Chapter 25

Chelsea: Meeting Christian's Family

When we arrived in Orlando, I felt nervous. Christian’s mom had his car. She was picking us up from the airport. I kept checking myself out every time we passed by a window. He chuckled, “Stop stressing. You look fine.”

I smiled, “Do I?”

He nodded and kissed my lips, “Now let’s go get our bags.”

When we got our bags and passed through customs, we walked outside and saw his mom looking fabulous. She was dressed in the latest fashions, a pair of skinny jeans, an off-the-shoulder white top, gladiator sandals, large hooped earrings, and hair pulled back into a single braided ponytail. She greeted him with a hug.

“Welcome back hijo,” she said as she looked at me smiling. “Is this Chelsea?”

I nodded. He introduced us, “Yes, Mom, this is Chelsea. Chelsea, meet my mom, Xiomara.”

“Nice to meet you,” I said. I went to shake her hand but she pulled me in for a hug and a kiss.

It was a good sign. She was welcoming. Christian opened the door for us. I offered her the front seat but she declined, “No mami, you sit up front with your man.”

He had a nice SUV. An Aviator in black. I sat back relaxing to the sound of salsa, Marc Anthony as he drove. She asked me a lot of questions as we drove her back to her house.

When we arrived, we headed inside. I met his father, his brother, and two younger sisters. It was amazing how his family had a range of hues from deep mahogany to almost white. His dad was dark like me. His mother looked white and his sisters were both a cocoa brown color and he and his brother were that café con leche color.

His father shook my hand, “Do you speak Spanish?” he asked me.

“Well, Christian has been teaching some stuff.”

“Good. Good. In this house, we speak mostly Spanish. Spanglish too,” he laughed, “I’m making some sancocho, It’s a soup. Very tasty. You two will stay and eat.”

“Of course.”

I was feeling at home. One of his sisters, the oldest of the two said, “I follow you on Instagram. You deleted one of your accounts.”

“Yeah. I went off the grid for a while. I mostly post on the other. It’s where I have all my brand deals.”

“You can help me do my makeup for prom?”

“Of course.”

We sat talking. I heard his mom say that she thought I was sweet. My heart melted. Later that day, we sat at the table and had soup.

I learned that his oldest brother Noel was getting married in six months. He and his girlfriend were expecting a child.

His father Carlos owned his own lawncare business. His mother was a teacher. His little sister Lili was graduating soon and off to college to study engineering, and the baby of the family April was in the ninth grade.

After we finished at his parent’s house, we headed to his house. As he drove he looked over at me and chuckled, “You can finally breathe. My family loves you.”

I smiled, “I love them too.”

We made it to his grand house. “Wow, you stay here alone?”

“Yeah, for the most part.” He pulled into the three-car garage and parked next to his sedan a nice Hyundai Sonata.”

He took the bags out of the trunk, “Here we are mami, home sweet home.” When he opened the door that led to the laundry room and later the kitchen I looked around and saw there wasn’t a lot of anything.

“Did you just move in?”

“Yeah, I bought it before I went to the island. I had to jump on it while the market was hot. Years from now, you won’t be able to get a house like this for under 600k. I bought it for half that.”

“It’s beautiful.”

“And to think, I almost postponed my trip to the island this year but my abuela told me I needed to get away. That I would find what my heart was searching for.”

I smiled.

“Make yourself at home. Look around. I do have a bed,” he said as he kissed my mouth.

I laughed “I bet you do. Now all you need is a living room set, a dining table, some pictures for these naked walls, some house plants, curtains, and a whole lot more.”

He laughed, “Well, now that I have you, you can help me.”

“I can.”

“You know what, you can explore the house later. Let’s go to bed. I’m going to enjoy having you all to myself.”

And he did have me to himself in his bedroom in a king-sized bed. Our lips touched and our tongues danced as he worked my middle. “Yes, papi, si, me gusta.”

He laid it on thick. My body trembled and I grunted as that orgasm hit. He took my nipple into his mouth and suckled. Sweet kisses. I was his and he was mine. It felt right. After he spilled his DNA inside of me, he looked into my eyes and asked, “Am I enough for you?”

I nodded, “Of course.”

“I love you, Chelsea.”

I was stunned. He smiled, “You don’t have to say it yet. Say it when you’re ready.”

*******

Chapter 26

Ashton: Still Up to Shenanigans

Saturday morning. I was at home pacing the living room. Chelsea was on her way to Orlando. I couldn’t believe it when Lisa said that Chelsea was contemplating moving in with this dude for good. It took forever for me to convince her to move in together and after only a couple of weeks, she was thinking about going to this dude’s crib to play house.

I was convinced that she was just doing this shit to get a reaction out of me. I had stopped sleeping with other women. I had not been with anyone since that shit popped off with Elise. I needed my girl. This dude wanted me to challenge me, ha, I had years of experience with Chelsea. He had two weeks. This was a game he’d lose miserably.

I grabbed my phone and sent him a message on Facebook, “Bro, I know you think you got Chelsea but trust me her heart belongs to me.”

I saw that he read the message. He didn’t respond. I sent another message, “Chelsea is my girl. I’m coming for what belongs to me.”

He read it and didn’t respond. I sent another message, “I know your bitch ass see these messages. What you too afraid to respond?”

Then he blocked me. I tossed my phone on the sofa and yelled, “Arrggggh, fuck.”

*******

That night, I went club hopping. I drank. I tried to find my soul at the bottom of a bottle of whiskey. It was late. The bartender took my keys. He was tripping. I called Lisa to come to get me. After she fussed at me for a few minutes, she came.

I was sitting on the curb. She helped me into her ride and later drove off. I sat in her car miserable. I felt sick and not from all the alcohol. Just sick. I complained the whole drive to my apartment. When we got there, I realized I forgot to get my keys from the bartender.

By the time we went back, the place was already closed. Lisa was noticeably angry that she had to take me to her place for the night.

“You got me out here in my pajamas and a damn bonnet trying to help you. You need to get your shit together.”

“I’m sorry, Lisa. Look at me. I’m sorry.” I fought back tears. She finally took pity on me. She handed me some tissues. I blew my nose.

“Look, I have company. Two of my friends are visiting from Mississippi. Please behave yourself and don’t come into my house with no noise, whining, cussing, or complaining.”

“I just need to sleep. Promise I’ll behave.”

We ended up at her house. I had been there before with Chelsea a few times so I was familiar with the floor plan, “Where do you want me to sleep?” I asked.

“The rooms are taken. Sleep on the couch. I’ll bring you a blanket.”

I took off my shoes, and shirt and laid back. She returned and handed me a light blanket and a fluffy pillow, “Thanks, Lisa.”

“Um-hm,” she replied before marching off.

I closed my eyes and it felt like I instantly was transported to another realm. I was having the craziest dream about me and Chelsea getting down like how we used to. The period when she stopped being timid and started allowing me to do more freaky shit to her.

It felt so good. So vivid. Like we were really fucking. Why was my mind playing games? I felt a burst. I was having a damn wet dream. I hadn’t had one of those since before Chelsea and I got down. I didn’t bother getting up.

*******

I was resting peacefully. I reached down and felt my hard-on. My dick had dried cum all over it. It was time for me to get up and get Lisa to take me to the spot for my keys. I had to get cleaned up. But all I heard was, “Ashton, what the fuck?!”

I hopped up in a panic. I looked around. There was this chick sitting up in bed next to me naked, “Who are you?” I asked her.

“Nakeisha, get the fuck out here!” Lisa scolded the woman who slowly got out of bed with an attitude.

“I don’t see what the problem is, he said he broke up with his girlfriend.”

The door closed. She eyed me with disgust. Her nostrils flared. I looked for my pants and slid into them, “I don’t know what happened?”

She threw up her hand, “I’m tired. So, I know Chelsea must have been exhausted. You are just despicable.”

“You can’t hold this against me. You saw how drunk I was.”

“Yes. I did but who told you to get that drunk? At some point Ashton you need to take responsibility for your bullshit.”

“Can you take me to get my car?”

She shook her head.

“So, you’re not going to help me?”

“I’m done, Ashton. You have five minutes to get the hell out of my house.”

******

I stood outside waiting on an Uber. Shit was bad. I was pissed. Why did Chelsea have to be so unreasonable? Why did have to pull a stunt like that?

The Uber driver pulled up. I got in and went for my car.

******

Chapter 27

Cristian: This Is My Confession

The only thing better than nights with Chelsea were mornings. We were in the middle of my king-sized bed. I sat up with her in my lap. It was something about how the sun shined in through the window and kissed her skin. It was at that moment I realized I didn’t want her to go back to Tampa at the end of the week. I struggled with it.

My hands caressed her back as she moved her hips. Our rhythms matched. Her lips pressed onto mine. Seconds went by and then minutes. Our hearts raced. She gasped and threw her head back, “Fuck, babe, I’m cumming.”

She didn’t have to tell me. I could feel her walls pulsating on my shaft. It felt wonderful. It was my sign to take over. I flipped and end up on top, one leg over my shoulder as I looked down on my queen. I worked her middle until she squealed and came again. I smiled. As much as I loved being on the island with Chelsea, having her to myself felt like a dream come true.

I didn’t have to wait. She was all mine. We made love twice a day. My brother said it was like that in the beginning. Couples often couldn’t get enough of each other. But I had been in relationships before. I genuinely loved being with her.

She was funny. She had dreams She was successful. She was business minded. She was financially responsible. She loved kids and wanted them.

As I continued to stroke her precious middle, I had to contend with the idea that she had to go back to Tampa and there would be some fallout behind what I did. That fucking e-mail. I moved her leg off my shoulder and pressed my chest to hers. I looked into her eyes, “Babe just know that I love you.”

Her face lit up, “I know, babe.”

I kissed her lips and filled her with my cum. I longed for the day that act would create a life but in the interim, I was happy she was there with me.

*******

As Chelsea showered, I headed downstairs to get breakfast started. My house started to feel like a home. My father told me that when you find a good woman, give her a house and she’d make it a home. A place you wanted to be.

My living room had furniture. A gray sectional sofa with a chaise lounge on one end, with a bunch of throw pillows, two blankets for our movie nights in front of the large screen tv she had mounted to the wall, all this beautiful African and Latin inspired artwork on the walls, a coffee table, a recliner, a rug.

I made my way to the kitchen and prepared to cook. My cellphone rang. It was Asif, “Hermano!” I said excitedly.

“How are things? We miss you two on the island.”

“We miss you guys too. Things are great.”

“Good to hear. Naomi is having her birthday party next month. We were hoping you two could come back for a week.”

“I’ll ask Chelsea. I’m sure she’s fine with it. And how are you and your girl?”

“Not bad actually. She’s coming to the party.”

“Wow, that’s great, Asif. I’m glad to hear you two or working on things.”

“Yeah. And what about you?”

“Me?”

“Yes. Have you told Chelsea about the email thing?”

“Uh, why’d you bring that up?”

“Bro just be honest. You don’t want him to be able to use it against you. Tell her.”

I nodded, “Yeah, you’re right. Today. Alright man, let me make my queen some breakfast.”

“Take care man. Send Chelsea my love.”

“Will do.”

I sighed. That was a reality that I had to deal with. I was lost in thought when I felt her soft hand on my shoulder, “You okay, babe?”

“Yeah,” I pulled the eggs out of the refrigerator, “say, babe.” I looked over and saw her sitting at the table by the three windows. She looked angelic.

“Yes, babe?”

“I have something to confess.”

Her eyebrows furrowed, “Oh my god, what?”

I walked over to where she sat and reached for her hand. She stood. I looked down into her brown eyes. I blew out a puff of air. “Um, just remember that I love you and I want the best for you. For us.”

“Christian. Just say what it is.”

“Okay. Okay. Um, back when we were on the island. You know your guy, your ex, or whatever.”

She eyed me suspiciously, “Ashton. What about him?”

“He sent you an email.”

She made a face, “No. I didn’t get an email from him.”

“I know because I kind of accidentally deleted it.”

It was quiet. She stared at me. My stomach was in a knot. “Babe, say something.”

She shook her head, “So this is what we do? We don’t trust each other?”

“No, babe, it’s not. I do trust you. I was just. I don’t know. I wasn’t thinking. I just—”

“If we’re going to be together, I need you to trust me. Don’t do stuff like that. I wouldn’t do that to you.”

“Right. I apologize from the depths of my soul. Te lo juro.”

Her lips curled and she gave me a little punch in the belly.

“Make my breakfast. I’m hungry.”

“Are we good?”

“Sure. But I will have to put you on punishment for a few days.”

“What?! Chelsea, quit playing.” I pulled her in and kissed those full lips, “You can’t make me go that long.”

“You’re right. I can’t.” Her fingers played I my hair. We kissed for a while. It was done. My confession was out there. I felt better. It felt better. We could move forward without any secrets.

*****

Thursday night, I took Chelsea out to dinner. As we sat having a good conversation, my cell phone rang. It was my cousin, Armando. As I sat listening to him, my neck got hot. He told me that that fucking asshole ex-boyfriend of Chelsea had shown up at the barber shop demanding information about getting in touch with me.

That they had to ban him from going to the barber shop after how badly he acted. After I told Chelsea she was upset. She called her friend in Tampa. Her friend said that Ashton was acting wild. That he lost his job, had to move in with his mom, lost one of his best friends, and was still fucking up by the numbers.

His friend said it wasn’t a good idea for her to return to Tampa until Ashton was in a better place. I agreed with her friend. So, Chelsea stayed in Orlando with me.