Kai felt a hand nudge her in the small of her back. She turned to see Red standing there, grinning like a jack-o-lantern, a Cheshire cat, or anything with more teeth than mouth. She smiled, then looked away, knowing he would want to know where was that phone call she had promised him when he was deep inside her, making her gasp for breath, forcing her to swallow the sounds that she knew would wake her roommates. Over his shoulder, she could see the bodies humping and jerking on the dance floor. He waited silently as she pushed her hair back and fastened her eyes on his chest. She felt him searching her face for answers as her eyes wandered down his body, stopping finally at his feet.

“Look at those shoes,” she said.

“D’ya like them? They’re so comfortable,” he said, eyes pleading, mouth still cracked in two.

“They’re kind of strange,” she said and paused. Her gaze left the shoes, ran up his legs and hovered over the flat brown stomach peeking out beneath his shirt.

“But I like your pants.”

“My shoes, my pants. Woman, is that all you have to say?”

Kai threw a darting glance into the expectation hovering over his face, then titled her face up to the ceiling. She shrugged her shoulders and shifted uncomfortably. He continued grinning. She could feel his energy reaching for her, could feel the tension radiating from his body. She leaned back and rested her hip against the bar. A skinny, glossy girl with a lit cigarette and an overflowing Cosmopolitan wedged her way between them. Red grabbed Kai by the waist as soon as the girl had slithered past. His hands on her waist were solid and confident, as they had been when he was dragging her across her futon, lifting her knees, spreading her open, guiding her into one position after another. Kai obeyed the pressure of Red’s hands and squeezed through the sweaty crowd. Situating herself in a quiet corner near the bathroom, she turned to face Red with crossed arms and raised eyebrows.

“Talk to me,” Red said.

Kai looked straight into his eyes and said nothing. How do you tell a man his dick is sweet but you don’t quite like the rest of him? A smirk slipped over her lips as her mind maniacally worked through phrases and explanations.

“Kai,” Red said.

Kai snapped out of her thoughts and focused on Red again. His dark chocolate skin, his glimmering eyes, his wide grin, the disarming energy that overwhelmed her, threatened to swallow her whole.

“Listen, what happened last week was good, but it was…totally…unexpected, and I thought I’d just let it ride.”

The words came slowly, in hesitant spurts, then tumbled out in a quick jumble of words.

“What do you mean let it ride?” Red asked, gently hooking his finger into the front pocket of Kai’s jean skirt.

“I mean,” Kai said letting out a heavy breath, “let it be a one time thing.”

Published in Best Black Women’s Erotica 2 © 2002