Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 112755 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 564(@200wpm)___ 451(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112755 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 564(@200wpm)___ 451(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
“You ever gotten someone pregnant?”
“Damn, you nosey!”
She burst out laughing.
“Well?!”
He crossed his arms and shook his head. “…Yeah.”
“Okay.” She sighed and averted her gaze.
“I guess you want to know what happened with the pregnancies?”
“Pregnancies? As in plural? Boy, what you been doing?”
He smirked and shook his head. “It wasn’t like that. Yeah, I was a hoe. I wasn’t just out here shootin’ off in women raw, though. These were women I was in relationships with, or knew for a long time. My girlfriend in high school got pregnant twice. She got an abortion both times. I begged her to get them because I wanted to go in the Army, and I didn’t want any kids. I knew I didn’t want kids since I was, like, sixteen. Then, this woman I was messin’ with about seven or eight years ago, a friend of mine I’d known for years—same thing happened. We’d fuck with each other every now and again, and she—”
“So it was a friend with benefits?”
“Yeah. I knew it was mine because we were honest with each other about who we were messing with, and we never hooked up if either of us were in a relationship at any given time. Well, during one of those ‘both of us are single terms,’ I messed up and got her pregnant. I had no condoms for some reason that night, which is unheard of for me.”
He shrugged. “And we’d been drinkin’. I was super horny, and my pullout game was apparently weak that day. She terminated the pregnancy, too. I told her it was her body, her choice, but she ultimately decided on that. She said she did it because she knew I didn’t want kids, but most notably, she took all this medication for different shit she had going on, like sickle cell, stuff like that.” She nodded in understanding. “She’s still a good friend of mine though, to this day. But after that, we pretty much stopped messing around.”
“How old are you? I’m thirty-one.”
“Thirty-six.”
“Really? You look younger than that, Legend. Ever been married?”
“Is this an interview for us to mess around with each other? To see if I qualify?”
“No.”
“Okay, because it sure as hell feels like it. You’re sittin’ here asking about my race, babies, marriage and shit. Those are questions a woman asks when she’s interested in a man as a love interest or at least for sex. I thought you said you didn’t wanna fuck with me like that? That I was friend-zoned on sight.”
“I don’t want to fuck with you like that, and yeah, you’re friend-zoned and red flagged like some ride at an amusement park.”
“Then if I’m such a risk and you’re not tryna bone, why are you askin’ me this stuff? It’s irrelevant. This is the shit someone asks a man when they want to hook up with them, not just be friends.”
He looked into her eyes, catching his reflection in them. Her eyes were full of stories. She seemed slightly guarded, and yet, for the most part, she was open to him. It was like she was asking questions she already knew the answers to, but just wanted him to speak his truth. She was ready to see him. Really see him. Perhaps, she already did. In fact, he was now convinced she knew everything she tossed his way. Some part of her, deep down inside, knew the answers before he could offer them up.
“I see it like this. We’re enrolled in a two-year program at the college. We both just started this program. Me, only a couple of weeks before you. If you hang in there, this’ll be a long but productive two years. You’ll complete your work, and you’ll then be able to do what you set out to do. You’ll have the skills, preparation, training, and authorizations. So, it’s important to get to know people who’ve been down a similar path as you, to rub elbows with them, so to speak.”
“That sounds fine and dandy, but that’s not the whole story, Desiree. It’s a bunch of bullshit.”
“And how do you figure that?” She grimaced, as if truly insulted.
“You told me you didn’t wanna be bothered basically, when I was flirting with you in class, and I tried to holla at you that first week. Now, you tryna say you want to be friends because we’re on the same trajectory? Make it make sense. You know plenty of people in that class that you could befriend, and they’re not guys like me, who are interested in you. You know what I want.”
“You don’t want to be my friend, Legend?” She took his hand, and he snatched it away, prompting her to hit her leg and start laughing.
“I’ve made it clear from day one what my intentions were, and it’s not just to be your fucking friend. I want something else, and the way I do it, ain’t nothin’ ‘just friendly’ about it.”