Happily Ever After: 6 Marriage Romances In 1 (BWWM Romance)

by BWWM Club

  "Please."

  Emil stood and walked inside. Toby sat and watched the people on the golf course below as they started on their eighteen holes. Emil had a point and he wasn't often wrong when something was going to happen.

  Toby hoped he was wrong this time, though.

  *****

  Charlotte Panattoni giggled and nudged Carl.

  "Look out, she's coming."

  Carl didn't need to guess who Charlotte was talking about. Nevertheless, he looked around. Chestnut brown hair, porcelain skin with big blue eyes, combined with a petite body in a baby blue t-shirt with a black ruffled skirt and leggings, black pumps on her feet. She was further up the corridor talking to one of her friends, a bottle-blonde with makeup slightly on the heavy side wearing jeans two sizes too small and a red check shirt.

  Carl felt his face going red and turned back to his locker, trying to focus on sorting his books.

  "Yeah?" He tried to sound nonchalant but failed. "And?"

  "Oh, come on, Carl!" His best friend nudged him playfully, her red braids swinging across her shoulders. "You're not going to be shy now, are you?"

  "I'm not."

  "Liar."

  Carl groaned. He loved Charlotte - she was like a sister to him - but since she had discovered that Carl had a crush on cheerleader Louise Reveley Charlotte had gone out of her way to try and get Carl to talk to Louise. She mentioned her in every other conversation and pointed her out whenever she could as if that would get Carl's confidence up. Carl simply mumbled and tried to change the subject but Charlotte seemed intent on getting him to approach Louise.

  Carl knew it would never happen. Louise was popular, smart and hung around with people who thought Carl was below them because he was mixed-race. Carl was smart, yes, and was popular with his group of friends but they didn't cross paths on a regular basis. It was just a crush that made Carl feel like he had worn jeans that were a little too tight. It would die away eventually.

  He had been telling himself that all year.

  Plus Louise had an on-off boyfriend. Jason Tyrie was the star quarterback and it was clear he didn't like Carl. Carl could hold his own in a fight but Jason was something else. So Carl kept out of Jason's way. Talking to his on-off girlfriend was not going to help.

  Besides, Carl had no idea what to say to Louise beyond the usual greeting. It was frustrating and caused him no end of grief. He kept playing over and over in his mind what he would say but it never happened when the time came. His parents were figuring out that something was wrong but Carl wasn't sharing this with them; it was too embarrassing.

  He should never have confessed to his best friend.

  "Don't do this to me, Charlie, please." Carl stuffed the books he needed into his bag and shut his locker, slipping the padlock on. "Louise is out of my league and you know it."

  "I don't think so." Charlotte rolled her eyes. She hugged her books to her chest and leaned her shoulder against the lockers, giving Carl a disbelieving look. "She's a nice girl and you like her and from what I've seen she likes you. What's the problem?"

  "Girls like Louise don't date guys like me."

  That was another reason to keep quiet. Things weren't as difficult as they had been when his parents were in high school but racial tensions were still there. And Carl straddled both black and white. That was simply an abomination, according to a few of Louise's friends.

  How would he expect to date someone like Louise when even her friends thought she shouldn't?

  "You mean guys with a rich parentage?" Charlotte queried. She grinned, her eyes twinkling. "If they're anything like you, they're smoking hot."

  "Don't be silly."

  Carl turned away. Suddenly he felt a shove in his back and he stumbled. Catching his footing before he fell flat on his face, Carl turned to glare at Charlotte. He had turned halfway before he collided with someone, someone smaller and slimmer than Charlotte.

  Carl caught a whiff of a distinctive perfume and knew why Charlotte had pushed him.

  He took a step back, rubbing the back of his neck as his face went red.

  "Oh, hi, Louise."

  Louise shifted her books in her arms and gave him a sweet smile.

  "Hi, Carl."

  Carl swallowed. For one of the more eloquent people in his class he was tongue-tied around the prettiest girl in the year.

  "Erm..." He coughed. "You okay?"

  "I'm good. You?"

  "Yeah. Swell." Carl tried not to scowl at Charlotte, who was grinning like the Cheshire cat. "You...you going to be in algebra later?"

  Almost immediately he wanted to kick himself. Why the hell did he say that?

  "Of course." Louise grinned and walked past him, flicking her eyes over him. "I'll see you there."

  "Yeah. See you there."

  Carl watched her go, sure that her hips were swaying more than normal. He tore his eyes away and shoved his hands into his pockets. Thankfully he had chosen to wear jeans that were a little baggy or his erection would be on display.

  Charlotte laughed and sauntered up to him.

  "For the smoothest of people who could talk himself out of situations, you are such a tongue-tied dummy."

  "Leave off, Charlie." Carl nudged her with his arm as they normally did when they were about to part ways. "I've got to get to English."

  He was sure Charlotte was still laughing at him as he walked away. If the roles had been reversed and Charlotte was all gooey-eyed over a boy Carl would have been the same. But Charlotte was a confident girl whose bubbly personality got her a lot of boys. Everyone liked her.

  Carl wished that could happen with him. Girls liked him and talked to him but getting a date was next to impossible due to his heritage. A lot of white girls didn't want to date someone who was black, much less mixed race. And black girls thought Carl was beneath them because of his white father. They thought he was a sweet lad but they wouldn't go further than that.

  Carl understood that but it still hurt.

  "Saw you chatting up my bird, Reynolds."

  Carl groaned. He hadn't noticed Jason Tyrie. If he had he would never have gone near Louise. Carl didn't want the aggravation.

  The huge senior fell into step beside Carl. At six-four he towered over Carl, his size in both his height and build intimidating. He used this to his advantage on the football field and to intimidate lesser people in their year. The guys in other years were scared of him because of his aggressive behavior and his size and in awe of him because, despite his behavior, he was the best quarterback their high school had seen in a long time.

  Carl didn't care for the guy. He didn't like football and he didn't like bullies. They weren't worth his time. Unfortunately Jason seemed to guess that he couldn't bully Carl so they just upped the ante.

  Carl was glad they only had one semester left and then he was out of there and wherever he wanted to go, where Jason Tyrie wouldn't be dogging him at every step and daring him to lose it.

  "I didn't realize you were still dating her, Jason." He said coolly, trying not to glance at the giant beside him. That would indicate that he was nervous.

  The butterflies in his stomach said he was scared but he wouldn't give the bastard the satisfaction.

  "Not right now. She's got things to sort out. But once they're sorted we're back together." Jason sounded boastful, very sneering. "You're not going to be getting a look in."

  That hurt but Carl pretended to shrug it off.

  "I never said anything about wanting to date Louise. We're just friends."

  "If I have any say in it, she's not being friends with a white-black monkey." Jason grabbed Carl's arm and swung him around, stepping up close so Carl's nose was nearly brushing against his shirt. "And she wouldn't date a white-black monkey, either."

  Carl wanted to swing and punch the bastard's face in. But his father had warned him about retaliation and Jason was the last person he should be picking a fight with. So he took a step back and adjusted his bag on his shoulder.

>   "You could come up with a better insult." He said calmly. "White-black monkey is hardly insulting."

  "There are plenty more." Jason jabbed a finger in Carl's face. "Keep away from Louise or I'm going to do something to you."

  Then he turned and stalked away. Carl tried not to laugh at how much he tried to look cool with his walk. The man thought he was the top dog and controlled what happened. He thought he could control Carl.

  Carl was probably one of the only two in the school - the other being Charlotte - who didn't bow down to him. And that wasn't going to change anytime soon.

  *****

  Simone ran up to the net and volleyed the ball hard to the sideline. It whizzed past her opponent's racket and disappeared off the court, bouncing before it hit the mesh fence. Simone squealed as she jumped in delight.

  "Game to me, I think!" She declared with a whoop.

  Bianca Bogojevic groaned and wiped the sweat off her forehead with her wristband. Her face was red for exertion.

  "Would you ease up a moment, Simone?" She whined. "It's too hot to be running around like a lunatic."

  Simone laughed. Her best friend was a wilting flower in the sun and would often be found skulking indoors with air conditioning and using a sunbed instead of the real thing. It was only her love of tennis that Simone was able to get her out into the sunshine and get some genuine vitamin D into her system.

  "Sorry." She took off her hat and pulled the tie out of her hair, shaking her sweat-sodden locks about her shoulders. "You okay?"

  "I will be after I've got in the hot tub."

  Bianca went to the sun lounger at the side of the court and dropped into it, laying her racket on the floor before sitting back and closing her eyes with a heavy sigh. Simone couldn't help but feel envious of her high school friend. They had grown up on the same street, Bianca was one of her many friends who approved of Toby. Shortly after Toby and Simone had married Bianca had got married to a rich Russian tycoon. The marriage had fallen through three years and two children later but Bianca still received enough money in the divorce settlement to live comfortably and within her means.

  And she wasn't short of attention. Nearly six feet and statuesque with hair in tiny braids down to her waist, Bianca certainly looked ten years younger than her forty-one years. Everyone thought she was Simone's younger sister and both received a lot of attention whenever they were together. Any attention Simone got she diverted to Bianca, who lapped it up. But Simone wasn't interested. Why would she be when she had the man she wanted?

  Bianca gave Simone a bemused look as Simone picked up her water bottle and chugged half its contents down.

  "How the hell have you got so much energy?"

  Simone lowered her bottle and wiped her mouth with her wrist.

  "I don't know."

  "You only have this much energy when you've been 'energetic' in the bedroom recently." Bianca slanted an eyebrow at her. "Were you doing something with Toby last night?"

  Simone sat on the other sun lounger and grinned. Her body was still tingling at the memory of what she and Toby had done.

  "Not last night."

  Bianca shuddered.

  "I don't want to know."

  "What's wrong with that? It's a great stress reliever."

  "It had the opposite effect on Stefano when we were married." Bianca grunted. "It gave him a headache."

  Simone still struggled seventeen years later to figure out what Bianca had seen in her ex-husband. The man had been twenty years older and stiff. Ice cold was how Toby had described him. Bianca had been his fourth wife and had met him while he was still married to wife number three. Simone had told her friend she shouldn't be with him but Bianca had ignored her. It had taken eighteen months before she had realized that everyone was right about him and everything had been a mistake.

  It was only because she had kept evidence of Stefano's infidelities during their marriage that she got a decent settlement and monthly alimony. She had kept her smarts but they had escaped her while she fell head over heels for the wrong man.

  "Sounds like he's doing it wrong." Simone commented.

  "Besides, the pool guy isn't due until Friday."

  Simone had been taking another gulp of water. She spluttered and coughed in amazement.

  "Bianca!"

  "What? I'm not sleeping with him but watching him eases my stress."

  Bianca hadn't had a relationship for nearly a year and hadn't had sex for more than that. Simone wondered if having another relationship would clear the cobwebs and make Bianca more relaxed. But they always ended in disasters so she kept well away from it; she didn't want to lose a friendship because she chose the wrong guy.

  She was distracted by her phone buzzing, saying that a text had come through. Scooping it off the table between her and Bianca, Simone opened the text and saw who it was from. Her pulse picked up. She had been waiting for this.

  "I need to make a phone call. Give me ten, Bianca?"

  "No problem." Bianca picked up her sunglasses and slipped them on. "We've got the court for another half hour."

  She settled back with a sigh as Simone hurried off the court.

  Chapter 3

  Simone ran up the steps onto the terrace, desperate to get to a quiet place to call back. This wasn't something she could leave until she was back home; it had to be answered now or what she had been planning would be all for nothing.

  And Simone hated disappointment.

  She was so engrossed in her thoughts that Simone didn't realize her husband was on the terrace until she ran right into him. Toby laughed and grabbed at her as she stumbled.

  "Hey, honey. Where's the fire?"

  "Toby!" Simone caught her balance and leaned into him with a startled laugh. Her heart was pounding. "You scared me. What were you doing here?"

  Toby was supposed to have left the club already. They had met in the foyer when Simone arrived for her game with Bianca and Toby had mentioned that he was going for lunch with his brother. Simone hadn't liked that at all but grudgingly conceded that Mike was family and she wasn't going to stop her husband even when the man in question made her skin crawl.

  "Aren't you supposed to be having lunch with Mike?"

  "Not for another hour."

  Toby wrapped his arms around her and kissed her. Right in the middle of the terrace where everyone could see them.

  "Toby! We can't do that here!"

  "Why not?" Toby grinned. "It's not in the rules that we can't."

  Simone rolled her eyes.

  "I thought Emil was the one who broke the rules."

  "It was Emil I was looking for, actually. He went to the bar for a pint and he's completely disappeared."

  Simone laughed. That sounded like Emil had seen a pretty woman and taken a long detour.

  "I'm on my way to the changing rooms. If I see him in there I'll let him know you're looking for him."

  Toby glanced down at the cell phone still in her hand.

  "You're going to the changing rooms with your cell phone?"

  Simone felt a moment of panic. What should she say that didn't sound suspicious? She shrugged.

  "I'm a woman."

  That always worked. And it worked this time.

  "I won't ask." Toby kissed her again and released her. "While you're busy I'll go and talk to Bianca. You'll probably be growing another head in there and that always takes a while."

  Simone swatted his backside and he walked away before hurrying inside. She ducked into the changing rooms and was pleased to see them empty. Last time she had come in Emil had been pumping into a woman from behind on the benches. That had given her nightmares for a while.

  Relieved she didn't have to see her friend's bare backside again, Simone ducked into a stall and locked the door. Then she found the number she wanted and pressed the dial button, a smile spreading across her face.

  It was picked up on the third ring.

  "Hey, I got your message. My answer is yes."

  Toby
was going to love what she had in store for him.

  *****

  Carl was exhausted after track practice. He had pushed himself harder than normal, trying to stop thinking about his run-in with Jason.

  He wouldn't admit it openly, not even to Charlotte, but Jason's veiled threat had unnerved him. The guy was big and could easily split Carl in two just by snapping his fingers. He could have any girls he wanted and he usually got them but he always kept coming back to Louise. Their relationship was volatile at times - even Carl could see that - but he kept coming back. Since they had got together in their freshman year they had to have split up and got back together at least six times. Louise barely dated anyone else and when she did Jason was hanging around.

  Carl knew he shouldn't tempt fate and drool over Louise but his body stirred every time she was near. Lusting after her when she had a nasty fella who wouldn't go away was a bad idea. That was simply asking for trouble. But Louise was nice, she was smart and beautiful and Carl appreciated all of those things. It was no surprise he had a crush on her.

  While he realistically knew nothing would happen between them, in the back of his mind there was always the dream that dating Louise would happen. And Carl would be delighted.

  He had dated, both black and white girls, and while they had been lovely - although there was one who had been a bit crazy and had eventually moved schools after attacking the girl he dated after her - Carl couldn't completely connect with them. There was something missing and Carl wondered if his crush with Louise had something to do with it.

  He was so messed up.

  Everyone had gone home by the time Carl came out of the showers and dressed, stuffing his wet towel and sweaty clothes into his gym bag. Hopefully this workout would relax him enough that he won't be so grumpy at home. He was looking forward to having pizza with his brothers and parents while they watched a marathon of Criminal Minds. It was a ritual every week and they never missed a show. His bad mood would dampen the evening and Carl hoped he was feeling chipper when he got home.

  Slinging his bag over his shoulder, Carl left the locker room. There was no one in the hall; everyone was either in a classroom for study time or gone home. As he walked past a row of lockers, someone stepped out in front of him, blocking his path. Pulling up, Carl saw it was Jason. He groaned. The bastard was like a bad rash.