Free Entangled by K. Elliott

Has this whole idea changed? he wondered. Had he drifted out of his league? After all, Dream was an intelligent career woman who didn’t need his money.
He went into his bedroom and pulled a box of belongings from underneath his bed. The box contained letters he’d gotten while in prison and a small picture of him and his mother at an amusement park on his eighth birthday. He stared at the picture. He noticed that his mother and Dream had the same build and that they were the same complexion. He wondered if he had seen his mother in Dream, who was not the type he normally dated. He had dated mostly girls from the street, whose friends didn’t know what table manners were. Jamal thought about finding someone else to date, but he wanted Dream.
Dream had called Jamal the next day, and he apologized again for how Dawg had acted. She accepted his apology but didn’t want to talk about what had happened again. She’d given him directions to her apartment, but before arriving, he had stopped at Blockbuster and rented Men of Honor .
Midway through the movie they were all over each other. When Jamal finally attempted to pull Dream’s underwear down, she stopped him. “Wait. Let’s get in the shower first,” she suggested.
While in the shower she washed his back, and she asked him to wash hers. He started, but he was unable to finish once his eyes locked in on her ass. He drove his sex inside her, and when she moaned, her voice was filled with pleasure. The water was hot and refreshing as he grinded slowly and rhythmically. Finally, he turned her towards him. She stuck her tongue in his ear before biting down on his neck. He then picked her up and carried her to the bedroom and finished being the man she knew he was.
The next day Jamal came over with The Brothers and the day after it was Love Jones . On the fourth day he brought Kings of Comedy . She laughed when she opened the door.
“What’s so funny?” he asked.
“I see a pattern starting here.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I mean, every day this week you’ve come over, brought a movie, and we’ve fucked. We have got to start doing something else.”
“What else is there to do?”
“How about you and me go have dinner with my parents?”
“That’s cool,” he quickly responded, though he didn’t really want to meet her parents.
CHAPTER 7
    J AMAL HATED THE N ELSONS immediately. They were too perfect, and they talked too much. The girls he had dealt with in the past had major drama in their families, like infidelity or substance abuse. Never had he imagined sitting at the dinner table with the perfect family, passing potatoes and green beans after saying grace and answering questions about his personal life during the meal.
“So, Jamal, where did you go to school?” Mr. Nelson asked.
    David Nelson was a dark, slender man with salt-and-pepper hair. “I went to Garinger High School,” Jamal answered. David Nelson frowned. “Did you attend college?”
“No. Didn’t want to go,” Jamal said, placing his elbows on the
    table.
“Why not?” Janice Nelson asked.
“’Cause I was tired of school,” he answered. “Besides I’m doing
    okay for myself.”
“What is it that you do?” Janice asked.
“He sells urban clothing. You know it’s a lot of money in that,”
Dream lied, not knowing what else to say. “Could y’all just chill with the questions?”
    Mr. Nelson stared at his daughter oddly before buttering his roll. “Well, baby, we’re just trying to get to know your friend. Don’t get upset.”
“It’s okay,” Jamal said, turning to Dream.
    “See, Jamal doesn’t mind,” Janice said before resuming the questioning. “Who are your parents and where do they work?”
Jamal wished he could say something extraordinary about his parents. He thought about lying but quickly decided not to. He didn’t owe these people anything, and he surely didn’t have to see them again if he didn’t want to. He took a quick sip from his water before he