Page 33 of Intercept My Heart

He loved the hibachi from Wagos, and since they didn’t have one out here, I figured this would be a treat for him. Dinero’s body was even tighter since he’d been in college. He told me the coaches mandated them to work out five days a week and do yoga as well. Most college students usually gained weight within the first year, but Dinero stayed in the gym. Just the thought of him lifting me up and fucking me against the door caused me to shiver. I had been coming up here every other weekend just so I could ride my favorite player.

A small group circled my car before finally breaking up the fight. I knew college life could get wild, but I hadn’t anticipated it to be like this. There was music blasting from individuals’ cars, and I could see red Solo cups and beer bottles everywhere. A group of girls were bent over, twerking in front of this car, while a few boys were leaning up against it. Nero mentioned they partied like this on the weekends, but seeing it in person was a completely different experience.

I’d been in the parking lot for over thirty minutes, and I was tired of waiting. I reached back to grab the food, birthday cake, and balloons. I brought them and decided to have him come back for my bags. He hated for me to carry my own stuff anyway, so I knew he would be fussing.

“What’s up, sexy?” A tall man greeted me as soon as I exited the car. He was cute with his long locs piled on top of his head. Based on the tattoos covering his neck and arms, I figured he was much older than me.

“Do you need some help?” He gestured toward the bags of food in my hands. As nice as he may have appeared to be, he was still a stranger to me.

“No, thank you. I appreciate the offer, though.” I hurriedly brushed past him to get to the correct building.

1208. My eyes scanned the numbers on top of the buildings to ensure I found the right one. When I found the correct one, I hustled up the stairs as fast as I could. I was socially awkward, so I hated being around large groups of people, especially when I didn’t know them. If I learned nothing else from my past, it was that I couldn’t put anything past a soul.

“Hey, don’t I know you from somewhere?” Another handsome gentleman approached me as I walked up the steps.

“Umm, you probably have me confused with someone else. I’m not from around here.” I didn’t want to give him too much information, but he definitely had me confused with someone else.

“Well, you’re pretty as hell. My apartment is across the hall in case you want to come visit with me too.” Obviously, the men on campus were a bit more friendly than I was used to because there was no way I’d invite a random stranger into my home.

The sound of music may have masked my knocks, so I pounded a little harder. It took a few more moments forsomeone to answer the door. When it finally opened, I was greeted by another handsome stranger.

“Damn, you sexy as hell. How can I help you?”

“Umm, yes. Is Dinero here?” I knew this was the right place, but it was possible he could have left.

“Damn, I’m not sure. I just got off work, and we have a full house. You’re more than welcome to come in if you want.” I hesitated for a minute, then decided to go inside. A part of me started to rethink this whole surprise thing now that I was here. When he pushed the door back, and I saw all those people in the middle of the living room, I wanted to turn and run right back out to my car.

“Who the hell is that?”

“She must be a transfer because I’ve never seen her before.”

“Stop drooling; she’s just a girl. If you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all.”

“I’d drink her bath water. That bitch is cold as hell.”

“Stop being a hater, Tessa. That girl is fine as fuck.”

These were only a handful of the comments I heard while walking through the room. The music in here wasn’t nearly as loud as the music blaring from the hallway. You could hear the people talking around you, and the overall vibes were chill.

As I scanned the room, I still didn’t see Dinero anywhere. Since his room was at the far end of the apartment, I headed in that direction. There were people on both sides of me, and the room started to feel small.

“Hey, boo. Where did you get those earrings from? They are too cute!” a pretty girl standing next to the bathroom asked me. I’d completely forgotten I had earrings on, so I touched my ear to check.

“Oh, one of my friends makes these. I think I may have one of her business cards with me.” I moved my crossbody bag tothe side so I could look through it. When I finally found one, I handed it to her.

“Good looking out, boo. My name is Monique.” She held her hand out for me to shake. I returned the gesture since she seemed like a nice girl. My nerves settled slightly, but I was anxious to get to Dinero. Once I finally got to his room, I couldn’t hear anything coming from the other side of the room. I didn’t want to barge in, so I knocked instead. I waited for someone to come to the door, but no one came after a couple of minutes.

I saw light coming from the bottom of the door, so I knew someone must have been in there. When I texted Dinero to ask where he was, his answer left me confused.

Me:

Hey, baby. Where are you?

My Love:

I’m at home. I wasn’t in the mood to go out, so I decided to stay at the apartment.

Either he was lying or hadn’t heard me knocking on the door. Since he told me he was in the room, I decided to let myself in. When I pushed the door open, the sound of a woman’s voice caught me off guard.

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