You Could Be My Lover.

prologue. - "...the one."

I've always heard stories of people finding their one true love in the strangest of places.

Well.. I wouldn't exactly say that I found the love of my life in the strangest of places.

I happened to find her in one of the most familiar of places, to be exact.

..I just never thought that I'd be one of those people who happened to fall in love, period.

It all started when I invited one of my best guy friends, Thaddeus aka Tad for short, over to my family's annual 'beginning of summer' barbecue they've held every summer since I was thirteen. I'm 21 now, and ready to graduate from USC with a degree in Music Business next spring. I feel a little too old to be having 'barbecues' like we did back in the day but somehow my family still enjoys having them, so I just go along with it because I love them.

While lounging with my older brothers at one of the tables a fair distance away from the pool, I adjusted myself to a comfortable position in my seat as I sipped on my Corona, my black Raybans shielding my eyes from the sun.

My brothers were in deep conversation and what brought me back to their attention was their talk of women—a sensitive subject for a guy like me.

Excluding our youngest brother Randy, almost all of the brothers had wives or girlfriends while I myself did not have either one.

Because I'm so unsure of what I want, I don't really know if I'm ready to be in a committed relationship just yet. If it happens it happens, if it doesn't it doesn't.

It'll happen whenever it's meant to be.

I'm not gonna lie, I'm not a virgin. That shit came and went in the blink of an eye. But that's only because I was peer-pressured into doing it by an old 'friend' of mine. It happened so long ago and I haven't told one soul about it. I wish I could take my purity back but I can't change the past—I can only control what happens in my future.

"...so what you think, Mike?"

My head shot up at the sound of Marlon's voice calling my name.

"What do I think about what?" I asked, confused as to why I was even brought in the conversation to begin with.

He smacked his lips, smirking. "Come on, man. Don't play dumb... you ain't all as innocent as you make yourself out to be. You can't sit here and tell me you ain't never had no pussy before."

I narrowed my eyes, glaring angrily at him through my glasses.

Before I could even respond back with a smart-ass comeback to Marlon's out of line and unnecessary comment, the sound of Tad's voice rang through my ears, causing a sense of relief to come over me.

Finally. Someone I know who can get me out of being put on the spot by my idiot brothers.

"Aye yo, Mike!! What up, bro?" he shouted from a distance.

I smiled but it instantly faded at the sight of the short frame of a female standing right next to him. Walking side by side, they neared closer and closer and as they did, the better of a view I got to see of this mystery woman.

As he greeted my brothers, my eyes would not move away from her.

She had to at least be about five or six inches shorter than me. She was very exotic-looking with her beautiful, caramel milk chocolate skin glistening in the sun. It was something about her dark brown eyes and her curvy figure that drew me in.