Read Love Is Overdue for Free Online Page A

fingers without skipping a
beat.
    “ Hey, so can I
ask you something?” He turned back to me as soon as our waitress
was gone.
    I smiled. “Sure. What’s
up?”
    “ Who’s that dude
in so many of your pics online?”
    I kind of laughed, flattered
at his curiosity. I knew who he was talking about but I decided to
ask anyway. “Which dude is that?”
    He smiled at me again. “That
black dude you keep huggin’ up in all your pictures...”
    “ Oh that’s just
my boy, Tony,” I teased him. “We go way back.”
    He raised his eyebrows at
me. “Oh yeah?”
    I nodded. “Yeah, since high
school... We been best friends for forever but we’re always hot and
cold too...whenever he’s chasin’ some new piece of ass he drops me
like a dirty shirt for at least a couple months...” I shrugged.
“Just the way it is, I guess. I still love him though.”
    Ben was giving me the
strangest look.
    I eyed him, confused.
“What?”
    “ You lost me,” he
admitted.
    I sighed. “Well, you know
how it is...most girls are in the habit of ditchin’ their friends
for a while whenever a new man pops into their lives – Tony’s no
different.”
    He was still giving me that
same horribly confused expression until something slowly started to
dawn on him. “Whoa...hold up a minute -” He sat up a little further
in his seat.
    I laughed. “What?” I was
confused too until something started dawning on me as well and my
eyes went wide. “Don’t tell me you couldn’t tell he’s gay!” I
laughed again, covering my mouth with my hand. “Sorry, I just
assumed...I mean, Tony’s just such a flamer, it didn’t dawn on me
that anyone could think he was straight...”
    “ Damn, girl...” Ben sucked his teeth and leaned back in his
seat again, running his hand back over his head for a minute. But
then he sighed. “You had me pretty scared there for a
minute... Fuck. ” He seemed to be
debating the thought again. Then he eyed me closely. “So you sayin’
your best friend’s a dude – a black guy too – and he’s gay.” He
repeated it.
    I sighed. “You don’t have a
problem with that, do you?” I couldn’t hide my disappointment.
Black guys – especially Caribbean guys – generally tended to run in
the opposite direction, or at the very least, voice their grave
“concerns” over the whole idea of my friendship with
Tony.
    But Ben just sucked his
teeth at me again, shrugging it off. “No girl, relax...” He smiled
at me. “I don’t got no problem with that,” he assured me. “Just
because I’m a dread from da islands don’t necessarily mean am some
ignorant, homophobic prick or anything…but I understand your
concern,” he threw in, teasing me.
    I smiled. “I’m sorry. It’s
just that it’s kinda been a deal-breaker for me in the
past.”
    “ How you
mean?”
    “ Well...in the
past...when a guy I’m interested in finds out that instead of maybe
the usual pain-in-the-ass best friend he’s typically used to
dealing with in a relationship turns out to be a raging diva with a
dick, they usually tend to run in the opposite direction,” I
admitted.
    Ben
laughed at that. “He really that bad?” he wondered, looking amused.
“I thought he was your ‘boy’ – why you go talkin’
‘bout him like that?”
    I rolled my eyes. “Because
it’s the truth – and he knows it,” I admitted. “But he’s seeing
someone now so he’s already kicked my ass to the curb again for the
time being. Maybe I’m a little bitter.”
    Ben gave me a knowing
glance. “It’s all good,” he said slowly, watching me. “More time
for me.”
    My heart did a little flip.
“So what about you?” I wondered then. “Do you have any
deal-breakers I need to know about? Any dusty skeletons hanging out
in your closet?”
    He let out a little laugh.
“Damn, you not letting up on me tonight, are you?” He thought for a
minute. “But to be honest with you...” He leaned forward slowly. “I
may not be used to this whole dating