Page 13 of The Lockdown Mann

“We’re wearing her down,” he teases.

I lose myself in the conversation, trying to keep my eyes off Oakley.

The kids are in the pool, and he’s got his legs in, sitting on the edge, trying to shoot a basket in the hoop at the end of the pool.

The drink I got earlier goes right through me, so I excuse myself, going into the house to take a quick piss. Once my hands are washed, I lean against the wall and pull my phone out. There’s a message from OnTheBeach27 that I haven’t seen, so I click it.

I don’t know what in the hell I’m doing messaging with this random guy. If it was just with a plan to fuck, it would be one thing, but we’re just…talking. And for whatever reason, I click with him. He doesn’t put me on edge the way Oakley does, and shit, that motherfucker really needs to get out of my head.

OnTheBeach27: How’s it going today?

He doesn’t know where I am, of course, or what I’m doing. I’ve still kept my identity from him, and while I do talk about my friends, it’s on a superficial level.

Me: All right. I’m with someone annoying today. You?

I smile at myself, which is dumb as fuck. Why am I smiling at calling Oakley annoying as though he knows or cares?

When OnTheBeach27 doesn’t respond right away, I shove my phone back into my pocket and head out of the house.

Hunter is at the grill, so I head over to see him. “You need some help?”

“Oakley was just offering the same thing. Do you guys think I can’t grill?”

“Nah, we just know we can do it better.” I wink, and he shakes his head, but there’s a small smile on his face. “Well, at least I can. I don’t know about him.”

“What’s with the two of you? You’re always nitpicking at each other.”

“He does make it easy,” I tease.

“You get under his skin. It’s funny. No one else does that to him.”

Because I was the first man he ever kissed? Maybe the only one? It’s not like I can tell my best friend that I probably represent something Oakley would do anything to forget, so I bullshit my way out of it. “I guess it’s just because no one else is as good as me.”

“Fucker.” He pretends to try to pinch me with the tongs, but then we settle in and just chat while he grills the chicken and burgers.

Every now and again, my eyes are drawn back to Oakley. He’s taken his shirt off, his gorgeous brown skin slick with what might be a mixture of sweat and water from the pool. Every so often, he sticks his hand in, cupping water into it and then letting it roll down his shoulders, and damn if I don’t wish I could lick it off.

Which makes me feel like an asshole, because I shouldn’t be lusting after a guy who’s basically married, especially not in front of his kid.

But then, this is Oakley. He’s always done something to me that I can’t put into words, and that’s exactly what makes me want to stay far away from him.

CHAPTER FOUR

Oakley

Even though the split is completely amicable and Ree and I are still the best of friends, we’ve started making it a point to do more things apart. We figure that will be a soft launch of our separation. It’s a way for people to start getting more used to looking at us as two separate people rather than a couple. We’ve been together so long, each of us not having any other relationships outside of each other, that nearly everyone that knows us sees us as a package deal, as one and the same—Serena and Oakley.

Plus, it’s good for Tiana too. It’s not as if I never take my daughter out without Serena or anything, and Ree is often running her to places solo during football season, but before, we didn’t do this kind of stuff apart unless we had to. While we’ll still be a family and spend time together as a family, there will be more situations like this when I officially move out, and everyone we love knows the truth.

She’s out with friends today, and I wanted to take T with me, so here we are.

I try to avoid Desmond as much as possible, but my eyes are drawn to him more often than not. He’s put on more muscle since high school, of course. He wears a diamond in each ear now, which he didn’t when we were younger either. The short beard and mustache are new, too, and I’m a fan. Fuck, I shouldn’t be thinking that about him.

This would be a whole lot easier if he wasn’t so damn fine, but then, there are a lot of good-looking people in the world, and none of them get to me the way he does.

After we finish eating, I sneak away to check my phone. GameOn057 replied to me a while ago, but I didn’t see it until now. I’m surprised we’ve kept talking. It’s so unlike me, but I enjoy my conversations with him, enjoy having someone anonymous that I can just chat with.

GameOn057: All right. I’m with someone annoying today. You?