The One That Got Away Read Online Free

door open, please. This steam is driving me crazy.” Then after a pause, “So am I gonna get sued, or what?”
    â€œWell, with as many fools as there are today, you about asked for a lawsuit, didn’t you?” Shaking her head, Jade crossed the floor and took a seat on the sink’s marble countertop as Serena teased her own hair. After going with a short, professionally tapered natural for the past year, she had let her wavy locks grow long enough to be styled in a short, layered cut. It wasn’t shampoo night, so a few more laps with the comb and she’d be done.
    After Jade comforted her with the news that Candace’s friends had dragged her away, blaming her behavior on too much alcohol and agreeing to call things even, Serena set her comb down and looked into her girl’s brown eyes, hoping she didn’t look too desperate. At work, she had an impeccable game face—she never let people see her sweat. Even though she occasionally dropped her veil with close friends, she still had a thimble of pride to protect. “I can’t do it alone, Jade,” she finally said, embarrassed at the water pooling in her eyes.
    Sighing and wiping a tear from her own eye, Jade scooted down the sink counter, close enough to cover one of Serena’s dewy hands with her own crisp, cool ones. From the moment they’d left Cincinnati on Friday morning, Jade had been asking prying questions, her suspicion of Serena’s family troubles written on her face. Jade gazed at her patiently, as if she knew her friend was finally ready to get real. “Well, well. Serena Kincaid admits to a weakness, fancy that. Stop bottling everything up, girl. Just speak.”
    â€œYou might have guessed this isn’t about Jamie’s inability to keep his dick to himself,” Serena said, her eyes on the counter.
    She didn’t need to elaborate on that point. Kym and Jade had introduced Serena to Jamie back in their college days, when he was the biggest basketball star Northwestern had seen in decades. The night he first approached Serena at a house party, respectfully asking for a dance just hours after Tony began sawing into her heart by breaking their third date in a row, she figured he was right on time. A tall, handsome, and courteous star athlete seemed just what the doctor ordered.
    Unfortunately, Jamie had always been the order of numerous other females, too, a fact she’d tolerated as his lover, baby’s mama, and spouse. He had a demanding appetite for women, one that required feeding during his short stint in the bowels of the NBA, where he’d spent half his time on the road, and even once he returned home after being released by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Although Jamie was discreet about his business, Serena had been both disappointed and relieved when he decided to go play ball in Italy for an international league. Disappointed to have her husband and kids’ father gone for six months of every year, but relieved that an ocean now separated her from his various mistresses.
    â€œI know it’s not about Jamie’s wandering ways—we’ve had those conversations,” Jade said, bringing her back. “So what is it?”
    â€œI need to find my husband a real job,” Serena replied, meeting Jade’s concerned stare. “It’s the only way to get him back home year-round.” Getting Jamie away from European ball wouldn’t be easy, though. The two years he’d spent working conventional jobs had been a tragicomedy. A job selling cars revealed that, while bright and charming, Jamie was too proud to do the ass-kissing necessary to close most sales. A stint using his chemistry degree at a pharmaceutical firm ended when his affair with the company’s only black vice president got both him and her fired. There had been other short-lived attempts: a substitute teaching gig he quit when a female student became infatuated and started calling the