Read Online My Daughter's Boyfriend by Cydney Rax - Free Book Online

Since I had nothing better to do, I looked around the restaurant while I ate. A few women, black and white, cast rude stares toward our table.
    “Hmm, Aaron. Check out the looks that we’re getting.”
    “Oh yeah?” He raised his head from his plate to observe his observers.
    “Wonder what they’re thinking?” I said, starting to feel self-conscious.
    “I don’t give a damn what they think.”
    “And why is that?”
    “For all they know, you could be my sister, my cousin . . . or my girl.”
    I bit my bottom lip. Damned eyes misted once more.
    “But then again, Tracey, you got somebody already, right?”
    “Funny you should ask. I—I recently got out of a relationship with my ex, Steve.”
    “Hmmm, sorry to hear that.”
    “Why would you be sorry?” This I had to hear.
    But he set down his fork and asked, “What happened that y’all broke up?”
    “You’re something else, Aaron.”
    “Why you say that?” he asked, taking a sip of his drink.
    “You’re kind of blunt for somebody so young.”
    “And so?”
    “Well, usually men get blunt as they get older. Time is shorter, and they’ve got no time to waste by mincing words.”
    “Well, I’m young, but I’ve lived long enough to speak what I know. And to me, that’s key, that’s the principal thing. Nothing wrong with that, is there?”
    I smiled. “Okay, put it this way. I’m not sure it’s politically correct to even go here with you, but because I don’t really know, then I figure I won’t be intentionally doing anything wrong . . .”
    He said nothing. Only tilted his head and stared intently at me.
    “A few weeks ago, Steve Monroe and I broke up over something so foul.”
    “What?”
    “Take a guess.”
    “Another man?” he asked in all seriousness.
    I nodded and burst out laughing at the same time.
    “Stop lying,” he frowned.
    “No, seriously, it was a woman.”
    “Cheated on you?” he said like he couldn’t even imagine.
    “Well, I don’t know that for certain. See, he had this ex-girlfriend named . . . well, that’s not important, but anyway, this woman was always lurking in the background. Steve gave me plenty of attention,
most
of the time, but I figured she was somewhere in his proverbial closet. I thought she’d just go away. If he was with me, why would he want her, you know what I mean? But this broad never went away. And I think she pushed herself up on Steve so tight that he . . . well, we’re not together anymore.”
    “So, you think if it weren’t for this other woman, you and Steve would still be together?” he said.
    “Absolutely. Things were fine till she popped her neck through the door.”
    “Are you sure?” he asked.
    “Huh?”
    He leaned forward.
    “Tracey, are you positive that this lady—”
    “She’s not a lady,” I said, and shook my head like nothing could be more doubtful.
    “—was the only reason you broke up? Could there have been other warning signs that you just didn’t notice?”
    I set down my fork. “What? Look, I don’t know what you’re implying, but things between Steve and me were wonderful, okay? He gave me all kinds of shoes when he could. He loved my cooking and that’s saying a lot. He’d take me on drives, spontaneous ones sometimes, and we’d talk and just be together. And the sex—you haven’t had sex like that.”
    Finally, Aaron flinched. He sat back. Thought.
    I thought, too. Maybe I’d said too much. How did I know I could trust Aaron with this kind of information?
    “I’m glad to hear that you considered your intimacy with Steve to be—”
    “Freaking hellified.”
    He smiled, but I didn’t.
    “And that’s what makes me pissed, excuse me, Aaron, for going there, but hey, we’ve been going all afternoon, so why quit now? Steve was thick and solid in the intimacy department. And now since that whorish ghetto-fabulous wannabe snatched him—”
    “Hey, hey, calm down.”
    The ladies in the restaurant had stopped eating and were staring at us. I