My Kind Of Bad

Neera rolled onto her back and smiled as she thought of Kurt. The man was a contradiction, to say the least. He was big, macho-like and part of a biker gang but he was kind, gentle and was almost like a little boy in his smiles. She found it endearing.

She wondered what he had meant by saying he wasn’t a good boyfriend for anyone. It felt like he was warning her to stay away. Neera, however, wasn’t one to listen to warnings and wanted to know what was happening. She wanted to see Kurt again, have something close to a good relationship.

Jason had really screwed her up. Neera needed to wipe him from her mind.

A trilling sounded somewhere in the room. Her cell phone. Scrambling across the bed, Neera found it in her bag on the floor and checked the ID. Petra.

Neera swore. She was supposed to call her and let her friends know that she got home okay.

She answered the call, slipping back under the duvet and leaning back against the pillows.

“Hey, Petra.”

“Hey, girlfriend. What’s up? Did you have a good night?”

“I slept great, thank you.”

Petra laughed.

“I bet. Kurt the bouncer wore you out did he?”

Neera blushed, glad that Petra couldn’t see her.

“Actually, we didn’t do anything. He just drove me home on his motorbike and dropped me off outside my building. He didn’t come in and he didn’t spend the night.”

Although Neera was sure if she had asked and pushed it Kurt would have come in. But she was someone who didn’t have one-night stands. That was not in the cards, no matter what Elizabeth and Petra said.

“Wait, what? You went home on a motorbike?” Petra sounded impressed. “Awesome!”

“It was, actually.” Even though Kurt had cut it a bit fine on some of the turns. “I don’t know my bikes but it was a nice one.”

“I bet the driver was pretty yummy as well.”

“You could say that.”

Neera grinned. She wouldn’t deny that Kurt was a gorgeous man. Her thoughts on it had been obvious the night before. Petra would smell a rat easily.

“It’s a damn shame you didn’t sleep with him. Does that mean he’s available?”

Neera laughed.

“I doubt it. He’s asked me to a barbecue on Sunday. I think his boss is hosting it.”

“Wow, go you!” Petra gave a whoop loud enough for Neera’s ears to ring. “You’re going to get some action there.”

“Can you not think of anything else other than s*x?”

“Nope. And until my dream date with Raul Esparza comes through, it’s all I’ll be thinking about.”

Neera couldn’t stop laughing. Petra was crazy about the actor and Broadway star. She had declared herself celibate for anyone except Raul Esparza.

“What is it with you and that actor?”

“He’s hot and Hispanic. That is a yummy combo. Come on, you have to admit it yourself.”

“I’ll plead the fifth on that one.”

“Thought so.” Petra giggled. “Listen, I have to go. I’ve got a lot of work to do that I should’ve done last night. I just hope my client doesn’t can me. Be seeing you soon? You know Lizzie and I want details about Sunday.”

“I’ll see you soon but don’t hold out hope on the details.”

“Party pooper.” Petra’s pout could almost be heard over the phone but her voice was warm. “Bye, gorgeous.”

Neera hung up and tossed her phone onto the bedside cabinet. She settled back and closed her eyes. Nothing to do for now. The groceries could wait.

But then her phone rang again. Neera groaned and pulled the duvet over her head. She wasn’t going to answer the phone again. This time was hers.

However whoever was calling her wasn’t listening. They just kept ringing. After the third round of rings Neera tossed the duvet off her. No way was she getting any lie-in now.

Rolling over, she snatched up her phone and glanced at the number. She didn’t recognize it. But it must be someone who needed to speak with her. Sighing, Neera answered it.

“Hello?”

“Neera, it’s me.”

Neera sat up sharply. All thoughts of having a lie-in were gone.

“Jason? I thought I told you to lose my number.”

It was just her luck. She hadn’t heard from her ex-boyfriend for a while now and had hoped he had given up on them getting back together. Evidently he was just having a break before he came back again.

“You don’t mean that, do you, honey?” Jason drawled.

Before that drawl, all the way from Texas, would have got Neera melting under his spell. But not anymore. Neera closed her eyes and tried to control her frustration; he thrived on it.

“Yes, I do mean it. What the hell do you want, Jason?”

“I wanted to talk. Anything wrong with that?”

“Yes, there is. I told you to leave me alone.”

The man didn’t seem to understand when someone broke up with him they didn’t want anything to do with him. Jason saw it as a challenge to get the person back. He had cheated on her and expected Neera to carry on like nothing had happened. Neera was a one-man woman; no way was she sharing a boyfriend with anyone. If Jason thought he could get back into her good graces, he was mistaken.

“Come on, baby.” Jason sounded as though he was trying more than normal to get her onto his side. “You don’t really need to give me the cold shoulder after all we’ve been through, do you?”

“I do and you know why.” Neera stood and began pacing, nearly tripping over on the duvet. “Now stop calling me.”

“Neera, please…”

“And if you call me again I’m going to make sure my boyfriend knows exactly what’s going on.”

That came out of her mouth before Neera could stop it. There was silence on the other end.

“You have a boyfriend?”

Jason sounded surprised. Not as surprised as Neera.

“Yes, I do.” Neera lied. “I’m not available, I don’t want to know you and I don’t want to talk to you. Now fu*k off!”

She hung up and promptly turned off her phone. Then she threw it onto the bed and stalked towards the bathroom. That was her Saturday gone now. Jason had a habit of ruining things.

He had been doing it in their whole relationship.