"I can't believe you were doing that! What in the fuck were you thinking?"
I was standing in the front yard screaming at my boyfriend, Rob. We were at a party with his basketball buddies, at the house of one of the guys. We had been out on the patio by the pool having drinks and talking; having a really nice time. Rob had excused himself to use the restroom, but when he hadn't returned after 15 minutes I started to worry, so I went to check. That's when I walked into the master bedroom and found Rob kissing Suzanne, one of the girls that was always hanging around the team. I stormed out to the front yard with Rob trailing behind exclaiming an alternating mix of weak apologies and lame excuses.
In the yard I stopped and turned around to let him have it, "I can't believe you were doing that! What in the fuck were you thinking? And with that little slut Suzanne! She's probably slept with every guy in that house!"
Rob was still making excuses. "I'm sorry, baby! She threw herself at me! I was trying to push her away when you walked in! Really!"
"Yeah, right!" I said, "I saw how hard you were resisting. Next time you should try pushing with your hands instead of your tongue!"
Rob then changed his story, "You're right. It must have been the booze. It really went to my head."
I laughed at that, "That wasn't the head you were thinking with, Rob! If you want to be with Suzanne, just say so. Don't sneak around behind my back! I've noticed you looking at her before!"
At this point Rob started to get defensive, "Don't you think you're overreacting? Anyway, you're no saint yourself, Mara. I saw the way you have looked at Duane and Andre!"
Duane and Andre were two members of Rob's team. In fact, it was Andre's front yard where we were now yelling. Rob then tried to play nice and get me to leave with him, "Come on, Mara. I'm sorry! Let's just leave. Let me take you home and make it up to you."
I responded, "Don't give me that crap! I'm not going anywhere with you right now. Possibly never! You can leave though. In fact, you had better leave because I don't want to be anywhere around you right now!"
Rob tried again, "You can't stay here. How will you get home?"
"Don't worry about me!" I half turned to go back into the house, "I'll be just fine. Maybe I'll get Andre or Duane to take me home!" I started walking back to the house when I turned around for one last shot as Rob was opening his car door, "Who knows, maybe I'll get them to do more than that for me!"
I turned my back on Rob and stormed back to the house. I heard Rob call back, "Yeah right, Mara! That'll be the day. Do whatever you want!" I could swear I heard him mutter a final, "bitch" under his breath. As I neared the front door I could hear Rob squeal his tires as he sped away. That's when I noticed Andre standing in the front doorway. I wasn't sure how much he had heard.
"What happened, Mara? Where's Rob going?
I was just walking past Andre when my emotions finally caught up with me and I started to cry while saying, "I caught that bastard kissing another woman upstairs." I stopped and leaned in toward Andre as I continued to cry. He quickly responded by putting his arm around me and supported me over to the living room sofa.
"Here. Sit down," he said. "Let me get you a drink." He hurried to the kitchen to get me a glass of wine. Everyone else was still out by the pool and it was only the two of us in the house at the moment. I sat on the couch and my tears lessened. I looked up to see Andre walking back with the wine. He was wearing only his swim shorts, without a shirt.
Rob was right about one thing, he must have noticed me eyeing Andre and Duane before. It was understandable; Andre was an attractive young black man with an athletic physique and a quick smile. Without his shirt on now I could see how well defined his chest muscles are, and his abs are flat and hard. In fact, most of the other guys on the team were in really good shape because they played sports, especially basketball, all the time.
But as attractive as Andre was, Duane was that and more. Duane was the center on the team, so he was a big man. I would guess that he stood six feet, eight inches tall with broad shoulders and muscular arms. But topping it all off was a big handsome face with big brown eyes. His skin had a deep chestnut brown tone. If he weren't playing basketball he could certainly be a model. There were always several women hanging around at the games watching Duane and the other guys, hoping for a chance to go out with them.
Most of the guys on the team were black, except for Rob and one other guy. I noticed that most of the women who were hanging around were white. I don't know if that was just chance or if the girls were into that whole interracial thing. I had never really thought about it much myself. I had dated a couple of black guys before during college and I found them to be about the same as dating the white guys. Sometimes they were nice and sometimes they were jerks; in other words, they were just 'guys.'
I will admit though, looking back now, the black guys I dated in college were not athletic types. They were average height and weight, not particularly muscular or in good shape. Seeing large, well-toned black guys like Andre, Duane and the other guys on the team definitely peaked my interest. I could understand why the other white girls were hanging around. And seeing a shirtless Andre walking toward me now sparked some ideas in my mind, especially going through what I just had with Rob.