Preseason Love (19 page)

To my surprise it was an offer to exercise, but in an erotic way. Leave it to Lydia to find the most racy and unconventional form of getting fit. She included the class description, cost, and suggested attire. Learning some new moves could only impress my man and keep him guessing so I was in. I was also secretly hoping that they could teach me how to make my booty bounce like the women in Twerk Team from Atlanta.

Friday could not have come quickly enough. I was ready to get out with my girls, Dev and Lydia, to let loose a bit. I took the number six train to Thirty-third Street and walked over a couple of blocks in search of the studio.

After standing in the middle of the block looking confused for a minute, I spotted it. Not what I expected at all. It was a tiny doorway with an entrance that you could easily miss. This place
looked a little sketchy. Despite my hesitation, I clutched my bag and marched up the mini staircase to the elevator. I had come to realize that everything wasn't always what it seemed from the street level in Manhattan.

Once the doors opened to the studio, I was relieved. The décor was very minimal but enough to attempt to make you feel comfortable. Cherry hardwood floors gave a sense of mystery as to what you were about to encounter. The lighting was dim. I assumed that they were trying to get you in the mood to be a freak for the evening.

I had no clue what to expect of our instructor. We walked into Room A and saw a thicka-than-a-Snicker black woman at the front of the classroom with a mirror wall behind her and two rows of floor-to-ceiling silver shiny stripper poles.

“Welcome to class, ladies. My name is Precious,” she said with a smile. But you could tell that she did not play games.

“Thank you for joining us for a special combo class. If you pay attention, you will learn a lot within the two hours that you are with us this evening. Now let's get to work.”

Dev, Lydia, and I had come sashaying into the class with our highest “come fuck me” heels on, but she quickly shut us down.

“Take the heels off, ladies. We're not there yet.”

“First up…stretching. Bend over and touch your toes angling slightly to the left,” Precious called out, following up with a demonstration.

It was starting to feel like exercise. After the stretching warm-up, Precious put on a little Kanye West and I tried to resist the urge to bust a move. Her stern expression didn't make it too hard.

“Follow my lead. Watch me in the mirror and do your best to keep up. I don't expect you to be an expert.”

First up was a sensual body roll with a twist. I knew how to do
what I thought was a body roll, but Precious had us trying to move parts of our bodies that I had never envisioned moving. The entire one-hour class basically built upon a routine so that by the last ten minutes of class, we each had to perform the routine solo. It was nerve-wracking, but all of the other ladies in the class, strangers included, cheered you on so that made it less intimidating.

We had a brief water break, then went straight into the pole work session. Miss Thang had us strutting the pole with our fuck faces and heels on like true working girls. We learned how to do a basic spin. She placed her big butt against the pole and demonstrated how to slide down the pole with one leg in the air landing gracefully at the base of the pole. In total, we learned about four unique pole tricks and we had ample time to practice each. By the time that class was over, my whole upper body was weak.

“Do you guys think that Precious was a former stripper?” Lydia asked as we were on our way out of the studio.

“I don't know, but I sure wondered the same thing while we were in class,” Dev said.

“I feel like I learned some good moves that I could use,” I said with a slight smirk.

“I bet you did, chick. Just make sure I'm not home,” Dev cracked.

We said our goodbyes before heading our separate ways for the evening. I hadn't mentioned anything about the erotic dance class to Kari, in case I was horrible. If things worked in my favor, then I could bust out my new skills unexpectedly.

My confidence was a little high from class so on my way to Kari's, I tried to decide if I was ready to showcase my skills. I liked attention but did not make it a habit of setting myself up to be the center of attention. However, in the hopes that class went well, I
did pack a little extra something in my bag to seduce my man if I felt the timing was right.

I used the spare key that Kari let me hold to let myself into his apartment. When I walked in, he was chilling on the couch with his feet kicked up on the ottoman, looking relaxed after a long workweek. I dropped my bag by the door and ran over to hug and kiss all over him. We hadn't seen each other since our Monday night rendezvous after the argument.

“Hey, babe,” I said as I planted a big juicy kiss on Kari's plump lips. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too, sweetcakes,” Kari said, grinning from ear-to-ear before playfully smacking me on the butt.

“I bought some wine for you. I put it in the fridge to chill so it's waiting. Whenever you're ready.”

“Wait, you got it for me or for us?” I said with a knowing smile.

“Yeah, yeah, I got it for us,” Kari admitted as he gave me a bear hug and kissed me on the cheek.

“Well…I got a little something for you too.”

“Oh really?” His eyes widened.

“All right, where is it?”

I winked at my baby as I got up to pour us some wine. “I'll let you know when you're ready to receive it.”

On my way to the kitchen, I was trying to decide when the best time would be to bust out my moves. I had to come with something since I had already opened my big mouth.
I think I may need like two glasses of wine and a shower first.

I went into the living room, sat on Kari's lap, and handed him his wine. We clinked glasses and made sure to look each other in the eyes.

“I'm going to take a quick shower so I can relax, babe.”

“Okay, but before you go, I need you to do me a favor.” He looked serious.

“Sure, what is it?”

“Give me a kiss.”

I cracked up laughing at his silliness and he followed suit. I planted a kiss on his lips that was sensual enough for him to beg me to stay.

“Wait, no, don't go yet. One more.”

“They'll be plenty more, babe,” I said as I began to walk away. “I need to get comfy first.”

I scooped my bag up from its resting spot by the front door and made my way to the shower. I could always count on fresh towels and a clean bathroom at Kari's place. That was the type of man that he was. I'd dealt with men in the past that were fine as hell but nasty pigs when it came to their living space. One thing that I could not handle was a dirty man.

Kari took pride in his one-bedroom bachelor pad. He had been living there long enough to create a cozy atmosphere complete with a huge, comfy, light-brown sofa sectional, impressive kitchen utensils for a man, and a coordinating color scheme of blacks and browns throughout the apartment's décor. Early on, I had inquired about the woman who helped him decorate and he insisted that he did it himself.

Like a typical do-it-yourself man, Kari switched out the original showerhead with a chrome, seven-setting, power-spray handheld showerhead. It was excessive but definitely relaxing so I never complained.

After my spa-style shower, I downed the glass of wine that I'd brought into the bathroom. It was kicking in while I moisturized my body, sprayed on a light scent, and slipped into a black, lace, boy shorts number.

Since I could feel the alcohol settling in, my nerves were calmer than they normally would have been under the circumstance. I came out of the bathroom, which was right next to Kari's bedroom, and ducked behind the door before he could get a whiff of what I was up to. I closed the bedroom door slightly, leaving a little crack. Kari had a stereo system in his room that served as his surround sound when we watched movies. I was sure that he had a little sexy mix CD that we'd made love to before, so I rummaged through the pile of CDs sitting next to the stereo.
I hope he does not come in and think that I'm being sneaky and going through his stuff.

There was a purple CD that had the word “sexy” written on it and I knew I'd hit the jackpot. I quietly put the CD in and turned the volume down before I hit “play.”

“Babe, can you come here for a second?” I called out.

He didn't respond, but I could hear him walking my way so I turned up the music a bit. When he walked in and saw me, his eyes bugged out and he smiled.

“Well, hello…”

“I told you that I had a little something for you. Now sit down in this chair and watch me work.”

I must have appeared confident because Kari sat down with not even so much as a goofy chuckle. He was staring at me.

I said, “Do you trust me?”

“Hell yeah.”

“Then let me be your guide.”

I instructed Kari to close his eyes. I kissed him on the cheek to calm any anxiety. Then I slid a blindfold out of my bag and placed it on his head. I had to leave him sitting there for a brief moment while I ran to the kitchen. I needed another glass of wine to take straight to the head. I had no intentions of being drunk, but tipsy, yes.

“Babe! What are you doing?”

“Be patient, please!”

I cranked up the music a notch more and started to caress Kari's upper body, slowly undressing him. I teased him with a few kisses on the lips, but once I had his shirt off, I suckled on his nipples and kissed every inch of his chiseled chest. I played around a bit more before taking off his blindfold. He had to let his eyes adjust, as I was now topless and standing in between his legs.

Kari smiled. “Damn, baby, you look good.”

I winked, spun around, and dropped my ass to the floor before snaking back up between his legs. His facial expression said that he was impressed by my moves and that hyped me up even more. Kari tried to grab me, but I gave him a stern look. “No touching.”

He smiled and whispered his compliance.

In my “come fuck me” stilettos, I strutted my sexy walk around his chair with my hand on his head. I loosened his belt, slid it off and used it as a prop. Our instructor taught us how to move while sensually touching our bodies, so I did just that. Of course I improvised a bit, adding my own personal touch. But so far, I could tell that my improv routine was a hit. Kari was practically drooling.

When I spun him in the direction facing the wall, he looked at me, but he did not utter a word. He understood that it was my show. We had learned how to use the wall in class to help exude your sexy.

I spread my legs open slightly and caressed my boobs, butt and, pussycat before dropping into a revealing squat. When I came back up, I decided that it was time to strip off what was left.

After I was completely naked, I moved to undo his pants and his penis popped straight out. When I went down on Kari, I did it
like I had never done it before. It was like something came over me during that whole performance and I played the role of a true temptress.

He picked me up, pinned me against the wall and whispered in my ear that it was his turn to take complete control, and that he did. We continued our fun off and on into the next morning.

B
ritney always played with her fried, white, bleached-blonde, stringy hair when she talked. It drove me crazy. She was the only coworker that I could not stand. She exuded bad vibes, plus Lydia had already warned me about her. I liked to give people a chance, but when you showed me who you were, I paid attention.

I despised the sarcastic and arrogant tone that she used when speaking to people around the office, almost as if she thought that she was better than everyone else. She seemed like the type of woman who was miserable internally. Ironically, she appeared to have a select few senior-level executives wrapped right around her finger. However, it wasn't relevant to me whom she had in her corner. I wasn't feeling her. I made it a point to keep my distance.

When I would pass her in the hallway, she'd look me up and down as if to size me up and see what I was wearing. I stayed fly so she could look until her eyes hurt. But she never spoke.

I was asked to work the night of The League's draft for new players, and I willingly signed up since it would be a new experience. Those of us working were instructed to arrive at the draft center at five o'clock. The actual draft did not begin until seven o'clock, but we were to be there early for the walk-through.

When I walked into the office at the draft center, I saw Britney's frumpy, pale, shapeless figure in the corner looking like she was
gossiping. I headed toward the table filled with snacks and goodies to grab bottled water.

•  •  •

As I was chatting with a colleague, Britney walked up and per her usual, she did not say anything to either of us. We continued to talk and I acted as though she wasn't there, though I could tell that she was eavesdropping.

Soon after, it was time for the draft festivities to begin. I headed to my post, which was right next to the stage. The audience was made up of die-hard fans that could not wait to hear the pick selected for their team. They were wearing team paraphernalia and yelling recklessly in anticipation for what was to come. I had been assigned to escort the number four pick through the media circuit once his name was announced.

While I was standing next to the stage waiting for the number four pick to be declared, I felt apprehensive, like they were about to call my name and I had to walk up on that stage in front of the hundreds of people in the audience and the millions watching on TV. My stomach had butterflies. I was attentively listening to the names as they were announced. The entire production was complicated, and I did not want to be the chink in the chain of events.

“With the first pick,” The League commissioner began, “the Cincinnati Rangers select…Marion Chambers.”