“I’m a gentleman, Troy.” Kyle got out of the car and came over to open my door. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
As Kyle helped me out of the car, I realized again how tall he was. Though he was a little stocky for my taste, he could pass for a basketball player.
“Don’t worry. Nothing’s going to happen,” he said, walking into the building with me.
“Nothing?” I asked, assuming the nothing he was referring to was sex.
“Not a thing.”
“Well, how much nothing has there been?” I toyed with him, stepping into the elevator.
“Funny. But that’s not the nothing I meant.” He gave me a look that had you’re a nasty girl written all over it. “What floor?” he asked.
“Ten.”
“But if you’re asking about something.” This time he was talking my talk. He reached over me to press the button. “Then you can know, there’s never been something.”
“Never?” I was stunned. Surely we were talking about two different things. Suddenly I hated allusive conversations. But how skanky would I look if I asked the pastor straight out: Boy, are you a damn virgin?
“So, never…never?” I repeated for the only kind of clarity one can get in these conversations filled with innuendo.
“Never,” he said with no shame.
I had a million questions for Kyle about his never when the elevator doors finally opened on my floor. A grown-ass thirty-year-old virgin? All those years in Hot-lanta and nothing? All those women at the church and nothing? Everyone knew that pastors dipped into both the collection plate and the parishioners.
When I stepped out of the elevator, pushing the envelope a step further with each question I asked Kyle, I saw Tasha sitting on the floor in front of my apartment. I could tell she was crying by the pile of tissues in front of her. I rushed over to her, with Kyle following close behind me. He bent down to help her up.
“Tash, what happened? Are you okay?” I asked. “Why are you crying?”
“It’s nothing,” Tasha managed. Her mascara was everywhere and I could barely see her eyes. I checked her face for bruises. You never know. “I just needed to talk.” She began to sob loudly.
“I can leave if this isn’t a good time,” Kyle said, holding Tasha up.
“Yeah, I think I need to be with her.” I picked up Tasha’s purse from the floor.
“No, I’ll leave if you have company,” Tasha said. She looked at Kyle and then back at me. “I just didn’t know where else to go.” She blew her nose in a napkin that looked like it had already been used.
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Kyle massaged her shoulder. “I was just leaving anyway. Troy, I’ll see you later.”
I opened the door to my apartment and Tasha walked in. I looked back at Kyle, who had already made his way to the elevator and then waved.
“Thanks, Kyle,” I said.
“No problem. I couldn’t leave you standing out there.”
“No, not just the ride. Thanks for everything. You really helped me in ways I can’t explain.” I had to say it.
The elevator doors opened up.
“Well, you can make it up to me if you like,” Kyle said, holding the doors open with his foot. “Dinner…8 p.m. tomorrow at Paola’s?”
I exhaled and grinned. Sneaky Christian Kyle.
“Okay,” I said.
Dinner wouldn’t hurt. No, it wouldn’t.
“Don’t stand me up now!”