Page 10 of Devanté
CHAPTER THREE
Whenever I didn’t hear from Blake for more than a few days, I started to get on edge. Everything felt off in my world. I needed to start my day with her cooking breakfast and fussing at me to feel like myself. I hadn’t felt like myself in two weeks.
That shit was ending today. I already told Gabi I was going to be busy all day. I didn’t say why but she didn’t need to know.
We weren’t dating but I could tell she wanted to steer it in that direction. I wasn’t biting. I told her I wasn’t looking for a girl. The only person I wanted to look at like that was sitting in an apartment, hopefully making pancakes and scrambled eggs that rivaled my mother’s.
I went to sleep with her on my mind and woke up craving her in my space…or me in her space. However it worked out, I needed to see my girl. The gut feeling was so strong that I rolled out of bed without listening to Jill Scott. Instead, I opted for Blake’s favorite, Mint Condition.
I showered and brushed my teeth in a hurry then threw on some clothes and headed to her apartment. I didn’t bother calling because I wanted to see her face when I popped up.
I had to stop being a punk and tell her how I felt. Even the thought made my tongue swell up and my temperature skyrocket. Whenever I thought about telling her that she was the only girl I’d ever loved since third grade, I punked out. If she felt the same way, I would have noticed by now. I couldn’t risk our entire friendship over unrequited love.
I walked to her apartment and right before I entered her building, I heard someone call my name. I turned around, shielding my face from the sunlight while I tried to see who was calling me. “What are you doing over here?” Gabi’s face came into view and I had to stifle my disappointment.
“I came to see Blake,” I told her. She twisted her glossy lips to the side then looked up at the building.
“I thought you said you were going to be busy all day.”
“Iamgoing to be busy all day. I haven’t hung out with my best friend in weeks.” I stepped around her and she wedged herself in front of me again. My muscles tightened and my expression hardened. “What’s up, Gabi?” I sighed. I was close to telling her we needed to stop hanging out so much because it wasn’t like she was volunteering her mother’s information. I felt strung along.
Maybe it served me right because I honestly had no intention of being her man or her friend. I just wanted to get a chance to meet with her mother. I knew better than using people but I couldn’t think of any other way to get my shot. That was what networking was all about, right?
“Why don’t you skip the snack date with your friend and come hang out with me. I’m sure it’ll be much more worth your while.” She was wrong. I knew she wanted to fuck me but even that wouldn’t be worth more to me than spending ten minutes with Blake.
“Nah, I’m good. I just want to go see my girl,” I said, rushing my words out. Gabi’s eyes narrowed before she barked out a laugh.
Every other guy on campus would have done shady things to fuck with her. She was tall with tight slender curves and long silky hair. I couldn’t tell if it was hers or not but she flung it around like she was born with it. Her hazel eyes glittered in the sun and she had a megawatt smile that would have been at home on TV.
Still, it didn’t stir me. She wasn’t Blake.
Blake was full-bodied flavor. She was a landscape of vibrant colors and deep, rolling hills. When I thought of what I wanted, she was all I could see. She was my dream vacation. Gabi was a detour boasting about a tourist attraction that failed to live up to the hype.
“I thought she was just your friend.” She folded slender arms across her chest and pointed her chin at me waiting for clarification.
“She is. I always call her my girl. She’s my number one. We’re soul twins.” I smiled at our nickname but the novelty was lost on Gabi. Frustration settled into my muscles again.
“So, you’re really going to go see her and not spend time with me?”
“I’ve been spending time with you, Ali, and Kate for two weeks. If I’m not getting something out of it…what’s the point?” There was a harshness in my voice that I wasn’t used to. It made Gabi’s eyes widen and her eyebrows shoot up to her hairline. I thought she would balk at the words that sprang from my mouth but instead, desire smoldered in her eyes.
That small interaction opened my mind to an entirely new world of possibilities. Women didn’t want guys like me who were nice. They flocked to me because they were attracted to me but that’s not what hooked them. Or at least not girls like Gabi. What lit a fire under her ass was when I was a dick. When I flat out told her that hanging out with her and her friends didn’t benefit me in any way.
“I’m offering you exactly what you want, Tae. Come back to my friend’s place and we can make something happen.” Her slender fingers spread out across my broad chest and her pink tongue peeked from between her lips to wet them.
“That’s not what I want.” I cuffed her wrist between my fingers and pulled it away.
“Well, what do you want? Name it.”
“I’m trying to break into modeling and acting, and…”
“You want to meet my mom?” Her eyes lit up. “If you come to my mom and dad’s house in LA this weekend, I can make it happen. She’d be even more willing to meet my boyfriend. If I had one.” She linked our arms and batted her long lashes at me.
“That’s what you want out of this?” I chuckled. My mind went to war, wondering if being signed to Imperial was worth dating Gabi. It would boost my career, no doubt, but she wasn’t my type. Nobody other than Blake was my type.
“You know that’s what I want. You see the way I’ve been looking at you, Tae. You’re the finest thing I’ve ever seen in my fucking life. All the girls on campus want you to be their man. It’s all about you. And you know it too with your sexy ass.”
“I know but I’m feeling the single life right now, Gabi. I can’t lie.” She gave me a light shrug then put her hands on her hips.
