Worth the Wait

chapter 21


Jared started to follow Tasha down the hall but Devin placed a hand on his arm. “Hey man, don’t even go there.”

Jared turned to his friend. “Why not?”

Devin let him go. “You had your fun, but it’s time to move on to the next one.”

“I don’t have time for this,” Jared said going after Tasha.

Devin followed. “I talked to Malcolm.”

“Aw hell.”

“He said you’re messing around with a good woman.”

He cut his eyes at Devin. “So what, I can’t be with a good woman?”

“Not if you’re only trying to sleep around. Look, Jared, we all know the type of guy you are.”

Jared stopped at the entrance of the gym and frowned at Devin. “What type of guy am I?”

“Don’t get pissed at me, man. You’ve never tried to hide you only want a woman for one thing. You clown me whenever I date a woman for an extended period of time and you questioned Malcolm about marrying Kenyatta. I don’t have a problem with your viewpoint, because usually you’re dealing with women who ain’t about nothing. But, when you start messing with virgins, you’ve got to admit that’s pretty messed up.”

Jared turned and pointed at Devin. “Let’s get a few things straight. I’m not messing with virgins; I did one virgin a favor by being her first, at her request. Sleeping with her wasn’t even on my radar before she came to me with that. Second, she chose to keep this thing going. I can’t help it if honey got hooked on a brotha. I’ve been upfront with her from the start, so both you and Malcolm can quit acting like I’m hanging around the playground picking up young girls.”

Devin pushed Jared’s hand away. “I’m not trying to start nothing with you. I’m just letting you know that when you mess with a woman like that, their feelings get involved. She’s gonna end up hurt.”

“How do you know that? For your information, I was thinking about keeping her around for a while,” Jared said and turned to scan the gym for Tasha.

“What’s a while?”

Jared shrugged. “I don’t know, man, a while.” His eyes landed on Tasha seated in the bleachers. The guy from earlier, he hadn’t gotten his name, was stretching out his legs on the bleacher in front of her. “She’s cool, all right. We’ve always been cool; I just never hooked up with someone I respected before. I like it.” He frowned when Tasha laughed at something the guy said.

“You like it, or you like her?”

Jared shrugged again. “Her, I guess. Who the hell is that dude?”

Devin turned to follow Jared’s gaze and grinned. “That is Dr. Kevis Flynn. He’s an ER doctor, moved here from Charlotte. That dude has every female doctor, nurse, and orderly at the hospital panting after him.”

“So he’s a player?”

“Nah, he’s straight and narrow. Nice to all the ladies, but not running through them. I hear he’s on the lookout for a wife.”

Jared’s frown deepened. “Where’d you hear that?”

“Some of the nurses were gushing about how he mentioned being ready to settle down and have kids.”

“Damn, that’s just what I need.” Jared wanted to spit fire when Tasha laughed again. Was the dude a comedian or something?

“What you mean?”

Jared sighed. “Me and Tasha agreed to do our thing until she met someone else. The good doctor over there just asked her out. I tried to block, but she just went around. He’s exactly the kind of man she’s looking for.” And I’m exactly the type of man she doesn’t want, he thought.

“Are you looking to marry and have kids?” Devin asked.

“Hell nah!”

“Then it’s time to move on. Kevis is a good dude. Let the chips fall.”

Jared shook his head. “No, I’m not ready.”

“Then you better lay something on the line that’ll make her stay.” Jared opened his mouth to interrupt but Devin kept going. “And I’m not talking about sex. If you like her, tell her.”

“I already did.”

Devin did a double take. “Hell must have frozen over. I never thought I’d see the day when you told a woman you liked her.”

Jared pushed Devin’s shoulder. “I ain’t said I love her or anything like that.”

Devin smiled. “Sorry, man, but love is probably the only thing that’ll keep a girl like that.”

Jared frowned and turned back to Tasha and the good doctor. She would expect something like that. He liked her — a lot — but love? He didn’t even know what love was.

“I’m not telling you to say it just to get what you want either,” Devin said.

Jared nodded. “I don’t play dirty like that. I’ll find another way to keep this going.”

Devin shook his head. “What you want may not equate to what’s good for her.”

“Damn, y’all act like I’m Lucifer or something. I’m not going to kill the woman.”

Devin laughed. “I know. But you will crush her heart. Think about what I said, man. I gotta warm up.”

Jared watched Devin as he walked over to Tasha and Kevis. They said a few words and then Kevis joined Devin on the court to warm up. Good looking out, he thought. Devin would have his back, even if he didn’t agree with him.

Tasha glared at Jared before turning her body away from him. He guessed she figured out what Devin was doing. Jared walked to the other side of the gym. He passed his mentee, Tony, who was flirting with Tasha’s front desk helper, Latiffa.

“What’s going on, Tony?” Jared reached out to give Tony a one-arm hug.

“Nothing much, Jared. Just came to watch these old dudes ball,” Tony said with a laugh.

“Yeah, well, remember this old dude can still whip your ass on the court,” Jared replied.

“I been lifting, man. Don’t underestimate.” Tony flexed his biceps and Latiffa’s eyes lit up.

Jared shook his head and kept walking. He sat in the bleachers directly across from Tasha. The fact that she kept her eyes trained on everyone in the gym except him told him she knew where he was.

The game started after a few minutes. The team of doctors quickly took the lead against their opponents. Jared would have been happy for Devin, if the good doctor wasn’t on the team. Jared scowled after Kevis scored a three point shot, kissed his fingertips, and pointed at Tasha, who smiled back. Did he look that stupid when he’d done the same motion to women in the stands? The good doctor was laying it on thick.

Jared pulled out his cell phone. Time to remind Tasha of what they had.

I’m still hungry, he texted.

Tasha pulled her phone from her hip and read his text. He smiled when her lips parted as she took a deep breath.

Burger King is open. Go get a whopper.

I’m not hungry for a whopper. I’m hungry for you.

I’m not going to be your booty call whenever you get horny.

You’re more than a booty call, Tasha.

Really? You could have surprised me.

Don’t trip. We have fun even when we aren’t having sex. Remember the game the other day?

He watched her smile and shake her head. Yeah I remember.

Come on girl. Don’t break up what we got going.

What do we have going?

Why we got to label it? All I know is I’ve never done this before but I like it. I like you.

I like you too *sigh*

So are you going to feed me?

We can’t do this forever.

But we can do it now. Let me taste you.

Jared looked across the gym. Tasha looked up from her phone at him. She smiled briefly before turning back to the game. He kept his eyes trained on her, willing her to say yes. His heart speed up when she finally got up and walked out of the gym. A few seconds later, his phone buzzed.

Meet me in my office.

Hell yeah! Jared caught Devin’s eye and lifted his chin with a smile. Devin shook his head. Jared didn’t care what his friend thought. He was going to handle his business.