Head Over Heels

by Crystal B. Bright

  The front door opened. He saw Eboni and Janelle walk through before Gideon and Gunnar walked in behind them. Not wanting them to see him looking vulnerable, Thane released Victor. He handed the older man a napkin to wipe away his tears before going to the kitchen.

  In the small space, he found a lithe African-American woman he remembered meeting one time before during his visits home, but he couldn’t recall her name. She had her Afro slicked down in the front and trumpeting out the back in a huge puff. Her tight, black dress left nothing to the imagination. The tears in her eyes spoke volumes. She pulled out a tray of sliced ham and placed it on the table.

  “You probably don’t remember me.” She grabbed a napkin and wiped under her eyes. “My name is Shay. I worked with your mom, I mean, I work at the hair salon.”

  Thane nodded. Now he remembered her. She’d flirted with him when he’d met her the first time. He didn’t mind flirting back. The attractive woman could catch any man’s interest. He didn’t view her as a serious girlfriend. Had he only used her for a good time, his mother would have killed him.

  “Thane.” He pointed to himself.

  She nodded while her face broke. She raised her arms and enveloped him in them. Her large breasts pressed against his chest as she cried. With each gasping sob, her body trembled.

  Thane couldn’t help but hold her. He wrapped his arms around her tiny waist.

  “She let me live in the apartment over the garage when my boyfriend—” Shay stopped and cried even harder. “She saved me, her and Gunnar.”

  Thane released his hold as soon as he heard Gunnar’s name. With his arms by his side, he jiggled his jacket pockets, which clinked the small bottles against each other. Shay pulled back from him and peered down.

  “Glad my mother could be there for you.” He moved back from her and returned to the living room, which now had filled up with bodies.

  Some people he recognized from his mother’s businesses, like Tillman and Tisha, also from the salon. The rest of the people came from Elizabeth’s side of the family, like her sister, Millie, who looked nothing like Queen.

  Whereas Elizabeth carried a statuesque height, Millie stood shorter than height-challenged Victor. Millie’s eyes reminded him of autumn, full of light brown, green, and gray colors, depending on what she wore. Unlike his mother, Millie flaunted a fuller figure.

  Thane had no problem hugging his aunt. “Hey, Aunt Millie.”

  She squeezed him like she wanted to absorb him into her compact body. Thane took a deep breath. His aunt didn’t even smell like his departed mother. Millie always reminded him of spring and summer. She smelled like fresh-cut grass and honeysuckle.

  She pulled back from him. Thane had expected to see tears filling the woman’s eyes. Instead, she looked strong. She kind of reminded Thane of Gunnar, like she had to be the rock.

  “Your mother loved all of you boys so much.” Millie’s voice remained steady as she spoke.

  “We loved her. She will be missed.” Thane’s voice broke, but he took in a deep breath to keep from crying.

  “You three are going to have to be like Elizabeth and I were when our parents died.” She rested her hands on his shoulders. “You have each other. Lean on your family.”

  Thane put his hand on top of his aunt’s. “If you need anything, you know you can call any of us. You’re family.”

  Millie smiled. “I know, baby. But I’m more concerned about you three. I know what a force of nature my sister is…was.” She shook her head like she couldn’t wrap her mind around the concept of Elizabeth being gone. “She saw strength in each of you. You all are going to have to hold each other up for a while. There’s no shame in asking for help.”

  Thane didn’t see his situation with his brothers that way. He craned his head back and saw the back door by the kitchen, a way out. “Speaking of help, I think they might need some in the kitchen.” He kissed Millie on her cheek. “Love you.”

  “Love you, Thane.”

  Thane made his way through the throngs of people milling around his mother’s modest home to get to the back door. He bolted through it, needing space and air and a place to think. He paced in the grassy area next to the two-story two-car garage, the place Shay said she now lived.

  He pressed his back against the garage wall and pulled his jacket around his body. When he heard the bottles in his pocket clicking against each other again, he wasted no time retrieving one and downing it in a swallow.

  Thane grimaced and growled when he realized he’d drunk a bottle of vodka. He shoved the empty bottle into his pocket and pulled out another one. At this point, it didn’t matter what he ingested. He needed the effects of the alcohol to kick in now.

  An hour later and several bottles of liquor poured down his throat, Thane achieved what he wanted. He slid down the wall to sit on the cold ground under him. He’d buried his mother today. The thought of that hit him despite being too drunk to stand.

  He bowed his head and covered his face with his hands. “It’s not fair.”

  “Hey.”

  Thane felt a hand on his shoulder. He peered up and saw Gideon standing over him.

  “We’ve been looking for you. Why are you out here?” He held his hand out to Thane.

  Thane pushed himself up and stumbled as soon as he made it to his feet. Gideon held on to Thane’s arm and helped him get straight.

  “You really did it, huh?” Gideon held Thane’s chin so he could look into Thane’s face.

  Thane grabbed Gideon’s hand and pushed him away, which made him stumble back. “Why won’t you all leave me alone? Everyone grieves in their own way. Can’t I sit here and get shitfaced without you judging me? Mom’s dead.” He shook his head. “Mom’s dead.” He fell to his knees.

  Maybe if he prayed for a different outcome to this day, it would happen. He wished for a miracle. He wanted some good to come into his life. Most of all, Thane wanted to stop the ache in his heart.

  The alcohol provided the effect he sought. Besides being drunk, the pain he felt beat anything he had ever experienced. The sting rivaled the normal throbbing that struck his midsection on a regular basis. This would be his punishment for wanting to forget it all. He’d done this to himself.

  “The people are starting to thin out in the house. Why don’t you come back inside? You can go upstairs and sleep off your binging.” Gideon reached for Thane again, but Thane stumbled back out of his grasp.

  “Gunnar doesn’t want me in there.” Thane shook his head. “He hates me.”

  Gideon screwed up his face. “Now you’re sounding drunk. Everyone in that house loves you. Come on in.” He held his hand out to Thane.

  Thane shook his head. “No, I’ll be fine. I always am.” He felt himself smile even though a riot rampaged through his body.

  “You’re not fine, man. Come inside.”

  Thane staggered around the backside of the garage, knowing he could easily outrun his incapacitated brother, even in his inebriated condition. “Is the limo still here? I’ll take it back to the hotel.”

  “Yeah, it’s here. But we don’t want you to—”

  “Your girl”—Thane stopped and nodded—“she’s nice.”

  Gideon stood a few feet from Thane. “Yes, she is. The best.”

  Thane rubbed his hand over his face and laughed. “Funny about Gunnar and Eboni. Who saw that coming?”

  Gideon finally smiled. “Yeah, it’s great for them. If you stop sleeping around, you can find yourself a good woman.”

  Thane stopped. In his head, he stood stock still as he glared at his brother. Honestly, he felt like the world had shifted under his feet, which made him wave back and forth.

  “Still judging me. Still assuming.” He held up his two middle fingers to Gideon. “Fuck you.” He turned and opened the gate that separated the backyard from the front area.

  He made it to the limousine where the driver stood smoking a cigarette. As soon as the driver spott
ed Thane, he stomped it out and made it over to the back door.

  “Ready to go, sir?” He attempted to hold Thane’s upper arm to help him into the car.

  “Been ready.” Thane tripped into the car and didn’t bother standing. He crawled inside and braced his back against a row of seats. “Take me back to my hotel, please.”

  “Yes, sir.” He closed the door.

  Thane rested his head on the seat. He couldn’t wait to get away from this place and get home. Right now, getting to his hotel would be fine.

  He hadn’t realized he’d fallen asleep until the driver revived him. “Sir? Sir? Mr. Wells? We’re here.”

  Thane felt a hand on his shoulder shaking him with enough force that it roused him from his alcoholic stupor. Drinking so much had been a mistake. Even at twenty-two, he shouldn’t have knocked back as much as he had.

  He pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes. This time, he accepted help and gripped the driver’s hand to get out of the car.

  “You need assistance getting up to your room?” the driver asked as he straightened up Thane’s jacket.

  An empty bottle fell out of Thane’s pocket and rolled onto the sidewalk. “Fuck.” He looked down at the small bottle and started to bend over to get it.

  “No worries, sir. I’ll take care of it. You need help getting—”

  Thane shrugged out of the driver’s hold. “I’m fine.” He adjusted his tie. “Thanks for the ride.” He reached into his pocket to get money out for a tip.

  The driver held up his hand. “Mr. Wells has already taken care of that.”

  Thane felt his eyebrows draw together.

  “Sorry, your brother, Gunnar.”

  Thane’s stomach tightened and twisted again at hearing his brother’s name. “Of course.” He waved as he made his way up to the front door. “Have a good one.”

  A doorman opened the door for him and Thane continued through the lobby. He didn’t expect to see flashes of lights as he tried going to the elevator.

  “Thane! Thane! Are you coming from your mother’s funeral?” one person shouted.

  He turned to the jerk to give him a piece of his mind when another person started in on him.

  “Are you going back to training camp now?” a woman asked him.

  The voices came at him as fast as the flashing lights. Before he could answer, he felt and arm around his waist.

  “No questions. This is a rough time right now for Mr. Wells. Please give him and his family some privacy.” The woman guided Thane to an elevator and pressed the up button.

  It didn’t take long before the doors opened. The stranger pushed Thane inside and asked that no one else join them in the car. When the doors closed, he got his wits about him to gaze down. The woman he’d seen at the funeral stood next to him.

  “You?” he slurred.

  “I hit the top-floor button to give us some time. What floor is your room on?” Her voice sounded angelic if not commanding.

  “Lucky guess. I am at the top.” He pointed up. “Penthouse one.”

  The elevator stopped at the top floor. She helped him out of the car and propped him against the wall next to the bank of elevators.

  “Your room key?” she asked.

  Thane couldn’t wrap his mind around the fact that this dream woman he’d seen at his mother’s funeral had now appeared in front of him. When he didn’t answer her, she started her own search. Her hunt began with his jacket pockets. When that yielded nothing, she went to his pants pockets. One errant exploration got him a satisfying stroke against his penis.

  Christ. Was this woman some paid escort? It wouldn’t be above his teammates or even his manager to do that for him, get him a woman to help him forget his pain.

  She pulled out his wallet and found the card inside. “Bingo.” She put her arm around his waist again.

  She felt sturdy as she guided him down the hall to his room. After they reached their destination, she set him against the wall again.

  She swiped the card and opened the door. “Can you make it in?”

  Thane smiled. “Thought you would never ask.” He fell on top of her and pressed his lips against hers.

  Chapter 5

  The scene seemed all too surreal. First of all, Kari hadn’t stopped shaking since leaving Thane’s mother’s funeral. She hadn’t expected when she’d come down to Virginia Beach that she would experience a family grieving the loss of a loved one.

  Kari had no one to blame but herself. Before meeting any potential new client, she always did her homework and researched the hell out of him or her. So confident had she been of her knowledge on all things related to Thane Wells, she skipped that step and hustled it down to Virginia Beach only to learn the news about his mother’s death. Even the local media had reported that Thane and his two equally famous brothers would be laying their dear mother to rest that day.

  Wanting proof, she went to the church to get a standing position outside the recreation building telecasting the funeral. Following the procession to the cemetery had been a mistake. At the gravesite, she couldn’t take her stare off Thane.

  Gunnar and Gideon had looked grief stricken but stood strong. Thane appeared so alone and wounded. The vision of him standing by his mother’s coffin brought Kari to tears. She barely knew this man. She knew he played baseball like a god. She knew he had athletes for brothers. She certainly hadn’t bonded with him or his mother enough to be moved to tears. Yet she couldn’t stop them from flowing.

  Now she stood in a hotel room with the very man she wanted to represent, kissing her, albeit sloppily. Kari tasted the liquor on his tongue and lips. The acrid flavor confirmed the aroma surrounding him.

  She braced her hands against his chest and felt nothing but muscle. What did she expect from a twenty-something-year-old athlete?

  Kari broke from the kiss long enough to speak. “Mr. Wells.”

  He stumbled forward and pressed her back against a wall. She started to panic when she heard the door close behind him. Trapped.

  “You’re”—he hiccupped—“beautiful.”

  Sober, Thane Wells defined sexy. Right now, this all felt wrong, desperate, even though it would have been a crime not to touch his rock-hard body. When she’d gone through his pockets to find his room key, she’d created a happy accident of brushing her hand against his shaft.

  Wow. She’d wanted to find out what kind of game he ran on women. Now he had her in his room and wanted to strip her naked.

  Thane slipped his jacket from his shoulders and let it fall to the floor. “We have too many clothes on.” He reached down and started pulling up her dress.

  “Mr. Wells, please.” Kari held the hem of her dress while keeping her stare directly on his hypnotic blue eyes. “I think you have mistaken me for someone else.”

  “My angel.” He smiled. “I saw you at the funeral.”

  Kari blinked. She had made eye contact with Thane before she left, but she didn’t think he would remember her, especially now.

  “You’ve come to make me feel better.” He nuzzled his face against her neck. He took one of her hands and placed it directly on his crotch. “Make me feel good.” He brought his head up and looked at her in her eyes. “Make me forget today. Can you do that?”

  Reluctantly, she removed her hand from his impressive yet flaccid genitals and started easing him back to what she suspected to be the bedroom. “Let’s get you to bed.”

  He released an obscene laugh. “That’s what I’m talking about. A traditional girl. I like that.”

  “Yeah? What else do you like?” She thought if she kept him talking, it would keep him from embarrassing himself even more.

  “This.” He put his hand on her breast and gave her a rough squeeze.

  Too late.

  Before she could stop his manhandling, she managed to position him with the bed behind him. She pushed him against the mattress and gave him a hard shove so that he would fall bac
k. When he did, he lay on the bed with his arms outstretched, laughing the entire time.

  “You’ve had a hard day, Mr. Wells.” Kari bent over and removed his black leather shoes. She placed them at the foot of the bed. “You really need to get some sleep.”

  “No. I want to keep drinking.” He raised his hands in the air.

  “I don’t think that’s a great idea.” She planted a knee on the mattress and hovered over his body. She undid the top three buttons on his shirt.

  “And I want to fuck.” He put his hand to his mouth. “Oops. I mean make love.” He wagged his finger in the air. “No cursing in front of women, my mother would say. Used to say.” His voice trailed off to almost a whisper. “Would have said.” When he reached up to touch Kari again, she moved away.

  “That’s not such a great idea either.” Even though the thought had tripped through her mind even before tonight. Kari couldn’t take advantage of this man, not like this, not right now.

  “If I drink, I won’t remember anything. I don’t want to remember anything about today.” Thane became somber for a moment before he brought his legs up on the bed and placed his head on the pillow. “Come here. Lay down with me.” He patted the mattress next to him while keeping his eyes closed.

  “No. You have the bed all to yourself. But I’ll be here in case you need me.” Now that she had intimate access to Thane Wells, she didn’t want to walk out the door. Plus, if he vomited in his sleep and choked, she would never forgive herself. Neither would Frank.

  As soon as she heard Thane’s heavy breathing, she turned off the light and backed out of the room. She kept his door open and left the light on in the living room so she could keep monitoring him.

  Kari took a seat on the couch and exhaled. What luck that she would get this close to Thane this quickly. When the alcohol wore off, however, she would have to be fast on her feet to keep his attention. Then again, the man had called her beautiful. He had also touched her and kissed her. Truth be told, he probably would have done that with any woman helping him or even standing outside his hotel room.