Page 39 of Taming a Menace
“Oh wow. I’m sure my sister would love that.”
“Dance with me first. I like this song.”
It was crazy how Carteay’s song about risking it all resonated with me so much more right now. Was I willing to risk it all for him? What would that even look like? Would we let our animalistic desires lead us to some torrid affair? Would we fall in love and live happily ever after? Would we engage in this harmless cat and mouse game for the duration of his treatment and never speak again?
There was too much in the balance. There were too many ways for things to go wrong. There were too many variables at play. I could dance with him for the rest of this song, but after that I had to be firm about my boundaries. I couldn’t get caught up in some affair with a man I had no business dealing with and lose everything I worked my ass off for. I couldn’t rationalize it.
As the song ended, Keywan kissed me on the cheek but never removed his arms from around my body. A rap song came on, causing the crowd to go wild. He never let me go. He never stopped swaying to the slow beat of the song he proclaimed to love.
I cleared my throat before saying, “I think the song is over.”
“I just want to hold you as long as I can because I don’t know what you’re going to do when I let you go.”
“Eventually you’re going to have to.” I giggled.
“I would stand in this muthafucka until it burned to the ground as long as I could keep my arms around you.”
“Well hopefully that doesn’t happen. I need to get back to my sister and my friend before they think I got jumped in the bathroom.”
“We don’t want that. Do we?”
“Not really,” I said, backing up as he released me from his embrace.
“You want to go talk to your sister about going backstage to meet Carrie?”
“Carrie?”
“Carteay,” he corrected.
“Oh sure.” I nodded.
“Lead the way,” he instructed, motioning with his head.
Heat crept up my spine when he rested his hand on the small of my back. Instead of overthinking things, I made my way back through the crowd. It seemed much easier this time, and without having to fight through the growing sea of people, I stepped outin front of my girls. They were still dancing and vibing their asses off until they spotted me coming in their direction.
“Oh, so that’s where you been?” Patrice smirked.
“Baby, who is this? He is fine,” Isis whispered in my ear.
“Ladies, this is Keywan. I ran into him when I was leaving the bathroom.”
The looks on their faces were mortifying. I knew without a doubt that if he didn’t already know I had been talking about him to my friends, the way both of their eyes bugged out of their heads at the recognition of who I had in tow told it all.
“The chef?” my sister asked just to verify her suspicions.
I cleared my throat before responding. “Um, yeah. His brother does security for Carteay. He wanted to know if we wanted to go backstage to meet her.”
“Hell yes! Where do we go?” Isis shouted.
“Well, first I need to go to the back and make sure she has time before she goes on stage. I think she’s going to perform a couple of songs, but if she doesn’t, I’ll take you back there after she’s done.”
“I can’t believe this. I’m about to meet the real Carteay,” my sister sang.
“Believe it.” Keywan chuckled. “I’m about to run to the back to make sure everything is all good. Stay right here, Moon. I’m coming back for you,” he directed.
His eyes on me made me as self-conscious as ever. Him leaving was my perfect opportunity to bail before he finished disarming me and making me reconsider everything I thought was right and moral. There was no reason other than a job I had only had for a few months that said I couldn’t have this man. Now I was fighting my own instincts wondering if great sex was enough to make me betray my principles.
“OK,” I said, nodding as he casually strolled away.
