Three Is A Crowd Read online

  “We have a million toys to get out of the car. My parents always go overboard,” Blake chuckled.

  “I feel bad about not going to see my father. He had the girls a few gifts too and I didn’t even bring them over there. I don’t understand why we can’t alternate holidays between my family and yours,” Mariah said.

  “That will never happen. Now, if you want to spend a holiday with your father, that’s fine. Me and the girls will continue to do what we’ve always done,” Blake replied.

  “What has my father ever done to you? Why don’t’ you like him?” Mariah questioned.

  “Just let it go Mariah. I’m not in the mood to argue,” Blake sighed in aggravation.

  Mariah would die if she knew the real reason why he hated her father. Blake had never gotten over the way Marvin treated Jersi and he never would. He didn’t care that he was married to his daughter now. He didn’t want no parts of Marvin or Tabby.

  “I don’t want to argue with you either,” Mariah noted.

  Arguing was something that she and Blake rarely did and she didn’t want to start. They had a great marriage and an even better sex life. If she weren’t taking her birth control pills regularly, she was sure that she would have been pregnant again.

  “I’m gonna help you put them to bed and go make a run,” Blake said when they pulled up to their house.

  “Make a run where?” Mariah asked.

  “I told Josh that I was gonna come have a drink with him. I won’t be too long,” Blake said, lying effortlessly.

  “Why didn’t you tell me? I could have left the girls with your mother and came with you,” Mariah replied.

  “It’s not a couples thing like we usually do. Just a few friends having a drink for Christmas,” Blake shrugged like it was nothing.

  It was the first time since they’d been married that Mariah doubted her husband. He had never once mentioned having a drink with Josh and she was finding his story hard to believe. It was almost ten o’clock and he had never gone to his friend’s house that late.

  Once the girls had their baths and went to sleep, Blake left and promised to be back soon. Mariah’s first mind told her to do some investigating and she wasted no time listening.

  “Merry Christmas boo,” Mariah sang when Karma answered the phone on the third ring.

  “Same to you and yours,” Karma replied with a yawn.

  “Sorry for calling so late. I wanted to call you earlier but we were with my in-laws,” Mariah said.

  “That’s okay girl. We had a house full today too and I’m drained. My mother-in-law just left and took the kids with her. Josh took a shower and crashed and I’m about to do the same,” Karma replied.

  “Josh is asleep already?” Mariah asked, just to be sure.

  “Girl yes. I’m surprised you don’t hear his ass snoring. They wore my poor hubby out. I’m happy that he doesn’t have to be back at the hospital until tomorrow night. He needs to rest,” Karma said.

  “Oh, well I won’t hold you boo. Get some rest and we’ll talk later. Have a good night,” Mariah replied.

  “You do the same and tell Blake that I said hello,” Karma said before she hung up.

  Mariah sat there deep in thought as she held the phone in her hand. She stared off into space for a while as she replayed the conversation that she and her husband had before he left. Blake lied to her and she was pissed. He had to be out there doing something wrong or he wouldn’t have felt the need to be dishonest. As far as she knew, Blake had never been unfaithful to her. Her intuition never even led her to believe that he was ever doing something wrong. Seeing him outside talking to Jersi had all kinds of crazy thoughts running through her head though. She was about to drive herself crazy, so she decided to give her husband a call. If he wasn’t doing anything wrong, he shouldn’t have had a problem answering his phone. When the voicemail came on, Mariah’s heart skipped a beat. She dialed his number two more times and got the same results. In all time that she and Blake had been together, that had never happened before.

  “Just relax and trust your man Mariah. Blake would never cheat on you,” she said out loud trying to give herself a mental pep talk.

  She had to think positive thoughts and not let her mind start playing tricks on her. She and Blake lived a great life with a great marriage. There was no doubt in her mind that Blake loved her unconditionally. He would never break her heart by cheating on her. She trusted her husband and she had no reason to start doubting him now.

  “Y esss! Blake! Shit!” Jersi screamed as she pushed his face deeper in between her legs.

  They were parked on the lake in Blake’s silver Mercedes truck and she was wetting up his leather seats. He claimed he wanted to talk but his mouth was moving in other ways not too long after they got there. Mariah had been blowing his phone up because her picture kept popping up on the screen of his dashboard. Blake had a mouthful so he couldn’t answer her anyway. He had the front passenger seat reclined all the way to the back feasting on Jersi like he she was Christmas cookies. When he flipped her over, Jersi stuck her ass out right before he started eating her from the back. Blake was even more of a freak than she remembered. He used his tongue like a finger and he alternated between sticking it in both holes. Jersi lost count of how many times she came but she felt another one building up.

  “Shit!” I’m cumming again!” She yelled as gripped the seat for leverage.

  When she saw that Blake still wasn’t done, she started pushing him away. He was trying to kill her and that wasn’t the way that Jersi wanted to go.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked when she shoved him away.

  “I can’t take no more,” Jersi panted as she moved to the back seat.

  “You never could,” Blake smiled cockily.

  He put the front seat back how it was while Jersi put on her underwear. Mariah kept wipes in his glove box for the girls, so he pulled out a few to clean his face. He grabbed the small bottle of mouth wash that he kept in there and gargled with a little of it before spitting it out. He didn’t need Mariah to smell another woman on him. She would die, especially if she knew who the other woman was. Blake was excited to be spending time with Jersi again. It had been years since they had any kind of intimacy and he didn’t realize how much he missed her.

  “I guess I need to get going,” Jersi said when she got out of the car.

  “Wait. I thought we were supposed to be talking,” Blake replied as he walked around the car and stood in front of her.

  “What is there to discuss Blake? You’re married. You got me fucked up if you think you’re gonna be fucking me in your car on the lake,” Jersi replied.

  “I would never try to play you like that. You have your own house, right?” Blake asked as if he didn’t already know.

  “Yeah and so do you. What’s your point?” Jersi questioned.

  “I can come see you at your house,” he replied.

  “No, you can’t. If I can’t step foot in your house then you can’t step foot in mine,” Jersi snapped.

  “You coming to my house is not possible but you live alone,” Blake pointed out.

  “What’s your point? You’re the one who wants to see me, so you need to make a way.”

  “Okay baby, I will, I promise,” he replied sounding as weak as she remembered.

  Just like before, Blake was putty in Jersi’s hands. He was the man and called all the shots with Mariah, but he did whatever Jersi told him to. He knew that Mariah needed him but that wasn’t the case with Jersi. She had her own and always have.

  “You better keep your bitch in line too. You’re married to her, not me. I’m not the one who owes her respect,” Jersi replied.

  “Don’t worry about Mariah. I can handle her. It took me too long to get you back in my life. I’m not letting nobody come in between this,” he said as he pointed between the two of them.

  “She already did,” Jersi replied.

  “Jersi, I swear, it wasn’t even that deep. Yeah, I messed arou
nd with her but it was just sex. I never thought that she would get pregnant. You already know how my parents feel about that. As soon as they found out that she was pregnant, marriage was the next step. I never stopped loving you and I doubt if I ever will. Just give me a chance to prove it to you,” Blake begged.

  “Okay. I’ll see how serious you are about us. The minute I start to feel neglected, it’s a wrap. I’m never coming second, not even to your wife,” Jersi replied.

  “I promise that you never will,” Blake swore as he walked up on her.

  Jersi cringed when he pressed his lips up to hers. She dug her nails into her legs as hard as she could to keep from pushing him away when he stuck his tongue in her mouth. Jersi couldn’t believe that she was actually in love with him at one time. Blake disgusted her now but she was on a mission. His bitch of a wife needed a reality check and she was about to get one.

  “I gotta go,” Jersi said when they finally pulled away. She wanted to throw up but she tried her best to play it off.

  “When am I gonna see you again?” Blake asked.

  “Whenever you find a place to see me other than your car,” Jersi replied.

  “I’ll need a few weeks for that Jersi,” Blake replied.

  “Okay, well hit me up in a few weeks,” Jersi replied as she walked back to her car.

  “How? I don’t even have your number,” he noted sounding desperate.

  Jersi despised a weak man and it took her a while to figure out just how weak he was. Blake had no backbone and she basically wore the pants when they were together. Making him do whatever she said would be easy, especially since he wanted her back. If she were being honest with herself, he always did follow her lead.

  “You know how to find me. And next time, leave the wedding ring at home. I don’t ever want to see it again,” Jersi said right before she got into her car and pulled off.

  “Damn,” Blake hissed as he got back into his car.

  Mariah had called him multiple times but his focus wasn’t on her at the moment. Blake had Jersi back in his clutches and he wasn’t letting her slip through his fingers again. He assumed that they would be able to spend time at her place but she wasn’t having it. She was going to make him work to get her back but she was worth it. Aside from a few flings with nurses at the hospital, Blake had never cheated on Mariah. It was just sex with the other women but he was still in love with Jersi. Although it was late, Blake dialed his brother’s number and waited for him to pick up.

  “What’s wrong Blake? It better important for you to be calling me so late,” BJ snapped.

  “It might not be important to you but it is to me. I need a favor,” Blake replied.

  “What’s up?” BJ yawned.

  “Does your friend Mark still own that real estate downtown?” Blake asked.

  “Yeah, he got like two penthouses left for rent,” BJ replied.

  “I need to talk to him about renting one as soon as possible,” Blake noted.

  “For what?” BJ asked.

  “Me and Jersi,” Blake replied with a smile evident in his voice.

  “Damn lil brother. You got Jersi back on your team?” BJ chuckled.

  “She’s not just on the team, she’s the star player,” Blake bragged.

  “That’s what’s up. But that nigga out of town right now. I’ll get at him as soon as he gets back,” BJ promised.

  “Let me know something as soon as you hear from him. This is important bruh. Don’t leave me hanging,” Blake said.

  “I got you lil brother,” BJ assured him before he hung up.

  Blake drove away with a huge smile on his face once he talked to his brother. He didn’t care how much it cost to rent one of the penthouses. He would gladly pay it if it meant that he could spend some time with Jersi. He knew that he would hear Mariah’s mouth when he got home but he didn’t care. Nothing or no one was going to ruin the good mood that Jersi had him in.

  “Y’all make me sick. I hate making plans with you hoes,” Jersi snapped over the phone at Ariel.

  “Damn bitch, we said after the new year but not the day after,” Ariel complained.

  “What’s the difference if we waited the day or the week after?” Jersi questioned.

  “I’m sorry cousin, but Mike is off today. We haven’t been off at the same time in weeks. I promise I’ll start working out with you tomorrow,” Ariel replied.

  “Girl, fuck you and Cat. I’ll be back to my old size if I keep waiting for y’all. I paid for this membership a week ago and I’m about to use it,” Jersi fussed as she hung up the phone in her face.

  Nola Fitness was a gym that had been the talk of New Orleans since it opened up a year ago. There were three locations with top of the line equipment, steam rooms and personal trainers. The membership was expensive but Jersi heard that it was worth it. She missed her old workout crew from college because Ariel and Cat played too many games. They were both claiming to want to lose weight but they weren’t doing anything about it. Jersi didn’t want to go back to a size sixteen, so she had to do what she could to maintain her current weight.

  After sitting in her car for a while, she grabbed her gym bag and walked into the facility. Whoever owned it was a genius because they had NOLA juice bar and smoothies right next to it. She was sure that it was owned by the same person and that was a smart decision.

  “Can I help you?” a lady asked when Jersi walked inside.

  “I have a membership but this is my first time here,” Jersi replied.

  “Okay. My name is Erin and I’ll show you a few things,” she said with a smile.

  Erin showed Jersi how to swipe in and out of the facility and she also gave her a map of where everything was located. The place was huge and it looked even bigger once you were inside. Her membership swipe card also gave her a percentage off at the juice bar next door and Erin had confirmed her suspicions. The same person owned both places.

  “Will there be someone around just in case I need help with the machines?” Jersi asked her.

  “Since this is your first time, I can get one of the trainers to get you started,” Erin offered.

  “Yes, that would be great. Thanks for your help Erin. You really made this easy for me,” Jersi replied.

  “That’s my job. Let me see who’s available to come out and assist,” Erin said as she called out to someone over the radio in her hand.

  Jersi continued to look around in admiration while she waited on the next available trainer. It only took about five minutes before Erin informed her that someone was coming out. Jersi did a double take when she saw her fine mystery man walking from the back. He looked like a walking orgasm as he smiled and headed in her direction.

  “Looks like we meet again,” he smiled as he walked up to Jersi.

  “I guess so. Let me find out that I’m being followed,” Jersi joked.

  “That would probably make more sense if I wasn’t already here,” he smirked.

  “Yeah, you’re right,” Jersi laughed.

  “Come on. I’ll show you around before we get started,” he said as he turned and walked away.

  “Okay, but before we do anything, I need to know your name. This is my third time seeing you and we’ve never introduced ourselves,” Jersi replied as she followed behind him.

  “I’m sorry about that. I’m usually not this rude. I’m Memphis and you are?” he asked while extending his hand.

  “You’re joking right,” Jersi asked as she looked at him skeptically.

  “Nope. Memphis Young and yes, that’s my real name. And before you start, I’ve already heard every joke that you could possibly tell,” he chuckled.

  “Trust me, I’m the last person to make fun of somebody’s name. Believe me, I’ve heard them all too,” she assured him.

  “Why? What’s your name?” he asked.

  “Jersi with an I,” she replied sheepishly.

  “I like that,” Memphis smiled as they continued to walk around the building.

  Jersi was
in awe as she followed him around the building. Everything was nice and clean, including the bathrooms and showers. Once the tour was complete, Memphis got right to work. He asked Jersi which areas of her body she wanted to target before they started their warm ups. Once they started working out, Jersi no longer had to wonder how he got his perfectly sculpted body. Memphis worked her out something serious and Jersi felt it once they were done.

  “God, I can’t feel my legs,” Jersi panted as she dropped down to the floor. Her entire body was covered in sweat as she tried hard to catch her breath.

  “It’ll get better. The more you do it, the easier it gets. Three times a week is enough to maintain your weight depending on how you eat,” Memphis noted.