The Heat Seekers

“But what?”

“But your shit does stink!”

“And so does yours!” Tempest exclaimed, coming right back at her. “Hell, whenever you stay over, I have to make sure I buy two extra cans of air freshener and air out the joint after you leave.”

“Whatever, heifer!”

“Whatever, tramp!”

“Oh, damn!” Janessa ran into the living room to get her dress. “It’s almost time for them fine-

ass nuccas to get here. We better hurry up.”

“Yeah,” Tempest said, picking up her own dress. “Hurry up and put on these ugly-ass dresses so we can look like tramps.”

Janessa came running out of the bathroom when she heard the knock on Tempest’s door. She smoothed out the bottom of her dress and flung the door open, expecting to see both Dvontè and Geren standing there.

“Good afternoon, Janessa,” Geren said, cracking a smile at her. “You look stunning, as usual.”

Janessa’s eyes immediately drifted to the beautiful bouquet of white roses in Geren’s hands.

“Are those for me?” she asked jokingly.

Geren cleared his throat, wondering if she was serious. “No, actually, these are for Tempest.”

“Oh,” Janessa replied sarcastically. She peeked around the corner of the door out into the hallway, assuming Dvontè was lurking out there somewhere, waiting for his turn to speak. He was nowhere in sight. “Where’s Dvontè?”

“He’s down in the car. It’s so hot outside, he thought it would be a good idea to keep the air-conditioning running.”

“Hmph, I see!”

Geren hated lying for Dvontè. The truth of the matter was that Dvontè didn’t believe in catering to females by coming to their door. He was the when-I-blow-my-horn-you-need-to-hightail-it-outside type of brotha, while Geren was the complete opposite: a perfect gentleman.

“We wouldn’t want you ladies to feel uncomfortable or sweat out your hair or anything. The TV stations have been scrolling a heat advisory across the screen all morning. The heat index is close to one hundred fifteen degrees.”

“Danggggggg, that is hot! No wonder I felt like my insides were boiling when I caught a cab over here.”

Geren let out a sigh of relief. Janessa apparently bought his explanation.

“Come on in,” Janessa said, moving to the side so he could come inside. “I forgot my manners for a second.”

“Thank you.” Geren walked into the entry foyer and glanced down at his watch. They had less than thirty minutes to get to the church on time. “Is Tempest ready?”

“Almost. I must warn you, though.” Janessa frowned and shook her head. “She’s not a happy camper.”

“Really?”

“Word up!”

Geren immediately started to panic. All week he’d hoped Tempest wouldn’t change her mind. After all, he hadn’t even discussed the date with her, only with Janessa. He hated being dissed, and all of a sudden, he felt a diss coming on.

Janessa started walking down the hallway toward the kitchen. “I’m going to go find something to put these in. Make yourself at home.”

“Thanks!”

Geren walked into the living room and was stunned to see how meticulously clean the place was. Most women he dated left everything from shoes to magazines to clipped toenails strewn all over their living room floors, but not Tempest. He always kept his place clean, too, so things were looking up as far as compatibility. He wondered if the rest of her place was as clean, or if she was one of those who just perpetrated by keeping the highly visible rooms in order.

He walked over to her leather sectional sofa and lifted up a seat cushion, expecting to find a bunch of food wrappings and hair curlers stuffed underneath it. Nothing. He was bent over to replace the cushion when he felt someone’s eyes on his ass.