After tossing and turning for much of the night, unable to save my thoughts from skydiving to conclusions, I finally drifted off to sleep. I shot up in the middle of my bed to the whirring of my alarm. Before I could even gather my thoughts, I heard a familiar voice yelling my name from the hallway.
“Yo, Cass?—"
“Hendrix?” I asked, staring at him standing in the middle of my hallway, red-eyed and tired. Bypassing him, I quickly darted over to disarm the alarm. “It’s like seven o’clock in the morning. W—what are you doing here?” I asked as soon as the alarm stopped.
“You tell me. You’re the one who left me.”
“So, you come here and break into my apartment in the middle of the night? You scared the shit out of me!”
“Breaking in? I have a key. A key that you gave me, remember? Besides, I tried knocking and you didn’t answer.”
“That’s because I was asleep, and even if I was wide awake, I don’t want to talk to you, let alone see you!”
“Please, Cass. I need you to hear me out. If you want me to leave after that, I’ll do whatever you want. I just need you to listen.”
As reluctant as I was to let him stay, let alone hear him out, I wouldn’t have been able to live with myself knowing he was tired, and I’d turned him away. “Fine. Say what you came to say,” I declared, bunching my arms against my chest to cover my hardening nipples.
The scent of his Dior cologne enveloped me in a mix of warm fields of amber and sun-drenched blue skies. Even though he was the last person I wanted to see, I couldn’t take my eyes off him as he slowly sauntered into the living room. His usual military posture was hunched over, and his body was tucked in the left corner of the couch to ensure he kept his distance from where I stood.
“Well?” I inquired.
six
. . .
Hendrix
Coming down from the high of the win against my old team and walking into an empty hotel room had me shootin' to Cassidy’s crib like it was a drive-by. Being that it was the holidays, finding an available flight out of Vegas to San Jose wasn’t an option, so I rented a car and drove eight hours to her front door, arriving there a little after seven o’clock Christmas morning. By the look on her face, she hadn’t expected for me to show up in the flesh. She was used to the chase, and as much as I admired her, I wasn’t going to spend the rest of my days running after someone who didn’t eventually have plans on getting caught.
“Well?” she inquired, arching an accusing eyebrow.
“Do you promise you’re gon’ hear me out and listen?”
“Why would I promise you anything?” she asked, flashing her critical eyes at me.
“Because I drove over eight hours to see your ass, that’s why.”
Her brows squinched together. “I never asked you for any of that.”
“And I didn’t ask to come home on Christmas Eve to an empty hotel room with no explanation as to where you went.”
Cassidy ambled over to the couch and stared at me while picking atthe edge of her throw blanket with her fingertips. “Just tell me who the fuck she is. And you better not fuckin’ lie to me.”
“I don’t know that bitch. I got the paparazzi on my head over some dumb shit when I don’t even waste my time with none of these groupies.”
“You act like you just became famous yesterday, Hendrix! You know they are always in your damn business, sniffing around for a story. I’m just mad I let you, let me play myself.”
“Play yourself?”
“Yeah, that’s what the fuck I said!” she spoke abrasively.
“I’ve never played you, Cass. Those photos were from the away game in Phoenix a few weeks ago. She was there with my teammate, Keyshawn, who had the room right next door to mine.
“Keyshawn like Keyshawn Randolph?” she interjected.
“Yeah.”
She grunted. “Mmm.”
