Unfaithful

Her betrayal

“I’m going to the gym with Yasmine,” I leaned over and kissed my boyfriend, Joel, on the cheek. “We should be back in an hour.”

Joel didn’t take his eyes off the TV screen as he continued playing with his video game. “Have fun.”

I picked up my gym bag and walked out the door. Yasmine was parked in my driveway when I stepped outside. I hurried over to the car and dropped my bag on the floor as I plopped into the passenger’s seat.

“Hey,” I sighed.

“What’s up,” Yasmine backed out of the driveway. “So, what’s up? How was your day today?”

I just shook my head. “Not even worth mentioning. I’m so ready to jump on that elliptical and just walk my cares away.”

She nodded her head as she drove to the gym. Once inside, Yasmine went straight to the pool to do some laps. I went to the cardio area and jumped on the first elliptical that was free. I turned on my CD player, put on my headphones and just started my workout. I had been on the machine for about five minutes when I looked into the mirror and saw a guy walk into the gym. He was about six feet tall with an athletic build. He had a moustache and goatee, something that I always thought was sexy on a man. I looked over my shoulder to get a better look at him. He was beautiful.

He walked in the back towards the locker rooms and I leaned a little to the side to watch him walk away. I smiled a little. I stayed on the elliptical for thirty minutes before heading to the little juice bar that the gym had and ordered a mango strawberry smoothie. I was waiting at the counter as the girl behind the counter made the drink when I saw the cutie from the front desk walk into the store. He was wearing a white sleeveless shirt that showed off his very nicely built arms and a pair of black sweatpants. I smiled a little, as I looked him over; he was even better looking up close. He had these big brown eyes that complimented his beautiful brown skin. He had two diamond studs in his left ear. He got a bottle of water and placed it on the counter.

“That it?” the girl behind the register looked up at him as she placed the lid on my drink. “Yours is $5.15,” she looked at me.

I unclipped my cell phone case from my hip and removed my money. As I passed the cutie, I noticed that he smelled good. He had obviously been working out, but he still smelled really good.

“Excuse me,” I brushed past him as I went to the counter. The second our skin touched, I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. I quickly put my hand on the back of my neck as I turned around and looked at him again. He looked at me and smiled a little as he backed up. The instant I saw his teeth, I began smiling from ear to ear and the next thing I knew, I heard the girl behind the counter suck her teeth. I turned around and saw my entire smoothie spilled across the counter and making its way towards the floor.

“I’m so sorry,” I instantly picked up the cup and looked around for some napkins.

“I guess you want me to make another one, huh?” the girl rolled her eyes at me.

I opened my mouth to say something, but she just sucked her teeth and turned around and got another blender.

“Should I get some paper towels or something?” I looked around the store.

“No,” she sucked her teeth again.

“Is it me or does she have a major attitude?” the cutie looked at me for a few seconds. “It was an accident.”

The girl slammed the blender or its base and glared at me as she began dumping fruit into the blender.

“Okay, you know what, you are obviously having a bad day,” I held up my hands. “I don’t even want the smoothie. I’m sorry about the mess and if you get me some paper towels or something I’ll clean it up, otherwise…”

“So now you don’t even want this?” she put a hand on her hip.

“No,” the cutie put his bottle of water on the counter and backed up. “And I don’t want this either.”

I walked out the store and he was right behind me. “I guess she was having a bad day,” I sighed as I looked up at him.

“Well, she needs to learn to check that attitude at the door when she come here,” he looked at his watch for a brief second before turning his attention to me again.

“Hi, I’m Talia,” I extended my hand to him quickly.

“Moses,” he had a firm grip as he shook my hand. “This is a pretty okay gym. It’s my first time here.”

I looked around the gym. It was just an average gym to me. There were some people scattered around on the machines and there were several staff members at the front desk talking and laughing.

“It’s okay I guess,” I shrugged my shoulders. “I’ve never really paid attention.”

“Compared to some that I’ve been to,” Moses nodded his head. “It’s a good gym.”

I smiled.

“Where’s my smoothie?” Yasmine came from around the corner, her gym bag slung over her shoulder. “What are you doing standing out here? You know the routine, girlie, you go inside and order the smoothie and sand out here sipping on it, I arrive and finish it off and we head home. You’re breaking routine, Talia!” Yasmine dropped her bag in front of me and used her fingers to comb her hair back into a ponytail. “Hey,” she looked at Moses.

“Hello,” he nodded in her direction a little.

“Tal?” Yasmine put her hands on her hips as she looked at me.

“She’s in a foul mood today,” I nodded towards the girl in the store. “I spilled the drink and she had a serious attitude, so I told her I didn’t want it. We can grab some Wendy’s or something.”

“I want a smoothie. I had my mouth all set for some mango strawberry,” Yasmine dropped her hands as she walked into the store. “Let me get a strawberry mango smoothie, please.”

The girl huffed loudly.

“Is there a problem?” Yasmine asked.

“Yeah, your friend just said she didn’t want a drink and now you’re here.”

“Because I want a smoothie. Strawberry mango, please.”

“Well, you have to wait because I have to clean up this mess,” the girl lowered her head and began sponging down the counter.

“Is your manager here? I need to speak to your manager.”

“I am the manager,” the girl rolled her eyes as she looked up at Yasmine. “What?”

Yasmine laughed a little. “You are not anyone’s type of manager. Where is the general manager? The man or woman in charge? I need to speak to someone in charge.”

“I told you that I’m the manager,” the girl folded her arms across her chest.

“I think you need to get your girl before she sticks her foot in that girl’s ass,” Moses looked at me.

“I was just thinking that,” I looked up at him briefly before hurrying into the store to get Yasmine, who was already getting fired up. “Come on Yaz, we’ll go somewhere else.”

I grabbed her arm and pulled her out the store before she could say or do anything else. By the time I got back to where our things were, Moses was gone. I sighed, a little disappointed that he had left already. Over the next few weeks, whenever Yasmine and I went to the gym, we’d see Moses. At first, he and I would say ‘hi,’ and ‘bye.’ Then we started talking a little more. He told me that he had a girlfriend and I told him about Joel and us having significant others seemed to bring Moses and I even closer. Our ‘hi,’ and ‘bye’ soon changed to us having conversations about everything. We would always meet up in the juice bar and sit at a table and talk and sip on our drinks. I actually looked forward to going to the gym, just to see Moses.

I was getting dressed for the gym one night a month and a half later when Joel came into the bedroom. He sat on the bed and watched me pull my hair back into a ponytail.

“Going to the gym again?” he asked.

I nodded my head. “Everyday, Monday through Friday. Yasmine should be by soon to get me.”

“Why don’t you skip today and spend the day with me?” Joel reached out and took my hand as I passed him. “I never thought you would be so serious about the gym, and yet here you are. I think I’m getting a little jealous here.”

I laughed a little. “Of the gym?”

“You go every night, faithfully. I remember when Yasmine used to have to bribe you to go, and now you’re all set. You have a little boyfriend there or something?”

“Yeah, I do,” I reached over and kissed the top of his head. “I need to work off my sexual frustration somehow, Joel. It’s better I go to the gym than to some club and dance all up on some guy, getting all hot and sweaty.”

He let go of my hand. “Some times, Tallie, I wonder if you are a man trapped in a woman’s body. Some of the things you say are uncalled for.”

“Well, if I’m the man, then you are the woman,” I sat on the bed and put on my sneakers. “What man do you know withholds sex? I mean come on, Joel, it’s been like three weeks!” I looked at him. “You knew when we met that I had a relatively high sex drive and for us to not do anything for three weeks is just crazy. We lie in the bed next to each other and still… you barely touch me.”

“Because I want this to be more than just sex.”

“After four years, I think we’re more than just sex, Joel,” I grabbed the edge of the bed as I leaned forward a little bit and looked at him. “Sex is just a really great benefit of the relationship.”

“We don’t do anything anymore, Talia. You just want to have sex.”

“Because I haven’t in three weeks!” I laughed a little.

Joel just shook his head.

“Baby,” I sighed. “We talk and we have a very intimate relationship… except when it comes to actually being intimate. All of a sudden there are a whole lot of things that you don’t want to do any more. I mean, tell me, how would you feel if, when we finally do make love again, I don’t go down anymore?”

He looked at me with an eyes raised.

“Exactly!” I stood up. “I don’t even like doing that, personally, but I do it because you like it. It’s give and take here and it seems that you’re the one giving and taking and I’m… just not getting any.”

“Well, I don’t like doing that either,” Joel made a face.

“Fine, then we don’t do it,” I sat down on the bed and looked at him. “No point in either of us doing something we don’t like.”

“Why don’t you stay home today and we’ll watch a movie?” he completely changed the topic and I just sighed.

“Okay,” I walked over to the dresser and picked up my cell phone and dialed Yasmine’s number. She answered on the third ring.

“Are you canceling on me?” she didn’t even say hello.

“Joel wants to make it a movie night,” I leaned against the dresser and looked at my boyfriend. “So, I’m going to pass on the gym tonight and tomorrow we can hook up.”

“Yeah, I didn’t want to go anyway,” she yawned loudly. “I’m going to call it an early night. Call me tomorrow.”

I nodded as I flipped shut my phone and placed it on the dresser. “I’m all yours, Joel.”

He smiled as he stood up and walked over to me. He put his arms around me and held me close to him.

Joel and I watched some movies and ordered some pizza before calling it a night. After the movies, we went to bed. Within five minutes of kissing me goodnight, he was asleep. I lay in the bed, my hands behind my head and stared at the ceiling.

The next day, I was sitting on the couch, dressed and ready for the gym, when Yasmine called. She told me she had pulled a muscle in her leg earlier and wouldn’t make it tonight. At first I wasn’t going to go to the gym, but decided it was best if I did. There was no point sitting around the house, frustrated and no way to release all the energy that had built up inside me. I told Joel that I was taking the car and going to the gym.

“Yasmine’s not picking you up?” he leaned against the wall as I grabbed the keys.

“She pulled a muscle, so she’s not going,” I kissed him lightly on the cheek. “I need to release this energy.”

He stuck his hands in his pockets as he looked at me. “You’re going to keep reminding me of this, huh?”

“I’m not asking you anything, Joel. I get that you don’t want to have sex right now, but that’s a choice you made alone. I want to have sex. So, to keep me from doing something that would ruin this, I’m going to go to the gym. I won’t be long,” I walked out the door before he could say anything.

When I got to the gym, my first stop was the juice bar. I bought a bottle of water and scanned the small room for any sign of Moses as I walked to the cashier.

“He should be here any minute,” the girl behind the counter said.

I turned around and looked at her. It was the girl from the first time Moses and I had met. I raised an eye as I looked at her. “Who’s that?”

“Your little boyfriend, that really sexy guy that you sit with everyday. He was looking for you yesterday. Had to of come in here like a dozen times,” she rang me up for the bottle of water I had. “Look, he’s here now,” she nodded towards the door.

I put the dollar on the counter as I turned around. Sure enough, Moses was walking into the gym, wearing a black Nike hat, a gray sleeveless shirt, and a pair of black sweatpants. I smiled almost instantly. He made a beeline to the store and the second he saw me he smiled.

“Look who’s back,” he grabbed a bottle of water out of the cooler and came over to the counter. “You didn’t make it yesterday.”

“Yeah, I stayed home,” I leaned on the counter. “Watched some movies and ate some pizza.”

The blender started whirring in the background. I looked over and saw the girl making a smoothie. She poured the orange concoction into two small cups and pushed them towards Moses and I.

“We all know you two are not going to work out today, so let’s just cut to the chase. Here are your smoothies,” she gave us some straws.

Moses and I exchanged looks, but did take the cups and found a table to sit at and began talking. He and I talked for a good hour and half. We exchanged phone numbers and then Moses walked me to my car. We stood beside my car for another ten or fifteen minutes, as we talked some more. He told me that his girlfriend had gone to New Jersey that morning and wasn’t coming back until Saturday morning. She had gone to visit her mother. I told him Joel was home, probably asleep. Moses said that he would call me later and I just smiled.

True to his word, around eleven o’clock that night, my cell phone vibrated across the living room table. I sighed as I reached over and picked up, assuming it was Yasmine. I was surprised to ‘QT’ flashing across my screen. I glanced towards the bedroom as I answered.

“Hello?” I lowered my voice.

“Hey,” Moses had an even sexier voice on the phone. “Are you busy? Is this a bad time?”

“No, no, it’s fine,” I pulled my knees to my chest and wrapped an arm around my legs. “I was just watching TV. What’s up?”

“Not much, I was just thinking about you, that’s all,” he cleared his throat. “I wasn’t sure if it was a good time to call right now, but I figured I’d try.”

“It’s a perfect time. My boyfriend is probably asleep now,” I glanced towards the bedroom door again and noticed that the light was off. “So… what exactly where you thinking about?”

Moses and I had about a four hour-long conversation. We talked about everything from our respective relationships to our jobs, to the possibility of meeting up together out of the gym. He tried to convince me to come over to his house that night, but there was no way that I was going to be able to get out of the house, not with Joel in the other room. I did, for some reason, tell him that the following night was better and maybe we could hook up then. After that comment, Moses said that there wasn’t any pressure for me to come over. That, if for any reason, I decided not to come over, there wouldn’t be any hard feelings and the friendship that we were working on wouldn’t change.

“It would be like this conversation never occurred,” he said.

I laughed a little. “Okay. No hard feelings.”

“Are you backing out already?”

“No, no!” I said quickly. “I’m just agreeing with you.”

Moses laughed lightly. “I’m kidding, Talia. Relax.”

I laughed again. “I’m relaxed.” I looked at the clock and was surprised to see that it was 3:30 in the morning. It didn’t seem like we had been on the phone that long. I looked towards the bedroom and saw the bedroom light flick on and Joel’s shadow moving. “It’s getting late, Moses,” I lowered my voice. “We’ll talk tomorrow.”

He laughed a little. “Your boyfriend’s awake, huh? Then I will talk to you tomorrow.”

“I’ll talk to you tomorrow,” I flipped shut my phone and slipped it into my pocket just as Joel opened the bedroom door. He walked into the hall scratching the back of his head. I smiled at him as I kneeled on the couch and smiled up at him. “Hey.”

“I was looking for you,” he dragged himself into the living room and looked around. “Why are you still up? Everything okay? Were you on the phone?”

“Everything’s great,” I stood up and walked over to him. “I’m just a little wired tonight is all,” I stood on my tiptoes and lightly brushed my lips against his. “Come on, let’s go to bed.”

Joel looked around the room before turning around and following me into the bedroom. “I have a poker game tomorrow,” he yawned. “I meant to tell you earlier, but you came in from the gym late today.”

“Where’s the game at?” I grabbed my pajamas off my vanity stool and began changing.

“It’s here,” Joel sat on the edge of the bed and yawned as he looked at me. “The guys are going to start coming around eight.”

I frowned. I really didn’t like when Joel had his friends over for poker. They were really loud and I always ended up in my bedroom, wide-awake the entire time that they were over. But, Joel liked having his poker friends over.

“You don’t want them over, do you?” he leaned forward onto his knees as he looked at me.

“I’ll find something to do,” I shook my head as I climbed into the bed. “There’s this new show on that BBC channel, Coupling, it’s actually really funny. I just started watching it the other day. They say it’s the British Friends, but I like this show better.”

“Well I don’t want you to stay in the room all night.”

“If I get too bored, I’ll call Yasmine and go over there,” I leaned over and kissed Joel’s cheek. “Good night.”

He turned the light off and lay down in the bed beside me, his back to me.

I could barely sleep all night. For some reason, I was extremely excited about the possibility of meeting up with Moses. I kept tossing and turning, and the few minutes that I did fall asleep, I kept dreamt of Moses. I was so excited about the idea that I was up and in the shower about an hour and a half before my alarm went off. By the time I came out the shower, Joel was up, dragging himself towards the bathroom.

“Good morning,” I was practically singing.

“You’re in a good mood,” he yawned.

“I know, I am, aren’t I,” I giggled a little as I went over to the dresser to find something to wear.

I heard the shower start and I went to my cell phone just to make sure that I really spoke to Moses last night. I flipped it open and was surprised to see a text message… from Moses. I leaned against the dresser and read what he had sent me.

“Freeze tag or hide and seek. Which one was your favorite

game growing up? It has to do with 2nite.”

I bit my bottom lip as I sat and thought about which game I liked better. I was never any good at hide and seek; I was always the first one to be found and I could never find anyone. So, I typed in ‘freeze tag,’ and sent the message. I smiled a little as I put my phone down and got dressed. I was standing in front of the mirror, combing my hair when Joel came out the bathroom.

“You need me to get anything for your poker game?” I looked at him through the mirror.

“No, but thank you,” he smiled at me. “This is the first time you offered to get something for the game, Talia.”

I shrugged. “Yeah, well.”

My cell phone beeped and I looked over and saw that I had just received another text message. I didn’t move for a second, and then I went over to it and picked it up. Moses had sent me another message. I tried not to smile, but I did anyway. He had simply text me: okay, c u 2nite – maybe.

“That Yasmine sending you one of her silly ass messages?” Joel asked.

I looked up at him confused for a few seconds before realizing he was referring to my text message and the huge ass smile I could feel plastered on my face. I cleared my throat.

“Yeah,” I flipped shut my phone again. “You know that girl’s a nut.”

“Yeah, she is,” he shook his head. “How’s she feeling?

“Good,” I nodded my head. “Still sore, but good.”

While Joel finished getting dressed, I went to the kitchen to eat breakfast. I toasted a bagel and poured myself a glass of Tropicana Orangeade, a drink I had now come to love. I was sitting at the table finishing off my bagel when Joel came into the kitchen.

“You are in such a great mood today, Talia,” he put his hand on my left shoulder and gently squeezed it several times. “I’m really liking this great mood of yours. I was convinced that last night or this morning we would be in an argument about the game or something.”

I shrugged my shoulders as I stood up. “Whatever. We can argue if you want. If that will make you happy.”

He picked up my glass and gulped down the rest of my orangeade. “Nah, I like it like this.”

“I have to get to work. Have a great day,” I leaned over and kissed him lightly on the lips. “I’ll see you tonight. If you need me to pick up anything, let me know.”

“Will do.”

My entire day at work, I contemplated on if I really should meet up with Moses. I even sat down and wrote down the pros and cons of meeting up with him. And while I did have more cons than pros, something inside of me kept telling me to do it anyway. Something about him was attracting me. I even skipped the gym after work, out of fear that he may be there. Instead, I helped Joel set up for his poker game. I rode out to Hempstead and picked up some Popeye’s Chicken & Biscuits for the guys, even though he told me that I didn’t have to. It was a good thing that I did because Joel had forgotten to pick up some food.

When I walked into the house carrying boxes of chicken, he smiled from ear to ear.

“Food! See, it’s a good thing you didn’t listen to me!” he took the boxes from me and carried the food into the kitchen. “I got us chips and plenty of beer and totally forgot the real food!”

I went into the cabinet and grabbed some paper plates and napkins. “You need me to get anything else for you?”

Joel shook his head. “I got it, I know how much you hate when the games come over.”

“Well, I’m going to go and try and take a nap before they get here.” I went into the room and closed the door and finally fell asleep. I woke up several hours later to the sound of guys laughing loudly. I lifted my head and looked at the clock, it was almost 10:30 at night. I reached for the remote control and turned to the BBC just in time to see my show Coupling come on. I turned it up a little and watched the show.

Just as the theme music began, Joel came into the room to check on me.

“I thought you were still sleeping,” he closed the door as he walked over to me. “I was getting worried.”

“How can I be sleeping with that noise?” I looked over at him. “How’s it going out there?”

Joel shrugged. “Not bad. I won a couple of hands, so it’s not all bad.”

“You won? That’s good,” I rubbed my eyes as I sat up. “You’re sitting out this hand or something?”

He nodded his head. “Yeah. I was worried about you. You came in to take a nap at five o’clock and it’s eleven and I hadn’t heard from you.”

My cell phone began vibrating across the nightstand. I sighed as I reached over and picked it up. ‘QT’ was flashing across the screen and I had to use everything inside of me to not start smiling. Instead, I cleared my throat several times before I answered. Joel sat on the edge of the bed and looked at me.

“You can ask the guys to keep it down a little though, Joel,” I looked at him.

Moses laughed a little.

“I will,” Joel looked at the TV. “Is this your show? Coupling?”

I nodded my head. “That’s it. Hi,” I said into the phone.

“I take it you can’t get away,” Moses said.

“I can do that… Carmen,” I cleared my throat. “It’s poker night, so I don’t think he’d mind too much if I slipped out for a little while. Would you, baby?” I looked at Joel.

“What’s up?” he looked over his shoulder at me.

“One of my co-workers, Carmen, is having a house warming tonight and she wants me to swing by. I knew about it last night, but I wasn’t sure if I was going to go or not and now she’s calling, asking me to come through.”

“It’s tonight?” Joel looked at his watch. “It’s a little late for a house warming, isn’t it?”

“You don’t know Carmen,” I laughed a little. “She likes to start these things at 10 and treat them like the type of house parties we used to go to back in high school.”

Joel frowned as he thought about it.

“I’m not asking for your permission, Joel,” I laughed a little. He was really sitting and thinking about whether it was okay if I went out. “What am I going to do here? Sit in the room while you and your loud friends make all sorts of raucous noise? It’s a girl’s night and I think I’m going to go,” I put the phone back to my ear. “Let me hop in the shower and then I’ll call you when I’m on my way.”

“I have a shower here, so you don’t really need to take one before you leave,” Moses said. “And I really don’t care what type of shoes you wear. Hell, you could wear fuzzy slippers for all I care.”

I laughed as I lowered my head and began playing with my hair. “I don’t thin that would be appropriate.” I glanced up and saw Joel staring at me and dropped my hand. “I’ll call you when I’m on my way.”

“You need directions here?”

“Uh… yeah, I do, actually,” I reached over to the nightstand and picked up a pen and paper. “Okay, where am I going?”

I noticed that Joel was staring at the piece of paper. I clearly wrote for me to take the Southern State to exit 19N and then I began to scribble everything else illegibly. Mostly because Moses said for me to go to exit 19N and then call him and he would meet me there and I could follow him. I told him that I would see him soon and flipped shut my phone. Joel instantly reached over and picked up the piece of paper and tried to make out my writing.

“She lives in Hempstead or something?” he looked up at me. “19N is Peninsula and that’s going towards Hempstead. You could take Hempstead Turnpike, it’s safer.”

“It’s quicker that way,” I stood up. “You know what; I think I’m going to take a shower over there.”

He raised an eye.

“Or would you rather I take one here with your boys in the other room?” I put my hands on my hips as I looked at him. “If you’re comfortable with your boys seeing me stroll across the hall wearing a towel and nothing else,” I shrugged as I went over to my vanity and picked up my fluffy white bath towel and started towards the bedroom door, knowing full well that Joel wasn’t about to let me do that.

He stood up and grabbed my arm. “It’s a house full of girls, right?”

I nodded my head as I looked at him.

Joel leaned over and kissed the top of my forehead. “Call me when you get there.”

I smiled up at him. “Okay. Let me throw some clean panties in my bag,” I put my towel on the foot of the bed and went over to the dresser and grabbed some clean underwear. I grabbed my cell phone and slipped on a pair of shoes and Joel led me out the bedroom.

I said hello to his friend as I walked towards the front door.

“We too loud, Talia?” his cousin, Cristian asked. They actually called him Moreno because, of his brothers and sisters, he was the darkest one. I was the only one that he let call him Cristian, actually.

“No,” I lied as I smiled at him. “I’m going to a friend’s house.”

He nodded his head as he looked own at his hip. He excused him as he pushed him away from the table a little and put his cell phone to his ear. “Mo, what’s up, you coming through?” He laughed a little. “Yeah, whatever, you can come clean in the morning. All right, talk to you, later,” he flipped shut his phone and placed it on the table. “Mo said he’ll pass tonight. He’s staying in tonight.”

All the guys looked at him with eyes raised. Joel laughed. “Yeah, right.”

“Who’s Mo?” I didn’t really care, but I knew that if I feigned interest in any of his friends, he would finally relax that damn left eye brow and whatever thoughts were racing through his mind would stop.

“Moreno’s best friend and practically his brother,” Joel looked at me. “They grew up together and lived down the street from each other. Usually, when you see one, the other is like a step or two behind. They actually favor each other. I used to ask my mom if she was sure that they weren’t brothers, but she just laughed and said that their mothers were best friends, as well, so she really doubts that they are.”

“Oh, well, enjoy your game and good luck,” I reached over and touched his chin as I leaned over and kissed him on the lips.

“Yeah, you have fun, too.” He smiled as he watched me walk to the car.

I smiled and waved at him just before I started backing out of the driveway. He stood in the doorway and watched me drive down the street. As soon as I turned the corner, I pulled out my cell phone and called Moses back. He answered almost immediately.

“Are you backing out on me?” he asked.

I laughed. “For some reason, I’m on my way there now.” I sighed as I turned onto the parkway.

“There’s no pressure, if you don’t want to go, that’s cool.”

“I know. I’m coming because I want to. I just can’t believe that I’m on my way, that’s all,” I sighed. “My stomach hurts a little, though. I think I’m hungry.”

“Well, there’s a McDonald’s around, so we can stop by there before we get here.”

“No, I’ll be okay,” I rolled down my window a little bit.

“Ok, well I’m on my way to the exit. I’ll be at the first gas station that you see on the right hand side. Call me as soon as you get to the exit.”

I nodded my head as if he could see me before mumbling ‘ok.’ We hung up, and I drove on with my radio blasting. When I got to the exit, I called him. Half of me was hoping that he wouldn’t answer. It gave me a reason to just turn around and go home to my boyfriend. But Moses answered and the side of me that wanted to see him became elated to hear his voice again. I instantly smiled.

“I’m turning onto the exit right now,” I said.

“Okay, I’m at the gas station. You’ll see it as soon as you get onto Peninsula,” he said. “That was quick.”

“There really isn’t any traffic, it’s twelve thirty at night,” I merged onto Peninsula Blvd and saw the gas station he must have been referring to.

“I’m inside the mini mart, my car is the black one with the hazards on just in front there,” he said. “I’ll be right out.”

I pulled beside the car and put my car in park. I could still back out. All I had to do was just put my card in reverse and turn around and go home. I’m sure Joel would be thrilled to see me. But instead, I sat and waited for Moses to come back to his car. He came back out a few seconds later and waved at me as he got in his car. I smiled as I waved and sat up in my seat, putting my car into reverse. It was now or never. I could make that right hand turn and follow Moses, or I could turn left and head home. I made the right.

Moses lived about fifteen minutes from the gas station. He parked his car in the driveway, and I parked on the street. I sat in the car and thought for a few seconds about what I was really about to do. I removed the key from the ignition and got out the car. I took several deep breaths before walking towards the house.

“I thought you were contemplating leaving,” Moses said as I walked over to hi.



I shook my head. “No.”

I followed him into his house, which was actually rather nice. He showed me around the house, the kitchen, living room, and two bedrooms. The new went into the kitchen and I sat down at the table and took another deep breath.

“You’re nervous,” he stood against the wall as he looked at me.

I nodded my head. “A little, yeah. I’ve never done this before.”

He nodded his head.

I jumped a little when I felt my cell phone vibrating. I laughed a little as I reached into my pocket and pulled it out. Joel’s name was flashing across the screen. He was probably making sure that I made it here okay. I excused my self a I turned my back to Moses.

“Hey,” I laughed a little. “Checking up on me?”

“Just want to make it sure you made it there all right. It’s late Friday night and you know how these crazy people get, drinking and then thinking they are good enough to drive.”

“I’m here,” I looked over my shoulder and noticed that Moses had walked out of the room. “I was going to call you,” I lied. “I just pulled up at her house, actually. I’m literally sitting in the car.”

“Well, I was just a little worried,” he started talking to one of his boys. “I’ll let you go. Have fun and I’ll see you later.”

“You, too,” I hung up and turned my cell off, placing it on the table. I took another deep breath. I was really about to cheat on my boyfriend. I had already lied to him several times about my whereabouts tonight, and now I was sitting in another’s man’s house, full aware of what his intentions were. Yet, for some reason, I didn’t want to leave. Instead, I stood up and slowly walked around the kitchen, glancing out the window.

“You’re done,” Moses came back into the kitchen. “It looked like you needed some privacy.”

“Just making sure I got here okay,” I bit my lip as I slipped my hands into my back pockets.

“You kill me with that shyness,” Moses shook his head a little as he walked over to me and took my hand. “But it’s cute. It’s one of the things that attracted me to you. There’s a little innocence there that’s kind of a turn on.”

I blushed as I lowered my head and began playing with my hair.

“Like that right there,” he gently brushed a strand of my hair away from my face.

Moses led me to the bathroom, which was down the hall. “You said you needed to take a shower, right?”

I simply nodded as he went over to the tub and began running the water. I stood by the wall nervously as he let the water run. He turned the shower on before walking over to me and lifting my chin so that our eyes met and then leaning in and kissing me. I couldn’t move any part of my body for the first few minutes, his kiss was that incredible. But the second he moved his hand from my face to my waist, I reached out and put my hand on his head and pulled him in closer to me.

We kissed each other for a good five minutes, neither one of breaking the kiss. Finally, Moses pulled away long enough to remove his shirt. I was speechless as I took in his body. Moses reached over and helped me remove my shirt and pants before leaning back in and kissing me again. A soft moan escaped my lips as we began again.

“You should take your shower,” Moses pulled away from me and took my hand and led me to the tub. “Is the water warm enough?”

I reached my hand out and let the warm water hit ma hand. “It’s perfect,” I looked over my shoulder at him

“Do you want me to help you with anything?” he stepped back and took my entire body in. His face showed how impressed he was, even though I was still wearing my bra and panties.

“I think I can handle this,” I smiled a little as I nodded my head. Of course I wanted him to take a shower with me, but I also needed this time to really prepare myself for what I was about to do. I never thought, in a million years, that I would cheat on Joel. I would always tell my friends that if there was man that I wanted to be with that badly, I would just leave Joel instead of cheating on him. I would tell my girls that I wouldn’t cheat on Joel and I would never assist a man in cheating on his girl. Yet, here I stood, in my matching Baby Phat bra and panty set, in the bathroom of another man, knowing that I was going to get out of this shower and both cheat on Joel and assist another man in cheating on his girl. And the thing that I couldn’t get was – why was I willing to hurt my boyfriend and some girl I didn’t even know for a man I had known for a month? What was it about him that was drawing me to him like this? What was it about Moses that had me standing damn near naked in his bathroom?

He looked me over one more time before reluctantly leaving me alone in the bathroom to handle my business. I stood in the shower and for a while, just let the water hit my back as I stood and tried to contemplate what was actually happening. I had actually lied to Joel about my whereabouts and had left him at home to come here to have sex with another man. Without much thought, I was going to basically have sex with another man and then go home to my boyfriend and pretend as if I had come from a night out with the girls. I was sure the guilt was going to be all over me. I lowered my head and was ready to jump out the shower and run home to Joel. But there was something in me that said ‘no,’ and I turned around and took my shower.

I must have been in the shower too long, because Moses came back to the bathroom. “Are you done in there? You sure you don’t need any help?”

“I’m coming out,” I reached out and turned the water off, but I couldn’t turn the hot off all the way.

Moses slid the curtain back a little and turned the water off. “I go that.”

I stepped back in the tub a little. “Thank you.”

He handed me a towel. “Here you go.”

I wrapped towel around my body and took one final breath. If I wanted to turn back, my time was now. Instead, I took his hand and stepped out of the tub and followed him out the bathroom and down the hall to his bedroom. He had slow jams playing and the room was dimly lit, with a few candles lit. I instantly smiled. Joel had never set the mood like this before. I was thoroughly impressed.

Moses led me to the bed, where he proceeded to put lotion on every inch of my body. The second his hands touched me, I felt a shiver race down my spine and I giggled. I told him that the lotion was cold, even though I knew the shiver was in response to him simply touching me. I lay on my stomach while he put lotion on my entire backside, taking in my body. It was the first time that I had ever been completely naked with a man and didn’t feel completely self conscious about my weight. Instead, I felt absolutely beautiful and sexy with him. Moses seemed to really enjoy my body. He had me turn over and put some lotion on my stomach before leaning forward and planting soft kisses on my stomach. I was breathless.

Moses straddled my body as he sat up and looked at me. “I sent you a text message earlier, asking about two games, right? You picked freeze tag, remember?”

All I could do was nod my head.

“And, what did they do when playing freeze tag?”

“You ran around and when you were tagged, you froze.”

“And you couldn’t move,” he sat back and looked at me. “So, what could I do to you to make it so that you couldn’t move?”

I laughed as I shook my head. “I’m not letting you tie me up.”

He smirked as he leaned forward and kissed me again.

My night with Moses was INCREDIBLE. I had never experienced anything like that in my entire life! Never had I had sex with a man for as long as he and I did and never had I been as completely satisfied as I was that night. I was so tired and worn out when we done, that I actually fell asleep. In all the time Joel and I had been together, I had never fallen asleep after we had sex. Never. I only woke up because Moses called my name. I lifted my head and it took me a few seconds to remember where I was.

“Are you thirsty?” he had on a pair of sweatpants and I noticed my clothes were carefully folded and placed on the dresser.

“Yeah, I am, actually,” I sat up on my knees and looked at the time. It was three thirty in the morning.

“You want some water or juice or something?”

“Water, please.”

He said that he would be back and left the room. I got up and got dressed. By the time he came back, I was fully clothed and sitting on the edge of the bed, trying to fix my disarrayed hair. He handed me a glass of water with ice and I practically gulped the water down in one swallow. I had never been this thirsty before.

“I didn’t realize how late it was,” I used my fingers to pull my hair back into a horrible looking ponytail. I made a mental note to myself to carry and comb and brush in my bag. Not that I planned on doing anything with Moses again, but this was just proof that you never knew what to expect and it was better to always be prepared.

“Do you want to stay? I can wake you up in the morning when I get up,” he offered.

I smiled. Inside I was screaming Yes!!!!! I want to stay! I want to fall asleep beside and wake up in the morning and go at it again! But reason took over and I shook my head. “No, that’s okay. I have an early morning appointment.” I stood up and he reached out and took my hand and I followed him to the door.

“You know how to get back, right?” he handed me my cell phone, which was still on the table.

I nodded my head. I had paid close attention to how we got here. I kept planning escape routes in my head in case I wanted to back out. Man, was I glad I didn’t back out.

“Call me when you get home, or in the driveway at least,” he leaned over and kissed me again. “I just want to make sure that you got home okay.”

“Will do,” I held up my phone to him. “I’ll see you later.”

“Yes you will,” he looked me over once more before meeting my eyes and smiling. “Don’t forget to call.”

“I won’t,” I walked to my car and once I got in and started my car, I leaned my head on the steering wheel. “Well, that a very whorish thing to do, Talia,” I said to myself. I shook my head as the night replayed in my mind. I sighed as I turned on my phone. There were three messages waiting for me. I sighed. It was no one but Joel I knew that.

The first message was from Yasmine: “How the hell Carmen going to have a house warming and not invite my ass? Yeah, I know your ass is up to something, so hit me back the second you get this message.”

Joel – of course – was next: “Hey, Yasmine called the house and said your cell was off, which I see that it is because I’ve been trying to call and it keeps going to voicemail. Call me back.”

And Joel called again: “Me again. It’s almost three and I haven’t heard from you and I’m a little worried.”

I looked at the clock and really mulled over calling Joel first. But I didn’t, instead, I dialed Yasmine’s line as I headed home. Her sleepy voice answered on the fifth ring. “Your ass better tell me everything in the morning,” she didn’t even say hello. “I called your ass around midnight to see if you wanted to go to Kisses with me and Joel said you had gone to Carmen’s house warming and then asked why I wasn’t there. I told him I was calling to see if you were going and planned on riding with you, but since you had left already, I’d meet you there. Next time, keep your cell on.”

I groaned as I looked at the time. “Joel’s called me twice after that and left me two messages.”

“Well, you know what to say on my end. And in the morning, we’ll meet for breakfast and you can tell me where your ass really was,” she laughed a little. “Although I have an idea it has something to do with that sexy ass guy you talk to at the gym.”

I blushed. “Let me call this man back before he calls again.”

“I’ll call your skank ass in the morning for breakfast,” she laughed a little. “I’ll talk to you in the morning.”

I disconnected our call and dialed the house. Joel answered before the phone even rang. “Talia?”

“Hey,” I laughed a little. “Did it even ring over there?”

“Yeah. Yo, deal me out this hand,” he said to whoever was around. “I’ve been trying to call you. Your phone was off.”

“I know,” I cleared my throat. “I turned it off. I’m on my way back home now.”

“Yasmine called you.”

“Yeah, I saw her,” I lied. “She said she didn’t think I was coming and was going to come get me when she called my cell and the phone was off, so she called my cell and then the house when I didn’t answer.”

“She didn’t sound like she even knew about the party.”

“She thought it was next week. You know Yasmine, Joel; her memory is not her best quality. She came in making this huge scene because she forgot.”

He seemed to buy that lie. Yasmine really didn’t have a good memory and she was always quick to blame someone else for something that’s her fault.

“Where you at now?” he asked.

“I should be home in ten minutes,” I glanced at the exit that I was passing – 27. I would be home in ten minutes.

“I’ll see you then,” he sighed. “Drive careful.”

“Okay,” I flipped shut my phone and finished my drive home.

I pulled into the driveway and called Moses. I told him that I made it home okay and he told me to have a great night and he would talk to me later. I told him the same and got out the car, smiling ear to ear. I closed the car door and was surprised to see Joel standing in the doorway of the house, the front porch light on and his hands in his front pockets as he gently rocked back and forth on his heels.

“Are you waiting for me?” I slipped my phone in to my pocket and headed towards the house.

“How was the party?” he leaned down to kiss me on my mouth, but I turned my head slightly as pretended that I had a scratch on my neck. He hesitated briefly before kissing me on the cheek.

“It was fun. I drank a little, so I ended up crashing on her couch for an hour or two. Now I feel like I have cotton mouth. Let me brush my teeth,” I slid past him and hurried to the bathroom. I waved to the guys and said hello before I went into the bathroom and closed the door behind me.

I leaned on the bathroom sink and for a few minutes, just stared at myself. I didn’t look any different. Aside from my hair looking a bit crazy, I looked the exact same way that I did before. There weren’t any tell tale sign that I had just… fornicated with another man. I exhaled as I turned the faucet on and splashed some cold water on my face. I brushed my teeth twice; just to make sure that I could no longer taste Moses’ mouth, which was all over mine the entire night. I smiled at the memory of him kissing me. I walked over to the tub and started the shower. There was no way I could climb into my bed tonight beside Joel without taking a shower. Even though I knew that Joel wouldn’t touch me because of his “abstinence” rule, there was no way I could lay beside him with another’s scent all over me.

I walked out the bathroom and headed for the bedroom. I grabbed my towels and bathrobe and started back towards the bathroom.

“You taking another shower, babe?” Joel looked up from his cards.

“I didn’t take one over there,” I lied again as I shook my head.

“Where does Carmen live?” he looked down at his cards. “Hempstead, right? Moreno, your boy lives there, right?”

“Mo? Yeah, he live out there. Like right off Peninsula, actually. Like fifteen minutes from the exit off the Southern State.”

I looked at Cristian. “Who’s this? Do we know him, Joel?” I looked at him.

“Moreno’s best friend,” Joel was into his hand right now. “Mo.”

“I don’t think you two met,” Cristian looked up at me. “He and Joel don’t exactly get along. They tolerate each other for my sake.”

I nodded my head. “And his name is Mo?”

“We call him that for short,” Cristian leaned back in his chair. “That or King. I’m out.”

“Hmm,” I hugged my towels and robe close to me. “I don’t remember the street, actually, Joel. It’s just before the court houses and town hall in Hempstead though. On, I guess the south side of Hempstead Turnpike.”

“Yeah, Mo lives over there,” Cristian picked up his glass.

“Hmm,” I shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t know him. If you’ll excuse me, I need to hop into the shower,” I went into the bathroom and hurriedly got dressed and hopped in the shower.

I stood under the water and for a few minutes, entertained the idea of Moses being Cristian’s best friend. With my luck, they would be the same person, but I shook that thought out of my head. There was no way that they were the same person. I shook the thought out of my head and finished my shower.

I rushed into the bedroom, saying goodnight to all, and crawled into my bed, pulling the covers over my head and trying in vain to get the images from the night out my head, but they kept replaying over and over again. Even in my dreams, they kept replaying.

I woke up the next morning around eight and dragged my tired body into the kitchen, where Joel and his friends was still playing card. I mumbled out a good morning and turned the coffee pot on. I asked if anyone wanted any coffee and they all said yes.

“You’re up early,” Joel came over to help me make coffee for his friends.

“I’m meeting Yas for breakfast,” I yawned as I leaned against the counter to wait for the coffee.

“Let me do this. They are my friends. You go get ready for your breakfast.”

“You just don’t want Yas to come into the house,” I smiled up at him. “All your boys would want to talk to her if she did.”

He smiled. “Go get dressed.”

I went back into the bedroom and got my clothes out and got ready for the day. I grabbed my purse and headed out the door. Joel and his friends were still playing card, drinking their coffee and talking. I waved good bye and headed for the door.

“Have fun,” Joel called out to me.

“You, too,” I smiled as I opened the front door. I turned around and nearly jumped out of my skin when I saw Moses standing in the doorway, his raised and poised to knock on the door. My mouth fell open as I looked at him. He looked just as surprised to see me.

“What are you doing here?” I whispered.

“My boy needed me to drop something off,” he reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of keys and held them out to me.

“You know someone here?” I looked over my shoulder at the guys that were inside. No one was even looking my way. I turned back to Moses, panic building up inside me. “You can’t come in here.”

“Talia, you all right?” I heard Joel’s voice. “Oh, Mo’s here. Moreno, Mo’s here.”

I just dropped my head. I could feel my heard racing a mile a minute as I stood in the doorway. How as it possible that the man I had just spent the night with was standing at my front door. How could he be the best friend to my boyfriend’s cousin?

“Are you okay?” Moses stepped forward and quickly grabbed my arm.

“What’s going on? Talia, you okay?” Joel appeared by my side almost instantly.

“I…I didn’t eat,” I looked up at Joel and forced a smile. “I got a little light headed.

“That’s because you were out all night drinking and then came home. You should have just stayed the night,” Joel helped me over to the living room and sat me down. “Mo, can you just make sure she’s okay? I’m going to get her something to eat real quick.”

“I’m on my way to meet Yasmine for breakfast,” I looked at Joel, who was already on his way to the kitchen.

“I don’t want you driving if you’re feeling light headed like that. I’ll just make you some toast or something,” he called out.

Moses closed the door and slowly made his way over to me. He sat down on the chair next to me and didn’t say a word to me. I leaned my head back, putting my left hand over my eyes and just sat there.

“Here’s some water,” Cristian came over to me and held out a glass of water.

I smiled at him as I took the glass and gulped down the contents. Cristian looked at me for a few seconds, then Moses. He laughed a little as he walked over to his best friend and hit him on the arm.

“Step outside with me for a sec, Mo,” he walked to the door.

Moses got up and followed Cristian out the house.

I leaned my elbows on my knees and put my head into my hands.

“Here you go,” Joel came back with the toast he promised to make for me. I smiled at him as I took it. “You look a little better. Why don’t you call Yasmine and just meet her later?”

“I’m okay,” I took a bite of my toast. “I promise.”

“Well, what if she comes to get you? I’d rather you not drive, Talia,” he really looked concerned. If only he knew the real reason why I nearly passed out, he wouldn’t be so kind to me. Before I could respond, he walked back over to the kitchen and was on the phone. I finished my toast and got up and walked to the window and peeked outside. Moses and Cristian were in a deep conversation. I tried to make out what they were saying, but I couldn’t.

“I just need some air,” I said loud enough to be heard. I opened the door and stepped outside. Moses and Cristian instantly stopped talking. They both turned around and looked at me, and they both had that look. I cleared my throat, not quite sure what else to do.



“So… you’re the reason my boy keeps coming out to Copiague to use the gym instead of the ones near him, huh?” Cristian looked at me.

I lowered my head and instantly started rubbing the back of my neck, not quite sure what else to do.

“My best friend and my cousin’s girl,” Cristian shook his head as he turned to Moses. “I should have pieced it together when you called to say you weren’t coming over and then not even five minutes later, Talia was talking about going out. Then for her to be in Hempstead, too,” he shook his head.

“You can’t tell Joel,” I rushed over to them. “It was a one time thing, Cristian. Just a…. one night thing,” I looked at Moses for help. “He has a relationship and I do and… it was… what it was.”

Cristian looked at Moses. “I’m in the middle again, Mo. When or if Joel finds out, what am I supposed to do? Whose side do I take this time, my cousin or my best friend? The one who shares the same blood as me or the one who is practically my brother?”

“Your blood,” Moses looked at Cristian. “For the simple fact that you and I will be okay and make it through all of this. I can’t say the same for Joel, though.”

“How did you know?” I reached over and touched Cristian’s arm.

“You two have chemistry that is undeniable,” he looked at me. “I felt the vibes from across the room and the second I was near the two of you, I practically saw them.”

I dropped my head again. I’m sure if Cristain was able to pick up on it, then Joel was too. He was probably just waiting for the perfect moment to ask me.

Joel came outside soon to check on me. He put his arm around my waist. “Yasmine’s on her way. I didn’t tell her what happened, just that I needed the car, so she said that she’d be here soon.”

I nodded my head.

“Are you sure you’re okay? You look a little pale,” he frowned as he looked at me.

“I’m good,” I forced a smile on my lips. “The air is doing wonders for me.”

He kissed me on the forehead. “Well, I’ll wait with you.”

I nodded my head and glanced in Moses’ direction.

“Well, I need to get home,” he looked at Cristian. “I’ll get at you later.”



“Yeah, I’ll hit you up when I get home,” Cristian shook his head a little.

“Nyla’s coming back today, right?” Joel asked. “That’s his girl,” he looked at me.

I just nodded. I couldn’t say that I knew, Joel thought that Moses and I didn’t know each other.

“Yeah, she should be on her way back now,” Moses glanced at his watch. “Moreno, I’ll talk to you later. Joel… it was nice seeing you and… Lia was it?” he looked at me. “Lia it was nice to meet you.”

I instantly lowered my eyes. He had started calling me Lia last night, and for some reason I liked it.

Cristian cleared his throat and I looked up at him, quickly regaining my composure and remembering that my boyfriend was beside me. Moses turned and walked to his car.

“You look a little flushed,” Joel looked at me. “Baby, are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m great,” I smiled. “I’m getting my color back. Would you rather I be flushed or pale?” I patted him lightly on the chest as I walked over to the steps and sat down.

Joel stayed outside with me until Yasmine showed up ten minutes later. I practically ran into her car. I told Joel I’d call him later as I closed the door. I put on my seatbelt and slid down in my seat. Yasmine just laughed as she backed out the driveway.

“So…what did you do?” she asked as we turned the corner.

I covered my face with my hands. “The worst thing in the world.”

“Yeah, I doubt your ass killed someone, so what did you really do?”

I groaned as I dropped my hands. “I cheated on Joel last night…apparently with his cousin’s best friend.”

Yasmine frowned as she looked at me. “Cousin’s best…. Wait, you mean Moreno’s best friend? You slept with that dude from the gym!!”

“Did everyone know that he was Cris’ best friend except me?” I looked at her.

“Well, I live across the street from Moreno, so I see that guy at the house all the time.” Yasmine smiled as she reached over and patted me on the knee. “Damn girl, he’s fine! How was it?”

I shook my head.

“That good, huh?” she laughed.

“I didn’t say anything,” I looked at her.

“Yeah, but you smiled from ear to ear when I asked and that is the tell tale sign that it was off the hook!” she laughed. “Look at you, stepping outside our relationship.”

“Don’t say that!” I groaned again. “I feel bad enough as it is. Joel’s been so sweet and loving and I feel like a common whore, especially since I don’t want to stop.” I was surprised that the words left my mouth. I looked at Yasmine wide eyed. She just laughed.

“Hey, if your man was giving it to you like his ass is supposed to, then maybe you wouldn’t have gone to the next man,” she shrugged her shoulders. “I knew something was going on between you and that guy! I knew it! Your ass hates the gym, yet you were always down to go. Hell, you were always dressed and ready before me!! The fact that you made a beeline for the juice bar should have told me, though. There’s no way you love those smoothies that much.”

I shook my head. “I’ve really messed up.”

“Well, just remind yourself of what it is,” Yasmine looked at me. “And that you have a man at home.”

I nodded my head, telling myself that I would remember that and keep my distance from Moses.

That lasted all of two weeks. I ran into Moses in the parking lot of the gym. He was walking towards the gym as I was leaving. The second I saw him, I got excited. I had missed him the two weeks that I hadn’t seen or spoken to him.

“Hey, you!!” I waved as I walked over to him.

He smiled. “Hey.”

“How have you been? I haven’t heard from you in a while,” I had to use everything inside me to keep from hugging him.

“I didn’t think it would be too smart after last time,” he shrugged. “I didn’t want to cause any problems.”

“Oh,” I laughed a little as I scratched my head. “Yeah, that. Well, he hasn’t said anything, so I’m assuming that Cristian didn’t tell him anything. If he had picked up on any vibes, he would have questioned me by now,” I fidgeted with my gym bag. “You can call me again if you want. Or text.”

He surprised me by actually smiling. “Yeah?”

I nodded my head. “Yeah. That would be okay. I’d like that, actually.” I looked around the parking lot. “Are you leaving now or…?”

“Yeah, I have to get home. But I will be back tomorrow,” he offered quickly.

“Okay, then I will see you tomorrow.”

Moses winked as he walked to his car. I looked over my shoulder at watched him walk to his car, the smile already plastered on my face.

That day started Moses and I meeting up and talking and texting each other again. There wasn’t a day that went by where he and I weren’t communicating some way. We even started hooking up again. I actually looked forward to meeting up with him. I would spend a little extra time in the mirror getting ready. Joel started paying a little bit more attention to me, though, and started asking me where I was going and who with.

My little secret seemed to blow up in my face about four months later, though. Moses and I had spent a few hours at the Nautical Mile in Freeport. He had parked his car and we sat on the hood and talked for hours while we ate some food that we had picked up. Around ten, my cell phone started ringing, it was Joel. I chose to ignore the call, saying that I would call him back later. Moses and I stayed for another hour before he drove me back to my car, which I had parked a few blocks from Yasmine’s house. He walked me to my car and then leaned over and kissed me goodbye. I told him that I would call him later and then headed home.

The house was dark when I pulled up, but I figured that Joel was probably sleeping. I strolled into the house and flipped on the living room light and was surprised to see Joel sitting in his recliner, leaned forward on his knees, his hands dangling.

“Are you okay?” I dropped my keys on the table. ‘Joel?”

He looked up at me. “Good. How was your day today? What did you do tonight?”

I stopped beside the table and bit my lip as I looked at him. “My day was okay.”

“Just okay?” he sat back, placing his hands on the arm of the chair.

I just looked at him.

“You got a call today from some woman named Nyla,” he looked at me. “I told her you weren’t here and she asked who I was and I told her and she had quite the story for me,” he grabbed the arms of the chair as he took a deep breath. “She said that you were sleeping with her man.”

My knees felt weak and I instantly sat down on the closest thing to me, which was the end table.

“I told her she was lying and that you would never do that to me. YOU would never cheat on me. You would never be unfaithful.” He exhaled heavily as he looked at me. “Then I started thinking that you were so happy lately and we didn’t argue and you stopped complaining about us not having sex anymore and… then it clicked. You were happy with some other guy. I wasn’t the one making you flit around the house, it was someone else.” He watched me carefully, gauging my response to what he was saying. “I sat and started thinking and placing things together and it all made sense. I just couldn’t figure out who this man was that my baby was cheating on me with.”

All I could do was swallow.

“Then it hit me,” he glared at me. “I got your last phone bill and the number that kept appearing the most in your text messages was this one. So I called it and… Moses’ voice was the one on the other end. Telling me to leave a message.”

I grabbed the table as I sat and listened.

“So I called you… and you didn’t answer. So I sat here for a few seconds before going to Moreno’s house and…imagine my surprise when I saw Mo’s car turn the corner and drive by. I got in my car, turned my lights off, and followed him. He went three blocks away the pulled up behind…your car,” Joel’s words were coming out slower and I could hear the pain behind each one. I closed my eyes as he continued. “Then I watched you get out the car and I saw him follow you to your car and open the door for you and then lean in and kiss you.”

I moved my hands to my face and covered my eyes for a few seconds before moving my hands to my face and just staring at him. There weren’t any words that I could say.

“So I drove home and five minutes later, you pull up.”

I dropped my hands as I exhaled.

“You have nothing to say, Talia? You’re not going to deny it? I really need you to deny it,” he moved forward on his chair. “Just tell me that it’s not true and that what I saw wasn’t real and I’ll believe you. Just tell me that you weren’t sleeping with someone else.”

All I could do was stare at Joel.

“Just say the words! Please!!” he stood up.

“I can’t,” my words were barely audible.



“No, you’re supposed to say it’s not true,” Joel swung his hand back and one of our vases went crashing to the floor, shattering into pieces.

“I can’t say that because it’s not true,” I looked at the glass shards on the ground. “I… I did everything that you said I did. I was unfaithful and I was with another man.”

A picture went sailing past me and I ducked as it crashed into the wall. “Fucking bitch. I want you out of this house,” he mumbled as he went into the bedroom. I didn’t move. I heard drawers opening and closing in the other room and Joel muttering under his breath. I reached into my pocket and pulled out my cell phone and for some odd reason, found myself calling Moses. He answered on the second ring and I told him what had happened. He muttered some expletives and said that he’d call me back and hung up on me. I slowly got up and walked into the bedroom. Joel had taken all of my clothes and shoved everything into suitcases.

“Here’s your shit, get out,” he zipped close the last suitcase.

“Where am I supposed to go?” I looked around the room; he had really taken everything that I owned down.

“To your little boyfriend,” he sat down on the bed. “How could you do this to me, Talia!!? How could you sleep with another man?”

“I… I don’t know,” I shook my head.

He put his head in his hands. “Was it just sex? I can handle that.”

I bit my lip as I sat on the edge of the bed. “We had sex.”

“But was that it? Were you just looking for a sexual outlet because you and I had stopped? I know that it wasn’t fair of me to decide that I wasn’t going to have sex and then not even try to come to a compromise with you so that you were satisfied. If you just had sex with him then…then I can handle that,” he looked at me, his eyes pleading with me to say that it was just sex.

All I could do was shrug my shoulders. “I’m not really sure what it was, Joel.”

“How could you not know? Either you developed feelings for him or you always kept it as a sexual thing. It’s really not that hard.”

I just dropped my head.

“Baby,” he reached over and took my hands and kissed them. “Please, just tell me that it was sexual and then we can move from there. If you tell me that it was purely sexual and that you’ll never see him again, then you and I can move on.”

I looked at Joel, his sad eyes begging me to tell him what he needed to hear. I smiled weakly, knowing that the words that were about to leave my mouth were not 100% true. They were actually all false. “It was just sex.”

He kissed my hands again before putting his arms around me and pulling me close to him. I rested my chin on his shoulder as I hugged him back, feeling guilty about lying to Joel. I knew in my heart that I wasn’t going to leave Moses alone and I knew that it wasn’t just a sexual thing between us. Joel needed to hear it and I didn’t have the heart to tell him otherwise.

That night, we slept on the covers, fully clothed, with Joel’s arms wrapped around me, holding me close to him. Every move that I made, he would move with me.

The next morning, he was up before me. I sat on the edge of the bed and looked around. He had placed some of my pictures back on the dressers and the suitcases were in the closet. I noticed some of my clothes hanging up, but most of them were still in the suitcase. I noticed that my cell phone was on the dresser, which was odd because I knew that I left it on the end table in the living room. I reached over and picked it up and scrolled through it. As far as I could see, nothing was different, but I knew Joel a little better than that, and checked the last dialed numbers. Moses’ number was still the last outgoing. I checked the date and time – he had been called this morning – and Joel was on the phone for fifteen minutes. I panicked a little as I dialed the number. I glanced out the door to see where Joel was.

“Did you call me this morning?” Moses didn’t even say hello.

“I was about to ask you the same thing,” I lowered my voice as I moved towards the bedroom door. “I think Joel used my phone.”

“Yeah, Nyla was on my phone this morning,” he sighed. “I’m assuming they spoke to each other.”

“For fifteen minutes,” I sighed. “I told him that I wouldn’t see you anymore and that it was a just a sexual thing.”

He laughed a little. “I said the same thing.”

We were both quiet.

“We should probably cool off for a minute, though,” he said.

“Yeah,” I nodded. “That would be best.”

“We’ll still speak, but… ya know, we should just not do any of the added bonus. That was defining us anyway, and I really don’t want that to define us.”

“Okay,” I leaned against the door and looked out into the hallway. Why did it feel like he was ending things completely with me and why did it actually hurt me? I felt a lump forming in my throat. I swallowed hard. “Well, I have to go. I’ll talk to you later, okay?” I didn’t wait for a response before I flipped shut my phone. I put the phone on he chair beside the door and walked into the kitchen to find something to eat.

“You’re up,” Joel’s voice scared me. I jumped as I turned around. He was sitting at the kitchen table, a cup of coffee in front of him.

“I thought you went out,” I put my hand to my chest. “You scared me.”

“I am on my way out, actually,” he sipped the last of his coffee. “I’m going to Eisenhower Park and going for a run. I need to clear my head after…recent events.”

I nodded my head as I folded my arms across my chest and leaned against the counter. “Are you going alone?”

“Yeah,” he nodded his head. “I need to really think about everything.”

I nodded again.

“What are your plans for today?” he leaned his head to the side as he looked at me.

“I have none. Just stay home, I guess.” I cleared my throat. “I’m going to jump on the computer for a little while and that’s really it.” I looked down at my clothes. “I need to take a shower first.”

He nodded his head as he stood up. “Then I will see you when I come home.”

“Have fun,” I forced a smile.

He dropped his cup in the sink and then came over to me and kissed me on the cheek. “I love you, Talia.”

“You, too, baby,” I reached out and touched his face lightly.

“We’ll be okay, it’s just going to take time.”

I bit my lip as I nodded my head.

He smiled weakly at me before turning and leaving the house. I went down the hall to take a shower.

I took a long shower, letting the events of the night replay in my mind. The one thing that kept plaguing me was how quickly Joel seemed to forgive me. Something about that didn’t sit right with me, but I shook it off. I was probably just projecting my guilt onto him.

After I took a shower, I put on a pair of sweats and went into the living room and got on the computer. I played a couple of games of solitaire become turning on my AOL messenger. Yasmine was on, so I sent her an instant message telling her what happened. She sent me a message back telling me that she was sorry about what happened, but then added that she seriously doubted that Moses really wanted to keep his distance from me, or that he even thought that it was just a sexual thing with me. She added the many times that Moses kissed me, and the fact that he and went on ‘dates,’ that didn’t always involve sex. She said that he probably just said whatever it was that his girl needed to hear, just like I did with Joel.

She then told me that she had spoken to Cristian, who mentioned that Moses spoke of me frequently, and highly. I smiled when I read that. She then invited me over to her house so that I wouldn’t wallow in my sadness. At first I hesitated, but soon told her I’d be over soon. I logged off the computer and called Joel on his cell phone to let him know where I was going.

“What’s up,” he sounded as if he were out of breath.

“Hey, I’m sorry to interrupt your run and the clearing of your head,” I picked up my keys to the house. “Yasmine’s on her way over to pick me up. I’m going to go to her house for a little while, kind of clear my head from…recent events.”

“Yasmine’s house? Yeah, okay. I’ll pick you up on my way home.”

“Well, she can bring me home,” I went to the door and looked outside. “Unless you really want to come get me.”

“Yeah, I’ll come get you.”

I sighed. “Okay, then I will be at her house.”

“I’ll be there to get you later.”

“Okay,” I hung up with him and waited for Yasmine to come.

As soon as she arrived, I told her about the phone call.

“Well, can you expect him, Tal?” she frowned as she looked at me. “Look what just happened. The good thing is that I live down the street from Moreno, so you coming by here will sit well with him.”

“But I’m not a child. Okay, I cheated on him, but… damn! If he’s going to forgive me then he needs to forgive me. If not, then let me go,” I rolled my eyes.

“It was 24 hours ago!” Yasmine laughed. “According to the IM, he was throwing shit and tried to put you out not even 24 hours ago.”

I just rolled my eyes. As Yasmine turned onto her street, she slowed down in front of Cristian’s house. She told me that she would be right back and ran inside. I sat in the passenger’s seat, tugging on my sleeves. A few minutes later, she came back to the car. She hopped into the driver’s seat and drove down to her house, not really saying much.

“What were you doing there?” I asked as I followed her into her house.

“Nothing. If anyone comes to the door, answer it for me,” she ran upstairs while I plopped on the couch.

I picked up the remote control and started flipping through the channels. Not even a minute later, there was a knock on the door. I sighed as I walked over to the door and opened it. My mouth fell open when I saw Moses standing on the other side. Everything in my wanted to reach out and hug him, but I had to use self-control and just smile.

“What are you doing here?” I beamed from ear to ear.

“To see you,” he stepped into the house.

“Really?” I practically squealed as I closed the door behind him. I turned around and saw Yasmine peeking down the steps. I mouthed ‘thank you,’ to her and she just winked as she gave me thumbs up before disappearing upstairs again. “How’d you know I was here?” I joined him on the couch, pulling my feet underneath me as I faced him.

“Your girl called Moreno after you two spoke and told her that she was going to get you. Moreno called me and told me to come through and a few minutes ago, she came into Moreno’s house to let him know that you were here,” he sat back as he looked at me.

“I’m so happy to see you, even though I shouldn’t be. Things were real bad yesterday,” I bit my lip. “Joel was throwing things and tried to put me out. Now he’s out running and clearing his head and said that he’d come pick me up.”

“Nyla’s out shopping,” he sighed. “It wasn’t as bad on my end last night. She just kept crying and asking why, but that was it.”

“I didn’t expect it to go down the way it did,” I confessed. “I didn’t think that Joel would find out.”

“Yeah well, we got a little careless,” he shrugged.

Moses and I sat and watched TV together, talking to each other every now and then. I got him a drink and we laughed and joked. We sat and talked for about two hours, and then Yasmine came rushing downstairs.

“Joel just pulled up,” she rushed over to the couch and grabbed Moses’ hand. “Go upstairs and in the bathroom,” she hurried him upstairs.

“He was supposed to call,” I grabbed my cell phone and checked – I didn’t miss any calls. I looked up at Yasmine. “How did you know that he was here?”

“I looked out my bedroom mirror,” she started spraying the room, trying to get rid of Moses’ scent.

Joel rang the doorbell just as she sat down. I got up and went to answer the door. I feigned surprise when I saw him.

“Joel! What are you doing here?” I moved to the side to let him in.

“I came to get you,” he kissed me on the cheek as he took my hand. “Was that Moses’ car at Moreno’s house?” he looked outside.

“I really wouldn’t know,” I shrugged my shoulders. “I’ve been here all day.”

He looked at me for a few seconds. “You haven’t spoken to him today?”

“This morning,” I knew that he wouldn’t believe me if I said that I hadn’t spoken to Moses at all today. “I told him that we were finished.”

He raised an eye as he looked me over then smiled as he leaned in and kissed me. “You ready to go?”

“I can drop her off, Joel,” Yasmine propped her feet on the table as she looked at him. “We’re having a girl’s day.”

“Yeah, we’re having a good time,” I scratched the back of my head as I looked at him. “Having that fun girl talk that I need. Boy, do I need it.”

“I do want to talk to Moreno,” he looked towards Cristian’s house. “I can swing back by when we’re done talking.”

“Or I can drive her home,” Yasmine stood up. “Joel’s she’s a grown ass woman, you can’t monitor her every move. Okay, she literally screwed up, but it’s done. It’s happened. You can try to be her chauffer and drive her around the world or you can let her do her thing and trust her. Otherwise there really isn’t any point to you two staying together.”

Joel looked at Yasmine for a few seconds before turning to me. “You’ll be back tonight, right?”

“Yeah,” I nodded my head.

He sighed as he leaned forward and kissed me again. “I love you, Talia.”

I just smiled at him.

He looked at me reluctantly as he released my hand and left. I closed the door behind him and turned and looked at Yasmine.

“That was close. Thank you,” I exhaled.

“He is all up on you now,” she shook her head. “I thought you were exaggerating, but damn!” She went to the bottom of the steps. “Okay, Moses! He’s gone!”

Moses came down the stairs on his cell phone. He sat on the bottom step. “He may ask about my car, just tell him I parked it there but you haven’t seen me.” He nodded his head. “Yeah. Yeah, I know. Yeah, Moreno, yeah,” he sighed. “All right.” He flipped shut his phone and held it in his hands as he looked at us. “Moreno was reminding me of the position I’ve put him in. He said that he is assisting his best friend cheat with his cousin’s girl.”

“Yeah, pretty much,” Yasmine went to the window and peeked out. “He should be kicking your ass,” she looked over her shoulder at Moses before turning to me. “And I should be kicking yours.”

I sat on the couch and hugged my knees to my chest. “Why aren’t you?”

“Because there is something about the two of you,” she frowned as she looked at us. “I’m an accomplice to your little trysts.”

I rolled my eyes. “Then don’t.”

She folded her arms as she looked at me. “I’ll be in my room. If you guys plan on doing anything do me a favor… don’t. I don’t want your cooties on my couch.”

I rolled my eyes as I stuck up my middle finger. She went back upstairs. Moses stayed on the steps as he looked at me.

“So… what are we going to do, Lia?” he asked.

I smiled. I loved when he called me Lia. “What, now?”

He gave me a crooked smile. “No, not now. I mean in general.”

I shrugged. “I don’t know. What do you want to do?

“I don’t know. For some reason, with you, I have no clue what it is that I want to do. You confuse me, but in a good way.”

My smile grew. “I’ve seemed to have lost all my senses when it comes to you. I would never had cheated on Joel before and I certainly wouldn’t be sitting here with the guy, yet… here I am.” I sighed as I looked at him.

Moses and I stayed at Yasmine’s house for a good four more hours. We talked and laughed and joked around. Yasmine came down twice to get something to eat and drink, but for the most part, stayed upstairs. I decided that I should head home, knowing that Joel would either call or come back by the house if I didn’t show up soon. Moses and I made plans to meet up again as soon as we could, and then he kissed me goodbye before slipping out the back door.

As Yasmine turned down my street, I saw Joel peeking out the window. I dropped my head.

“Yas, he’s waiting for me,” I looked at her. “He’s actually looking out the window for me.”

“Well, as extreme as that it,” she laughed a little. “You did kinda cheat on him, sweetie,” she pulled into the driveway. “And with his cousin’s best friend at that.”

“Well, in my defense,” I unbuckled my seatbelt. “I didn’t know that Moses was Cris’ best friend.”

“You did after the first time you slept with him,” Yasmine laughed as she leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. “Even though I’m aiding and abetting the two cheaters, whenever I can, I’ll let you and Moses meet up at my place.”

I gave her a hug and thanked her before getting out the car. I waved as I turned and walked towards the house. Joel was standing at the front door wearing a pair of dark blue shorts and no shirt. He had a pair of white socks and some sandals and was eating ice cream. I shook my head as I walked past him.

“What’s with the socks and sandals?” I walked into the house.

“It’s cold,” he stayed outside for a few seconds. “That was Yasmine?”

“You saw that it was,” I plopped on the couch and propped my feet on the ottoman as I looked at him.

“You seem in better spirits,” he came into the house, closing the door behind him.

“Sometimes you just need your girlfriends,” I looked up at him.

“Yeah, you do,” he sat down beside me.

We sat and watched the end of whatever movie he had on. Halfway through the movie, Joel lifted my legs and put them on his lap. I smiled at him as I leaned back and watched the movie.

“I don’t want us to be like this, Talia,” he sighed as he looked at me, muting the TV. “I don’t want to always wonder where you are and who you’re with and what you’re doing. I don’t want to doubt that you love me anymore.”

I leaned my head to the side as I looked at him. “I don’t want you to run behind me, either, Joel.”

“I…” he exhaled loudly. “What kills me, what hurt more than anything, is that you were happy with some other guy. The entire however long that you and he were doing your…thing…you were genuinely happy. I hadn’t seen you that happy in a long time, baby, and that scares me because it’s not just sex. Sex doesn’t make you that happy.”

I sighed as I looked at him, not quite sure what to say.

“I though maybe because it was Moses, but… that’s not it. Baby, it’s the fact that you were so happy these past few months. We laughed and joked and you never asked me about sex anymore and things were good between us. But…Baby, you were so happy with some other guy and that kills me.”

I leaned forward and lightly touched his face. “I don’t want to hurt you, Joel. I never meant to hurt you.”

“If you were still the same cranky woman that you had been previously,” he laughed a little. “Then I would be okay.” He looked me in the eyes. “Were you really happy with him?”

“I was happy with the attention,” I took his hands into mine.

He looked me over before leaning over and kissing me. “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” I said the words more so for him.

The next few days, Joel and I spent talking about us. I told him whatever it was that I could to ease his fears, but he seemed uneasy. After a month, I started going back to the gym, and a month after that, Moses and I started meeting up again, and not even two days after that, he and I started up all over again. Except this time, we were a bit more discreet. We wouldn’t sit for hours in the juice bar talking and we didn’t park around the corner from Yasmine’s house to switch cars. Instead, we drove in two separate cars and met at whatever location we had decided on. I tried to keep in mind that I was too happy before and that’s what tipped Joel off, so I tried to keep my mood on an even keel.

I was in the bedroom getting ready to meet up with Moses when Joel came in. He sat on the edge of the bed and looked at me.

“Where are you going?” he looked me over. I had on a camouflage tank top with a khaki cargo pants. Moses had mentioned that he liked me in the camouflage, so I made a point to wear it today. I pulled my hair back into a ponytail and was putting on some eyeliner and mascara.

“One of the guys that I work with is a promoter,” I picked up the flyer from the dresser and held it out to him, keeping my back to him. “He’s been asking me for so long to go to one of his parties and I finally was like ‘yeah, okay.’ I wanted Yasmine to go with me, but she had plans, so I called Carmen and you know she’s always done,” I turned around and looked at Joel. “She’s picking me up and we’re taking the train into the city, so I may sleep over there. You know Carmen drinks like a fish,” I laughed a little.

“Yeah, she does,” he laughed in agreement. “Well, I’m going to some lounge out in Long Beach tonight with some of the guys.”

I lit up a little, feeling better that he was going out, too. “Really? Well, that’s cool. What’s the name of the place? Anyplace exciting?” I turned back around and finished putting on my eyeliner and mascara. “Maybe we can go there some time.”

“Nah, it’s a man’s place,” he said quickly.

I smiled at him through the mirror. “Oh, one of those. Well, have fun,” I turned around and looked at him. “How do I look?”

He looked me over and nodded. “Good. You look nice.”

“Thanks,” I picked up my cell phone call and slipped my ID, cell phone, and some money in it. “She should be here soon. Have fun tonight.”

Joel got up and walked over to me, kissing me on the cheek. “You, too. But not too much.”

His fingers lingered on my cheek for a few seconds before he walked away from me. I looked over my shoulder and watched him walk away and a wave of guilt consumed me. I shook it off, telling me that everything would be okay, and went outside to wait for Carmen.

She came flying around the corner about ten minutes later, apologizing for being so late as she pushed everything from the front passenger’s seat to the back seat.

“Joel’s not standing watch at the door?” she nodded towards the front door.

“No, he’s going to some gentleman’s lounge tonight in Long Beach,” I raised my eyes twice in her direction.

“You may be getting some tonight!” Carmen laughed as she elbowed me.

“Oh, I’ll be getting some,” I chuckled lightly. “Just not from him.”

“You dirty little girl,” Carmen laughed. “So, where is Lover Boy meeting you?”

“In the club,” I sat back as I looked at her. “We’re going to hang out there for a while and then leave together. I’m sleeping over with you if Joel asks.”

“You mean when,” she rolled her eyes. “Well, I’m not going home tonight. I’m staying at this guy’s house out in Queens, so if Joel decided to slow roll the house, my car won’t be there.”

“Good,” I pulled out my cell phone and called Moses to let him know that I was on my way.

She drove into Queens somewhere and parked her car and then we walked over to the Jamaica train station and rode the train into the city. From there, we took the subway to the club. I smiled from ear to ear the second we hit the corner to where the club was. Standing by the door, his hands in his pockets, was Moses. He glanced at his watch before reaching into his pocket and taking out his cell phone.

“He’s calling me,” I grabbed Carmen’s arm and pulled her over to Moses. Just as I reached him, my cell phone started vibrating. Moses had his back to me, so I answered.

“Where are you at?” Moses asked.

“Right behind you,” I tapped him on the shoulder.

Moses turned around, surprised that he had seen me. He smiled as she slipped his cell phone in his pocket. “I thought you were standing me up.”

“No, I’m here…with my alibi,” I raised Carmen’s hand.

“Well, Alibi and Lia, let’s go in,” he took my hand and led Carmen and I through the front doors, past the line of people that were waiting to get in. He told the bouncer that we were with him and we strolled into the club.

The second we were inside, Carmen went to the bar and got a drink before making a beeline to the dance floor and shaking her ass with the first guy that she saw. Moses and I went to the bar and started talking. Neither of us were much of a drinker, but we got a drink anyway.

“Are you going to shy up on me and not dance?” Moses looked out on the dance floor.

“Of course I am,” I laughed. “But you go ahead and dance with someone else and I will be fine over here.”

He bopped his head to the beat of the music as he looked out at the dance floor. “Well, I’ll be back.” He got up and went to the dance floor and started dancing with Carmen.

I sat at the bar, enjoying my drink

After the first few songs, I decided to call and check on Joel. I figured as long as I called him first, he wouldn’t call me.

He answered on the second ring and sounded excited to hear from me. “Hey, baby!”

“Hey. I was just calling to check on you, see how your night was going,” I looked over at Moses, who was dancing with Carmen.

“Not bad,” he cleared his throat. “How about yours?”

“Not bad, we’re having a good time,” I laughed a little. “I just wanted to check in on you, see how things were going on your end. I was thinking about you.”

“Really?” he sounded happy to hear that.

“Talia, get off the phone and let’s dance!” Carmen came over to the bar and ordered another drink. “Joel, she’s fine!!” Carmen yelled into the phone. “We’re drinking and dancing and we will see you tomorrow!!!”

I rolled my eyes. “I’ve been summoned.”

“You go and enjoy yourself,” Joel said. “Thanks for calling me, babe.”

“Your welcome. Enjoy yourself, too,” I flipped shut my phone and followed Carmen to the dance floor, where I awkwardly danced with Moses.

“You ready to go,” he put his arms around me and pulled me close to him. “Because I’m ready to go.”

I giggled as I put my arms around his head. “I can feel that. I’m ready to go.”

He leaned over and kissed me. “Then let’s go.”

Moses and I left. He had driven his car into the city, so he drove to a hotel that wasn’t far from the club. He had booked a modest room, but it impressed me. The fact that he had booked a room impressed me. I was so excited when he and I slept together and even more excited when we spent the night together. I fell asleep in his arms and it was nice to wake up and still be in his arms.

Moses ordered room service and we had breakfast in bed as we talked and watched cartoons together.

“What time do you turn back into a pumpkin?” Moses glanced at the clock on the TV.

“Carmen’s going to call me when she’s on her way to her house.”

“I thought Joel would have called me,” he glanced at his watch.

“Yeah, I did, too,” I laughed a little. “Your girl didn’t call, either.”

“She wouldn’t,” he yawned. “I’m with Moreno and those two can’t stand each other, so she doesn’t call me when I’m with him.”

“Ah, so that’s why he’s willing to be your accomplice in all this,” I sat on my knees. “But the question is: why is he willing to help me? I’m his cousin’s girl.”

“Because I’m involved,” he playfully tapped the end of my nose.

My cell phone began vibrating and I rolled my eyes. “We’ve talked him up,” I reached for the phone and answered it. “Hey, Joel.” I didn’t even have to look at the phone to see who it was that was calling me.

“Did I wake you?” he sounded funny.

“No, we’re eating,” I ran my fingers over the tattoo of the lion that was on Moses’ chest. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” he sighed again. “Yeah, I’m good. I was just calling to say… I just want to tell you that I love you.”

“Oh, you, too, babe,” I frowned. “You sure you’re okay? You sound funny.”

“Yeah, I’m good,” he sighed. “I may be at the gym when you get home.”

“Oh, okay.”

He sighed. “Well, I’ll see you later, then. I love you, Talia.”

“Oh, okay,” I frowned as I looked at Moses. “I’ll be home soon, Joel.”

“Okay. I just… I love you,” Joel sighed again before he hung up.

I gave Moses a funny look. “He told me three times in that five minute conversation that he loved me. I think he knows something is up.”

“Or he may be a little wary because… ya know,” Moses leaned forward and kissed me.

I instantly smiled at him. “That’s probably it.”

I stayed with Moses for another two hours before Carmen called to tell me that she was heading home. Moses got up and showered and got dressed. On the drive to meet Carmen, Moses and I made plans to meet up again during the middle of the week at the Nautical Mile.

I kissed Moses before I hopped out of his car and into Carmen’s and told him that I would call him later.

When I got home, Joel was sitting at the kitchen table, staring into space. I slowly walked into the room, looking at him cautiously.

“What did I do this time?” I went over to the cabinet and got glass and poured myself a glass of water.

“What?” he looked up at me, a little surprised to even see me there. “Hey. When’d you get in?”

“Just now,” I looked over my shoulder at him. “Are you okay, Joel?”

He just nodded his head. “I just missed you,” he stood up and walked over to me, putting his arms around me. I just stood there awkwardly.

Joel’s behavior became even weirder over the next few weeks. There were times when he would come home and sit in the bedroom in the dark. Other times, he would tell me that he loved me numerous times throughout the day. He knew that i was cheating again, I could just tell.