Page 43 of Loyalty, Lust, Love
“I understand.”
Adam, Joaquin, Meaghan, and Octavia returned to the table. The girls held their shoes in their hands as they flopped into the chairs. All of them looked hot and sweaty.
“This DJ is nice. He’s playing all the good songs,” Octavia said.
“He is. Can y’all go get us some water?” Meaghan asked Adam and Joaquin.
“We aren’t your dates. Go get it yourselves,” Adam told her.
“Y’all are so rude,” Meaghan responded.
“He’s rude, but my mama taught me to be a gentleman. I’ll get some water for y’all,” Joaquin said before walking away.
“You need to take some pointers from your friends,” Octavia told Adam.
“Like I said, ain’t neither one of y’all my girl. What I look like treating you like you are.”
“But we’re your best friends, Adam. Just wait. You’ll miss us when we’re gone.”
Adam shrugged off Meaghan’s comment, and Lynx shook his head. Their banter was a short distraction from the conversation he’d heard between Rodney and his friends. He hadn’t figured out how to handle it, but he would come up with something before it was time to go.
Chapter 15
Flashback – After Prom
After the prom court was announced, the crowd began to thin. Lynx kept his eyes on Fateema because he didn’t want her to slip out with Rodney.
“You like her, don’t you?” Tatiana asked.
Lynx looked around the table, and his friends had disappeared again, so he knew she was talking to him.
“Like who?”
“Fateema.”
“She’s my best friend. Of course, I like her.”
“That’s not what I mean. You like her, like her.”
Lynx knew what she meant the first time but pretended he didn’t and was fully prepared to lie.
“No. Why do you ask?”
“You’ve barely taken your eyes off her all night. Why didn’t you ask her to prom?”
“We were planning to as a group, so I didn’t think I needed to ask her.”
“So, you do like her, like her?”
“What? I said no. Me and Bunny have been friends since sixth grade. She’s like a sister to me, and I don’t trust Rodney with her, so I’m very protective.”
“Well, you’re right not to trust him. All he wants is sex. Once he gets it, he’ll forget she exists.”
“Is that what he did with you?”
She nodded while thinking back to her relationship with Rodney. “He did and said all the right things until I gave in. It took a couple of months, but after we had sex once, I wasn’t interested in doing it again. He said he understood but would pressure me again every other week. I kept denying him, so he cheated on me.”
“That’s messed up. I’m sorry he treated you that way.”
