The Single Life with Zola Patterson - Danielle Allen Page 0,32
to lock that down. But honestly, I’m not looking for that. I’m enjoying my experiences. It’s making me a better writer. It’s making me a more informed—”
The knock at the door interrupted my sentence and took me by surprise. I wasn’t expecting anyone else.
“Who is coming to the dinner party late?” Kia wondered as I rose to my feet.
“Maybe it’s Milan?” Trenton offered.
“Let me go get another plate before somebody come in here and try to eat the rest of that chicken,” Joe said as he left the table to get more.
The second round of knocks propelled me across the loft, and I looked through the peephole.
What the hell?
I was statue-still for a moment as I looked at him through the tiny hole. It was a full five seconds before I was able to move again and annoyance washed over me.
I answered the door.
“Cameron, what are you doing here?” I asked, my tone void of warmth.
His lips curled up into his cute little smile. “You asked me to do something for you, but I had to leave. So, I wanted to surprise you and take care of it.”
The heated look he gave me let me know exactly what he was talking about.
I shook my head. “Showing up unannounced is unacceptable.”
He caressed my cheek. “You didn’t seem to mind the other day.”
I was so irritated—both with him and myself. Clearly that was a mistake.
Lowering my voice, I reiterated my point. “I’m not available. Please do not stop by without an invitation again—under any circumstance.”
“Zo, you good?” Trenton called out.
For the first time, Cameron broke eye contact with me. Stepping forward, into my loft, he attempted to look around the corner. I put my hand on his chest to keep him from coming all the way in.
“Cam, what are you doing? Stop.”
“Are you on a date?” The way Cameron’s eyes widened and filled with a mixture of anger and hurt gave me pause. “I just—”
“Zo?” Kia called out.
A confused look crossed his face.
I sighed. “I’m spending time with my friends. I will call you back. I’ve been busy. But you can’t just stop by without an invitation ever again. It’s not—”
“Who is this?” Kia questioned as she appeared at my side.
I sighed. “Kia, this is Cameron. Cameron, this is Kia,” I introduced them and heard a stampede of feet shuffling to the door. I looked over my shoulder to see my friends gathered to see the man at the door.
I was beyond annoyed at that point.
After a quick introduction, I sent Cameron on his way home and then made a beeline for my glass of wine. No one said anything until I had sat down.
“So… are we gonna talk about the random dude that showed up to fuck and stake his claim or are we going to act like that didn’t happen?” Joe asked.
Everyone cackled.
I swallowed my laugh and glared at him. “He didn’t come over here to fuck!”
“Ah, stake his claim then.” He nodded knowingly. “I know the surprise pop up move. When I was ready to make things official with Blythe, I did it. My uncle told me a long time ago that if a woman allows you to show up to her house without calling first, that’s when you know it’s real.”
“No,” Kia, Nikki, Kenya, and I said in unison.
“We hate that,” Nikki added.
“Unless we are in a relationship and you have a key, don’t do that,” Kia reiterated.
“There’s nothing worse than someone showing up uninvited,” Kenya chimed in.
“This is why I do what I do,” I pointed out. “There’s too much wrong advice going around.”
“There’s a lot of avoidance going around, too,” Nikki stated, turning in her chair to look at me. “Who is Cameron and why isn’t he your man?”
“Cameron is a man that I’m dating and he’s not my man because he’s not the one,” I answered honestly.
“Is he a good man? Is he good to you?” Kenya asked.
“Yes, of course. If he wasn’t, I wouldn’t date him.”
“Is the sex bad?” Nikki asked.
Kia snorted and put her head down.
I glared at her as I answered. “No, quite the opposite, actually.”
“Make it make sense,” Nikki inquired, throwing her hand in the air. “If a man looked like that, was good to me, and the sex was good, I’d marry him. Today. Not tomorrow. Tuh-day!”
Nodding, I laughed along with the others. “I get that. But he’s not the one. We’re just casually dating.”
And soon we will be over.
“Is Jeremiah the one?” Trenton asked.
Kia’s eyes widened. “Oh! Jeremiah is