Love Conquers All (7 page)

Cassandra gave me a firm look. “I planned dinner so you better get ready.”

I eyed her suspiciously. “Everyone is going to be there, aren’t they?”

She didn’t look at me. “Just get ready!”

“I don’t want to have a birthday party.”

“That’s too bad.”

“I want to stay here with you and my baby.”

“Stop whining.”

I chuckled, loving her no bullshit attitude. It was hot. “Okay. Fine.”

“Now hurry.” She removed her garters and I was sad to see them go.

“Can we do it again when we get back?” I asked hopefully.

“I thought I was tying you up?” The playful look was back.

I jumped to my feet. “Alright. Let’s get this dinner over with ASAP.”

7

Cortland

Mike had his surprise birthday party tonight, so I showered after the gym and headed to the bar. I wasn’t sure if Monnique was going to be there, and I didn’t ask because I didn’t want to make the night about me. The last thing I wanted to do was make everyone uncomfortable. I didn’t want to cut her out of my life, and I certainly didn’t want to ostracize her from everyone else.

When I arrived, Sean, Scarlet, Ryan, and Janice were already there. They sat in the large booth, downing their glasses. Only Scarlet wasn’t drinking.

“Hey,” I said as I sat down.

“How’d
the date go?” Ryan blurted.

“Hi to you too,” I said sarcastically.

“How’d the date go?” Scarlet repeated.

They were leaning over the table so far that it looked like I was whispering a secret to them.

“It was fine.”

“Fine?” Ryan asked. “That’s all you’re giving us?”

“You better start giving details,” Scarlet said.

“Did you fuck her?” Ryan asked.

I knew they wouldn’t stop until I opened up. “We had a good time. She was really cool. She was smart, easy going, and fun. And she was beautiful.”

“Please tell me you scored,” Ryan said. “You better have.”

“Did you kiss her?” Scarlet asked.

“When I walked her home, we kissed at her apartment,” I said.

Sean nodded his head in approval. “Looks like Monnique is history.”

“Was she a good kisser?” Ryan asked.

“Yeah, she was,” I said honestly.

“Did you go inside afterwards?” Scarlet said.

“I did,” I said honestly.

“Yes,” Ryan clapped his hand
s. “My boy got his dick wet.”

“No, I didn’t,” I said calmly.

“What? Why not?” Ryan asked.

“We started making out in her room and…it just didn’t happen,” I said.

“Why?” Scarlet asked. “What stopped you?”

I thought that was pretty obvious. “You know what stopped me.”

Ryan rolled his eyes. “You should have just fucked her. Get it over and done with.”

“I couldn’t,” I said.

“Don’t give me that bullshit,” Ryan snapped.

“No,” I said. “I physically could not do it.” I gave him a knowing look.

He eyed me. “As in…you couldn’t get it up?”

“Exactly,” I said.

“Did you drink too much?” Scarlet asked. “That happens to Sean all the time.”

Sean glared at her. “Thanks.”

Scarlet rolled her eyes. “It’s really common. I’m not spilling any of your secrets.”

“You still shouldn’t tell your friends your husband can’t always get hard,” Sean said.

“Okay, enough with that conversation,” Ryan interrupted us. He turned back to me. “So…what does that mean?”

“Not only am I in love with Monnique, but my entire body is,” I said. “I can’t just forget about her. I can’t just be with someone to help me move on. It’s…impossible.”

Everyone fell silent. They all stared at me like I’d fall apart piece by piece.

“What does this mean?” Scarlet asked. “Are you getting back together with her?”

“I don’t know,” I said honestly.

“Are you going to go on more dates?” Ryan asked. “Maybe this girl just wasn’t right for you.”

“She was pretty damn cool,” I said. “Honestly, if I wasn’t hung up on Monnique I would be fucking her brains out right now.”

Scarlet shared a look with Ryan then looked at me. “If Monnique is the woman you want, be with her. We know she did a lot of bad things, but she didn’t cheat on you. We’ll support you if that’s what you decide.”

“Thanks,” I said. “But I don’t know yet. By the way, is she coming?”

Scarlet nodded. “I hope that’s okay…”

“Yeah, of course,” I said. “She and I are friends. We can be in the same room together.”

Ryan put his arm around Janice’s shoulders. “We won’t talk about your date when she gets here.”

“I don’t have anything to hide,” I said. “I told her it was going to happen.”

“Okay,” Ryan said.

“Is Hazel and Flynn coming?” Sean asked.

“No,” I said. “When I called her she said they were busy or something.” She sounded really weird on the phone when I spoke to her earlier, not her usual self. But when I asked her what was wrong, she said it was nothing. I dropped the subject.

“When is Mike and Cassandra going to be here?” I asked.

Sean looked at his watch. “Soon.”

“They might be…enjoying his gift,” Scarlet said with knowing eyes.

“Do I want to know?” I asked.

“Let’s just say they’re acting out a scene from
Fifty Shades of Grey
. I had to tie her up before I went back to the house.”

“
Oooh,” Sean said. “That sounds pretty hot.”

She gave him a firm look. “She’s your sister-in-law.”

“Eww, no,” he said quickly. “I was referring to tying you up.”

“Oh.” She gave him a smile. “That sounds like fun.”

“Okay, I’m about to throw up,” Ryan said. “Could you guys not talk about sex every other second?”

“Cortland asked what Mike and Cassandra were doing,” Scarlet snapped.

“Just stop talking about
you
having sex,” Ryan said. “It’s disgusting.”

“You’re one to talk.” She gave him a pissed look.

I wasn’t listening. Monnique walked into the bar and scanned the room for our table. She wore a dark blue shirt that was loose around her body. It still highlighted her breasts and the curves of her waist. The collared top showed her slender neck. Her hair was pulled back, and two sapphire earrings were in her lobes. A golden bracelet was on her wrist and a ring was on her middle finger. It contrasted against her dark skin. The dark jeans she wore were tight everywhere, making her ass look fucking fantastic. Nude pumps were on her feet. She looked like a runway model. The other guys in the bar immediately noticed her. One look at them told me exactly what they were thinking.

“Monnique,” I said as I waved. I wanted to get her away from the gawking eyes of the men.

She smiled when she saw me then came to the table. “Sorry, I’m late. I had to stay over at the hospital.” She sat down and placed her clutch on the table.

Now that she
was closer, I got a better look at her face. She hardly wore any make up, just some foundation on her skin and a little color around her eyes. But she looked like a million bucks without it. I kept staring at her and I had to force myself to stop.

“It’s okay,” Scarlet said. “What’s going on at the hospital?”

“I just had a really sick patient,” she said sadly. “He was in a bad car accident, and he had a lot of internal bleeding. He kept crashing over and over so I stayed behind to help.”

“Did he make it?” I blurted. I knew Monnique really cared about her patients. When they passed away, she usually left work in tears.

She shook her head but didn’t speak.

“I’m sorry,” I said immediately.

“It’s okay,” she whispered. “That’s life.”

“Maybe a drink would make you feel better?” Ryan asked. “It’s on me.”

“Sure,” she said.

I was glad Ryan didn’t hate Monnique all over again.
She did a lot of bad things but she didn’t cheat on me. If she did, I wouldn’t be able to control Ryan. I knew he was on his best behavior because of me.

Scarlet rubbed her shoulder. “You look really pretty.”

“Thanks,” she said. “You look nice too.”

Her phone vibrated on the table so she unlocked the screen. I saw her read the message then type a response.

I immediately wondered who she was texting. Was it a guy? Would she be dating because I was dating? What if she was doing it just to get back at me? That didn’t sound like her.

She exited the screen and I saw her background picture. It was a heavy woman and she looked really familiar. I couldn’t place her. I thought about it for a long time, coming up with nothing. Then it hit me. “Is that the girl from the bar?” I blurted.

“Sorry?” Monnique asked. She looked at me with her brown eyes. I was always paralyzed when I looked at them.

“I didn’t mean to look at your phone, but I noticed the picture. Is that the girl you were…harsh with?”

“Oh.” She looked at her phone then passed it to me. “Yeah. I apologized to her and we’ve become friends. She and I are taking an art class at the adult school.”

I didn’t know what to say to that. I looked at the picture. They were at a restaurant of some sort. They were smiling at the camera and they were each holding a drink. I could tell it was
a selfie, but that made me feel better. At least no one else was there to take pictures, like the other people from the magazine. I passed the phone back. “That’s really cool, Monnique.”

She nodded then set her phone on the table. “She’s really cool.”

Everyone watched us have a conversation. I could tell they were surprised how well we were getting along. She and I behaved like we really were just friends even though my feelings toward her were not platonic whatsoever.

“So, what’s going on with everyone?” she asked.

“I’m still trying to get Scarlet pregnant,” Sean said. “But she’s so loose that nothing is taking.”

Scarlet glared at him. “I’m loose?”

“Because of me,” he said with a smirk.

“I just spent twelve dollars on this drink,” Ryan said. “Don’t make me throw it up.”

“How’s the wedding planning coming?” Monnique asked.

“Good,” Janice said. “But we’ve put it off because of Mike and Cassandra. We know they are going to get engaged soon and have a wedding. We don’t want to take away from that.”

Monnique smiled. “I’m excited for them. They’ll make a cute baby.”

“We’ll make a cute baby,” Ryan said to Janice, rubbing his nose against hers.

I stared at Monnique, not interested in anyone else. She hardly looked at me. She sat gracefully and rested her hands in her lap. When she spoke to everyone, she met their gaze. I was the only one who didn’t receive the look. I was starting to feel like just a friend to her. It was like she wasn’t drowning like I was.

Monnique finally looked at me. “How was your date?”

Everyone flinched at her question, shocked that she asked.

I was even surprised she asked. And she said it so simply. I didn’t see any emotion in her eyes. It was like she was fine, that
me being with someone else didn’t make her blink an eye. She didn’t lose any sleep over it. “Good.” I didn’t know what else to say.

She nodded. “I’m glad you had a good time.” It sounded like she meant it. “Are you going to see her again?”

“No.”

“Oh.” She nodded again. “Well, I hope your next one goes better.”

When I looked at everyone, their eyes were wide and their mouths were open. I knew they were shocked by her behavior. She was so mature and calm about the whole thing. She really let me go, and she was so peaceful about it.

The bartender approached our table and placed a glass in front of her. “ From the gentleman at the bar.” He walked away without looking back.

“Oh.” She eyed the drink but didn’t touch it. She didn’t look behind her to see who bought it. Monnique picked up the wine menu and looked through the items.

It looked like she wasn’t going to drink it.

I eyed the bar and saw a man looking at her. He was dark skinned and good-looking. He was my height and he had brown eyes like her. I wasn’t gay but I knew he was attractive. He kept staring at Monnique even though he could only see her back. I hated to admit it but I was jealous. Really jealous.

“Are you going to drink that?” Janice asked.

“No,” she said.

“Can I have it?” Janice asked.

“Knock yourself out.” Monnique handed her the glass. She looked at the menu again, searching for a glass of wine.

No one mentioned the guy still gawking at her. I tried not to let it bother me. Ryan kept looking at me, wondering what I would do. Monnique was jaw-
droppingly beautiful. I couldn’t get mad when guys hit on her. She clearly wasn’t with anyone…

The bartender returned with another glass. “From the same man at the bar.”

Monnique eyed it. “Oh.”

He walked away.

Wow, this guy wasn’t going to give up easily.

“Free drink, anyone?” Monnique asked.

“I’ll take it,” Sean said.

“Have fun.” She handed it to him.

Scarlet eyed the drink. “That’s an expensive drink. That guy just spent thirty dollars trying to get your attention.”

Monnique looked at the menu. “I think I’m going to get a glass of white wine…”

I gripped my thigh under the table so I could relieve my frustration without being noticed.