Shattered

by Nicole Banks

  He stepped closer to me his voice was low and calm but it held a hint of frustration, "No shit, Angel. She's one of the reasons I might not take this job." He stepped back looking annoyed, well I be damned. As much as it pained me to know one of my boys was trying to get with my little sister, I was glad it was someone like Chase. He cared enough not to get involved with something that would bring Kris any pain or stress. I was slightly impressed.

  I looked over the crowd to see Tony was making his way to our table. The sea of bodies parted for him. They all probably could sense the menace that vibrated off him. Tony was a good guy, a teddy bear even sometimes, but he always had this 'don't fuck with me' face. People sometimes, were smart enough to take heed. "Look at this big ass dude. Doesn’t he look like Moses parting the Red Sea?" I started laughing; Chase had a point.

  Tony didn’t even say hi. He went straight for Chase. "Do not take that job. Trust me on this one."

  "I haven't decided yet." Well shit, Tony knew about Chase's job? What the hell did this kid do? Tony was in the F.B.I, so if he knew about Chase‘s job, it had to be the same thing.

  "Chase you F.B.I? And don't tell me no or don't worry about it. If this tall doofy bastard knows about the job you shouldn't take, you have to be in the same organization. At the very least you're law enforcement like he is."

  Chase just shook his head, "I can't talk about it. And Tony you shouldn't have brought it up here."

  Tony crossed his arms over his chest "You shouldn't have met him here."

  "He sought me out, Tony."

  These two were staring each other down like they were ready to fight. "Okay itchy, scratchy, chill. We are supposed to be having fun, right?" I chuckled, what the hell was happening in the world? These two guys were being hot tempered and I was the one being calm, trying to ease the tension in the group. Talk about your role reversal.

  Chase exhaled, "Angel apparently picked up the job as peace maker now is right. Let’s just chill; we‘re here to have a good time.”

  Tony nodded, “So Angel, what’s good for tonight? We gonna do like the old days and see who can bag the most girls? Or are you two love birds taken off the market?"

  Chase was laughing, "I'm not sure about me, but I know Angel is off the market."

  "I am not." Off the market would require me and Jasmine to be official. We made it clear; well I made it clear just a couple of hours ago. We were going to remain friends.

  Chase snickered, "Uh huh, let’s see how much we believe you when you see Jasmine. She's in the middle of the dance floor with Kris."

  I turned looking towards where Chase had pointed. "Geez"

  "Perfection, right?" Perfection wasn't a good enough word to describe the sight before me. Jas’s little black dress was low cut in the front with a single chain placed in between the valley of her breast. The dress was short; a little too short to be worn anywhere outside of my bedroom. And the heels, geez; the fuck me heels made Jas’s incredibly sexy legs even more sinister.

  She was dancing. But it wasn't the in your face dancing she used to do when she was younger. She was shy, a little reserved and it made her look that much more decedent. My eyes were fixated on her. Watching her move, I felt like a predator waiting for the perfect time to strike, to devour my prey. Tony clapped his hand on my shoulder, "Bro, if you don't want her, I damn sure will take her off your hands."

  I growled. "Ain't no one fucking touching her but me."

  "Hey, I'm just saying. You want to put her in the friend zone no problem. I on the other hand wouldn't dream of doing anything other than making her wifey. That way I can enjoy her whenever I wanted.”

  "Ton, I’d advise you to shut up now." A guy approached Jas to dance, and my little brat of a sister encouraged the two of them to dance. Ohh, I am going to kill Kristal. And of course, the next damn song would be a reggae song. Jasmine didn’t even decline the dance! She started dancing with the douche. At least, she kept a space between them, but the fucktard didn’t seem to understand; he just kept getting closer. Man, if he touches her in any way, I am going to kill him!

  Chase stepped in front of me. "How about we go outside."

  I side stepped him, "Nope, I'm good right here."

  "Come on Angel. Don't cause a scene."

  I saw Kris grab Jas and all but run towards us. Kris jumped in Tony's arms for a big bear hug: "I didn't think you would show."

  "I had some business to take care of." He looked toward Chase. "Hopefully, I won't have to take care of it anymore." He dropped his hold on Kris and grabbed Jasmine's hand to give it a kiss. It took all my damn strength not to snatch her away and beat Tony to a pulp. The mammoth was testing my patience.

  She giggled, “It’s good to see you Tony. Sorry I didn't get a chance to talk to you at the BBQ."

  "Don't worry about it sweetheart. Just save me a dance out there okay?" She smiled one of her rare smiles that lit up her entire face. "For you Tony, anything." For the love of- I grabbed Jas by the arm and dragged her over to me. "Rude much? I was talking.”

  "No, you were flirting. But that's not the point. Who were you dancing with?" She took a step back, cocked her hip and crossed her arms over here chest. The moved caused her boobs to push up and my mouth watered. "Well Angel, that depends on how long you've been watching me."

  "Jasmine." The brat just laughed. She stepped real close to me. In her heels, she was eye level with me. If I wanted too, I could have taken my tongue and licked her lips until she opened up for me.

  “What’s the matter Angel? Jealous?”

  “Not in the slightest love. But understand, you want to dance, you only dance with me.”

  “Oh really? That’s how this goes? No problem. Can you sit in that chair for me?”

  That was too easy but she complied and I was not going to have her dancing with any of these losers out here. No one but me got to touch her. Gyptain’s Hold You started to play. I loved the beat of this song and so did Jasmine. She smiled at me before turning around, to sit on my lap. She stayed there for a minute. I didn’t think she was going to move, but then she slowly started winding her waist on my lap. The movements were a little shy and unsure but, God this felt amazing. I closed my eyes and tilted my head back getting lost in this little dance.

  She abruptly stood up and kissed me on the cheek. She bent to my ear to whisper, “You have no claim on me, so I‘m going to go dance with whoever I want.”

  I opened my eyes to see her walking towards Tony, “Come on. I owe you a dance.” She led him to the dance floor and began winding to the melodies of the music. She looked straight at me and winked. I was going to carry her off and put her over my damn knee for being so damn defiant.

  Chase and Kris were laughing. Kris came over, “Jasmine is good for you. Keep your ass on your toes.”

  I wasn’t sure if I wanted to throttle the shit out of Jasmine or just kiss her endlessly. I stood up and stormed straight for the center of the dance floor. I grabbed her by the arm pulling her away from Tony. She wrenched her arm out of mine. “Excuse you Angel. Don’t touch me.” I got right in her face. “I told you, if you want to dance, you dance with me. Nobody is putting their hands on what’s mine.”

  “Ahh see here’s the thing Angel; just mere hours ago you told me we were just friends. I told you what was going to happen if you gave me whiplash again.”

  Tony stepped in between us, “How about you calm down Marine.”

  ‘”How about you move your lengthy ass out the way before I move it for you. I told you, don’t touch her.”

  Tony got in my face, “How about you put the caveman away for a second and think. You’re causing a scene.” I looked around and the crowd of people had parted giving us more than enough room. I took a deep breath. Getting into any confrontation was the last thing I wanted. “You good Marine?” I nodded and he sidestepped to allow an angry Jasmine to face me.

  I grabbed her arm pulling her off balance and towards me. “I’m sorry. Let’s go outside and talk.”<
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  “For what, Angel?”

  “Please Jas.” She rolled her eyes, “Fine let’s go talk.” She walked past me towards the exit. The second we were both outside, whatever plan of finesse I was going to use went right out the window. I needed to feel her now. I pushed her up against the wall and ravished her mouth. Whatever protest she had died when I swallowed her surprised gasp. The instant our lips touched it was like an electric current shooting through me. Her body melted into mine and I groaned. How could I have thought I could stay away? I was stupid to fight this. I couldn’t just be her friend anymore; that shit was out the question. Not the way my body craved her when she was near or the way I missed her when she wasn’t. I wanted her and I was damn sure going to have her.

  * * *

  Angel and his damn seductive kisses; I should be fighting him. I should beat him for doing this again, but my traitorous body had other plans. How could he solicit such responses from my body. . . a body that had been battered and taken advantage of before? The more time I spent with him, the less I feared he'd hurt me; the more willing I was to take a chance with him. I knew he'd be good; the man just oozed sex. He would make this good for me. But, I couldn't get pulled in again, especially to be rejected. I couldn't keep playing these damn games. It wasn’t fair. I couldn’t deal with the sensory overload he seemed to ignite every time he touched me. He pulled back and I almost groaned at the loss of his lips. He placed a small kiss on my nose. I knew what was coming next, the letdown. “I want you Jasmine.” I pushed at him to give myself breathing room. I needed to be able to think with a clear head. “Yea but let me guess . . . we’re just going to be friends and whatever other bullshit you’re going to give me.”

  “No.”

  “Angel I told you if you-” Wait he just said no? He moved back into my space. "Jasmine, I want to be with you. I can’t do this anymore. It’s taking too much energy to stay away from you. I want you to be mine."

  "No!" The look on his face was priceless. Angel never heard the word no I'm sure of it. But he wasn't controlling this. It was bad enough my body responded to him, I would not just lie down and give into him. He needed to work a little bit.

  "You're really telling me no?"

  I laughed, "I didn’t mean to hurt your ego. But it's a no." I pushed him and started walking back to the club.

  He grabbed my arm, halting me, "I know you want me Jas. But if you intend to make me grovel I will. Nothing is going to keep you from me. You will be mine."

  CHAPTER 18

  I was in Angel's house staring out the window, lost to my thoughts. Today was a bad day. I had been waiting for the lows to come after all the highs I had been having lately. And the highs had been so damn intoxicating. I felt like I was in my own skin again, not the outsider, I had been for some time now. It was thrilling to live life instead of watching it.

  Everything was made even better because, Angel was moving mountains trying to make me his. I have never seen him work this hard for a girl’s attention, and on every single level, it warmed me. I knew this was real for him. This courtship had been fun. It was something I had missed out on these past years. I had been too scared to try anything, but Angel sure enough made up for it.

  The night after the club, I woke up to a house full of white Violets. They had always been my favorite; it was sweet that he remembered. Every day for the past week, I woke up to a dozen different flowers in my house and every night we went out on a date. He took me to the park to have a picnic, and he made me a home cooked meal. I was pleasantly surprised to see that he could cook. As far as I remembered, he had always been a horrible cook. My favorite part of the courtship had been his giving me the letters I wrote him back along with a letter he had written himself. He said that each letter was about things he should have told me the first time. It saddened me to learn he lost his brother in arms. It made it worse to know he was still suffering from the guilt of it. It also made life and his feelings a little more real for me. I almost lost him. I don't know how I would have been able to cope if he didn't come home to me.

  But he did come home to me, and I was glad and blessed that he did. I had to admit, since he's been home it’s the happiest I’ve been in a long time. It’s also the most fun I’ve had. I think that's what had me worried now. Nothing this good could last.

  I didn’t even hear Angel move. His arms came around my shoulders hugging me and pulling me back towards him. He placed a kiss on my neck and my head instinctively fell back on his shoulder. I let out a long breath, I wasn’t even aware I was holding. How I finally managed to relax around him always amazed me. He had become my peace. Who would have thought, I'd be standing here with him like this? Who would have thought he would have cared for me more than just as a sister, especially after what I told him. I was thankful that he was here, that no matter what, he'd always be here for me.

  “Let’s get out of here for a while baby.” The way Angel said baby did funny things to my insides. It was a cheesy word, but when he said it; his voice would drop and became so sensual. I just wanted to melt in a puddle at his feet. It amazed me how he was able to get these reactions out of me.

  “So where are we going Angel?”

  “I’ll surprise you; let’s take a drive.”

  ***

  We ended up driving to The South Street Seaport. I smiled, I loved this place, and the city in general. We were by the railing staring out into the water watching the boats pass by. “I’ll tell you: the New York City Skyline is not the same without the Twin Towers.”

  “Yea I hear that Jas, but they’re building that Freedom Tower thing.”

  “That ugly shit? Please dude, they’ve still got two damn holes in the ground. All the people who died, the soldiers we lost, and we still have two holes in the ground. A phoenix rises from the ashes; it doesn’t go further into the ground.”

  “I didn’t know you felt so passionately about it.”

  “Well what can I say? Especially when I have someone I care about fighting in this these wars.” He came up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist. He placed a kiss on the side of my head and whispered in my ear, “I’m not fighting these wars anymore, Jasmine. Stop worrying about me. I promised you I wouldn’t go anywhere again and I won’t. Come on; let’s go get some ice cream.”

  We walked hand in hand to the Hagen Dazs store. Every time he touched me, even like this, heat always surged through my body. I wondered if that would always be the case. When we got to the counter, he placed the order. He ordered Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough and Dulce De Leche. “You remembered my favorite flavor?”

  He gave me a crooked smile, “I remember every little thing about you.” My heart melted and beat a little faster for him.

  We got our ice cream and went outside to sit and enjoy it. One thing great about the seaport in the summer time, was the constant musical concerts that played here almost every night. I was watching them set up; I wondered who was playing tonight? Hopefully somebody good. I always enjoyed music. “What are you thinking about Jasmine?”

  “About how much of a girl you are eating Deluce De Leche ice cream.”

  “And when I’m licking it and eating it off of you I doubt that’s what you’ll be thinking.”

  So much heat crept into my face, I was sure I was red as a tomato. I refused to look at him. Every semi sexual incident I have had with Angel thus far was flashing through my mind. “Jasmine, look at me.” I slowly turned to face him and I noticed he had ice cream on the corner of his mouth, “Take it off and don’t use a napkin. Nor your finger unless you plan on putting it in my mouth.” I had to fight dropping my jaw. Geez this man has no filter. But fine, he wanted to play. I’m game. “If you wanted a kiss you should have just asked for one.”

  He shrugged, “Who says I want a kiss? I’m just asking you to help me remove the ice cream.”

  I took a deep breathe, wiling some confidence into me. I grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him close to my face. My tongue slowly licked the
ice cream from the corner of his bottom lip to his top. When he didn’t make a move for more, I backed up and continued to eat my ice cream. I was suppressing the urge to giggle because I couldn‘t believe I was able to be that bold with him. He didn't move, he just started at me, which caused me to flush even more. He stared a second longer before chuckling and moving back to his side. Infuriating man!

  The band finally finished setting up and started playing. I guess it was Spanish night at the seaport. I had no clue who the artist was or what the name of the song was that they were playing. All I knew was that it was salsa. Jay used to be a champion when it came to dancing salsa. I used to beg him to teach me. He never wanted to; he said he didn’t want anyone dancing better than he did. But he eventually caved, and he made sure I was good enough to keep up with him. Angel got up and grabbed the trash to throw it away. He turned back to me with his hand held out. “ “Dance with me.”

  I busted out laughing; this was twice he said something about dancing. I mean I was surprised when he got home and he had the ability to do more than two-step. But this required skill, a skill I wasn’t sure he possessed. “Um, you are aware this is salsa.”

  “No shit, I’m Puerto Rican. Now let’s dance.”

  “Since when can you dance this? Puerto Rican or not I’ve never seen you dance.”

  “Come on Jasmine, I promise to go slow so you can keep up.”

  “Really? I can run circles around you on the dance floor. The question isn’t about me keeping up, the question is can you?”

  He pulled me up, his body holding me tight, "I can keep up with you any day of the week, and in any and all activities. Now let’s go dance.”

  He led me to the center of a make shift dance floor. Other people or couples were already dancing to the sounds of the salsa music being played. He spun me around unexpectedly and I laughed. “I never get tired of hearing you laugh. Smiling looks good on you.”

  "Same could be said about you." He was so handsome. His devious smile and his eyes light with mischief and happiness. This was the Angel I remembered; it was good to see him finding his way back as well.