“Imani,” I say drawing her name out, so she knows I’m this close to pouncing.
She sighs heavily. “Everything is fine.”
She’s lying. I know she is, but it’s obvious that she doesn’t want to talk about whatever may be going on with her and Max. I know she’ll tell me when she’s ready, so I’ll let it go.
“Alright, I’ll be ready at seven,” I say.
“Perfect, I’ll come to your place, and invite Mya too if she’s not too busy.”
“Okay, I’ll see you later.”
We say our goodbyes and hang up. The only other person that I initially told about my dream to self-publish was Levi. At first, I didn’t want him to read any of my words. I was afraid of what he would think of the story and me, especially after reading the sex scenes. But he never batted an eye. In fact, he gave me some really constructive criticism on how to improve certain aspects of my story. From that point on whenever, I’ve written a book that includes the man’s perspective, I always ask him to read it.
There is no better person to get the male perspective from than him, in my opinion. Before I know it, I’m dialing his number. He answers on the second ring.
“Hey, baby girl.”
Almost instantly, my heart starts racing. How can he still do that to me? After all these years, just hearing his deep voice in my ear has a crazy effect on me.
“Hey, are you busy?” I can hear voices and laughter in the background, and it hits me that he must still be at his photo shoot.
Not only is Levi my best friend, he’s also a world-famous supermodel. He started off doing some side projects during our freshman year of college. He only got busier and more sought after. It got to the point where he had to stop going to classes for a while. He’s been taking classes online when he has the time. I know he wants to finish his degree in business management but he just hasn’t had the time.
It’s only been three years since Levi started modeling full time and he’s already one of the biggest names in the modeling industry. He’s done several campaigns for big and small clothing companies, different brands of colognes, commercials and practically everything in between. It’s not uncommon for me to catch a commercial for a name brand cologne or clothing store on TV with him in it. It’s also not uncommon for me to see his picture on the sides of buses or plastered on a promotional billboard in the mall.
I couldn’t be prouder of him. When he started, his biggest concern was whether people would take him seriously because of how well known his family is, but he worked hard. Harder than anybody else I know to build himself up to the point he’s at right now in his career.
“You know I’m never too busy for you.”
Warmth spreads through me at the tone of his voice. I’ll never get tired of hearing him say things like that to me.
“I have some good news.”
“Oh yeah? What is it?”
I hear laughter and talking on his side of the line.
“Hang on a second, let me go somewhere quieter.”
The noise begins to fade and a few seconds later he comes back on the line. “Okay, now what’s this good news?”
“Tempting Fate hit the top ten in the entire Amazon bookstore.”
“Hey, that’s great. I’m so proud of you baby girl.” The pride in his voice is so unmistakable that I find myself grinning harder.
“Thank you.”
“This shoot should be wrapping up tomorrow, which means I’ll be back in town soon. I’ll take you out to dinner when I get back.”
His travel schedule has been really busy lately. Well, busier than it usually is. Even during his busiest times, we’ve always managed to see each other once a week, but that hasn’t been possible over the last three weeks.
“That sounds great. I’ll pick the restaurant this time.”
“Fine, as long as it’s not Lu-,” His word are cut off by two distinct voices in the background.
“Hey, Levi, we’re about to get out of here” a deep male voice says. I recognize that voice as Jayce, one of Levi’s model friends that I’ve met several times over the past few years. He’s always been really nice, he’s one of the good guys in the industry.
“Yeah, we’re gonna hit up that club we passed on the way over,” a feminine voice says.
My heart sinks, I recognize that voice too. Brianna, another model that Levi’s worked closely with over the past few years. And when I say closely, I mean very closely. Some of the photo shoots they’ve done would make a porn star blush. They’ve appeared in several ads together for clothing campaigns and colognes.
But those ads aren’t what bother me the most. It’s the commercials. It’s the way she’s draped all over him. It’s the way they’re looking at each other in those commercials that makes my stomach turn. I’ve heard Levi and even Jayce say that it’s acting and that they have to make it seem as though they’re in love. It still doesn’t make it any easier to watch or look at on television
“Yeah, I’ll be there soon,” Levi says.
“Hey, baby girl? I’ll call you back later, okay?”
“Is that Mia?” I hear Jayce say, and he sounds closer than he was a few moments ago.
“Yes, asshole. Now step back from the phone,” Levi says.
“Hey, Mia! I’ll be in Chicago next week. Can you bake me some of your banana bread?” Jayce yells.
I can’t help but smile at the request. A few years back, Levi and Jayce
