“Okay. Brinson. I’m embarrassed. The last thing I remember is Savvy dropping me off. How did you end up here? More importantly, why are we both nude in my bed?” Olivia’s questions tumbled from her mouth one after another. “Did we have sex?”
“Well. I called you to make sure you made it home safe. We got to talking and I asked if you wanted more time with me, as I wanted with you. You said yes and gave me your address. When I got here, we picked up where we left off. Had some more drinks, and then…” Brinson nuzzled Olivia in her neck with his nose. “We ended up in your bed doing nasty things to each other.”
“What?” Olivia fled from the bed. She widened her eyes in horror. “No. I don’t do those kinds of things with strange men. I’m not a one-night-stand type of woman. Please tell me we didn’t do what you said we did.”
“We did,” Brinson teased.
“No. We didn’t. Brinson stop playing.” Olivia began pacing again.
“I’m not. I’m serious.” Brinson stood in front of Olivia to make her look him in the eyes. “What’s the big deal? We’re both adults and we had a good time together. At least, I assumed we did from the way your body responded to mine.”
“Stop talking about it. I know we’re grown. I wasn’t ready for this. I drank too much. I’ve never done anything like this before.” Olivia dropped her eyes from Brinson’s gaze.
“It’s okay. Trust me, you did everything with perfection.” Brinson traced her jaw with his fingertips. “An Olympic performance score of ten across the board.”
“Wait a minute. Where’s the condom you used?” She began walking around the bed searching for the wrapper. “Show me the condom.”
“Condom? Um. I didn’t have one on me and you don’t have any in the house. You said something about you haven’t had to use a condom since before you were married. I thought about running out to get some, but we couldn’t wait to get busy. We used nothing except good ole’ skin-on-skin. You aren’t going to find a wrapper,” Brinson admitted.
Olivia stared at Brinson in his tighty-whitey underwear. She shook her head in hopes of waking up from what had to be a nightmare. The hairs on the back of her neck prickled from anger toward herself more than at him.
She clapped her hands in front of his face and exclaimed, “No. Having unprotected sex with men I don’t know is not something I do. Do you understand what I’m saying? I don’t even know you. How could this be happening to me?”
“Look, Olivia. Calm down. I figured you were okay with it based on your actions last night. I’m sorry you’re upset. If I’d known you were going to react this way, I wouldn’t have slept with you.” Brinson tried to hug Olivia. She jerked from his grasp.
“STDs? Have you had a test for STDs recently? Do you have HIV or AIDS? What have I done?” Olivia sat on the bed and began rocking in despair.
“No. I don’t have an STD. I got tested last month. I stay on top of getting checked out. I don’t have any diseases. Are you on any kind of birth control?” Brinson questioned with new concern on his face.
“Birth control? What? No. Oh no.” The mortifying truth hit Olivia in a flash. “I’m not on birth control. I haven’t been on anything in years.” She couldn’t stop the tears from welling in her eyes. “What have I done? What if I’m pregnant?”
“Hold up, Olivia. Don’t cry.” Brinson knelt in front of her on one knee. He held her face with his hands. “I’m not worried about you being pregnant. I promise you. I pulled out in time. We don’t have anything to be concerned about.”
Olivia shrieked. “You believe the pull-out method is foolproof? Are you telling me you get checked regularly because you have unprotected sex all the time?”
“Well, sometimes I put a rubber on if a woman insists. It doesn’t feel as good. Don’t worry. I’ve perfected pulling out
instead. You know what I’m sayin’?” Brinson shrugged.
Olivia swooned after hearing his statement. She stared at him and couldn’t bring any words to her lips.
“Olivia? Olivia?” Brinson shook her shoulders. “Are you okay?”
“No. I’m not okay. I’m still a married woman. My divorce isn’t final. This isn’t supposed to be happening to me,” Olivia moaned. “How could I be this foolish?”
“It isn’t as serious as you think it is. Trust me. You’re fine.”
Olivia focused on Brinson before responding, “I think I’m in shock.”
“No problem.” Brinson lured Olivia onto her feet and directed her to the bathroom. “Tell you what. Let me go make us some breakfast. Why don’t you get in the shower and clean up? I’m sure you’ll feel better once the water hits your body.”
A sense of disorientation and disassociation flowed through her. The moment seemed like a déjà vu of waking from her sex-capade with Malcolm.
She allowed Brinson, a stranger, to turn on the water in the tub and close the bathroom door.
Olivia tossed her head back and moaned with regret about the fact her actions could put her in the ‘ho’ category for having sex with two men in one week. She realized she remained in the ‘Team Ratchet’ category.
The reflection of herself in the mirror made her reel backward. Mascara smeared beneath red-rimmed eyes. Chicken feathers would be better groomed than what stood up on her head at this moment. Her disheveled appearance explained why Brinson told her to get in the shower.
Olivia rushed to clean up to sober her mind. She realized Brinson could be robbing her blind for all she knew.
Once she dressed in a warm-up suit, she followed the smell of bacon and coffee to the kitchen.
Brinson wore one of her aprons
