Love Delivered (51 page)

“Why the pout, Zoey? Does Stenton want more?”

I nod. “But not until marriage.” I feel myself sulking.

“Well, at least one of you is thinking morally. I agree with him.”

“Why? Why is marriage such a big deal?”

“Are you still resentful of the institution, Elizabeth? I used to hear you and Angela chant that crap as kids, but paid no mind to it, thinking it was due to your youth.” She laughs. Hard…and a lot. “You guys were rebels without a cause.”

I sucked in a breath. “How do you figure?”

“Awww…” She rubs my shoulder. “Come on, dear. You and Angela carried on with that belief as though you had experience with failed marriages. Our paths may not have been drama-free, but as your parents, we’ve held together pretty solidly, by the grace of God. We never exposed you girls to our problems, not that they were so great to shield, but you get what I’m saying. You’ve had no reason as a kid to shun marriage, believing it would stifle you in any way. You’re almost thirty years old and you’re still holding to a fruitless cause.”

“What’s fruitless about it? I mean, I know the Bible speaks about no sex until you’re married, but society has changed the significance of marriage. It was primarily for financial reasons for a woman weaning from her parents’ care, and sexual purposes for men, pledging to care for said woman while he uses her only for sexual gratification, child-bearing and rearing. I can take care of myself—granted, Stenton can do more, but I’m not doing too bad independently.”

The software has completed and now I’m setting up her account with a user name and password.

She turns to me. “You’re right, those reasons do not apply anymore. The commitment piece has evolved. With all the garbage polluting our families and destroying our communities, marriage is the cornerstone of protection to safeguard our legacy.”

“Stenton and I are committed to each other. We love each other—perhaps too much. I don’t fear him cheating. We’re content. We just need to live together and that will finalize our partnership.”

She gets quiet for a moment, and I’m tapping away at the keyboard.

“I like what JR said about your last name,” she mutters. I hear the pout in her tone. “Don’t you want to join in name with your partner and child?” 

I click on the Internet and get to Google to test it out.

“Momma, it was a cute observation that I’m sure someone coached him on,” I lightly and dismissively chide. “That boy may look like Stenton, but he is from my womb. I don’t care what the name on his birth certificate states.”

Things get quiet. I type my usual items into the search box. Information loads: articles, videos, and still images. One article headline catches my eye and I click on it. It’s an interview with a rising WNBA player, Shonda Kempt, from Philadelphia. I only recognize her name because she’s local talent and her skills have been shouted from the rooftop on the radio for months now. She’s a twenty year old, who declared her eligibility this spring and will be starting this fall season with the Connecticut Suns.

What strikes me is when she’s asked about being embraced by her NBA colleagues and who she admires. Of course she mentions Stenton Rogers and goes into how “hot” he is and
then
mentions his athletic skills. She tells a story about meeting him earlier this year at a function in Philly and how she turned beet red the moment he touched her to shake her hand.

What in the world?

“What’s wrong, baby? Your cheeks are flushed,” my mother observes.

I peel my eyes from the screen to observe her alarmed posture.
Am I really freaking out on the outside?
Because on the inside I’m burning with jealousy. I don’t understand the possessiveness that I feel over this man. I was never this way before him. I thought after seeing him with women over the years, since having his child that I was exempt from harsh insecurities as far as Stenton is involved. I mean, geesh, we’ve been sexing like horny teens each moment we can steal. We’ve gone from sneaking around Jordan to putting him to bed together and darn near racing each other to closest the room with a lock on it. I’ve drained the man of his essence for months to come, if that’s even possible, and look forward to pulling out more. So, why am I suddenly feeling bereft at the fact that he’s out of town? Out of reach?

“Oh, nothing, Momma.” I grab the desk phone from its cradle. “I just remembered I have something to take care of tonight after work. I may be out late. I need to let Eligia know.”

Within thirty minutes, I arrange for a flight to Atlanta. 

~~~~~~~~~~

~
Stenton
~

Panting out of breath, I wince as Zoey dismounts me. Finding her naked in my suite when I’d gotten in from a dinner meeting was seductive, but having her fuck me sideways, in between two rooms and a hallway was plain ole’ mind blowing.

I glance down at her. Her doe eyes are open, nowhere near as exhausted as I am, and I know for a fact she’s been up since at least five this morning. It’s damn near three in the morning now. As pleasant sexual exertion is coming down on me, I can’t help the feeling of something being off. Zoey’s up to something.

“It’s about to be a twenty four hours type of day for you,” I mutter as I stroke her mouth.

I love Zoey’s mouth. The products of her brilliant mind are reflected from it, and the way that she grips my wood with it seals the deal for me. This woman is fucking perfection. I’ve always felt every inch of her was made for me. That there must be a God and He must have smiled on me at least once, twenty-eight years ago when she was created. She’s finally mine. Well, that’s if she can finally shake that stubbornness of hers and give me a date. If she could acquiesce with her hand in marriage as she does her body for pleasure, I’d be a happy man.

“I guess so.” Zoey shrugs while lying stark naked on her belly, staring up at me with preoccupied eyes. “I’ve missed you.”

I turn onto my side to face her. “Enough to marry me?”

A bashful smile crests her face and she lets out a giggle. “I guess.”

“You guess? Is that a yes?”

Engaged in a full blown giggle, Zoey blurts out, “Yes!”

Shit!
My heart leaps. All it took was me going away on business for her to break?

“Okay. When?”

“I’m thinking, in June…of course after the season ends for you.” Her eyes go big with excitement, twisting my chest. “Wouldn’t it be cool to do it for your birthday?”

“So you can cheat me out of gifts? Yeah, whatever.” I tease.

I don’t give a damn
when
my lady says she wants to finally make me the happiest man around. I just want her to want it like I do. I’m just happy she’s finally coming around.

“I wouldn’t do that, StentRo!”

We laugh together at that one. Zoey knows I hate when she calls me that shit. But I’m too damn happy to even check her little ass on it.

Things go quiet for a minute. I don’t know what’s going through Zo’s mind, but I’m finally thinking about the details of a wedding. All this time, I’ve been limited to just paying for it and showing up. Do I want to pick my own tux? Do I want it to match JR’s? That dude swags like his daddy; we have to match.

“Do you know Shonda Kempt?”

“Uhhhh…” I think quickly about the rookie from Philly. “Yeah.”

Then my thoughts go back to my impending wedding and wondering if my mother will show. Will we be able to find her? Will she be on her meds and in her right mind? I haven’t seen her since taking JR to visit her back in the spring. She wasn’t clean, but at the facility. She always enjoys seeing Jordan. That fact, made the visit bearable for me.

“What do you think of her?” Zoey asks.

“I don’t know…” I transition my brain to Kempt and what I’ve heard of her. “She has good potential, a consistent scorer and stealer. Proud to see good stuff coming out of Philly.”

“Have you met her? What do you think about her?”

Why in the hell is she asking about Kempt? “Once or twice, yeah. She wants your business?” I glance over at her.

Zoey angles her chin. “In a roundabout way, yes.”

“How so?”

“She wants you.”

My head jerks back.
Wants me? Lil’ Kempt?

“Where did you hear that bullshit?”

“Today. I read an article she did with Sports Illustrated.”

Then it hits me. I jump from the bed, heading for the bathroom.

“Where are you going?” I glance back to see Zoey’s sexy ass tits sitting taut at the peak, stomach flat and generous thighs, wearing nothing but a grimace.

“To take a shower to keep from cussing your manipulative ass out.”

“Cussing me out? For what? I didn’t ask if you slept with her. I just wanted to know what you thought of her.”

“Why?” I yelled.

“Because she obviously likes you!” Zoey’s voice turns up a notch, too.

“What is she? Twenty? What the fuck would I want with a twenty-year-old kid, Zo?”

“The same thing you wanted from me when I was twent—” Zoey cups her mouth. Even in the dimness of the room, I see tears welling.

“What the hell is going on, Zoey?” I almost whisper as I bend, though feet away, to try to align my eyes with hers. “Are we regressing here?”

“I don’t know!” Her voice is identical to that day in her kitchen when Jordan was four months old and she asked why we couldn’t be together.

In fact, this is the same scenario as when she saw Erika doing an interview.
This is bullshit!

“I want you! I only want you! I’ve always wanted you! From the day I met you, I’ve wanted no one else! It was fucked up that I found you so young. Yes, I crossed the line, morally, on so many occasions with you, but it’s not something I’m going to regret, because you are it for me. I knew you needed time to develop, but I sure as fuck wasn’t going to let you go when I needed you even as a damn kid then, Zoey! Are we clear?” I scream.

“How do I know? You say you love me and would do anything for me, but I can’t get the one baby I’m actually asking for!”

That stings like a bitch. And just like she went off in the land of hysteria that day in her kitchen, years ago, not absorbing anything I said, she’s doing it again now. Only this time, she has me wanting to go with her.

“You can’t fucking dangle a carrot, Zo!”

“I’m not! I just don’t understand why we can’t have another baby. Now!”

“Because I’m not fertile, Elizabeth!” I find myself pointing my index finger animatedly toward the floor. “Because right after my son was born, I got a fucking vasectomy and banked my sperm! Because although I didn’t exactly know how to handle my situation with you back then, I damn sure knew I didn’t want to fuck around and accidentally get someone else pregnant and totally fuck up my plans for becoming a family with you!”

My screams are so harsh, my fucking throat hurts. This is not how I wanted to tell her.

“Oh, my god.” She’s shaking as her hands tent her face. Tears are spurting from her eyes and I itch to comfort her.

Shit! I can be such an ass!

“Zoey,” I cry out to her hoarsely.

“That’s how you knew Erika wasn’t carrying your baby.” I nodded my head, emotionally exhausted and bewildered.
What is this going to do to us?
“But you didn’t reveal this publicly. This is not how you were cleared.” She’s in a state of shock, her face horror-stricken. “You could have disclosed this and backed it up, but you didn’t.”

“Because it was always intended to be between you and me. Only Chesney and my practitioners know. This was supposed to be for us.”

“Stenton!” she gasps and leaps to me, wrapping her arms protectively around my waist.

“Please tell me this doesn’t harm us. Please say we can work through this, too.” I don’t recognize my voice.

I can’t lose her. I’ve spent too much time torturing us both.

“I don’t know.” Her small frame jerks against me. She’s silently sobbing. “We’re so screwed up, Stenton. We’re such a mess.”

I squeeze her into me with a fiercer grip.

~~~~~~~~~~

“So, what you got planned for tonight, bro? I’m tired as fidduck,” Alton yawns, stretching his arm across from me.

“Shit.”

I rub my eyes and yawn myself, preparing for our plane’s descent. It’s almost midnight and we’ve had a long three weeks of training. I had a good time training and bonding with my team, but the emotional state I was in since the night before I flew out for camp dampened my mood. And on top of that, I haven’t really been in touch with Zoey since our blow up about my procedure. It’s not like I’ve had a lot of time with our schedule, but the disconnect after that fight has me fucked up. I have to be honest, I’m scared as a motherfucker. I was actually happy to pack my shit and head home. I still don’t understand why Alton and I caught a separate flight from everyone else. We even left later, which further pissed me the hell off.

“We should hit up Pat’s for a cheesesteak. I’m hungry as a mu’fucka. Don’t tell Ty I’m cheating on this diet either. She’d have my ass.”