Enticing Mr. Wrong - Ch. 22.1

E-Blade fought not to scowl at the sight of Bonz and Aisha together. He’d hoped against hope that she would be just another one-night-stand for his friend. Shoot, E-Blade would have settled for Aisha being a two-night-stand. Yet here it was almost three weeks later and she was still hanging around Bonz.

I don’t like her, E-Blade thought, not even sure why at this point. It wasn’t like Aisha had done anything wrong to him or anyone else in their group.

That was it! The fact that Aisha hadn’t done anything wrong is what peeved E-Blade the most. Up until now, everything she’d done or said was right and on point.

From experience, E-Blade knew that anything that was too good to be true usually was. Plus, Aisha just didn’t seem street enough to date a man like Bonz, though she sometimes acted like it.

Now that Cami…she’s straight gutter, E-Blade mused. A wave of desire shot through him at the very thought of Delia’s cousin. The same cousin that was still living with them because Aisha snag Bonz first.

E-Blade usually didn’t covet his friends’ leftovers. However, since Bonz and Cami never officially got around to dating, much less sleeping together, she couldn’t really be considered as leftovers.

It was interesting that E-Blade was more concerned with crossing friendship boundaries than he was about betraying Delia, the woman he claimed to love. The same woman that was walking up to him at this very moment.

“She’s the reason Cami couldn’t come today,” Delia said, sprouting her usual negativism.

E-Blade nodded, knowing exactly who ‘she’ was. Aisha’s name was mud in his household these days. “Alexis was just tryna keep down confusion by not inviting yo’ cousin, so stop trippin’.”

Truth be known, E-Blade didn’t really want Cami here today, either. Whenever Bonz was around, she seemed to forget that other men existed. That secretly drove E-Blade up the wall.

Unfortunately, Cami wasn’t the first woman to be star struck over Bonz. There had been many women like that over the years. Some of them even included women E-Blade had dated.

E-Blade hated how whenever he met a woman and introduced her to Bonz, that woman would suddenly lose interest in him and start favoring his friend. Though Bonz had never crossed friendship boundaries and dated any of those women, E-Blade still waited to introduce Delia to him when the time came. In fact, Bonz only got to meet Delia after she was already in love with E-Blade and pregnant with his namesake - Esteban Jr.

“Well, there wouldn’t have been any confusion if Bonz had just stayed with my cousin,” Delia continued, sitting in the chair next to where E-Blade stood monitoring the gas grill. “If he had, Cami would probably be in her own place right now.”

“It ain’t like we don’t have enough room, Dee.” E-Blade was already tired of this conversation. He could feel a nag coming on.

Delia had become the queen of all naggers over the years. It was hard to believe that there was a time when her sweet voice was capable of softening E-Blade’s hard outer shell, her smile capable of making him feel worthy of love. Now those traits only served to irritate him, to remind him of what he’d lost.

“Well, it feels like the house has become a matchbox,” Delia continued, oblivious to the things going through her man’s head as usual. “Cami won’t stay on the top level of the house and Little Man comes to me for everything, like he ain’t got no mama.” She frowned her displeasure at her cousin’s obvious flaw. “I know some women ain’t good with children, but not even their own?”

Needing to change the subject to something less irritating, E-Blade said, “How long do you think that’s gonna last?” He nodded towards the poolside lounge chair where Aisha was currently being rubbed down with sunscreen by Bonz.

Delia looked where he indicated. Her frown instantly deepened. “Probably forever. Look how wide she got his nose open. I don’t think Bonz even remembers that the rest of us are here. Plus, this is the first time he has ever dropped all his other women for just one,” Delia replied, her words becoming laced with jealousy at the end. After all, she wished her man would drop all of his other women for her.

E-Blade hadn’t been faithful to Delia since she stopped liking sex after their first child. Though she’d gotten her figure back after each pregnancy and made a habit of dressing sexy for him, he still only paid marginal attention to her.

While Delia soaked in her jealousy, E-Blade meditated on how he could extract Aisha from their little circle. Directly coming against her would only cause trouble between him and Bonz. Since that wasn’t good for business, E-Blade knew that he would have to find an indirect route to get rid of Aisha.

I know. I’ll get him tied up with that new strip joint I got my eyes on, E-Blade mused, ready to pretend that he needed Bonz’s business advice more than he actually did.

For the longest time Bonz had been after E-Blade to start investing in legitimate business ventures. They weren’t going to be young forever. And with the game constantly changing, there would come a time when they wouldn’t be able to make their living from the streets.

Though a gentlemen’s club wasn’t as straight laced as some of his friends’ businesses, it was a move in the right direction for E-Blade. It was also the perfect way to remind Bonz of who he was – the biggest playa on this side of the Atlantic. An added benefit is the fact that being surrounded by so many sexy, half-naked women on a steady basis might just dilute Bonz’s interest in the one he was with today.

© 2005 by Suprina Frazier