Page 9 of Book Bae

“Myraj. I like that name, but are you telling me that you’re just an illusion that I’m experiencing from my anxieties?” I blew the smoke out and stared at her through heavy-lidded eyes.

“I’m real, but I’m starting to wonder if you are. Do you know that Caesars costs a grip?”

“So I’ve heard.” I winked at her and stood as I put out the blunt. I reached for her hand, and she eyed mine carefully. “I’m safe. If you don’t trust me, you can head over there and meet me on your own.”

“I trust you.”

“Good. I’m Micaiah.”

I found myself overwhelmed at the book event that I had looked forward to all year. I had been having a great time until Tyrus called me after the last session. He called to tell me that he didn’t think we would work, and he had met someone else. He knew I was out of town, and he wanted to tell me before someone else or social media did. He said it was the respectful thing to do.

Myron had popped up earlier and surprised Symone, and the two were locked in like the couple of the year. Wherever she went, he was right there. I was happy for my friend, and I loved how he loved her, so I didn’t say anything or remind her that she was there to support me.

Symone wasn’t an avid reader, so whenever we went to book conventions, it was all in support of me. Since Myron arrived, everything changed. He found things to do in the city that had nothing to do with the book convention. More often than not, they were slipping away from me.

I was on my own, and I had no one to talk to in my darkest moment. My mind twirled with past conversations I had with the girls about my dating life, as well as the handful of boyfriends I’d had over the years.

There were plenty of other readers at the book conference who I knew, but none that I felt close enough to share my personal business with. The session I attended after the phone call was all about relationship goals. A question arose about the longest relationship the attendants had been involved in. The answers varied, but mine was the shortest with nine months at my big age of thirty-six. Even some of the younger readers had relationships that outlasted mine.

There were some teasing comments like, “Girl, we’re gonna start calling you Love ’em and leave ’em Lucy,” or “Heartbreak Hope.” While it was all supposedly in good fun, it was painful, especially when I heard one young girl mutter to her friend, “Damn, she must be run through.” All this was on the heels of being dumped.

People often assumed that because I had never had a lengthy relationship that I was a ho, and nothing could be further from the truth. I was a thirty-six-year-old virgin, and I was ready to risk it all for a night of romance. I wanted one night where I felt desired by a man, and he made me feel beautiful, like a princess, and cared for.

After the session ended, everyone went to the conference room for a big party. I skipped out and went to my room, hoping to find Symone so we could chat. When I arrived and found that she wasn’t there, I texted to see where she was. She and Myron had gone to some restaurant they had been wanting to try and would be gone for another hour or so. After a while, I left the room because my thoughts were driving me crazy. Knowing that I was lonely here and would be lonely when I returned home wasn’t helping matters. I headed out of my room, and somehow, my feet led me to the roof.

I was startled when the tall, dark man came out of the stairwell onto the roof. I had planned to slip away unnoticed, but I was mesmerized by him. He was clearly in the throes of some sort of attack the way that he was breathing. I prayed that he didn’t pass out, and I didn’t have to call 911. I watched him for a while, and when I saw him practicing anxiety techniques to calm himself, I figured the threat had passed. Yet, I wanted to stick around to make sure. It took nothing but the scent of his cologne to remind me of my own despair, and I was back crying again.

Micaiah made it easy to open up to him. We had been talking for over an hour, and I could tell that he was unassuming, confident, and he seemed to genuinely be interested in me. When he suggested we go to the restaurant across the street, I took him up on that offer. No matter how comfortable I felt with him, I knew that I didn’t need to be in the dark on the rooftop with a stranger, especially when no one knew where I was.

We had been chilling here for the last hour now just talking.

“You seem to be such a warm-hearted and generous person. What’s your zodiac sign?” I asked.

“Leo.”

“Mm.”

“What?” he asked with a smirk on his full, heart-shaped lips, making the twin dimples in his cheeks twinkle at me.

“You Leos have been known to be arrogant.”

He chuckled, a low smoky sound. “Is that right? Do I seem arrogant to you?”

“I would say confident, not arrogant, but I don’t know you.”

“What you see is what you get,” he replied.

I tilted my head, thinking that I liked what I saw. His rich, cocoa-colored skin was smooth and even toned. Thick, bushy eyebrows looked like silk. His hooded, almond-shaped, russet brown eyes sparkled like the stars in the sky from a diamond-shaped face.

He was tall, but most people usually were tall when I stood beside them. It was cold outside, and he wore a hoodie. His body was mostly covered, but I could see tattoos on his neck and hands.

“It’s not a bad package.” My eyes flew open wide as he chuckled. “Did I say that aloud?”

“You did,” he replied, nodding and smiling at me. “But it’s okay. Your package is definitely wrapped up nicely with a bow.”

I blushed, and I was thankful that my hazelnut-colored skin was just brown enough not to show that I was blushing.

His grin was the sexiest one that I had ever seen with just a peep under those full, heart-shaped lips at the straight, even white teeth behind them. It was like he was teasing me for what was to come.