Page 16 of Caden's Situationship

“Well, even though we just met, she seems like the type of woman to shit on a dude just for staring at her,” Linc said. “Sure, I can sort of tell that shorty is beautiful, but you gotta be careful because some of these women out here spreading mess if you look at them the wrong way.” I gave him a questioning look, prompting him to add, “Don’t you remember what my girl Shelia told the town about me?”

I laughed, already knowing how this conversation was going to go. Sheila had been Linc’s on-again-off-again girlfriend since they were in the sandbox.

“Are you talking about that time she said you had a small dick?” I asked.

Linc smacked his teeth. “Which she retracted once word got out that my dick is big as hell.”

I shook my head. “Meaning you went into the town’s library and made copies of your dick and posted them around town. Then blamed that shit on Shelia.”

“A brotha had to do what a brotha had to do. It worked, didn’t it? But, nah, not that.”

“Then you must be referring to the time she told some folks that you piss the bed when you sleep,” Houston noted.

“Which was only a half-truth,” Linc explained. “I’d just turned twenty-one and since most of my friends were away at college, Shelia took me out and we got drunk as hell. My ass was too drunk to make it to the bathroom. But I’m not talking about that either.”

I racked my brain, trying to think of what else he could be referring to, when I remembered, “She told the town that you wanted to have a threesome with her and that other dude, when really, you’d only agreed to a threesome with another woman. But she lied about it before it was supposed to happen, and had you not turned on the light when you walked into the bedroom, your first threesome would have been completely fucked up.”

“Darnell. Dude’s name was Darnell and I still have nightmares.” Linc shuddered. “Damn, that woman really has put me through some bullshit.” He glanced up to my ceiling like he was remembering every single thing he’d ever been through with his ex.

“Okay, forget I brought up Shelia,” he finally said, waving his hand in dismissal. “My point is, it’s always the pampered princesses that get you in trouble.”

“She’s not like that,” I defended.

“Not exactly true,” Houston interjected. “Cordelia’s always been the spoiled type, but if memory serves me right, she’s also down-to-earth when you warm up to her.”

“In other words, don’t listen to Linc,” Wade added, looking my way. “His advice will have you ending a relationship before it even begins.”

“You ain’t right,” Linc countered. “My experiences with Shelia has helped y’all asses avoid a lot of heartache.”

Houston crossed his arms over his chest. “Man, name one damn time your advice has ever helped us out?”

Linc focused his eyes on me. “How about right now? Caden has that deep-thinking face going, so I bet he’s thinking twice about getting into a relationship with her after my warning.”

“Relationship? He may just want to sleep with her,” Wade supplied.

Linc shook his head. “Nah, Caden always finds himself in these kinds of situations. Plus, the way he was looking at her was different. I got a sixth sense about these things.”

“Just like you had a feeling Sheila was going to propose to you?” Houston asked.

“And you were going to let her,” Wade added.

Houston laughed. “Made us all meet you at that restaurant to be there when it happened, and when we got there, she was breaking up wit’ yo’ ass … again.”

Linc shrugged. “Okay, so maybe I was a little off that day, but y’all know I’m right most the time.”

I shook my head as the guys continued to disagree and talk about me like I wasn’t in my kitchen with them anymore. Honestly, my mind was reeling over the fact that my closest friends assumed I wanted something more from Cordelia than friendship. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t even be having this conversation right now.

Granted, it took a lot for me to be interested in a woman, but shit, was I really giving off relationship vibes? It had been so damn long since I’d wanted anything other than a simple release from a woman, I wasn’t even sure I would recognize it if I did feel anything else.

Six

CORDELIA

“Son of a—” I mumbled as I tried my best to get my white Converse chucks out of the mud they were currently stuck in. I’d already been touring the property with Caden for over two hours, and although the land was impressive, I was ready to be done with the outdoors.

“Are you okay back there?” Caden asked over his shoulder.

“Just peachy, cowboy,” I yelled, which of course was a big, fat lie. I hated to admit it, but Caden was right. I didn’t have appropriate clothes for the ranch life. I’d thought wearing my knee-length, olive skirt, ivory blouse, and pairing that with my matching olive and ivory lace umbrella would be suitable for the tour, but apparently, I’d underestimated how much dirt we’d been walking through and how hot this Arkansas sun was. These were the only gym shoes I owned and they looked browner from the mud and dirt than they did white right now.

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