre. “So, what do you want to talk about?” That was my attempt to fake interest while still checking my surroundings.

He lowered his mouth to my ear. “How much I’m gonna enjoy feastin’ on your pretty pussy.”

As appealing as his offer sounded, it was difficult to think about anything else but my lurking ass baby daddy. The fact that he was somewhere in the vicinity and was clearly able to see my every move had me on edge. It shouldn’t have mattered, especially considering he was more than likely here with his girlfriend, but the fact of the matter was… it did.

“Raquel.” The soft tug of my jumper snatched me out of my haze.

“Huh?”

“I know you heard me. Are you still upset about that thing back at the restaurant?” he implored, as he disconnected our bodies and moved to stand on the side of me.

It was shitty, I knew it before I opened my mouth to respond, but it was the out I needed. Letting the corners of my mouth fold into despondent frown, I purposely didn’t give him eye contact. “What was that Tyler? I mean, just be honest.” I finally settled my gaze on his face.

He opened his mouth to respond, but I held up a hand, cutting him off to look at my phone. Not at all surprised to see his name flashing in my notifications I angled my phone away from Tyler and opened our message thread.

Dre: Where I am is not important. What is, is why u let that clown press his dick in yo ass.

I couldn’t respond fast enough. Paying Tyler a quick glance, I tossed up a finger then returned my attention back to my phone.

Me: Mind your business Andre.

Dre: You are and will ALWAYS be my business Raquel.

“Raquel.”

Sticking to my fake ass pissed routine, I gave his ass another finger then responded to Dre.

Me: Not in the way you’re implying. Now leave me be and enjoy your night w/your lil GIRLFRIEND.

I was done playing with Dre’s ass. That quick, he’d managed to irritate my whole soul. Stuffing my phone inside my purse, I looked up at Tyler. “I’m sorry. You were saying?”

Again, his explanation was interrupted, but this one he didn’t seem to mind. The look on his face was one I’d seen before — a combination of surprise and excitement. Simply put, he was star-struck while I was extremely uncomfortable watching King’s father walk toward us with his funky little girlfriend trailing behind him.

“Rocky. Oh wow. I thought that was you.” I swear, had I not just engaged in a heated text debate with his big ass, I would have believed he was genuinely surprised to see me.

“Hi, Dre. Tahiry.”

She responded with a half-assed wave, staying close to the curb as Dre advanced on me and Tyler. “Whatchu doin in The Falls?”

“I’m on a date. Dre, this is Tyler.” I forced a smile on my lips as I shifted my gaze between the two men. “Tyler, this is―”

“Andre Cameron. The NFL’s leading wide receiver and the best receiver the Akron Avengers have seen since their induction into the league. Oh, man. I can’t believe I am standing in front of the man himself. It is truly an honor to meet you,” Tyler gushed, stretching out a hand that I was surprised to see Dre accept.

“Thank you, man. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Trust me, the pleasure is all mine. Wait.” Tyler looked over at me then returned his gaze to Dre. “You two know each other?”

I could now add agitated to the discomfort I felt as I watched Dre fold his arms across his chest and his lips curl into a mischievous smirk. He didn’t respond. Instead, he just bounced his eyes between me and Tyler, clearly enjoying the uncomfortable look on my face. Rolling my eyes up in my head, I moved a little closer to the duo to give Tyler the explanation he was requesting without sharing my business with everyone in Aspen Falls.

“Dre is my son’s father.”

“Your what?” The look on Tyler’s face cycled between astonished and disbelief.

“I’m her baby’s dad and good friend. Ain’t that right, Short Stuff?”

“Okay, Dre. You’ve made your point. Now beat it. I think your girlfriend is gettin’ tired of waitin’.” I looked past him at a brooding Tahiry. She was still standing by the curb, pretending to be uninterested.

Dre tossed his chin over his shoulder then turned back around to face me. “Alright, Short Stuff, enjoy your date. It was nice meetin’ you, Trevor.” And before either of us could respond, he spun around and walked off just as quickly as he had appeared.

Meanwhile, I was left seething. Eyes glued to his back, I grew more annoyed as I watched his steady strides. I hated the confidence that effortlessly oozed from his damn pores. So why in the hell was I still staring? Or maybe the better question was, why did everything about the last ten minutes have me so hot? Unfortunately, those answers never came. I did however, find a slither of solace watching Dre get bombarded by a slew of fans just as he reached his bougie ass girlfriend. Snickering at that minor disruption, I shifted my gaze.

Fuck!!!

As if Dre’s little impromptu pop-up wasn’t bad enough, I looked over to where we’d been standing to realize we had lost our place in line. I was a millisecond from asking Tyler to take me home when I felt his hand slide down to mine. “So, I think we’re even now.”