Love Delayed (26 page)

“How? When—” I stopped when I recalled him taking my purse. “That’s how you were able to know the type of tampons I wear,” I murmured as I pinched the bridge of my nose, overcome with mortification again.

“You’re taking the car, Zo,” his tone was adamant.

“Okay! Okay!” I gasped. “I see once again I don’t have a say in your grand schemes.”

Instead of continuing to fight, Stenton exhaled. There was a long pause. We both needed a moment to cool our hooves.

“I knew you’d trip about your parents so it’s all in my name
, and that can be changed the moment you’re ready. The paperwork is in the glove compartment along with a signed affidavit that you’re an authorized user of the vehicle. Here.” He handed me the keys from his pocket.

Even the fob was elegant.
Holy mother of Joseph!
I have a BMW! I couldn’t fathom it all. Similar to the laptop, I couldn’t muster the proper response.

I reached up and threw my arms around his
broad shoulders. “Thanks, Stent, for thinking about my safety.” His hands splayed on my back. While still clasped I murmured, “You’re starting to make things weird for us. I’m starting to feel kept like a girlfriend or something, buddy.” I pulled back, extended up on my toes, and patted his head like a kid.

“
Shit,” he scoffed. “Heaven forbid I try holding you to an antiquated societal title like that,” he whispered so low that I almost didn’t catch it.

A small grin crack
ed my bewildered face. Then a revelation dropped in my head.

“Hey, is my birthday the reason why you okayed Tynisha giving me a drink a couple of days ago? You were ready to bruise poor Alton.”

He shook his head. “You’re now a day away from your 21
st
birthday. I didn’t want to be responsible for your under aged drinking back then.”

“
Ummmm…news flash,” I sang from the corner of my mouth, my smile one-sided. “I was still under aged when I arrived here. You’re responsible!” I jeered. 

Stenton
’s face didn’t break a smile. He was back to being a sourpuss.

“
Okay! Really, dude, what’s your deal?”

His eyes rolled behind me
in the distance and his chin slightly tooted, fortifying himself. “I don’t want you to
l
-leave.” He exhaled harshly. “I’m not ready to split. I think about you all the damn time and when I’m with you all the other bullshit seems to ebb away.” Another deep sigh. “Zo, I haven’t seen my mother in almost a year. It’s not easy watching her kill herself with those fucking drugs, but bringing you with me made it...feel tolerable.” His eyes turned pleading. “I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing with you.” He ducked his head. “I’ve never been with a woman so young in comparison to my age, but I feel like I’m fucking addicted to you. I know you have your ducks all neatly aligned and I don’t want to interrupt that—” Stenton squeezed his eyes closed. This was hard for him. When they opened he regarded me severely this time. “I don’t know how the season’s going to end. Just promise me you’ll make time to go away with me once it’s over. I don’t care what you have to tell your parents, just promise me at least a week, okay?”

His pain stricken face tore at my soul. I reached up and kissed him hard and thorough
ly. It took him no time to join me. I wanted to cure his angst. To blanket him with the security he obviously wasn’t provided in life. I loved him that much. I pulled back first and gave a solemn nod.

“
I’ll be ready for you,” I whispered breathlessly.

The ride back to Jersey was filled with so many questions, the biggest being what
were Stenton and I doing together. I had no idea. I’d only known that I had never felt the exhilaration that I did with him. He was full of surprises…and confused the heck out of me with his mood swings, like that night I left him.

The next morning, I was awakened by a call from the lobby letting me know I had a delivery. Stenton had a half a dozen floral arrangements delivered to
campus. I couldn’t fit them all in my room so I ended up giving out half of the ginormous bouquets to friends. I followed his updates on Facebook where Stenton would often post things related to our conversations.

He’d call and text regularly, never skipping a day and always keeping up with the happenings of my classes. He was amazing, even when being annoying.

Stenton:
What are you up to?

Me:
At a pastor’s anniversary banquet with my mom.

Stenton:
Stiff?

Me:
Completely.

Stenton:
Send me a pic.

I put the phone as low as I could near the table, issued a kissy face
, and clicked.

Me:
Cheese

Stenton:
Damn Zo you got your tits out?!?!

Me:
LMBO! My mom hates it. Good thing my dad didn’t come.

Stenton:
Fuck! You’re about to make ME come!

Me:
Perv.

I waited a few seconds as I chewed on my nails.

Me:
What are you doing? Send me a pic…

Stenton:
I’m about to head outside to play.

A
picture came through and my mouth dropped. Stenton was decked out in a black cowl neck sweater that framed his chiseled chest intriguingly. He rolled his sleeves displaying the heavy ink of his forearms, making the look every bit cosmopolitan. He paired it with what appeared to be casual hunter green riding pants. What topped it off was the black fedora atop his head and gold wire framed sunglasses that hid his eyes. Stenton looked good enough to eat.

And those heart shaped lips
…

I figured he decided to put away his rocker boy style for tonight
. I just hoped it wasn’t for someone of the female persuasion. I felt that unfamiliar pang of jealousy excreting into my bloodstream. Sex does that to people. Or at least it did to me in that moment. 

Me:
Be sure to play in the middle of the turnpike.

Stenton:
LMMFAO & SMH. Lata Nina
.

Jealousy felt crappy.

~~~~~~~~~~

July 2007                                                                                                        
~
Stenton
~

“You okay,
Zo?”

Zoey
’s head popped over to face me. Her eyes were big and mouth open, evidently caught off guard by the sudden sound of my voice.

“Yeah, I’m okay. I see you’
re finally up.” She cracked a small smile.

“Yup,” I
croaked as I stretched my arms and legs, yawning hard and big, tired as fuck.

“Did you sleep through landing?” she asked, still smirking. “I can’t believe you
were out from the time we took off until now. Somebody’s too tired to vacation.”

Not too tired for what I have in mind for you, though.

When I learned that we’d be going to the finals, I had Paul book a getaway. My last game was last night. As soon as I got off the court, finished my interviews, took the usual pictures, chatted with coaches and teammates, and showered, I headed home to do last minute packing. Excitement wouldn’t allow my labored body to sleep. I twisted and turned with heavy anticipation of the next day.

Before the sun rose the following morning, we headed
straight to Princeton to pick up Zoey and then shot up to Teterboro airport. I was drained—physically and emotionally—from this season. I put my all in, pushed myself, and now I needed respite. I used being alone and away with Zoey for a week as my carrot-at-the-end-of-the-stick to perform optimally. And I did. So, I got to hide away and restore in the Cayman Islands…with her.

When
Zoey stepped on the plane, I noticed she was a little off. Likely because of the private jet that I chartered. I’d taken several women on their first chartered plane experience and had gotten several reactions; some outwardly excited, some indifferent—those were the groupies who only fucked with dudes with money—and this time with Zoey, it was different. She tried hard to not come across too thrilled, but did admit to never being on a private aircraft. Another new experience for my Niña. This was going to be a great vacation. That, I was sure of.

“You ready, chief?” Rob asked as he and Barry shuffled from their seats behind
Zoey and me to get to the main door of the cabin.

As I studied
Zoey, I answered, “For sure.” She still looked a little askew.

I knew taking this young girl out of the country was crazy, but it was what I wanted. I paid minimal attention to my curiosity as to what tale she g
ave her family about being away this week, but decided to watch her closely to be sure she didn’t freak out. Zoey was adventurous, but still grew up in a bubble and wasn’t exposed to the shit I lived. Like now, she was eyeing Rob and Barry as though she’d never seen them before.

I also knew she was still in her feelings about Angela not speaking to her. It had been a couple of months since she had the baby and Angela
hadn’t even invited Zoey to her baby shower, much less to come by and meet the baby. I’d hoped to shake that depression from her consciousness this week.

I held out my hand for her to take and we
exited the plane after them. There was a car waiting just off the runway. As we waited for our luggage to be transferred from the cargo of the aircraft to the car, I checked my phone for emails and texts. On the other side of the car, near the front door, Rob lit up a spliff and pulled from it. I smelled it before I looked up and saw Zo frozen by the sight of Rob handing it over to Barry.

I chuckled. “What’s wrong,
Zo? You looking like you’ve just witnessed the theft of the cookie jar.”

At that
, she tried to straighten her face. “What? That?” she pulled in her chin, playing it off. “Pssssh…whatever!” she turned and looked away.

I pulled her into
me by the hand. “You’ve never seen anybody smoke in public before?” I felt my brows wrinkling, not able to conceal my amusement. She had to be kidding me.
She’s from New B!

“I…of course I have!”
She fought hard to hide her face while wrapped in my arms.

“Hold up.” I tried to steady her in front of me, pulling tighter on her arms. “You’ve never smoked before,
Zo?”

Zoey
kept wiggling in my arms, now burying her face in my chest. I could see her mortified blush. I couldn’t help my explosive laughter.

“
Awwww…they don’t teach you how to roll up in Sunday school, do they?” I teased.

“Shut up!” she mumbled as she laughed into my abdomen.

“Yuuuurp, chief…that’s us!” Barry yelled over to me.

I helped
Zoey into the car, and we took off to our resort.

The
villa I rented was in the outskirts of Grand Cayman that sat against the ocean of the western Caribbean Sea. I’d always enjoyed the view and vibe of the Cayman Islands. The island never failed to bring serenity to my cluttered mind, and I’d hoped Zoey would appreciate the calming energy as much as I always had. The modest two bedroom unit included a full state of the art kitchen, enclosed dining room, open living room, and a spacious master bedroom with an en suite bathroom. The unique feature of the place was the aquatic deck running alongside the villa with access from both the master suite and the living room. The competitor in me couldn’t wait to see if Zoey could swim the distance of the two rooms. 

An additional feature of the property
there was an in-law suite on the property with its own entrance and accommodations for them, giving us privacy. Rob and Barry would be doing their own thing this week anyway, finding trouble—aka, local women in town—to get into.

After touring the property,
Zoey and I unpacked in the master suite. She was mesmerized by the bed, stared at it for what felt like minutes. It was a four-poster bed with sheer ivory curtains flowing in the island breeze. As I observed her entranced reaction, I allowed the excitement to build for how I’d planned to use that style of bed this week. It was not by chance that it was there.

I seemed
to have taken more time than she did because at some point, I looked up and she was out on the deck off the suite. When I was done, I decided to check on her. As I came out, I found her at the Jacuzzi with her feet submerged in the water. She had her dress rolled up, exposing her thighs. I couldn’t tell if she was troubled or simply relaxed.

“What’s on your mind?” I asked, not knowing if I was prepared for the answer.

“You,” she said, looking out into the open air.

“What about me?” I stayed behind her, posted up on the door frame.

It took her a minute to respond, “How different our worlds really are.
You
see sights like this.” I could see the corners of her eyes as they moved to observe the tropical landscape. “And I can’t even dream about splendor on this level. I never knew this side of creation existed.” She turned to me with a reserved smile. A sad smile.