Finesse Read online

  I think my panties just fell off.

  He hands the bouquet to me and it just dawned on me the only man who has ever bought me flowers was my daddy. Now Cameron is the second. I’m trying not to get my hopes up and feel like I’m a part of some made-for-TV movie with the cheesy 80’s backdrop.

  “Are you ready to go, Tay?” His voice is deep and oh-so masculine. My knees are weak.

  “I’m ready.” For what, I’m not entirely sure. “Let’s go.”

  ~~~~~

  “So, she just took off like that?” Cameron asks as he’s about to putt on the third hole. He’s an expert at golf (surprise, surprise) and I’m struggling because…well, let’s keep it one hundred – how many sistas does anyone know play golf?

  “It’s not like she abandoned me completely. She’s gone to every graduation, promotion, and most of the performances.” Every hole we go to, we talk about something different. The first hole was about favorite trashy reality TV shows. I love 90-Day Fiancé and he’s a fan of random YouTubers (go figure).

  The second hole was about a not serious but kinda serious conversation if Nicholas Cage was good or bad, inspired by the show, Community. We both concluded he can be either really good or really horrible; there’s no in-between with him. Weird.

  Now, we’re on the third hole of mini-golf and the subject switched to our families. It was brought up when Cameron mentioned how his father watched Con-Air over and over and proclaimed how it was a family film.

  Oddly enough, I actually see his point. I wish I have memories like that with my mom but I don’t. I hardly have anything quirky about our relationship to go on. “Honestly, I think Laurie was more in love with pregnancy and small babies. Once those babies grow up and start crawling and walking, she fell out of love. It happens to a lot of women, but it’s not talked about very often.”

  Cameron nods as he makes his shot. “A lot of women don’t realize they’re not made for motherhood until well after the kid is here. It seems messed up but Laurie did you a favor. She also could’ve resented you and that would’ve been a disaster.”

  “I get that now, but growing up it was hard. She made the obligatory birthday and Christmas visits. She came to a few performances and all of my graduations and promotions. But anything else? No show.” It hurts more than I want to admit and I feel the pain coming out with each word. “I guess what you’re saying is also true – she could’ve been there and really not care.”

  “But you had a dad who cared and plenty of aunties who care?” Cameron turns to me. “So, it wasn’t all bad.”

  “No, it wasn’t. I can’t say I had a bad childhood at all.” And it really wasn’t. I had birthday parties, trips to amusement parks, and pretty nice Christmases. I also had awkward conversations with my dad about boys until he finally turned me over to his sisters to give me talks. It’s my turn to suck again at miniature golf. I’m not sure why I even chose this game. I’m horrible at it.

  “It’s about the wrists and the hips.” Cameron replies as I feel his eyes on me. It feels like he’s looking through me. “Too many people think it’s about the arm strength and that’s only a part of it.”

  “Now do I look like I’ll be out on a golf course channeling my inner Tiger “I’m not a Negro” Woods?”

  Cameron grins at my corny joke and walks over to me. He stands behind me and I feel his body pressed up against mine. He’s a lot more muscular than I thought and he hides it very well underneath his clothing. “It’s about the knees, too. Slightly bend them. That’s it. Now take the club. You’re going to swing slightly; it’s not a baseball bat.” He puts his hands on top of mine. “Lift up like this and then go.” I feel his warm breath on my neck as we watch the ball roll into the hole. “You’re a pro.”

  My brain is dizzy and it’s only been a couple of hours. I wonder if he has this effect on every girl. Actually, no. I know he does. “Thank you, teacher.”

  “You’re welcome.” He moves away from me and my body mourns at the loss. I turn to face him and I feel the energy exchange between us like an ebb and flow. It feels too natural and too right, yet it also feels too soon.

  Now I’m stuck between wondering what role I want to play – the naïveté who knows nothing and want the dangerous new guy to show her the ways? Or do I want to be that thot who takes charge and asks questions later? This is what I get for listening to Trina.

  “What’s on your mind, gorgeous?” Cameron’s voice interrupts my thoughts.

  I decide to chance it. Maybe I am a big ol’ freak. “Can you show me that move again? I think I might have missed a few things.”

  Cameron’s lips turn into a sensual upward curve. I made the play and he accepted. “Sure.” He walks over to me again and stands behind me. His body is pressed even closer than it was before. I feel all of him on me and my pussy becomes slick with desire. “Bend your knees. Just like that.” His lips are on my earlobe. “Now make sure your waist still has good posture. Move your arms ever so slightly and putt.” There’s not even a ball in front of me but that’s not the point of all of this. “There you go. Got it.”

  “Um…”I’m trying to think now and it’s becoming incredibly hard to concentrate. “I think I do.”

  “Good.” He purrs. I stand up and turn around. Before I can even think, Cameron’s lips are on mine. He licks his way inside, first as a nibble, then a full-blown taste. He wraps his arms around my body as he deepens the kiss, consuming me and setting my body on fire.

  I lose my fingers into his dark hair and pull him closer to me, licking the inside of his mouth and playing with his tongue. My body is vibrating and the light thump in my panties tells me it wants more.

  No, there’ll be another time for that. I just want to savor this moment as long as I can. I still don’t know anything about Cameron and maybe this will be our only date. But I don’t want the magic to end anytime soon.

  Cameron pulls away from me and I’m trying not to groan my frustration. He cups my face with one hand and smiles at me. “I could kiss you all night.”

  “I want you to.” I kiss the inside of his palm and he groans.

  “Soon.” It’s a light promise. I’m not sure what it means and I don’t know if he knows, either. It doesn’t matter.

  We hear snickering from around the corner and turn around. A group of men are looking at our direction and making comments. I’m sure seeing a Black girl on a date with a white guy is still pretty taboo in parts of the Black community, and it’s clear those guys are having a field day with us.

  They’re pointing, rolling their eyes, and laughing at us, while their non-bBack dates chuckle. Pot calling kettle black, much? I don’t even bother with them. I know if we just ignore them, we can enjoy the rest of our date. “Come on, let’s go to the next hole.” I grab his hand.

  “Just a second.” Cameron reaches down to pick up our clubs. “I need to speak with them for a moment.”

  This has makings of I want to speak with your manager all over it. “Cam, just forget it. If we ignore them, they’ll leave us alone.” I plead.

  Cameron turns to me with serious eyes and a weird tension is between us. “Someone disrespects you, they’re disrespecting me.” He walks over to the men and I quickly follow him. I hope my presence will diffuse any tension.

  “Is there a problem, gentlemen?” He approaches the men.

  The guys shake their heads and smile at Cameron. “No problem at all.” One of them says as the other snicker.

  “Good, good. I hope to enjoy the rest of my night. I hope you enjoy yours, too.” Cameron smiles. It’s a confident smile but also one that silently says I will make a scene and everyone will believe me over y’all.

  He begins to walk away but he comes back with a bigger smile. He points to one in the group; the one making the loudest noise. “You run with Tre’s crew, don’t you?” Cameron asks as he snaps his fingers. “Deuce, right?” The man remains silent. “Yeah, I thought you looked familiar. I’ve seen you around. Nice whip you
got there. You still push that souped-up Camry?” There are eye-rolls and headshakes from the group. “Anyway, I just wanted to say hello. Oh, and one last thing: before you intimidate someone, please be certain that person doesn’t know where you live or anyone important and special to you. You never know when someone might get a surprise visit from the authorities and oops…something bad might happen to someone’s nana who uses oxygen to get around.” The smiles from the group quickly disappear as Cameron leans in to the group. “And we don’t want that, do we?”

  Four

  I know I shouldn’t ask.

  I know it’s none of my Black ass business.

  But I have to know. Cameron effectively shut down a group rolling about 10 deep without a blink. He also issued a threat with a brilliant smile. In any other circumstance, we probably would’ve been taunted and followed for the rest of the night.

  Instead, we were left alone. He put the fear of God into that group and I want to know who exactly is this white boy I’m on a date with? “What was that back there?”

  Cameron focuses on the road as he nods his head to Mobb Deep. “Nothing.” He glances over at me. “Nothing that beautiful mind needs to worry about.”

  And of course, I do worry. A lot. “You knew those guys.”

  Cameron is silent for a long while. “I know people who know those people.”

  Yay, he’s completely being vague and almost sinister. He made a threat to those men and for the rest of the night, they didn’t bother us. In fact, they even left the park. We continued our date in peace but there was a weird underlying tension.

  He stepped away to make a few phone calls and texted whoever was on the other end. After that, I had his full attention.

  The question remains whom Cameron knew and how those guys knew him. I thought they were just harassing us because we were out on a date. I know how it looks to everyone: I’m dressed in my finest ATL gear while Cameron is looking Straight Outta Buckhead with his attire. We’re opposites.

  To Cameron, however, it was deeper than that. A lot deeper than he’s willing to admit.

  I guess the real question is do I really want to know or am I okay with being in the dark about all of this? Find out on the next episode of FML starring Taylor Gray.

  “You don’t need to worry about any of that, beautiful.” He rests his right hand on my thigh and caresses the inside of it. Once again, my body shivers to his touch. “I got that covered.”

  I know when to drop a subject. “Now what? The night is still young.”

  Cameron slightly nods his head as he ponders options. “Hungry?”

  “I’m always hungry.”

  “What are you in the mood for?”

  You is the cheesy answer. The real answer is food. “Why don’t you pick and surprise me?”

  Cameron glances at me again and gives me a sexy wink. “I know just the place.”

  ~~~~~

  Never did I think I would be in a hole-in-the wall Korean BBQ restaurant with one of Buckhead’s finest but here we are.

  As the restaurant plays some of the best 80’s music, Cameron and I are sitting across from each other and holding hands. We’re acting like a couple. We’re doing couple things. We’re not a couple.

  I don’t know if this is the standard treatment every woman gets or if there is something special between us and he’s acting on it. My mind wanders to that, but I also want to revel in the moment. How often am I going to do something like this with a guy like him?

  And just maybe, I’ll get better at mini-golfing.

  “Other than the big ones – Whitney, Michael, Prince, and Madonna – who are your other favorite 80’s artists?” He interlocks his fingers with mine with that unfair question.

  I think about it for a moment. I’m pretty young and I know nothing monumental about the 80’s other than music. I wasn’t alive when the Challenger exploded. I don’t remember Reagan being president. I don’t recall just say no to drugs. I wasn’t even alive during the 80’s.

  But the music has me obsessed. I know everyone is fawning over 90’s R&B, and it’s great. But 80’s music is a hidden gem. There was room for everyone and every genre. I mean, c’mon…what other decade can one hear a song about “Sussuido” and no one know what the hell that is but it’s a jam?

  “The Deele,” I answer without second thinking and Cameron raises an eyebrow. I don’t know if he even knows who they are or he’s surprised because I didn’t name the white boy favorite of Huey Lewis and the News.

  “What song from them do you know that’s not “Two Occasions”?” He smiles.

  “Shoot ‘Em Up Movies,” I stick my tongue out at him and he chuckles. “I know my music.”

  “You’re pretty young to know so much.” He nods.

  “My daddy played a variety of music as I was growing up. He loved music and we constantly heard large catalog of artists. He didn’t want me to be limited to just one genre. He wanted me to like all kinds of artists and not be ashamed of it. My father’s music collection was insane. I ended up inheriting his massive vinyl connection. I often just lay down and listen to vinyls when I’m alone. He was a Gen-Xer so he listened to a lot of that music.”

  “I would love to…” He pulls away slightly when the servers bring our food and start cooking the BBQ on the grill. Once they leave, he continues. “I would love to lay down with you and listen to music.”

  I would love to lay down with you. The rest of the sentence doesn’t matter. “That sounds like a promise for future dates.”

  He smiles at me. I don’t think I can ever get used to how beautiful his smile is. “It is.” His voice is flat, but not demeaning.

  My heart is jumping but my feet remain firmly planted. “What’s one of your favorite songs from the eighties?” I ask.

  “Hmm…so many…” His tongue darts his lips and I’m jealous of the simple action. “The one that stick out is “Mama Used to Say” by Junior. Our maid played that song often and I just have sweet memories of her and that time. She played a lot of soul music and she always played that particular song. She was in such a great mood and would be smiling as she dusted. I even helped her clean until my mother not-so politely reminded me that Cindy was being paid to clean and not me.” He rolls his eyes. “My father convinced my mother there was no harm in picking up a broom and learning some good old-fashioned hard work.”

  “What was it like growing up as a senator’s son?” I ask. “You must’ve had a lot of…” The word comes to mind but I don’t want to say it and proudly wave my SJW card. “…opportunities.”

  Cameron grins. “Being the senator’s son does come with a lot of privilege, yes.” He replies and my shoulders relax. “You’ve seen Forrest Gump? That part where Forrest’s mom fucks the principal to get Forrest into his school? Let’s just say that was a regular occurrence with my father.”

  I’m disgusted at what I hear, but I’m not shocked. Cameron’s father is a very attractive man. He’s physically fit with sandy blond hair, and light eyes. He has a five o’clock shadow that he wears with pride and has a smooth demeanor that would make the toughest woman weak.

  He’s also great friends with another attractive senator, Jay Edwards. The conservative Karens go crazy over them. Even some of the liberals ones as well.

  “What about your mother?” I ask. “She couldn’t be that cool with your father’s proclivities?”

  Cameron smiles and shakes his head. “My mother is not going to let anything get in the way of her Manolos and money.”

  I always scoff whenever I hear women say they would leave in the case of infidelity but I always feel those women are leaving broke men. If a woman is used to a life of privilege, she’s not giving up that up no matter how much side ass her husband gets. “When emotions become loud, money becomes louder.” I mention and Cameron nods.

  “And you finally understand how the world works.” Cameron takes the meat off the grill and fixes my plate. “You can be angry on social media all you want, but
if you don’t have the money to back it up, you’re just an angry fool behind a keyboard.”

  We sit in comfortable silence as we enjoy our food, sharing it with each other. Our conversation is nice and light. We talk about movies and our favorite TV shows. We get into a playful debate on which Aunt Viv was the best.

  It’s easy between us; maybe a bit too easy. It feels like I’ve known him forever, and not just a week. But I’m not trying to look too much into anything. As comfortable as I am with Cameron, I still don’t know anything about him.

  And who knows if this would really work. There’s a bit of an age difference between us and we’ve come from two different backgrounds. The check comes and we’re done. Cameron takes out his wallet and I see a wad of cash flash before my eyes. He counts out five twenty-dollar bills and hands it to the server.

  “Keep the change.” He smiles and the server is grateful.

  I know it’s more than enough for the meal, but it seems odd he would be carrying that much money on him.

  I know some men love to brag about how much money they have and claim they’re ballers, but it seems like Cameron doesn’t have to brag about any of it. I’m still unnerved at seeing that much money and how easily he was with it. Rich people problems.

  “Are you ready to go, baby?” He puts his wallet away.

  “Yes,” I scoot out of the booth and Cameron grabs my hand. He helps me stand and smiles at me. His eyes are so beautiful, with a sparkle that always tells me he’s up to no good. “Are you taking me back home?”

  “I can if you want.” He pauses for a beat. “There was something else I wanted to do, but only if you’re up for it.”

  Now I have to do it. “I’m game.”

  ~~~~~~

  I wasn’t expecting the end of my first date with Cameron meant I would be blindfolded and led somewhere. I clearly trust this white boy too much if I’m totally cool with all of this without freaking out too much about it. Now I see why white women in those Lifetime movies aren’t as stupid as I thought they were.

  “We’re almost there, Tay.” He directs me as he walks me through somewhere.