Our a Cappella (2 page)

Chapter 3

Nate

Here I am, not even knockin’ on thirties doors and I’m sick. Not just sick with a cough, but
sick
sick. Ain’t that some shit.

For a while now, I
hadn’t been feelin’ right. Ya’ know, my energy was low, had a cough I couldn’t get rid of and these night sweats that left my sheets soaked. So I manned it up and went to the doctor. He gone and ran some tests, which led to more tests and before you knew it, he had me doing a chest x-ray.

I din’t tell Pop
or Erin ‘cuz I was sure it was nothing. I’m a healthy eater, with one cheat meal a month at Pop’s diner. I run every day and lift weights. I’m strong and healthy. So I was sure it was nothing.

Turned out the x-rays showed som
ething. That something still din’t bother me much. Just some fluid in my lungs and a small blurry mass in my chest. Doc said it could be anything so I figured that anything meant nothin’.

Again, I din’t
tell Pop or Erin and I went to work waitin’ on the insurance company to approve a CT scan. An’ lemme tell ya, insurance companies are a pain in my ass. You’d think I’d get special treatment ‘cuz I’m a cop and protectin’ people is kinda what I do. You’d think wrong.

A couple months passed by and them bastards finally approved the CT scan. An’ that small mass I had when they first did the x-rays had nearly doubled in size. That’s when I knew it wasn’t nothing. This was serious.

So here I am, all twenty-four years of me and I got cancer. Doc won’t say what kinda cancer I got. Not till they cut me open and do a biopsy, but it’s probably lymphoma.

Ain’t that some serious shit?

I decided to put off tellin’ Pop and Erin about the cancer ‘till after Shay’s birthday. I don’t want that hangin’ over their heads when they should be celebratin’. Goin’ down to Miami, I knew I shouldn’t’ve kept on whatever it is Tonya and I started, but there’s certain things that just aren’t in my control.

Cancer’s one of them. Tonya’s another. They’ll both blow up in my face before long. ‘Til then, I like holdin’ Tonya in my arms, the way she wraps herself around me, how dominant she is in bed. She’s got a whip, no lie. I’ve done the whole handcuffs and blindfold thing. But a whip? Now that’s a woman. Maybe she’ll give me a heart attack one night in bed and I won’t have to worry about the cancer.

It ain’t just the sex although I like to think it is. I’m in no need of a relationship right now. But she’s got me, not that I’d tell her. She’s easily the most beautiful woman I ever set my eyes on. Her skin is flawless, almost looks like some photographer photo shopped her ‘til there wasn’t a flaw to be found. He missed one scar on her right butt cheek, which comes with its own funny story. From how she tells it, she was visitin’ family in Jamaica when she was a little girl. They were all on a boat when a wave hit the boat hard and she fell butt first onto an anchor. Okay, it’s not funny, but she laughed when she told me the story and her dimples had me laugh in return.

Her hair looks like a whirlwin
d of chaos. The messiness originally misled me into thinkin’ she din’t much care how she looked, which made her perfection all the more sexy. Soon as I got to know her, I found out she spends too much time creating the perfectly thought out chaos that is her hair. Which, funny enough, is even sexier.

Her eyes are a dark chocolate brown which stands out against her lighter toned skin. An’ the way her eyes smoke over when we’re in bed together would undo the most uptight of men.

She’s got me bad, which only makes my secret that much harder to tell. I’m scared of losin’ her when she finds out. But more, I’m scared she’ll stick around.

My momma went through chemotherapy when I was just a boy and I remember asking her if it hurt. I’ll never forget her words.

She shook her head at me and said, “Nah, baby. I got the easy part. It’s the people who love me that suffer.”

I never understood her words ‘til now. If my cancer’s as bad as the doc thinks it is, it could be close to a year of hard chemo. An’ the people who love me are the ones who are gonna suffer as they watch me get sicker and sicker, unable to do anything to help me.

I try not to think about any of that as I lie down next to Tonya. We are, after all, in the happiest place on Earth. At least that’s what everyone keeps tellin’ me.

I rub Tonya’s back, wantin’ to wake her up so I can kiss her some more, but she’s sleepin’ soundly beside me.
She’s so beautiful, awake or asleep, it don’t matter. Unable to resist, I kiss the back of her shoulder. I continue to kiss ‘till I’m kissing her neck. I feel her stir with a soft murmur so I continue to kiss her, drapin’ my arm over her body so I can caress her stomach. Eventually she turns over and looks at me through sleepy eyes.

“Nate?” she asks.

“Were you expectin’ someone else?” I ask but kiss her lips before she can say anything.

Her response to me is immediate. She slips her tongue into my mouth and she tastes like Heaven. I cup the back of her head, letting our kiss grow until she’s tuggin’ at my underwear and strippin’ them off of me.

This is what I wanted. She will drain my mind of everything but her. Consumed with her scent, her taste, and the feel of her skin, I will finally find peace.

I flip her over so that she her body is facin
’ the bed and I lean over her, kissin’ her back as I slip a finger inside of her, while my thumb caresses her clit. She moans my name repeatedly until she is all that I hear.

“You like that, baby girl?” I ask and she nods. “Tell me.”

Instead she takes my hand in her own and rubs herself with me, sending a ripple of excitement throughout every cell in my body.

“You feel that?” she whispers. “You feel how wet I am for your?”

“Only for me,” I growl in her ear and nip it gently.

Cuppin
’ her breast with one hand, I squeeze tightly and slip my cock inside of her as she moans my name. I thrust myself into her roughly as she screams and then shakes underneath me, so I maneuver her again until she is lying flat on her back.

“I ain’t done yet,” I tell her and she cocks an eye brow at me. This woman will be the death of me.

Puttin’ her breast inside my mouth, I nibble on her nipple and lean my body onto her so that she can feel how hard I am.

“This is what you do to me,” I tell her, weighing my cock on her pelvis.

She shoves me back onto the bed with a devious grin wide across her face, as she crawls between my thighs. She grabs me with her hands, guidin’ me until I am fully in her mouth. She wraps her lips tightly around my cock, and begins to glide her lips up and down slowly, as she strokes me with her hand. I hold on to the back of her head, followin’ her movements with my own. On a groan, I grab her hair, jerking her back so that I can get on top of her again. She smiles at me, her devilish smile and I slide between her creamy thighs. She reaches over my shoulder, scraping her nails down my back as she continues to pant my name. With her nails diggin’ into me and her body bucking underneath me, I release everything inside of me, no longer thinkin’ about anything but this amazin’ woman, who for the time being is mine.

Chapter 4

Trent

“It’s not my birthday yet,” Shayna leans over to me and whispers in my ear nervously.

“It’s okay,” I
whisper back, winking at her. “It’s almost your birthday.”

Relieved,
Shayna smiles at the Disney staff and characters as they sing
Happy Birthday
to her over a Minnie Mouse shaped cake with a tall sparkling candle. Erin snaps pictures of Shayna hugging Goofy and Stitch, thanking them for their birthday wishes. Erin beams at me, just as happy as I am to see our daughter in her element.

With the New Year only a few hours away, the park is somehow filling up with even more people. As we shove our way out of the restaurant, I’m positive the park is over capacity. It’ll only be a matter of time until Erin gets that freak-out look on her face. It’s funny how someone so warm can dislike people as much as she does. I wrap my arm around her waist and keep her close to me, providing myself as her safety net. Shayna is safely bouncing on my shoulders, eager for the fireworks to start.

Even for Florida, the day had been hot so Tonya and Nate had left us to go on Splash Mountain. I feel a twinge of jealousy when they return so wet their shoes squeak.

“Y’all should go,” Nate offers. “We’ll watch Shay.”

Erin looks back at him skeptically, but I hand Shayna to her uncle and take off running towards the ride with Erin’s hand firmly in mine before she has the chance to object. I only stop when we reach the back of the line and look back at Erin who is out of breath and laughing. 

“You’re insane,” she accuses but laughs.

I lift her off her feet until her lips meet mine and repeatedly kiss her softly until I hear her giggle. Yea, I’m a sap.

“That’s what you love about me,” I respond arching my eyebrows in question.

“Let’s not get carried away here, Trent. I only love you a little,” she teases so I pinch her ass.

“Trent,” she hisses and I look back at her, my eyes wide with innocence. “There’s kids here.”

I look around, assessing my environment and mostly see teenage boys looking at Erin longingly and glaring at me with obvious envy.

“We should give them a show then,” I decide but she pushes me away with a small but mischievous smile.

“Oh, I have a show for you,” she whispers in my ear and my body involuntarily reacts to the memory of our first New Year’s Eve together.

We were already engaged and Shayna had gotten the flu so we stayed home watching Star Wars while the ball dropped in New York. A few minutes before midnight, Erin disappeared to the bathroom and came back wearing nothing but black lace and a pair of black boots that I’ve had to hide because just the sight of them turns me into an animal. I nearly choked on my own saliva when she climbed on top of me. I knew she liked to take control, so I sat still, trying not to touch or guide her, as she tasted my body with her tongue. Her delicate hands quietly removed my gym shorts and with a quick glance in my direction, she lowered her head and placed my cock in her mouth. I closed my eyes and reminded myself that she was in control, but that didn’t last long and like the savage only Erin brings out in me, I unceremoniously maneuvered her until she sat on my lap.

Proudly, she smiled back at me so I dove my fingers inside her, pleased when her smile disappeared on a gasp. She took my mouth in
hers; occasionally biting so she wouldn’t scream out. I only slipped inside of her and filled her when I felt her about to climax. She shuddered on top of me, placing her head on my shoulder, as I continued the journey she had initiated. I heard her whisper my name, and as always that was what undid me.

I let go of Erin and purposely drain my mind of that night as the line inches forward. But Erin is determined to torture me.

“I found my boots,” she tells me, the devil gleaming back at me from her eyes so I raise my eyebrows at her in
questionable innocence. “You know, the ones you hid from me.”

Giving in, I bring her closer to me, adjusting her body so that she is directly in front of me and I rest my chin on the back of her head.

“What else did you bring?” I ask.

“Wait an’ see,” she tells me and without looking at her, I know just how her lips are curved in mischief and anticipation.

Once on the ride, Erin squirms closer to me, leaving little room for air to exist between us. I wrap my arm around her shoulders so she can comfortably rest her head on me. We are the vision of romance and lovers, which is quickly erased after the ride’s first drop. Holding on to the handlebar until her knuckles whiten, Erin screams obscenities at me and for a moment she is free of the restraints she instills on herself.

I love her like this, with her youth radiating
from her eyes and her face contorted as she screams. When she ceases to try is when she reaches the perfection she aims for. But that could very well be the love talking.

Wet and disheveled, I take Erin by the hand, not allowing her to smooth her hair down or
squeeze the water out of her shirt. She protests, but I’m stronger than her so she eventually relents. Erin isn’t one to wear a lot of makeup, and why would she when she is clearly all that is beautiful in my world? But her mascara has smeared under her eyes, and while I find it sexy, I know she wouldn’t agree so I gently trace my thumb under her eye until she is smear-less.

Erin bumps her hip into mine, her way of thanking me, so I bump her back. A game of chase ensues as we make our way back to our group. By the time we reach them
we have twenty minutes until midnight and Erin and I are giggling like school children. Not wanting to miss out on the fun, Shayna squirts me with a water gun Nate must have bought her so I wrap her in a hug, wetting her with my soaked shirt.

As girls instinctually do, she shrieks and admonishes me while she secretly enjoys the fun and attention.
I’ve known Shayna for roughly a year and a half and have seen her blossom under Erin’s continuity. I’d like to think I’ve had something to do with her growth, but I know firsthand that there is no comparison to a mother’s love. It’s taken some time, but the nightmares are almost nonexistent at this point and she has opened up to us, talking to us about a world I wish she had never been a part of.

No one would ever hurt her again. Erin and I will make sure of that.

As the crowd thickens, I put Shayna back on my shoulders and put my arms around Erin’s waist. I feel Erin draw her body closer to mine, her desire for my protection is subconscious. I, on the other hand, am deliberately protective of both her and Shayna. I know their past. And I know how quickly the memories can overtake Erin, momentarily crippling her until her spine stiffens and she molds herself into the badass she is. 

Shayna, a small bundle of excited energy, bounces on my shoulder when the first firework lights up the sky.

“Did you see that, Daddy?” she shouts.

I nod my head and point as the fireworks illuminate the sky with an array of colors that all too quickly disappear into smoke. I remember a time when the sound of a car backfiring wou
ld make her jump, but now that Shayna has nothing to be scared of, she claps her hands after each boom.

I watch the fireworks with my two favorite girls by my side and the rest of the world dissolves until only the three of us exist.