The twins could see their friend was truly disturbed by the fact and let their smiles shine through.
“Finally got the upper hand on the Casanova,” Centron chimed.
“Anyway.” Alex grimaced, waving his hand in denial of the label. “She’s just someone I’d like to know.”
“I bet!” the twins said in unison.
Alex bowed his head. “She’s fine,” he acknowledged with a wolfish grin. “There’s somethin’ else, though.”
“You just met her today, man?” Ronald wanted to know.
Alex shrugged. “Met her at a party De threw last night. Y’all know Trey Cooper?” he asked, watching his friends nod. “He was there too, told me how sweet she was and talked about how she was like one of the guys.”
“Hell, she is,” Centron confirmed.
“She’s like a lil’ sister,” Ronald shared.
“A woman like that,” Alex said, watching the brothers nod. “I don’t buy it.”
Ron smiled at his twin. “It took us a long time to get to that point,” he told Alex. “Every man we know is in love with the girl.”
“Damn right,” Centron agreed. “Topaz is the kind of sista who appeals to a guy on every level, and that mess is rare. So, we cool with being friends if anything more is out of the question.”
Ron chuckled. “Lex, man, you’d say or do anything to be around a woman like that.”
Alex couldn’t deny the truth in that statement. He had only met Topaz the day before and she’d been on his mind ever since.
“Trey told me she didn’t have a man,” Alex shared, taking another swig of his bourbon. “She was with this brotha named Simon,” he added, spying the look passing between Centron and Ronald. “Y’all know him?”
“He had a thing with Topaz back in the day,” Ron explained.
“Mmm,” Alex grunted, stirring the ice cubes in his drink while he leaned back against the bar, “I figured they had a history. What’s the story?” he prodded.
“They were engaged, right, Tron?” Ronald asked his brother, watching him nod.
Alex felt his hand tighten reflexively around the glass. An emotion he would not identify ripped through him at the sound of the word. “She break it off?” he asked, after several seconds of silence.
“He broke it off,” Ronald revealed, waiting for Alex’s surprised reaction.
“After they got back together,” Centron provided.
“Elaborate please.”
Ronald leaned forward. “Get this, man, he broke it off first. Then they got back together but I don’t know, I guess it wasn’t the same.”
“He broke it off? Why?” Alex pried, his tone one of complete disbelief.
The twins shrugged.
“Damned if we know,” Centron said, “but she’s not with him or anybody else exclusively.”
“Why, man?” Ronald slyly inquired. “You thinkin’ ’bout tossin’ your hat in the ring?”
“Hmph,” Alex said, downing the rest of his drink. “Well, with y’all clowns for my competition, I shouldn’t have a problem achieving success,” he replied.
The boisterous laughter that followed was enough to turn the heads of several women.
Topaz rushed out of her car and headed up the curving sidewalk like a woman with a purpose. Her arms were loaded with shopping bags, one of them containing the birthday gift for Goldie Sims.
“Paz!”
Topaz was halfway to her front door when she heard the call.
Sprinting down his own driveway was Casey Williams, who lived across the street. Topaz laughed, happy to see her friend who had been out of town for the past two weeks.
“What’s goin’ on, girl?” Casey greeted as he kissed her cheek.
“Thank you,” she sang, watching as Casey reached for her bags. “So tell me about Vegas,” she requested, as they continued along the drive. “Did you win or lose big?” she teased.
“Funny,” Casey drawled, his deep brown eyes twinkling as he spoke.
“Good thing you have a job to come back to.”
“Tell me ’bout it. Especially after I dropped a bundle in that son of a bitch.”
“A bundle, huh?”
