by C. A. Harms
“It is actually a light fixture. Xavier and Marcus hooked it up, and instead of keeping the regular clear globes, they painted them with a green paint. When the lights are out, it gives off that green glow.” When she mentioned Xavier, I began scanning the room until my gaze landed on the bed. It had also been changed and was adorned with a Ninja Turtle comforter that matched the bedroom. Only it was the body that lay curled up next to my brother’s that I couldn’t look away from.
Xavier looked huge in the double bed. His broad shoulders and wide frame made Toby seem so tiny in comparison. The image took my breath away, I swear.
“He did all this,” I said without looking away, “didn’t he?”
“Yes,” she said, telling me something my heart already knew. “He’s been here since a little after lunch, and so have his friends.”
A silence settled over us, allowing me a few moments to gain control of my emotions.
“I know you’re upset with him,” my mother began. “Yesterday was rough, but he did all this not because he had to, but because he wanted to. Not everyone goes to this extreme to make up for one simple mistake.”
Again a small silence before she continued. “I know Toby is your weakness, because he’s mine too, but do you think it hurts more because he let you down too? Because you expected more from him?”
“I did expect more,” I said without hesitation.
“Sometimes being hurt by those we love hurts so much more than if it was someone you barely knew.” The realization of what she said hit me.
“I do love him,” I told her, feeling the burn in my chest.
“I know you do,” she assured me. “But does he?”
I shook my head as I remained in the same spot leaning against the door jamb.
“Maybe he should,” my mother said just before she leaned in, offering me a sideways hug before stepping out of the room.
She was right. I knew she was.
I carefully pushed off the doorframe, moved toward the bed, and knelt down at Xavier’s side. For a moment I just watched him sleep. He took a deep intake of breath, followed by a gentle, relaxed exhale. It made me second guess interrupting him, but I knew I needed to.
I lifted my hand and slowly traced the top of my finger over his jaw. He began to stir. When he repositioned himself and started to breath evenly again, I decided to take it one step further. I leaned over him, my mouth hovering above his, and pressed my lips to his, offering him a soft kiss. As I began to pull back, his hand cupped the back of my head and he brought his lips back to mine.
I gave in, letting him control the kiss. Our lips moved with one another’s as if they had been doing that very things for years. “I love you,” his words vibrated against my lips and my own began to tremble. “I’m sorry I disappointed you. That is something I never wanted to do, and I can assure you I will never do it again. You mean so much to me.” I lay my head on his chest, tucked my face against his neck, and took a moment to calm myself. I was so very close to crying.
“Thank you,” I finally spoke, my throat burning, “for everything.”
He rubbed my back soothingly as I continued to keep my face tucked in closely to his neck. His chest rose and fell beneath my cheek, deep even breathing that I found also soothed me.
“You should have seen his face when he rolled in here after Marcus and I finished,” Xavier whispered softly. I lifted my head and rested my chin on his chest looking up at him. The glowing light of the lamps above made his face completely visible. “I get it now,” he confessed, his throat bobbing as he swallowed. “I understood before, but now I truly get it. The joy from his happiness.” He lifted his hand and brought it to rest over his heart. “I felt it, that deep uncontrollable ache, from simply witnessing his happiness. It was an amazing feeling.”
I closed my eyes for a moment, thinking of the look Toby gets when he is happy. That wide eyed, open mouth expression. His arms moving up and down as if he’s trying to fly away followed by that screeching squeal of delight. Though some might find it too much to handle, I thought it was one of the very best sounds in the world. It meant he’d been reached, that place deep down within him had been found and that uncontrollable excitement had taken over.
My heart ached, so deep, and I loved it.
“I love you for doing this for him,” I said as I opened my eyes. I found he was looking back at me, with a look of awe on his face. “I love you for being the man you are, and for loving my family as much as I love them.”
Before he could reply, I leaned in once more and pressed my lips to his.
No amount of thanks could ever touch the depth of what he’d done. Not only for Toby, but for my parents too. There was absolutely no way to explain just what his actions meant to me.
Epilogue
2 Weeks later
Xavier
I tried to keep a straight face, but the idiots sharing a table with me were making it almost impossible.
Here I sat in a booth at Porter’s pizza, surrounded by Isaac, Red, and Corbin. We’d just been led to a booth by a girl that Red couldn't seem to take his eyes off. She was a petite little thing, and the thought of the two of them together was odd to picture. I think one of his thighs was as big as her waist alone. She was quiet, timid maybe, and she kept averting her eyes toward the floor each time one of these jackasses made some type of crude remark.
Not necessarily toward her, but in general they just had no filter. Normally Red was the same way, but today it was like he was mute. Shit like that was like seeing a fucking unicorn—very rare.
“You okay, Red?” I asked and he only nodded his head.
Over the last couple of months the guy had started to let his hair grow out. It no longer bushed out like a crazy afro but hung more past his ears. Most days he pulled it back and had this crazy ass fucking ponytail on the back of his head. I had also noticed the color seemed less red, more of a brownish tint now ran throughout. At times I wanted to ask him if he’d been dyeing it, but left it alone.
The guy was a monster, tall and built. Now it would seem he was heavily intrigued by the sweet girl who couldn’t make eye contact with him. Her cheeks reddened as she took our drink orders. When she reached Red, she lifted her hand and tucked her hair behind her ear, peering up at him, as she smiled politely. “What would you like to drink?” Her voice cracked.
“Why you so nervous?” he asked, and each one of us at the table stopped talking to hear her reply. Actually, I thought it was more to watch Red flirt, because again, the guy was a mystery. He never really displayed his personal shit for the rest of us to see.
“This is my first day,” she said in explanation as she looked back over her shoulder. Each of us followed her movements and I noticed Pete standing back near the kitchen entrance watching us all closely.
I lifted my hand, offering a wave and he nodded his head. The guy still kept his distance from me, which I found odd. It wasn’t like I threatened to beat his ass or anything for crushing on my girl. I just made sure he understood that she and I were together.
I thought I did it in a calm fashion.
If you asked Morgan, though, I thought she would disagree.
“Well, I think you’re doing just fine,” Red assured her. “The fact that you’re gorgeous is a huge bonus.”
Her cheeks reddened further, and Isaac, who sat next to Red, looked back and forth between the two, his mouth hanging open in a bit of shock. He looked ridiculous as his head continued to whip from Red to the girl and then back to Red.
“Thank you.” It came out in almost a whisper. “Did you want anything to drink?” she asked again as she tucked her chin toward her chest, an attempt to hide the fact that she was blushing was my guess.
“Are you boys harassing the new girl?” I looked to my right just as Morgan stepped up to the table. She leaned her hip toward me, and I wrapped my arm around her waist.
“Not at all,” I assured her, “but Red seems smitten.”
“I’ll ta
ke a Coke,” Red said in a rush, just before the girl hurried off without another word.
“Asshole,” he mumbled as he sat back in his seat, still watching the girl walk away.
“She is entirely too innocent for the likes of any of you,” Morgan said with a smirk. “Her head would spin after five seconds. Poor girl would crack.”
“I’d mend her,” Red said, and I’m not sure he meant for any of us to hear. When I looked back at Morgan, she too gave him a questionable stare. She visibly shook her head as if to clear her thoughts.
“So are you boys hungry?” she asked and I allowed my hand to slip just a little lower on her waist, cupping her ass in my palm.
“Starving,” I assured her when she looked at me with her eyebrow cocked.
“Pervert,” she added, but her eyes couldn’t hide that she liked my perverted behavior.
Since the night she found me asleep next to Toby in his newly decorated room, things had shifted for us. The newness of our relationship was still there, but we now had this comfortable manner that surrounded our time together. A playfulness mixed with an undeniable passion. It was something I had never felt before.
I loved this woman, more than I had ever imagined being able to love one person. She was it, the one for me. The thought of not having her in my life was something I couldn’t ever face.
Just last weekend, after Edmond and Kathy insisted on thanking my parents, we drove to Kissimmee together. We spent the entire day cooking out and swimming. It was another ultimate step in the relationship between Morgan and me.
Morgan took our orders and moved off toward the kitchen, and once again I noticed Pete lingering in the dining room. He never came on our side, but he did continue to look toward us on occasion.
“I’ll be right back,” I told the guys, but none of them seemed to care that I got up from the booth. They each continued to harass one another as their loud voices carried throughout the restaurant.
“Hey Pete,” I said as I stepped up to his side.
His shoulders instantly stiffened as he stood tall and turned his body to face me. “Hi,” he said, looking up over my shoulder. “Is everything okay?”
Why did he seem so nervous?
“It’s great, actually,” I assured him, hoping to ease some of the tension rolling off this guy.
“I actually just wanted to thank you for being so good to Morgan.” His eyes widened in surprise. “She loves this job and her last boss wasn’t the greatest kind of guy. From what she tells me, you treat her with respect and in turn she also respects you. That moves you pretty high up on my list.”
He offered me a nod and a simple thanks. Still, I thought the guy viewed me as competition.
“Is everything okay over here?” I turned around to find Morgan standing behind me, with a worried look on her face.
“Everything is great,” I told her as I spun around to look at Pete once again. “I was telling Pete here that I think he’s a decent guy.” I reached my hand out toward him, and he hesitantly placed his in mine, offering a firm shake.
I played nice and made the effort to make things peaceful between him and me; the ball was now in his court. But he needed to get used to me because I wasn’t going anywhere. Morgan was my girl, and she always would be. That was just the way things were.
***
Morgan
“Hey Marc,” Xavier said as he leaned back in the kitchen chair, his arms stretched out as he ran his palm over the tabletop. The biggest shit-eating grin covered his mouth. “Where’d you buy this table anyway?”
I narrowed my eyes at him, knowing exactly what he had up his sleeve.
“Why?” he asked as he peeked back over his shoulder at me before returning back to Xavier.
“Because I have this deep connection to it,” Xavier replied, his grin growing wider. “It’s this unexplainable liking, I guess, that I can’t explain.”
I knew at this point my eyes had to appear the size of saucers. I hid behind Marcus, shaking my head at Xavier. He needed to stop, like now. The last thing I wanted was for Marcus to know just what we had done on his table. Only my evil stare did absolutely nothing to stop him.
“You have a liking for my table?” Marcus asked, not sounding convinced. Actually, the skepticism in his voice outweighed any other reaction.
“Yes.” Xavier once again allowed his palm to glide over the top surface. “It’s sturdy, built solid,” he gripped it and shook it a little, “like it could easily hold the weight of two people.”
I fisted my hands and shook my arms around, trying to indicate my growing irritation.
Marcus turned around so quickly I didn't have time to hide my fleeing arms, as I still tried to stop Xavier from his continuous taunting. I was instantly caught in the act as he gave me a confused look. I tried to play it off as if I was swatting a bug away, but I knew I’d failed. I was busted as reality hit Marcus head on.
A look I could only describe as horror washed over his face. “No,” he gasped. Spinning back around, he looked at Xavier and did this little stomp with his foot. “Hell no,” he added.
I felt my stomach drop, as if it hit the floor at my feet.
Why?
Why would Xavier even bring it up?
“Oh yes,” Xavier said, and I immediately hung my head to hide the instant blush that filled my neck and face.
Marcus looked between Xavier and me as I peeked up through the hair that had fallen to cover my face. He wrinkled his nose as his gaze fell toward the table. “I loved that table too,” he said sadly, “until you two decided to fornicate on it.”
I pressed my lips tightly together and did my best not to laugh out loud at Marcus’ reaction.
He walked off looking like he’d just been told that pedicures were made illegal and would no longer be offered to the public. Xavier, of course, chuckled, and I reached behind me, grabbed the loaf of bread, and heaved it at his head. It bounced off his forehead and landed on the table before him.
The asshole looked up at me a gleam in his eye. “Lunch is served,” he said, slapping the table top. “Hop on up here, babe, I’m hungry.”
Arrogant, adorable, cute man I’d love to throttle, I thought as I too stormed out of the kitchen after my best friend to soothe his broken heart.
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***SNEAK PEEK***
Just One Taste
Oh, Tequila Series #2
Elijah - AKA Red’s Story
Chapter 1
I rolled to my left and felt something wet at my side. Not just wet, but fucking soaked. As in a pool of standing water that my entire hand was submerged in.
As I slowly opened my eyes, I squinted past the bright sunlight peeking up over the trees. I was lying outside, near the pool, and a “what the fuck” moment hit me hard.
How the hell did I get out here?
I closed my eyes and buried my face against my forearm, wishing it all away. The headache, the body ache, the nauseating feelings in my stomach—I just wanted them all gone.
My hair had grown out even more and now produced the perfect shield over my face.
Everyone thought red was my natural color. For a while it was fun to let them think so, but it was time for a change. My natural brown was beginning to take over and I had gone to my Aunt Meg to slowly strip out the continuous red I’d put in it over the years.
It took a few minutes to calm my rolling stomach for fear of losing its contents. Puking was never good, but puking in or near a pool was fucking nasty.
When I was sure I had gotten it under control, I lifted my head. So far, so good, I thought as I carefully pushed off the ground and brought myself into a sitting position.
“Still good,” I mumbled to myself.
I took in a few deep breaths and went for broke. Crawling off the ground, I stood on wobbly legs. Fearful of falling, I held my arms out to my sides
and that’s when I saw it. My right wrist bandaged and taped.
For a moment I only stared at it, wondering what in the hell I could have done. It appeared professionally wrapped, so whoever added the bandage obviously knew what they were doing.
I carefully began to tear at the edge, my curiosity getting the best of me. Maybe I shouldn't remove it, I thought just before peeling back the bandage.
This time my legs did give out and I landed hard on my ass in the grassy yard surrounding the pool.
There on my wrist was a fucking tattoo, one name in big bold letters.
Blake
I quickly covered up my wrist, securing the tape. I looked around to ensure there was no one else who could have seen it.
Some crazy shit had gone down in this house. Shit that most people wouldn’t like to ever have repeated. But never, and I do mean never, had any of my brothers woken up the morning after a party to have some dude’s name tattooed on them.
Well, until now that is.
Oh Tequila, what have you done now?
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Acknowledgements
THE CHARMED GIRLS, you are all amazing. The continued support you show me is something I will never be able to express just how much it means to me. Thank you all for sharing my work and for just being you. You are all the greatest bunch of ladies.
