Sweet Little Lies (17 page)

T
here was something patently unfair about the fact that I was huffing and puffing as though in need of oxygen while Steven ran on the treadmill across from mine twice as fast, not looking the least bit winded. It had been forty minutes already. We were at the University Health Club, a nice perk of Steven’s job, and he was kind enough to get memberships for just about everybody we knew.

Steven worked out with Jimmy, Rob, and Lance about four times a week. I was happy if I made it twice, and I only did twenty-five minutes of cardio. I watched him and his boys jogging along on the treadmills, talking as if they were on a Sunday stroll. Steven had added a 30 percent incline to his run. The boy was an anatomical freak.

Across the gym was Celia, dressed in matching pink Nike gear from head to toe. She was in the advanced step class and looking for all the world like she was enjoying herself. Just outside the room on the free weights was Dax. I didn’t know what the whole story was on them, but I still didn’t like it. I was on campus quite a bit and whenever I saw him, I saw her.
I relayed the information to Collin and told him to do with it what he felt comfortable with.

A stitch developed in my side and I decided enough was enough. My only consolation was Carey, looking like she could pass out at any second on the StairMaster. I decided to put both of us out of our misery. I pointed to the café and raised a brow. Carey nodded gratefully. I pressed the stop button.

“Giving up?” Steven called out.

I slapped my thigh and wiggled my hips.“I think I’m fine enough.”

“Tell him,” “Go, girl,” and “You looking good” were the choruses that met my declaration.

He sent a smile my way.“I cannot argue with that.”

“How much longer?”

“Oh, you know, a brother gotta keep a bedroom physique. Make sure my stamina is all it can be.”

“Keep talking that talk.” I sent him a look and walked off with Carey.

We flopped into chairs in the café. We both ordered smoothies and sat in comfortable silence until they arrived.

Carey took a deep draw on her straw. “Who is the puma with Celia?”

“What’s a puma?”

“Cougar bait.”

“Ah. Believe it or not, his name is Dax Fredericks. He is pursuing a dual master’s in business administration and finance.”

“So he’s more than just beefcake with a porn name.”

I picked up my cup and clinked it to Carey’s.“That’s why you’re my ace. Those were my thoughts exactly.”

“You think she’s doing him?”

“I don’t know. But I do know she has supercharged her schedule with Collin.”

“Schedule?”

“They schedule the nookie.”

“They do
not.
”

“I’m so sad to report that they do.”

“That’s more than I ever wanted to know about Collin and Celia.”

“Ya know?”

“But as long as we’re talking about your brothers.”

“Carey, do
not
start sharing kinky sex stories about Clarke. I will make Valiant put you back on a plane to New York
soo
fast!”

She patted my shoulder. “I wouldn’t share. I don’t wanna make you jealous.”

I snorted. I most assuredly did not need a better sex life than the one I had right now. I could barely keep up as it was.

“Ooo-kay.That look that just crossed your face. That was TMI. Let’s move on, shall we?”

“Let’s.”

“Your brother asked me to marry him last night.”

“
What!
Oh my God! Oh, Carey.” I hopped up and hugged her, then waved my hands in the air and started a happy dance, until I noticed she didn’t look so gleeful. “What’s that look about? You turned down my brother? Are you kidding me?”

“Don’t make it a family thing. Put the sister hat to the side for a minute. Now let’s think about the relationships you and I have endured since college. What are our thoughts about marriage?”

I sat down, sobered at the thoughts. “Okay, we’ve been through some hot mess. Steaming piles of hot mess, to be truthful.You’ve been through it, but Clarke is
so
not Bryan.You cannot think it’s anything close to that.”

A gym agent walked up right at that moment.“Would you two be interested in meeting with our personal trainer?”

“Sure, sure—whatever.” I waved her away. “Come on, Carey.This is Clarke. Even if he wasn’t my brother, I would tell you he’s one of the best guys in the world. It’s clear to me that
you two have had a thing for each other for over fifteen years. You need to hop on that and enjoy the whole ride. Do not let that get away.”

A wry smile crossed her face.“I won’t if you won’t.”

“Huh?”

“Christina, look at that man.”

I followed her gaze. Steven was standing next to the Nautilus machines, talking to Dax and Celia. He said something to Dax that had him grabbing his towel and walking away. Then he whispered something to Celia, who flashed him a brilliant smile and nodded before walking away. He sat down on the crunch machine and looked around for me. When he caught me watching, his entire face broke out in a smile and he winked. I caught my breath—the eye-twinkle was back! I hadn’t seen the S. Dub eye-twinkle in over five years.

Something about him stirred me up and drew me to him. The fact that a simple smile from across a crowded room had my heart fluttering told me I was already in deep. The smiled ebbed from his face as we continued staring at each other. The air between us grew charged. His friend Jimmy nudged him teasingly and he threw back his head to laugh. He pointed at me and they laughed some more. “Later.” He mouthed the promise before beginning his reps.

“Wow,” I said, feeling the impact of that promise all the way to my toes.

“Wow is right. What is stopping you from falling head over heels in love with that lovely, sexy man?”

From behind us, another club employee spoke.“Ladies, my name is David. I understand you are interested in signing up for some personal training sessions?”

We both spun around slowly at the voice. The smiles fell off all three of our faces. I pointed at him and looked at Carey. “Does that answer your question?”

The personal trainer was none other than Jay/David himself.

I
wanted to finish my workout, get Christina home, and find out what that look was about. It was the first time I’d seen that look on her face outside of the bedroom. It was a look that gave me infinite hope.

“Brah, you are so far gone over this woman.” Jimmy nudged me and we laughed.

“I know, man, but just look at her.” I pointed across the room and mouthed “Later” before starting my reps. Midway through the first set, I glanced back over. She and Carey were looking at a gym employee who looked somewhat familiar. By their body language I could tell they were not feeling whatever he had to say. Confident in their ability to handle it, I was about to turn away when he reached his hand toward Christina’s face. She ducked away violently and her face showed shock and pain. It suddenly became crystal clear where I had seen that fool before.

It took me less than thirty seconds to get off the machine and get across the room. “You put one finger on her and I swear to God I’ll give you the ass-kicking you deserved years ago, you lying son of a bitch.”

Okay, that was a little dramatic and loud. Half the club went silent. I didn’t give a damn. This man hurt my baby and put that look back on her face. I wasn’t having it. Not today. Not even.

Jay /David took a step backwards and sized me up. “I remember you.”

“I remember you, too.” I nodded slowly. Yeah, I remember Jay /David’s punk ass. And the memories were not fond ones. Christina got up and stood beside me.

Now you would think this ninja would have the good damn sense to recognize the waves of hostility headed his way, and leave gracefully.The tension in the place was thick as hell. I suddenly felt like I was back in an alley off Western Ave. in the Chi, fighting knuckleheads before curfew. I hadn’t had to swing on a fool in a minute, but I had no doubt of my ability to break off a much-needed beat-down on this clown. I really hoped he would keep it classy.

But instead of the classy way, Jay/ David had to go grimy. “Christina, you couldn’t do no better than the deliveryman after me? Did I ruin you like that?”

I flexed my fist and was actually relishing an opportunity to connect it with his nose when I felt Lance, Jimmy, and Rob lining up behind me.

“Are we having a problem with the help?” Lance said in a deceptively silky voice.

“This is Christina’s last fiancé,” I announced.

Rob looked around.“Is this a new NSA hot spot or does this ninja lift weights for a living?” He nodded at Christina. “You dodged a bullet here, CB—definitely come up the food chain a ways.”

“Way to upgrade, girl,” Jimmy chimed in. He not only defused the situation but made all of us laugh, which we absolutely needed.

The gym manager came out of his office. “Is something wrong, David?”

“No, Jerry, I was just offering the ladies my services … in case it’s something either of them is interested in or feels that they need.”

Carey piped up.“David tried to inappropriately touch my friend, and her man came from across the room to protect her.”

Jerry started looking very concerned.“David, is this true?”

Jay /David had not yet learned not to answer a question with a question. “Her man? I was engaged to her! Where’s your ring now, Chris?”

Christina folded her arms across her chest and tapped her foot. “Let me ask you a couple of good questions. How the heck are Dina and Daisy? Are you undercover here, too? Are we blowing your cover?”

“Ouch, shots fired!” Rob said.

We were all aligned, waiting to hear what Jay/ David had to say for himself next, when an announcement came over the loudspeaker. “Dr.Williams to the front desk for a phone call. Dr. Steven Williams.”We all turned to look at Steven.

“Doctor?” Jay/David asked.

“You getting pages in the gym now? They do know you’re an engineer, right?” Jimmy said.

Christina and I exchanged glances and I shrugged. I had no idea what I was being paged for. I linked my fingers with hers. “You come with me.” I pointed at Jay/ David. “You might want to think about transferring to another location. You don’t want to see me again. You really don’t.”

We walked to the front desk. I leaned forward and an-nounced,“I’m Dr.Williams.”

The perennially chirpy brunette behind the counter handed me the phone.“It sounds urgent.”

I took the receiver.“Hello?”

“Steven?” Heavy panting and a bunch of other weird noises came across the line.“It’s Jackie. Is Christina with you?”

“Yeah, hold on.” I passed her the phone.

She held it so that I could hear.“Oh, thank God. I called all y’all damn cell phones and no one answered! I called the station, your houses—this was my last resort.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Ti-Ti, I’m in labor and Sam is driving me crazy. Can you get here?”

“Where are you?”

“University Hospital. And hurry. If Sam tells me to breathe one more time he may be dead when you get here.”

“I’m on the way. Don’t kill him—it’s hard to scare up bail on a Friday night.”

I took the phone from her and handed it back across the counter.“What a day we’re having. You want me to drop you off?”

“Are you kidding? I want you to come with me. Let me spin twice in the shower and we’ll head over.”

She wanted me to come with her. I smiled.“Okay, I’ll meet you by the elevators.”

She smiled back, turned toward the women’s locker room and then turned back.“By the way…”

“Yes?”

“Major points for riding to the Jay/David rescue there, V. Dub.”

I was way on her good side when she called me V. Dub. “Are you okay?”

“I wasn’t and then I was. Thanks to you.” She stretched up and gave me a kiss. I pulled her in closer. She sighed before pulling away.“Don’t start or we’ll miss Jackie’s delivery.”

“Right. Baby on the way. Stay focused. Don’t forget to grab Carey. Are you going to call Lynne?”

“We’ve had enough drama for one day.”

“Agreed.”

I
walked over to the sofa and sat down gingerly in Steven’s lap. He woke up and blinked, then blinked again.“Meet Christopher Samuel Hubbert. My godson.” I was holding this beautiful, tiny, sleeping newborn in my arms. I looked from his scrunchy brown face to Steven’s. He was looking at the baby with the same sense of awe and wonder that I had.

“Look at that,” he said in his sleepy voice, which I loved. “Welcome to the world, baby Christopher. You’re already a step ahead, with great parents and a doting godmother.”

“Speaking of great parents, his are knocked out in the private room they moved Jackie into.” Jackie’s labor was relatively short at seven hours, but I felt every minute of it now. It had been a long day.

Steven’s arms circled my waist and he rested his chin on my shoulder. “You know…we could just take this one and make a break for it.”

I giggled until I thought about what he said. “You want one?”

“More than one.”

“Oh.” I was on the tail end of my thirty-seventh year—I didn’t know how much time I had left, from a biological standpoint, in the baby-making business.

“Christina, we have all the time in the world.”

He always knew what I was thinking. “You want one of these with me?”

“At some point, sure. Who else?”

I shrugged one shoulder. The brother was talking kids, too? It was one thing to let a man in and have him walk away. It was a whole other thing when kids were involved. And in my world, eventually the men always left. One way or the other.

“You wear me out. You go from supremely confident to completely insecure in the span of minutes. I know words hold no weight with you, so I try to show you how I feel in every way possible.When’s it gonna be enough?”

Sam stepped out into the hall.“Who’s got my boy?”

“I’ll go look in on Jackie right quick. Let you fellas have a moment.” I got up slowly and Steven took baby Christopher from me. Watching him holding that child in his arms shifted something inside that I didn’t even realize was there. I swallowed and fled inside Jackie’s room.

She was propped up in the bed with a smile on her face. “Girl, I know I’m not going to have another good night of sleep for twenty-five years, but I’m so glad to get that child out of me.”

“Yes, you screamed something to that effect at the top of your lungs about two hours ago.”

“Did I cut a complete fool?”

“Please, I told you that shiggity that Lynne pulled. Now
that
is cutting a complete fool.”

“Look up ‘hot mess’ in the dictionary and she’s posted up. I thought about calling her today, but I didn’t need the drama. I’m a little selfish today.”

“You’re allowed to be. You were bringing an entirely new human being into the world.” How cool was that?

“I was, wasn’t I?” She smiled.“He’s a handsome little thing, isn’t he?”

“Charmer, just like his mama. Already got Steven talking about he wants one.”

She pressed the button to raise herself up a little in the bed. “Aw, sookie sookie now! Did he really? I like that young man. What did you say?”

“I fled in here, girl. You know I’m the definition of gun-shy.”

“Still? Come on now. All that mess was years ago. Move on already.”

“Speaking of mess, we ran into Jay/David at the gym today.”

Jackie’s mouth fell open. “Dammit, I’m missing all the good scoop, spitting out babies. Tell me everything!” She yawned.

“Later, little mama. Save your strength for baby Chris. He’s gonna wake up hungry and mad as hell.”

She reached out and touched my arm.“Ti—I want this for you, too. I want you to feel just like this. Minus the aches and pains.”Tears welled up in her eyes and spilled over.“You’re the best person I know. You deserve to be happy.”

I deflected by spilling some news. “Clarke asked Carey to marry him last night.”

“Girl, stop—all this in the last twenty-four hours, and none of you bitches texted me to keep me in the loop?”

“We were told not to stress you out. You recall the crying jag you broke off at your shower? Sweetie, no one wanted to risk a repeat. You were already past the due date, and more than a little testy.”

“But look at me now: new mommy, propped up on good painkillers, no cake to throw at you. So stop changing the subject. Listen to me.You’re the only one standing in your way. Everyone can see you holding that man at arm’s length.What’s holding you back?”

Now she had me tearing up. I reached over to the night-stand and grabbed some Kleenex.“I’m just so scared, Jax. You know I completely trusted Cedric and Perry and Jay/David, and they turned out to be complete strangers to me. In the end, I had
no
idea who they truly were. I’m so scared the same thing is going to happen with Steven. If I go all in and this falls apart, I don’t think I can put myself back together again. He means too much. So much more than the others. He gets me, you know. He gets me. What if it’s just another illusion? What happens if he’s not what he seems to be?”

“What happens if he’s exactly what he seems to be?” Steven said from the doorway. He was leaning against the jamb in such a way that I knew he’d been standing there for a while. Sam was standing behind him, holding his son.

“Oh.” I looked back at Jackie and leaned down to give her a hug. “You set me up,” I whispered in her ear. She knew Steven was standing there when she asked the question.

“For your own good. Don’t let him get away,” she whispered back.

I nodded once and kissed her cheek. “All right, Hubbert family—we’re going to leave you to it.” I walked over to Sam. “You done good, Daddy.”

“He ain’t do nothing but plant a seed and bark some orders!” Jackie snapped from the bed.

Sam rolled his eyes.“Now, woman, we are not beefing on the first day of our son’s life.” Sam and Jackie loved to bicker; they had always done it.

“That was yesterday.”

“Good Lord, has the postpartum kicked in already?”

Steven and I exchanged a look. “We’re out.” I kissed the baby on the forehead and exited into the hallway with Steven.

He took my hand as we wound through the corridors to get back to the wing where we parked the car. He sighed deeply.

I glanced over at him. He looked tired. “You look exhausted.”

“I am exhausted, Christina.And I’m wondering if I’m just wasting my time here.”

I looked around.“Where?”

“With you.Am I just wasting my time with you?”

“Wait.What?” I stopped dead in the middle of the corridor. He was scaring me.

“Are we gonna talk about this or are we just gonna go home, have amazing sex, and assume that’s all this is?”

A nurse walking past faltered in her step as she sized us up. She shot me a look that clearly said “you might want to handle that.”

“Okay, okay. Let’s go to your place and talk about it.”