She had just finished slipping into her tennis skirt when she'd heard it. The 'ping' let her know she got a message. She licked her lips, feeling her heart start to speed up. She was pathetic. It had been a week since they'd spoken and she'd gone from wanting to message him to deciding to let him initiate. She'd told Nebula about him, even showed her his picture. She had grinned as she read the messages. 

***

"You like him don't you?" She had asked, handing her back her phone. 

"I don't know him to like him." 

"Mmhm. He's cute. Dying to see the rest of his face though." 

"Me too honestly."

"For all we know, he could have gotten this picture off of the internet. How do we know it's him?" She had shrugged, eyes finding the picture of him again. 

"You should message him." Eyes wide, she looked horrified at the suggestion. 

"Hell nawl. He should message me first." 

"Yeah, okay." 

"Whatever."

"Soon, you're gonna be with a real flesh and blood man Nov. You're so terribly frustrated it's suffocating me and I don't even live with you." 

"I am not frustrated."

"Bet you if Pierre's fine face got in between them legs you'd be singing a different tune." 

"For God's sake Nebula." 

"Not all of us are like you Nov. We all can't hold out and wait." She frowned. 

"I'm not judging you. But sis, you're almost 27 years old and still a virgin." 

"And it ain't none of your business. Stop trying to hook me up. When I want to lose it, I will." 

"Alright, alright. Fine. Sorry I brought it up. I'm proud of you for hanging in there." Sucking her teeth, she rolled her eyes, putting her phone back in her purse. 

*** 

Opening it up, she read the message. 

tok1932: Nova. 

tok1932: Nova. 

Her eyebrows knit together and she frowned. What was that? Lifting fingers to key keyboard, she replied. 

novaworld555: Um.... hi? 

novaworld555: Is everything okay? 

He didn't reply right away and she found herself spoiled by his response times the first conversation they had. Chewing her lip, she began to type something else. 

novaworld555: Why did it take you so long to message me? 

novaworld555: I thought something happened to you. 

Again, no answer. Inhaling deeply, she threw her phone back in her tennis bag. Heading into the living room, she put on her visor and grabbed her keys. She was nervous as hell already about this day. Pierre was nice but she...You don't even know him. Give him a chance. Sighing, she stepped out and locked the door. This had better be worth it. 

*** 

When she pulled up, Nebula and Henri were already hugged up, him showing her how to serve. Pursing her lips, she got out of her car with a sigh. That heifa didn't need any lessons on serving. Lord, get me through this day. At the sound of her car slamming shut, the two of them turned towards her. 

"Nov! You made it!" 

"Yup." 

"Henri was just showing me how to improve my serve." 

"Oh." Henri cleared his throat and gave a charming smile. 

"Should we start with coffee? Tea?"

"Croissants, butter, and fruit, please. Y'all can keep the coffee." 

"Right this way then." The cheesing bastard grinned, entirely too close to her sister for her comfort. Scowling, she crossed her arms and followed them in. 

"None of this was my idea by the way. Just thought you should know." Pierre input, seeing the very obvious displeasure on her face. 

"Nebula isn't any damn better. Encouraging him." He stayed quiet but offered her a hand to step up into the dining room. Once they were all seated, she ordered a hot lavender honey tea and the executive breakfast. Clearing her throat, she watched her sister giggle and whisper something into Henri's ear. He whispered something back and she hit him on the chest. 

"Nasty..." She said lowly, skinning and grinning as he whispered more into her ear. 

"If this is all y'all are gonna do all day I'm going back home." She said, irritation making her nostrils flare. The two of them separated and Henri cleared his throat. 

"Mes excuses," (My apologies) 

"Pierre... when'd you start playing tennis?" Neb asked with a friendly smile, thanking the waiter as he placed their drinks down. 

"5 years old." 

"So young..."

"In a sport like tennis, there's no success unless you start young." Henri said, lifting his coffee to his mouth. 

"Much like singing." The comment had come from Nebula and she nudged her underneath the table. 

"Right, yeah."

"Have you guys heard about this new boy group? What're they called again Nov?" What are you doing? Her eyes asked her. Neb just winked at her, waiting for her answer. 

"Um, I think KASSIA or something like that." 

"What kind of name is that for a group?" Henri asked, brows creased. 

"They're some popular group over in Korea."

"The country still in the throes of civil war?" 

"Yeah that's the one, so um, yeah Nova's got a friend in that group. He just recently made the news." Pierre smiled, leaning back in his seat. 

"You're friends with celebrities Nova?" He asked, a teasing smile on his face. 

"I wouldn't put it like that..." 

"Y'all wanna hear 'em?" Whipping out her phone, she pulled up one of the videos they'd watched the week prior. 

"That's a man?" Pierre, who the whole time had been reserved, started to laugh quite obnoxiously. 

"Je ne vois aucun homme ici." (I see no man here.) The brothers laughed so hard in unison and at that moment, she felt a bitter taste come to her mouth. 

"Don't make fun of him. You don't know him." 

"Then maybe you can tell us, Mademoiselle. Does he have a cock?" Henri sneered at her, making anger lick her belly. 

"Il n'a pas de pénis." (He doesn't have a penis.) Pierre laughed, dabbing at his eyes. 

"Do you?" She shot back at him, eyes narrowed with anger. 

"Oui, Mademoiselle. 8 inches. Maybe your sister can confirm later if my measurement is off." 

"I won't be confirming anything Monsieur." He looked at her as she got up. 

"I don't give a damn how big your shit is. What you're not gonna do is disrespect my sister. Nova, let's go." Confusion all over her, she slowly stood up.

"What about my breakfast?"

"We can order a fresh one to go."

"Ladies, let's not get upset. He just took me by surprise is all. I apologize for offending you." 

"I'm sorry, that was very rude of us. Please accept our apologies." Pierre offered with a smile, one she now found misleading. Perhaps he was the ring leader of this little stunt after all. 

"Look, I don't know what you heard about American girls but whatever you heard it's a whole lie." She hissed through her teeth, grabbing her purse. 

"Maybe not you. But Nebula here just offered to suck my cock while we waited for our food so," Henri said with a cocky grin, crossing his arms across his chest. 

"I sure did and I take it back. Let's go Nov." Getting up, they grabbed their purses and play bags. Leaving the men shaking their heads and laughing amongst themselves, the two-headed to place to-go orders and the court. 

*** 

By the time she got home, she was exhausted. Throwing her play bag by the couch, she kicked off her shoes and tossed her visor on the table. What a freaking day. A part of her felt like she'd wasted it. Nebula and her antics. She knew she'd upset her, that's why the whole day she'd catered to her. Sighing heavily, she lifted the pink sweatshirt up and off and scratched her scalp. The cute notification bell made her stop. Unhooking her bra, she picked up her phone. 3 messages from tok1932. Now he wanted to respond huh? She opened the chat. 

tok1932: Annyeong. Hi. Hey. 

tok1932: Yeah sorry about that I um... I got shit-face drunk last night. Didn't mean to scare you. 

tok1932: Aww. So what you're telling me is that you like texting me. That's really cute. Confession time: I like messaging you too. 

It made no sense why her heart was beating crazy in her chest like she was a schoolgirl. 

novaworld555: hold your horses, sir. I didn't say all of that. I was just concerned about you. 

novaworld555: so what you're telling me is that when you get drunk you think about me. hm.

tok1932: is it too soon to admit that? Yeah. That is what I'm telling you. 

tok1932: Since we're on the honesty train, I've been thinking about you this whole week. 

Laying back against the bed, she bit her lip. 

novaworld555: you sure it's not because of my picture? 

novaworld555: If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were flirting with me. 

novaworld555: you don't know me well enough to flirt with me.

... 

...

tok1932: maybe. But I don't have to know you well enough to know I'm kinda attracted to you. 

tok1932: are you asking that as a serious question or...? 

tok1932: no. it's not just because of your picture. I dig your energy. It's crazy. 

tok1932: If you want to start talking about that, we can. I can start telling you what I like about it.

Mon dieu. This man... Her cheeks had started growing warm. 

novaworld555: Kinda? Like 50/50? 

novaworld555: you're not drunk right now are you? 

novaworld555: calm down sir. please. 

He sent laughing emojis. Then, 

tok1932: oh... now you're curious?

tok1932: I'm very sober thank you 

tok1932: Since you asked it, I'm sure you meant it seriously so. I mean..I figured I'd answer seriously.

She put her phone down and closed her eyes. Nibbling on her lip, she took a deep breath. You're flirting with a whole stranger. Are you that damn lonely? Slipping out of her skirt, she opened her eyes. It embarrassed her how much one little conversation made her wet her underwear. Reaching for her phone, she responded while she still had the nerve.

novaworld555: kinda curious not gonna lie. 

novaworld555: you're on a whole 100 right now Mr. Stranger. 

Cheeks warm, she waited as three dots came up. 

... 

tok1932: More than 50/50. I just said kinda cause I'm trying to pass your second vibe check. 

tok1932: I'm not trying to get blocked. You're entirely too happy to do that. 

tok1932: Mr. Stranger huh? Sheesh. I'm hurt you're intentionally trying to forget my name. You get amnesia when you're flustered. #notetaken 

...

tok1932: it's okay to admit you're attracted to me, by the way. There's nothing wrong with that. 

novaworld555: what brought you to that conclusion? 

tok1932: your words play hard to get. That's cool. But your energy is totally into mine.

tok1932: Maybe we should change the subject hm? I don't want to make you uncomfortable. 

... 

tok1932: how was your day? What'd you do? 

novaworld555: It was annoying.

tok1932: how come?

novaworld555: I encountered some jerks today. 

tok1932: mind elaborating on jerks? 

novaworld555: if you want me to say it fine. assholes. 

tok1932: guys. 

... 

novaworld555: how'd you...

tok1932: unfortunately, that's the prime word of choice women use when referring to a guy. 

novaworld555: especially when they deserve it 

tok1932: I'm sure he did. what happened? 

novaworld555: so fun fact: I play tennis. 

tok1932: oh wow! 

novaworld555: yeah and um I encountered some guys on the court.

She jumped when her notification dinged louder than what was necessary. 

PHOTO

Clicking on it, she froze. Mon dieu. He wore a white t-shirt today. Black baseball cap with some blue logo on it. He must like baseball caps. His mask was the same white as his shirt and he had his hand lifted up across his chin. As if thinking. There on his right ring finger, he wore a decorative ring. 

tok1932: Listening. 

Licking her lips, she stared at his picture some more. He was really good looking. The mask only seemed to intensify the mystery around him and it more than whet her appetite. You are pitiful. Just maybe. But... she liked talking to him. She wanted to know more about him. 

Leaving the phone on her bed, she quickly put on a shirt, something quick and easy since she was about to shower. Sitting back on her bed, she turned on her light and bit her lip. Heart pounding, she took a deep breath. Leaning her arm on her knee, fist pressed against her cheek, she snapped the picture. Pressing send before she chickened out. 

novaworld555: And should I continue, what is it you're gonna do all the way over there? 

She bit her lip to shreds waiting for his reply. 

... 

... 

tok1932: I mean... I could catch a flight. 

novaworld555: yeah right. you're talking shit. 

tok1932: I'm really not.

novaworld555: whatever. 

He sent laughing emojis. 

tok1932: when I'm shit talking you'll know.

novaworld555: boy please. shit. talking. out of your ass. 

... 

tok1932: So, that's what the look on your face said. I was having a hard time getting past the fact that you're so damn beautiful.

tok1932: maybe I should talk what you call shit more. 

tok1932: we're upgrading fairly quickly but I'm game. You set the pace here. I'm down for the ride. 

novaworld555: what are you talking about sir?

tok1932: you sending me pictures ma'am 

tok1932: like I said... your energy and mine are very compatible 

novaworld555: you think so? 

PHOTO 

Licking her lips, she opened it with the quickness. Squeezing her thighs together, her breath started to get heavy. He'd changed clothes. Now in black, he looked like he was laying down or something. Arm up against his face, he looked directly into the camera lens. He had a shiny necklace around his neck but with the shadows, she couldn't make it out that clearly. 

His gaze was intense and it cut into her, little hot tiny holes all over her body. Shifting her hips, she was about to reply when he beat her to it. 

tok1932: I was about to say something you'd block me for. So I figured a picture was worth a thousand words. 

novaworld555: yeah. it was. it said a lot I don't wanna unpack. it was just a simple question HB. 

tok1932: and I think I answered it well enough. 

tok1932: I've been at the hospital all day today...actually just got in not too long ago. 

novaworld555: you drank that much? 

tok1932: it's a long story. one I'm not sharing tonight. 

novaworld555: okay 

novaworld555: don't get so drunk tonight

tok1932: too late. 

tok1932: I'm already drunk. 

... 

... 

novaworld555: alcoholic 

tok1932: definitely wasn't talking about alcohol but it's okay. you're a champ for trying to dodge that. 

tok1932: it's late there so...I'm gonna go. 

tok1932: It's almost 3 in the afternoon here

tok1932: I'm sleepy as hell 

tok1932: and your eyes and lips are driving me crazy. 

Before she could even muster up the courage to respond, he beat her to it again. 

tok1932: sweet dreams Nova 

Letting her phone slip out of her hand, she swallowed thickly. What was she doing? What were they doing? She didn't want to fall in deep with this. Her brain told her to be careful but her heart was saying other things. Feeling other things. Lifting herself up, she finally slipped out of her underwear now completely drenched and headed into the bathroom to start the shower.