Sharing yet another teaser from Book 2 of my McClain Brothers series. It is unedited and subject to change. I'm still working on this book, but I'm in the home stretch. Will let you all know when I have a released date.
Enjoy!!
Leland
I stood on the sideline
and watched the hoard of twelve and thirteen-year-olds dribble balls, joke
around, and mostly gawk at me despite the fact that I was standing right next to
my boy, Polo, who was damn near seven feet tall, a big Shaquille O'Neal-built nigga who was always wearing
a mug although he wouldn’t hurt a fly. I guess it was because I was new to the
area and my team, or maybe because—
“Daaaaaamn, she fine!” Polo muttered under his breath. “Look at her booty!”
I followed his line of
sight to her—tight beige skirt that fit her wide hips perfectly and stopped
just above her knees so that those big legs of hers were on display. Sleeveless
red blouse, huge layered pearl necklace, hair in some kind of fancy cornrowed
pattern, smooth Lupita Nyong’o skin. Yeah, she was undoubtedly fine. No, bump
that. She was sexy as hell.
Nevertheless, I turned to
him and shrugged. “She a’ight. A little too young for me, though. You know how
I do.”
Polo shook his head.
“Yeah, I remember back in college while the rest of us was trying to get with
the cheerleaders and those fine-ass sprinters, your ass was always sniffing in
behind some professor.”
“Or one of those
cheerleaders’ mamas. They were all fine!”
Polo laughed. “I will
never understand you. And her? She older than us, ain’t she? I mean, she don’t
look it, but...”
“Like I said, she ain’t
old enough for me. I like my women seasoned. She salt and pepper, maybe a dash
of paprika. I like ‘em with salt, pepper, paprika, Old Bay, garlic powder, Goya,
muh-fuckin’ lemon pepper, cayenne pepper, and
some Mrs. Dash. And she ain’t thick enough, either. Plus, you already know—”
“Mr. Logan, I’m so glad
you could help us out with the program,” her voice interrupted me. I didn’t
realize she’d made it over to us. Damn, she smelled good.
Polo nodded, licked his
lips, and gave her a smile that I guess was supposed to be seductive but
definitely wasn’t. “Call me Polo, and it’s no problem. I love the kids.”
She returned his smile,
and I couldn’t take my eyes off her mouth. Her lower lip was bigger than her
top lip. I bet they taste good as hell.
“And Mr. McClain, I want to
especially thank you for agreeing to help us out. I know you had every reason
to back out of this commitment, and no one would blame you if you did,” she
said.
I raised my eyes from her
lips to her up-turned, black-brown eyes. “It’s all good. I made a promise and I
don’t break promises, Ms. Hampton. I’m looking forward to working with these
kids, and I’m honored to get a personal thank you from the center’s director.”
She blinked, and her eyes
softened a little, losing the apprehension I’d seen in them when she first
approached us. “I figured it was the least I could do since you are
volunteering your time here. Well, let me introduce you gentlemen to our boys
and then you two can get to it. Thanks again, Mr. McClain, Polo.”
“No problem, Ms. Hampton,”
I said.
“You got it,” was Polo’s
response.
I watched as she walked
away—okay, I actually watched her ass walk away from me. Damn! She was fine,
like...for real. But anyway, she approached the thirty or so young men
scattered on the basketball court then turned and shot another smile at me.
“All right, I’m sure you boys know these gentlemen, or at least know of them, but
I’d like to give you all a formal introduction to them. For the basketball camp
portion of our summer program, you’ll be learning skills from some NBA players,
including these two players from our own St. Louis Cyclones basketball team! First,
we have Mr. Paul “Polo” Logan. Let’s welcome him!”
The boys clapped and
yelled for my current teammate and old college classmate/teammate.
“And,” Kimberly Hampton
continued, “a new Cyclone, formerly with the Heat, Mr. Leland McClain...let’s
welcome him, too!”
More applause and louder
yells, or maybe that was what my ego heard, but anyway, it was a nice
reception, and a minute or so later when Polo and I separated the boys into two
groups to begin teaching them the principals of basketball, I was wearing a
smile.
