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  “Wow! I have got to meet this chick who has you all sappy and shit.”

  I chuckled. “She’s a remarkable woman.”

  “Well, we can’t do dinner next weekend but what about Wednesday night?”

  “I’m cool for that day and I’ll check with her.”

  “Let me guess. You brought up what happened with Estella because you’re ready to propose to Jemistry?”

  “Something like that, but I’m afraid it might run her away. Jemistry’s not that trusting.”

  “So why be with a chick who doesn’t trust you?”

  “I never said she didn’t trust me. It’s only that she trusted the men in her past who hurt and abused her. She doesn’t know whether I’m a lunatic or not. You know that’s not the case, but she doesn’t.”

  “I feel you. That’s what happens when a lot of the men out there do trifling shit and then make women bitter for the next man.”

  I could not believe Floyd had the nerve to say that when he was cheating on Courtney on the regular, like it was his part-time career. I decided not to bring it up again. If he wanted to believe that he was dropping nuggets of wisdom, so be it.

  I settled in, opened another beer, and started watching ESPN. Even though I believed that Jemistry loved me, and it showed in her actions, she still had yet to admit it. Part of me had to wonder if I was imagining that she felt the same way for me as I felt for her.

  Chapter Fifteen

  “Immature love says ‘I love you because I need you.’ Mature love says ‘I need you because I love you.’ ”

  —Erich Fromm

  It was Memorial Day Weekend and Jemistry was floating on cloud nine since school was about to let out. She was also a bit overwhelmed with trying to get everything done. Medgar Evers had had their graduation the weekend before. More than six hundred graduates. It was a big-ass school. Jemistry had to stand onstage for all that time. Her principal’s speech was astounding and motivational. She told everyone that it was crucial not to allow dream stealers and reality stealers to prevent them from going after their goals. She spoke nothing but the truth.

  She also told them that it was important for them to determine whether they wanted a steady paycheck from working forty hours a week, fifty weeks a year, or whether they wanted to be an entrepreneur and get paid based on their own efforts. She explained that neither one of those choices was any better than the other. It was whatever each person felt comfortable with. Her main concern was that they do something after making it through high school. Work, college, the military, something other than simply giving up like so many do.

  After the graduation, I had gone out with her to celebrate with a few of the kids and their families. One of the parents had rented out the ballroom at the Renaissance Hotel on K Street. We had a great time chilling with them all. The food was good, the music was on point, but I must admit that the way the teenagers were dancing—in front of their parents no less—threw me for a loop.

  They were doing something called the Red Nose, where girls spread their legs apart, and then shake their asses up on the boys like red nose pit bulls, and some other freaky shit that I had never seen. The parents joined in when they started doing the Wobble, a line dance. Jemistry even got out on the floor on that one. She couldn’t act too loose around the students or parents. She told me once that with everything going viral, it was important not to get caught up in some foolishness. Not as a principal. I didn’t need that as a highly respected surgeon either.

  Earlier in the week, we had had dinner with Floyd and Courtney at Art and Soul on Capitol Hill. The two women hit it off well and exchanged numbers, making plans to do a spa day together in the near future.

  Floyd pulled me aside when we were waiting for the valets to retrieve our cars after dinner and said, “None of my business during pillow talk, man. Looks like our women are about to become chummy and I don’t need any drama.”

  I whispered to him, “Maybe you should tame it down like you said you would. I’m still hearing about your dirt, Water Cooler Dick. Something about a threesome in a maintenance supply closet last week?”

  Floyd smirked. “I couldn’t turn that one down. Two hyperactive nursing assistants at once? It was out of this world.”

  I shook my head as they pulled up with my Benz. Jemistry was hugging Courtney a few yards away. “Okay, I keep warning you, but you’re going to have to learn the hard way. You can come stay with me when your wife kicks you out.”

  Floyd chuckled. “Not going to happen.”

  “Famous last words.”

  I decided to get into my car and mind my business. It didn’t sit well with me, though. Throughout dinner Courtney had sung Floyd’s praises. She really believed that he was faithful, or at least she was very good at making it seem like she believed it.

  I glanced over at Jemistry in the passenger seat; she was catching up with her emails on her iPhone. Even under the streetlights, her exquisiteness blew me away. There was no way that I would ever betray her trust like that.

  * * *

  “It has been years since I’ve been on an island!” Jemistry was excited as we walked along the beach at the Ritz-Carlton in the Cayman Islands. The water was a clear green and even though there was a good crowd, we were completely caught up in each other.

  “Yeah, me as well.”

  She jumped onto my back and wrapped her legs around my waist and her arms around my neck. “Thanks for suggesting this. I needed to get away, even for a few days.”

  She started sucking on my earlobe.

  “Keep that up and I might drop you right here and make love to you on the sand.”

  “That’s not exactly a way to get me to stop. I wouldn’t mind if you did.”

  “Later on tonight, and I’m down. I’m not trying to get locked up over here.”

  Jemistry laughed. “So does that mean that I can’t use the handcuffs that I brought along in my suitcase to chain you to the bed?”

  “No, you can do that within the next fifteen minutes.”

  “Well, shit.” She jumped down off my back. “In that case, I’ll race you back to the room.”

  Jemistry took off running. I decided to give her a head start; her legs were so much shorter than mine. When she was about twenty yards away, I took off after her and still beat her to the elevator.

  * * *

  “Baby, I thought you were joking about the handcuffs.” I squirmed as Jemistry was in the bathroom of our suite, singing “Do Me Baby” by Prince.

  I was nude and freshly showered and she came out in one of the plush white robes the hotel provided, left open so I could see all of her sexiness.

  “Here we are, in this big old empty room.” She straddled my waist and gazed into my eyes. “Staring each other down.”

  She checked to make sure that the handcuffs were still secure. I could smell her bath gel, which smelled like the ocean. “You want me just as much as I want you. Let’s stop fooling around.”

  I licked my lips as she took off the robe and totally exposed her breasts. Her nipples were hard and standing at attention. So was my dick.

  She had ordered room service earlier and had requested a bottle of honey to use with her pot of tea. She reached over to get it off the rolling table, where the remnants of my steak dinner and her seafood dinner remained.

  Jemistry started drizzling honey on her breasts until she had used up half the bottle. Then she rubbed it all over them and her midriff while my dick grew harder—if that were even humanly possible—by the second underneath her.

  “You’re not allergic to honey, are you?” she asked.

  “If I was, this would be a fine time to ask me.”

  We both laughed.

  “I’m not allergic; what I am is horny. You going to let me suck it all off?”

  “Only if you answer my trivia questions correctly.”

  I took my eyes off her tits and looked into her eyes. “Are you serious?”

  “Very. Don’t pout. There are
only a few of them.”

  “I’m not trying to take an exam, but if that’s the only way you’ll let me make love to you, shoot.”

  “What’s my middle name?”

  I grinned. “Easy one. Your middle name is Alicia.”

  “Correct.”

  Jemistry held out her left tit for me to suckle on. Right when I was about to try to choke on it, she pulled it away.

  “Next question.”

  I sighed. “This is killing me!”

  “What was the name of my first dog?”

  It was almost impossible to think with all of the blood rushing to my dick. I remembered us discussing it. Shit! It was a German shepherd.

  “Durango!” I shouted out.

  She started grinding on my dick but didn’t put it inside her. “Correct again. Damn, it turns me on that you remember so much about me.”

  “Climb on my dick.”

  “No, I’m not ready for your tree stump yet.”

  “Well, it’s damn sure ready for you.”

  “That’s obvious.”

  Jemistry reached behind her and started playing with my balls.

  “I’ll make this the last question.”

  “Baby, as much as I’m enjoying your game, I really need you to climb on my dick.”

  “First of all, I’m running this.” Jemistry suddenly tried to sound militant. Loved it! “I’m going to climb on what I want to climb on when I want to climb on it.” She grabbed me roughly by my chin. “You understand?”

  “Since I’m handcuffed to the bed, this is your show. Ask the next question.”

  “Do you really, really, really love me, Tevin?”

  “That would be a resounding yes.”

  I gazed into her eyes.

  “You really, really, really, really love me?”

  “You can add really on there a hundred times and my answer will still be yes, Jemistry. I fell in love with you at first sight.”

  I was hoping she was going to finally say that she loved me as well, but she didn’t. Again, as long as I sensed it, I was going to roll with it and hope for the best.

  When she just continued to stare at me, I said, “I’m glad you decided to give me a chance to love you the way that you deserve to be loved.”

  “I’m glad that I decided to do that, too.”

  Jemistry bent over me and slipped her tongue into my mouth. I gladly accepted it. Even though we kissed all the time, it was different. It was more intense and filled with more emotions.

  Our kiss lasted a good five minutes. It was intense. She reached beneath herself, put my dick inside her, and started gyrating on it slowly.

  She broke the kiss and whispered, “I wish you could stay inside me forever.”

  She grabbed my cuffed wrists for support and started riding me like there was no tomorrow, all the while allowing me access to her tits so I could suck them. She started speaking in tongues, literally. I had never heard any shit like that before. I had no idea that she even did that.

  It was alarming and arousing at the same time. She let go of my wrists, grabbed her own breasts, and started motorboating them across my face. I licked and sucked, and licked and sucked, all the while we fucked. This woman had my nose wide open and that wasn’t about to change . . . ever.

  * * *

  Later on that night, we went out on the beach with a couple of large towels, found a secluded spot, and made love again.

  The next morning I told Jemistry to rest while I took a run on the sand. But I really needed to take care of some business . . . and I did.

  Chapter Sixteen

  “Where there is love there is life.”

  —Mahatma Gandhi

  School was finally out for Jemistry and I decided to surprise her by cooking her dinner at her place. I had been over there several times to spend the night, but we rarely chilled there. She had a roommate and I didn’t so it made sense to spend the majority of our time at my place. I’d given her a key within two months of dating. My mind was already made up that I didn’t plan to see anyone else.

  When we were flying back from the Caymans, I’d brought up the option of her actually moving in with me. She said that she didn’t want to leave Winsome hanging like that. Even though their lease was month-to-month, she explained that Winsome did not have the income to cover the rent on her own. I asked if there was someone else they knew who might room with her, but she knew of no one offhand. Everyone was already settled in someplace else. But if things went my way, eventually Winsome would have to find someone else to room with.

  I decided to bring that up when I showed up at their place that afternoon. Jemistry was not home yet. They were having an end-of-year faculty party in the teachers’ lounge and she didn’t anticipate arriving home until after six. My day had been light—no surgeries—so I was able to get out of the hospital by two and head over there, stopping at Whole Foods on the way to pick up everything that I needed to prepare dinner.

  “Damn, that smells good!” Winsome walked into the kitchen right as I was putting the Chilean sea bass on the indoor grill. “What all are you making?”

  “I’m grilling some fish, making some jasmine rice, some baby bok choy with sweet peppers, and garlic sourdough bread. Then I’m finishing it with a crème brûlée.”

  “Jemistry wasn’t joking. You can really cook.”

  “I’m a master in the kitchen. You’re welcome to a plate when it’s done. There’s plenty.”

  “Even if there wasn’t plenty, I was going to get some. I’ve been known to eat off Jemistry’s plate. There’s no shame in my game.”

  I chuckled as I turned to face her. “Can you hand me that fresh rosemary over there?”

  Winsome picked up the bunch of rosemary and brought it to me.

  “Thanks,” I said as she handed it to me.

  “You’re welcome.”

  She sat down at the kitchen table. “I guess you and Jemistry will be spending a lot more time together since she’s out for the summer.”

  “She’ll definitely have more free time, but hospitals never shut down. I do plan to take a couple of weeks’ vacation time so we can get away. She wants to go to Italy to take cooking lessons.” I started breaking up the rosemary and sticking sprigs into the fish. “As you can imagine, I’m as excited as she is about that.”

  “Well, Jemistry definitely could benefit from cooking lessons, but don’t tell her I said that. She’s sensitive about her cooking.”

  “Don’t I know it!” I paused for a few seconds and then went and sat across from Winsome at the table. “Since you brought up the topic, I do want to spend as much time with Jemistry as possible. It would be perfect if she could move in with me.”

  It was like all of the air was suddenly sucked out of the room, like a scene from the movie Backdraft. The look on Winsome’s face told me that it was about to come back in and combust into flames.

  “Move in with you?!” Winsome practically shouted. “But what about me?”

  “Winsome, did you honestly think that you and Jemistry would be roommates until the end of days? We’re in love and she’s over my place at least four nights a week as it is.”

  “And she’s here three nights a week,” Winsome said in defiance. “Ya’ll haven’t been dating long enough to move in together. And when did she say she loved you? She never told me that.”

  Those words stung. She realized that if Jemistry was ready to admit to being in love, she would have told her about it. I refused to pay homage to her negative thoughts, though.

  “Says who? You? You can’t determine a timeline for our relationship.” I crossed my arms in front of me. This was not going to be easy. “If the two of us feel like we’re ready to take that step, no one has the right to judge us . . . even you. We’re in love,” I embellished by speaking for both of us, “and once we get married, she’s going to have to move out any—”

  “Get married? Jemistry hasn’t said anything to me about a damn wedding, and trust, I’d be the fi
rst to know!”

  “Actually, you’d be at least the third to know because the two people in the actual relationship, the two people who will be in the actual marriage, would have to know first.”

  I was hoping my point was delivered. When she rolled her eyes, I decided to clarify further.

  “Winsome, Jemistry adores you. She talks about you all the time. She respects and admires a lot of your qualities, but there are some things that make her . . . uneasy.”

  “What things?” Winsome spat out the words. “Oh, let me guess. You have a problem with my sexuality.”

  “I don’t, and don’t even go there. What I do have a problem with is you bringing a bunch of strangers up in here while my baby is around. If you want to risk your life over casual sex with the masses, that’s on you. But it only takes one person to be certifiably crazy before a tragedy happens. I don’t want Jemistry to end up on The First 48 or one of those other shows because you can’t control your behavior.”

  “How dare you?!” Winsome jumped up from the table and placed her palms on the surface. “If you weren’t a fucking rosewood tree, I’d smack the shit out of you!”

  “If it makes you feel better, smack me, but I’m not taking back what I said. And I’m definitely not going to hit you back. Not in my nature.” I stood up to check on the fish. “I haven’t officially asked my baby to marry me yet, but I’m sure she is anticipating it. I’ve been waiting for the right moment. Who knows? That right moment might come tonight.”

  Winsome stormed out of the kitchen, went into her bedroom, and slammed the door closed behind her.

  I made sure the fish wasn’t burning, flipped it over, and then reached into my pocket to retrieve the velvet ring box. I opened it and peeped the six-carat De Beers Signature collection platinum-banded ring that I’d purchased while we were in the Caymans. It was tricky trying to declare it at customs without Jemistry seeing it.

  Yeah, tonight is the night! I hope she says yes!

  * * *

  Jemistry had called to tell me that she was running even later. Dinner was done so I decided to go into her room and watch the evening news until she got there. Somehow I dozed off. I must have been more tired than I’d thought and the newscaster’s voice might as well have been singing a lullaby. I was out like a light.