The Realest Ever (24 page)

“He can’t
hear us,” Rodney said.  “I’m not even talking loud.”  Rodney was dark-skinned and slightly overweight.  He was married with one child.

“
Keep it down anyway,” Donovan told him.  “You never know.”

“Alright, alright,” Rodney said.  He leaned forward wit
h his forearms on his knees.  His expression was comical.  “You’re talking about the woman who’s out on a date with another man?  You like this woman?”

Donovan sighed and rolled his eyes.  Jonathan sat on the couch with Rodney, on the opposite end.  He
shook his head slowly as he stared at his former coach. 

“Yes,” Donovan told Rodney.

“And you’re
babysitting
for her, so she can go on a date with another man?” Rodney clarified.

Donovan’s chest rose and fell.
  He hated being the butt of Rodney’s jokes.  “Yes.”

“
Well,” Rodney said, leaning back in his seat.  “There’s only one thing to say about that.”

“And what might that be?” Donovan
asked.

“
Nigga, is you crazy
?” Rodney burst into laughter. 

Jonathan thought that was hilarious as well.

“Say, watch your language,” Donovan said.  He rubbed his forehead.  “I think I’m losing it, y’all.”

“
Yeah, I think so, too,” Rodney said.  “And I knew you liked Kyra!  I knew it when we were in high school!”

“Alright,” Donovan said.  “Alright.  So I like her.
”

“
Why didn’t you tell her when she came back?” Rodney wondered.  “Y’all could’ve been together this whole time.”

“Because I was with Brianna,” Donovan
explained.

“
And by the time you broke up with Brianna, Kyra was already going with this other guy?” Jonathan surmised.

“No, not exactly,” Donovan said.  “I broke up with Brianna
before
Kyra met this other cat.  But…”  He hesitated, knowing what they would say.  “I told her to go out with him anyway.”  Donovan hung his head in shame.  The room was silent. 

“
Nigga, is you crazy
?”

“Man, I told
you to watch your language!”

“Alright, alright,” Rodney said
.  He tried to wipe the smile off his face, but it was impossible.  “Okay, D.  Please tell me; why did you tell Kyra to go out with another man?”

“Because I didn’t want to mess up our friendship,” Donovan said.  “We always been better as friends.”

“I feel you on that,” Rodney said.  “So why don’t you and Kyra just stay friends?”

“Because I
want her,” Donovan said.  “I don’t want her to be with nobody else.”

“You can’t have both,” Jonathan said.

“What do you know?” Donovan replied.  “You’re still wet behind the ears.”

“I had a good friend who was a female,” Jonathan said.  “Then we started having sex.  We broke up, and now
we don’t talk anymore.  Like, not at all.  We were really close before that.  I miss her.”

“That’s what I’m talking about,” Donovan said, his eyes brightening.  “I don’t wan
t to mess up my friendship with Kyra.”

“Then quit tripping,” Rodney said.  “
Be happy that she’s your friend, and leave it at that.  As far as you liking Kyra, you’ll be alright when you find another girlfriend.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Donovan said. 
That was good advice.  He didn’t need to be with Kyra.  He could transfer his feelings for Kyra to another woman.  Wait.  Was that even possible?  Something about it didn’t sound right. 

≈≈≈≈≈≈≈

Donovan’s friends were gone by the time Kyra returned for her babies.  He answered the door and welcomed her inside at 10:52 pm.  Kyra looked happy and as lovely as ever.  Her brother Duke sent her $500 when she got the job at the school.  Kyra used the money for new outfits for herself and the kids.  Most of the clothes she got herself were for work, but she got a few dresses for after work, too.  Donovan thought she looked awesome in everything he’d seen her in.

Tonight she wore a
red skirt with a black top.  The skirt was form-fitting.  Kyra’s hips were mesmerizing.  Donovan didn’t understand how it was possible from them to protrude from her body at such a degree and then quickly shrink towards her waist and thighs.  Those hips were the perfect size for Donovan’s hands.  Kyra’s blouse showed off quite a bit of cleavage.  Donovan was both attracted to her and jealous because she dressed this way for another man.  He didn’t like to think of Roland’s eyes rolling over her throat and chest and her soft, succulent breasts.

Even worse, Donovan knew he’d hear about Kyra’s whole date, from start to finish.  She’d tell him how Roland looked and what he said and how she felt about it.  Kyra would tell him if Roland tried to kiss her again and if she liked it and
if she was starting to like him.  Sadly, Donovan would be the one to pry all of these details from her.  He didn’t want to, but at the same time he had to know. 

“How was everything?” Kyra asked.  “Did they give you any trouble?”  She
wore her hair down and layered.  Her makeup was faint but perfect.  Donovan’s heart skipped a beat as he watched her.  He didn’t think she’d ever looked more beautiful.

“Everything was fine.  Kat’s quite a character.  She had me fooled.”

“What do you mean?”

Kat rushed into the room at the sound of her mother’s voice.  This time she had two
neckties in her hands.  Donovan closed his bedroom door, so he had no idea where she found those.

“There’s my precious baby!”  Kyra knelt to give her a
hug and a kiss.  “Where’d you get these?”  She took Donovan’s ties away from her and placed them on the coffee table.  Kat went after them immediately. 

“Mine!”

“No those are not yours,” Kyra said.  She picked her daughter up to keep her away from them.  “Where’s Q?”

“He’s in the den.  Q!” Donovan shouted down the hallway.  “Your mom’s here!”

They heard Quinell’s “
Aww, man
!” all the way in the living room.

“Thanks for watching them,” Kyra
said. 

“No problem.  How was your date?”

“It was great.”  Kyra’s eyes were twinkling.  “But I think Roland might be part octopus.”

Donovan’s smile fell.  “Why you say that?  He tried something else?”

“Yep,” Kyra said.  “An exact repeat of last time.”

Hot coals began to burn behind Donovan’s eyes.  Kyra didn’t notice because Q walked into the room
at that moment.  She looked down at him.

“Hey, did you have a good time?”

“Yes.  Mr. Mitchell said I can have his PS3.  Can I get it?”

Kyra frowned.  “No, boy.  You’re not taking anything out of this house.”

Q’s whole face drooped.

“It’s okay,” Donovan said.  “I told him he could have it.  I don’t play
with it anymore, since I got my Xbox.”

“No, Donovan,” Kyra said.  “I don’t like that.  I’ll buy him one when I get my check.”

“You can’t pay for
everything
with your first check,” Donovan said good-naturedly.  “Go put your kids in the car, and I’ll unhook the system for him.  I wanna talk to you about your date, when you get back.”

Kyra
continued to frown, but she left the house and did as he asked her.  She strapped Kat into her car seat and turned the engine on so the air-conditioner would blow.  Before she went to retrieve the PlayStation, she gave Quinell a hard look.

“Did you ask him for that
thing?”

“No.
”  He shook his head fiercely.

“Don’t be going to people’s house asking for stuff.”

“I didn’t, Mama.  I swear.”

Kyra
narrowed her eyes and stared at him for a few more seconds before she closed the door.  When she reentered Donovan’s home, he had what looked like a very expensive electronic unplugged and waiting for her.  Kyra started shaking her head before she spoke.

“Donovan, that’s nice of you, really.  But we can’t take that.  That’s too much.”

Donovan stood next to his recliner wearing camouflage shorts with a black tee shirt.  His expression was dark.  He told her, “Yes you are taking it, and I’m not going to argue about it.  I told Q he can have it.  That’s the end of it.”

Kyra was startled by his demeanor.  “Okay.  I, I didn’t
know it meant that much to you.”

“I don’t care about this game,” he said.  “I want to know about your date.  What do you mean he was part octopus?”

Kyra’s heart began to race.  She hadn’t felt this way since the first time she told Donovan about Roland.  They talked about him plenty of times since then.  Donovan never reacted like this.

“It, it was nothing,”
she said.  “He was just being silly.”

“Tell me what happened.”

Kyra swallowed hard.  “I, I, we went out.  He took me to Maggiano’s.  We had a good time.  When he walked me to my car, he tried to kiss me again.  I kissed him.”  Kyra had to lower her gaze.  She never felt this nervous around Donovan.  “Before I got in my car, he said he wanted a hug, too.  I told him not to try anything like last time.  He said he wouldn’t, but his hands started moving.  I pushed him off.”

She looked up at him.  Donovan was clearly
upset.  And he was huge.  His anger seemed to add ten feet to his height.  The last time Kyra saw that look in his eyes, they were children and she told him her mother’s boyfriend tried to pull her sheets away while she was sleeping.

“
Do you like him,” Donovan asked.

“I,
I, I don’t know,” Kyra said.  “I wouldn’t have kissed him, if I didn’t like him.  But I don’t like how fast he wants to move.  I can tell he wants to go way too fast.”

“I don’t want you to see him anymore,” Donovan said.  He didn’t mean to, it just came out. 
Once it was out there, Donovan felt like a fool.  What the hell was he doing?  Kyra said she liked her new friend.  Donovan should’ve given his advice and left it at that.  Instead he practically commanded Kyra to stop seeing Roland.  What would she think of him?

But without skipping a beat, Kyra said, “Okay.”  She looked him dead in the eyes.  Her heart was hammering.  Her chest rose and fell
so quickly, she knew Donovan saw it. 

A
cool rain washed over Donovan.  His red, hot anger was immediately doused.  But he didn’t feel good about what he just did.

“I’m sorry
.  I shouldn’t have said that.  You can keep seeing him if–”

“I’m not going to see him again,” Kyra stated.  She was staring deeply into his eyes.  Donovan didn’t think she’d blinked at all in the past minute.

Without warning she approached him and wrapped her arms around him.  Donovan immediately grabbed her and held tightly.  Kyra laid her face against his chest.  She said, “Thank you, for everything.”

Donovan lowered his head until his nose and mouth brushed the top of her head.  He inhaled her wonderful scents
.  His arms moved slowly across her back as his hands touched and clutched her flesh.  Kyra’s body was on fire.  The best friends hugged plenty of times since she returned, but never like this. 

Donovan felt light headed.  He didn’t realize what was happening until
there was a mass of hard muscle between his legs.  His manhood pushed against his shorts and then against Kyra.

Embarrassed, Donovan broke away
from the embrace.  He took a step back.  “I’m sorry.”

“Sorry for what?” Kyra asked.  She didn’t look down at what she
had felt on her stomach.  She wanted to.  She wanted to look so badly her heart ached.  But she kept her eyes glued on Donovan’s.  Her expression was daring and alluring and knowing.

“Nothing,” Donovan said. 

“Then don’t apologize.  You didn’t do anything wrong,” Kyra said.  She took a few steps back.  She felt pressure in her lower belly as she moved.  She felt her muscles clench a little lower down.  Her legs threatened to give out on her, but Kyra managed to turn and exit the house.

Donovan was
enchanted by the sway of her hips as she moved.  For the first time in his entire life he watched Kyra’s ass like he wanted it, and he didn’t feel one bit guilty about it.  Kyra’s words were still ringing in his ears.

You didn’t do anything wrong
.

Kyra didn’t realize she left the gaming system until she got behind the wheel of her car and Quinell started whining about it. 

“I’m sorry.  Go, go get it,” she told him.  She would’ve gone herself, but her eyes were still wide, her blood racing.  She sensed that if she went back inside Donovan’s house, she wouldn’t be leaving anytime soon.