My Only Desire

Anna gasped at the way her entire arm tingled. The playful glint in Taariq’s eyes morphed into something dangerously predatory within a blink. No doubt that if she stood there much longer, he was going to have her legs up around his waist—the crowded party be damned.

She removed his finger from her arm. “Let’s get one thing straight—I’m not your baby.”

“You could be. The night is still young.”

Anna rolled her eyes. “I gotta go.” She attempted to step around him only for him to grab her wrist and pull her back.

“All right. All right. My bad. I’m sorry. Can we start again?”

She pulled in a deep breath while she actually thought about it. “I … I’ve got a test … tomorrow,” she lied.

Taariq stretched up a dubious brow. “On a Saturday?”

“It’s a make-up test,” she covered. One look in his eyes and she knew that he wasn’t buying it.

Instead of calling her on it, he just hitched up his shoulders and widened his smile. “A rain check then?”

“Yeah. Sure.” Don’t hold your breath.

“All right. I don’t need a brick building to fall on my head. You’re not interested. I get it.” He tried to shrug off the rejection, but she could tell that it was something that he wasn’t used to. Then, he dipped his brows together as if suddenly a thought occurred to him. “You’re not …?”

“What?”

“You know.” Taariq winked as if he’d worked out a missing piece of the puzzle before leaning in close so that his minty breath would warm the side of her face. “You don’t bat for the other side, do you?”

Anna’s mouth fell open. “What?”

“I mean—I know that sort of thing gets explored with you ladies when you’re away at college.”

She was dumbfounded. “No. I’m not gay.”

The mischievousness returned to his chocolaty gaze. “Good. Then I still have a chance.”

Not in this lifetime. Anna, now completely turned off, pushed past him and then shoved her way back through the dancing crowd. She spotted one of the girls that lived two dorms down from hers and headed in that direction. “Hey, have you seen Roxanne anywhere?”

Jade turned, sloshing whatever she had in her plastic cup onto the floor. “What?”

“Roxanne. Have you seen her? ”

“Silly, my name isn’t Roxanne. It’s Jade.” She giggled in a drunken stupor. “Roxanne went upstairs a few minutes ago. Don’t you even know your own roommate?”

“No, I meant …” Anna waved her comment away. “Oh, never mind.” She turned and once again pushed her way through the crowd. Mercifully, she made her way upstairs but was then forced to try to figure out where to search next with there being so many rooms.

That is until she heard Charlie’s familiar laugh followed by Roxanne’s annoying giggly snort coming from a room directly to her right. From that moment on, she operated more on instinct than actual thought. She moved toward the closed door with her outstretched hand and her heart already breaking. By the time she opened the door and saw Charlie and Roxanne, tearing at each other’s clothes, her weak heart had already shattered into a million pieces.

Chapter 2

Big, fat alligator tears swelled in Anna’s eyes as she watched Charlie and Roxanne laugh and giggle while they playfully tore at each other’s clothes. She didn’t understand why they didn’t spring apart after having been caught in the middle of the act. But then she realized that her loud screaming was just happening inside her head and they didn’t know she stood there like a dummy watching them. When Roxanne pulled Charlie’s open mouth toward her exposed breasts, Anna finally uprooted her legs and backed away.

From there, she was vaguely aware of rushing back down the stairs and plowing through the crowd. A shove here, an elbow there, she didn’t care who got hurt as long as they got out of her way. But after five minutes, the door seemed to be getting farther away, not closer.

Anna swiped at a few tears only to discover that her entire face was soaking wet. Just great. She was a weeping mess in front of the who’s who of Morehouse and Spelman College.

Just hurry up and get out of here!

Anna moved so fast that she clipped someone’s leg and was sent sprawling toward the floor. She thrust out her hands, hoping to break her fall, but was surprised when a strong arm wrapped around her waist and jerked her back up as if she was tethered to the end of a bungee cord.

“Whoa there.” Taariq laughed, setting her back on her feet. “You know I’m beginning to think that walking isn’t your strong suit.” He chuckled once, but then the humor melted from his face when he took in her expression. “Hey. What’s wrong?” He swiped at one of her tears.

“Nothing,” Anna lied, and then tried to shove her way out of his arms.

Problem was that he just tightened them and held her in place. “Look. I might be many things, but blind is definitely not one of them. Tell me what’s wrong. Did something happen upstairs? Did someone do something to you?”

“I said it’s nothing.” She shoved again and he reluctantly let her go. It was a good thing, too, because she nearly choked on the sob that was lodged in her throat. Anna could feel hysteria creeping up on her, but she told herself that if she could just get outside for some fresh air that she’d feel better.

Shove. Push. Shove. Push.

The door still seemed so far away. Stay calm. Keep it together.

Shove. Push. Shove. Push.

Another sob bubbled up. Finally she stormed out of the house and sucked in a healthy dose of the night’s crisp, fresh air. The wind blew across her wet face and cooled her down a couple of degrees. She exhaled and from the corner of her eyes, she caught a few curious stares. Pull yourself together. Anna mopped her face dry and then started down the front stairs.

“Yo, Anna. Where are you going?”

Anna glanced up and saw a small ring of girlfriends jog up the stairs.

“Don’t tell me that the party is whack,” Emmadonna said, settling a hand on her thick hips. “You know how long it took me to get ready for this mess?”

“Three hours,” Ivy chirped, irritated. “Not to mention you used up all my hair gel—again.”

Emmadonna’s neck swiveled. “Damn. I said I’d buy you another jar. You’re the one who wanted me to come to this party and you know I couldn’t come without getting my finger-wave in tight. Shoot.” She patted her rock-hard hair. “I came to get a man tonight.”

As usual Emmadonna’s sister-girl act put an immediate smile on Anna’s face.

“You’re always looking for a man,” Anna reminded her.

“You can’t find what you don’t look for. Ain’t that right, Ivy?”

“Whatever.” Anna shrugged her shoulders.

Emmadonna swiveled her neck and jabbed her other hand onto her hip. “Soooo … did you do it—or did you chicken out? Don’t tell me that you chickened out with Charlie tonight.”

Anna’s jaw clenched.

“You did, didn’t you?” Emmadonna rolled her eyes. “Girl, what am I going to do with you? How are you going to get out of this friend zone if you don’t tell Charlie that you’re feeling him?”

“Look, Em—”