“I’m the conservative type,” she added. “I realize my breasts are hanging out, but that’s not my fault. This was the best Janessa and I could do in the time frame we had to work with.”
Geren reached down and retook her hand. “Tempest, don’t worry your pretty little head over it. I knew the moment I laid eyes on you that you were conservative, as you put it.”
Tempest sighed in relief. “So you understand where I’m coming from, then?”
“Absolutely!” Geren had to catch himself and clear his head; he was about to salivate over her hardened nipples. He could make them out through the material of the form-fitting dress. He forced himself to look in her eyes and ignore her breasts. “I’m just glad that’s all you wanted to talk to me about. It’s no big deal.”
“Well, it’s a very big deal to me.”
Geren had to let the laugh out. She was really trippin’ over the dress. Her humility intrigued him.
Tempest yanked her hand away and headed back into the living room. “See, you’re laughing at me.”
“No, I’m not,” Geren insisted, trailing her. “I’m simply relieved. For a minute, I thought you were going to back out of our date and tell me to beat it. Since I didn’t have the liberty of actually calling you to confirm, I’ve been on pins and needles all week. Janessa set this up, but I thought surely you would call at some point to finalize things. When I didn’t hear from you, I got nervous.”
“Geren, I have to be honest. I’m a bit reluctant to go back out on the dating scene. We had a wonderful time at the club last week. I usually hate clubs but you helped me relax and enjoy myself.”
Geren raised his eyebrows. “Oh, yeah?”
“Yes, but I’ve been dragged through the mud by so many men that I trusted. It makes me wonder how many times a mouse has to get caught on a glue pad before it realizes it needs to walk around it.”
Geren claimed Tempest’s hand for yet a third time and kissed her gently on her knuckles. He knew there was no use in trying to explain that he was different. In time, he would just have to prove it to her.
Tempest felt her cheeks become flushed. “With that said, I’ve been looking forward to seeing you again.”
“Really?” Geren asked, kissing her hand again with tender, full lips.
“Yes. I had certain reservations at first. Mainly, I wondered if you were only doing this so Dvontè and Janessa could still hook up.”
Geren pulled her to him and boldly put his arm around her waist. He gazed deeply into her eyes. “I’ll put it this way. If we didn’t have plans for today and you didn’t use my number, I would have waited about a month, maybe not even that long, before I tracked you down.”
“Get real!” Tempest tried to pull away from him, but he tightened his grip.
“I am for real. I have no clue where this is going or where it even can go, but I would like for us to find out. Is that cool with you?”
Tempest was at a lost for words. So many times she had been fooled. Might he really be the needle in the haystack?
She glanced at the door. “Shall we go?”
Geren released her and held his arm out so she could walk past him. “Conservative ladies first.”
Tempest giggled. So what if she looked like a hoochie? She was still the same person inside, and that’s all that mattered.
• • •
Geren and Dvontè both sat on the fifth pew of the Brightwood Baptist Church with their mouths hanging wide open. They couldn’t believe their eyes. The groom-to-be and his best man were waiting patiently at the altar for the processional to begin. Together, they totaled one man of normal height.
“Do you see this shit, man?” Dvontè asked, jabbing Geren in the rib.
“Shhhhhhh!” Geren leaned closer in to him on the hard wooden pew so he could whisper in his ear. “Dvontè, you know better than to curse in church. If nothing else, I know your mother taught you that much.”
Dvontè looked at Geren with disdain. “Okay, fine. Do you see this crap, man?”
Geren chuckled. “How can I not see it?” He sat back in the pew once the ventilation system let him get a good whiff of Dvontè’s sour breath. “Dang, man, a Tic Tac wouldn’t hurt you right about now.”
Dvontè rolled his eyes and blew into his own hand. The heat almost drilled a hole through it, and he realized his breath was stankin’ for some reason. It had to be the pastrami sandwich he’d had for lunch.
“She’s marrying a midget. A fuckin’, I mean freakin’ Lilliputian.”