Try Me

3.

- I make money moves.

The day after our night out, Lea and I stood in line at a coffee shop; she wasn't nearly as hungover as I was, though we were both in desperate need of a caffeine boost. "I'm never going out with you again." I groaned, while adjusting my sunglasses.

Lea simply smiled at me, "You're lying to me and you're lying to yourself if you believe that." She teased, "Plus, we were barely together; I noticed that a certain dark chocolate sensation was monopolizing your time." Lea nudged me playfully, then gave her attention to the barista.

"Jason was nice, I'm kind of embarrassed about how sloppy I was last night though; the embarrassment has stopped me from returning his calls Le! I don't even think that I'm going to send the text." I said, referring to my final dare.

Lea's eyebrows rose as if she was calling my bluff. "Whatever you say, you better stretch and stock up on energy drinks if that's how you feel; inventory is difficult enough when it's you, Jazzy and I." She wasn't wrong, taking inventory and managing shipments for our boutique was extremely time consuming; I wasn't sure how long it would take if I did it alone. "Now on to me, the guy that I talked to for the dare was so amazing KiKi! He was actually really sweet, and I gave him my number. He even texted me to make sure I got home safe." Lea sported a wide grin as she spoke, we grabbed our coffees and went to find a seat.

"Tell me everything, what's his name? Are you gonna go out with him?" I asked her, happy to get the attention off of me.

"His name is Darian and he's an artist and gallery owner, I don't know if we're gonna go out because I wanna focus on the store. It's really important that we get everything done right." Lea's smile faltered but I was quick to stop that line of thinking.

"That's why there's three of us, you can have a boo thang and still do what you need to do with the store, you know that me and Jazzy have your back for life Le. Plus, if one of us deserves a sweet guy it's you." Lea was a beautiful and intelligent woman, but her track record with men left a lot to be desired; she always said that she attracted cheaters. "You don't have to marry the guy but you can go on a few dates to see if he's still as sweet as the night you met. Don't block your blessings Le."

"I'll text him later and see what's up." Her mood had improved significantly, "Now remember what you said and text Jason, take your own advice for once." She gave me a knowing look and then checked the time, "The realtor is meeting us at the first spot in twenty minutes."

"You tricked me!" I gasped, realizing that she'd never really been doubting Darian. "Let's go, I can't believe you just mind tricked me." We gathered our stuff and made our way to the location, it wasn't far from where we were so we had time to stroll while we continued our conversation.

Lea cleared her throat, "I just don't want you to be afraid of commitment forever, give it a try and you can beat me up if it's a waste of time."

I had major commitment issues, I would never let a guy get too comfortable; if and when they did, I would cut them off. Something about the idea of being tied down made me lose interest in whoever I was dating, it was like that for the last three years.

In my freshman year of college, I had a boyfriend who treated me like the scum of the earth, he cheated and constantly put me down about everything. It was then that I lost my self-confidence and no matter what he did, I would stay with him because he made me believe that I was lucky to have him. Eventually he broke up with me because he said that I was pathetic, and he was embarrassed of me. After that I refused to get too comfortable with a man, Lea helped me to rebuild my confidence and I had been happy ever since. She was there for the whole relationship, so she knew why I was the way I was, but she constantly encouraged me to give a guy a real chance; subconsciously I knew that she was right, but it was easier said than done.