The brothers turned to him.
“Aye, Q, you checking out my sister, bro?”
Q didn’t answer; he was too busy doing exactly that. His eyes traveled up Phoebe’s legs to her round derriere, lost in a trance. A solid hand landed on his chest, almost taking his breath.
“My bad,” Q said, “but your sister’s a grown fine ass woman. I’ll take a beatdown to get to her.”
“Aye!”
“Fellas, I hate to interrupt, but are we going to play this game or not?” Claudia intervened.
Josiah strolled up to me, and again I was embedded against his skin.
“Let her go. She’s on our team, not yours,” Samiyah chimed.
I giggled and looked up into his golden dark brown eyes.
“Nah, she’s on my team,” Josiah said. “Ain’t that right, baby?”
I giggled again. “Always.”
Chapter Seventeen
Our game lasted a few hours before the sun began to set. We were full of laughter and out of breath but managed to get enough touchdowns to win the game. I’d like to think we got them honestly, but we had to use some of our womanly assets to throw the men off their game. It was more than fair to us since there was no real chance of us winning fair and square.
As the night set in, the backyard came to life with tall lamp stands decorating the walk ways and a bonfire waving over a makeshift campsite. I stood next to Josiah with an arm clung to his waist, watching the flames rise. Lounging around, everyone was coupled up, and it was interesting to see Carla and Jacob having a friendly conversation. She didn’t need either me or Josiah to introduce her. Samiyah sat with Jonas who lay on his back with his head in her lap. They laughed then kissed about something before my gaze moved on. Claudia and Jaden were dancing to some pop music, with Claudia bent over doing her best rendition of a twerk. Jaden meanwhile smacked her bottom with one hand and ground against her simultaneously. I laughed and shook my head.
Julian and Desiree, Selena and Jordan, Phoebe and Q, who I found out later was Quentin stood at a makeshift station, preparing s’mores for the fire. The couple that intrigued me the most was Octavia and Jonathon. I watched them closely feed each other strawberries and sip out of each other’s drinks. They were clearly a twosome, and I wondered what it would take for them both to see it.
Before the game, I’d been formally introduced to a few new faces that were absent from Claudia and Desiree’s wedding. Luke Steele, Derek James Clark, and Quentin Davidson were close friends and fraternity brothers of Jonathon and Jacob. Xavier, Kyle, and twins Isaac and Isaiah Rose were cousins. Their father Antonio Rose and Christopher Lee Rose were brothers. I took an eye over to Christopher and found Martha Jean sitting close on one side and Adeline trying to stay awake on his other. It was pretty obvious the two older ladies were catty and fawning over Christopher, and it was quite amusing.
Looking back at the fire, I sighed and leaned into Josiah. It was amazing how comfortable I felt with his family. Like I belonged. When Carla and I had first arrived, she’d asked me was I nervous. It was refreshing not to be. Then, I couldn’t explain why, but now I knew this was home, and it made me wonder about how the stars aligned in the sky. In perfect order, the way things should be. I thought back to my parents and realized with glee that I did want to introduce them to Josiah. If it was up to me, our relationship would grow into something beautiful and how odd that it stemmed from what I declared was fictional.
“What are you thinking?” Josiah asked.
I pulled my eyes away from the fire to him.
“Introducing you to my parents.”
Josiah turned fully to me and examined my face. Surely, he was looking for the same horrific expression he’d found the first time the mention of introducing him to my parents came up. I smiled to give him a calming reassurance.
“I’d love to meet them, but I want you to be certain. If you’re not, I don’t mind waiting.”
I kissed his jaw and trailed my lips down his neck. A dark sound rumbled from his throat.
“Be careful,” he said, “being in the presence of my father will not stop me from taking you right here in front of everybody.”
I gasped with wide eyes and searched his face for seriousness. He winked down at me. “Yeah, girl. I’m about that life.”
His grin was naughty by nature, and I blushed and sank my face into his chest. When I pulled back, I kissed his chin again.
“Do you mind showing me to the bathroom?”
Without answering, Josiah turned me into his side, keeping his arm traipsed across my shoulder, and we walked step by step through the back door. Hardwood floors greeted us and the deeper inside we went the more attention I paid to the traditional styled interior. The sherbet orange and green tones were balanced with a crème color and enhanced with copper brown accents and a warm wooden blend. Pictures on the wall caught my attention and gave me pause. Holding three tiny newborns in a hospital bed with an elated smile was a woman I assumed was Janet, Josiah’s mother.
I glanced at him, “Mom?” I said.
He nodded. “And Eden, Jasmine, and Phoebe.”
I decided not to go into further conversation about the picture and just smiled up at it. “She’s beautiful. You look just like her.”
“It’s what I keep hearing,” Josiah commented.
We moved forward and came across a wall of plaques that caught my attention. Getting a closer look, I leaned in and smiled. A different award was held by each one of Josiah’s brothers, him included. While Jonas received an undisputed heavyweight champion award, Josiah’s was for excellence in his doctoral in Business Economics from Harvard University. My smile grew as I felt a sense of pride at his achievement. Turning in his arms, I nuzzled my nose under his jaw and placed a soft kiss on his neck.
“I have some other awards just around the corner if that’ll make you hornier,” he said.
I fell out laughing, and his husky laugh chimed in.
“Why am I not surprised you said that?” I laughed.
He wiggled his brows. “Because you know better.”
We strolled to the bathroom tied to each other and like a gentleman he waited for me outside the door. Afterwards there we were again linked like one person sitting around the fire listening to Christopher tell us stories about his camping and fishing trips with his friends Fred and Sampson. The three of them had grown up together from grade school, and three times a year they set a place to have their men time.
“And still till this day, we have yet to meet the infamous Fred and Sampson,” Eden said.
“But we always hear about them when we get together,” Phoebe added.
“What?” I said. Everyone turned to me. “Fred and Sampson are your father’s best friends, and you’ve never met them?”
Jasmine, Phoebe, and Eden responded at once, “No.”
I turned to Mr. Rose, “Do you mind if I ask why not?”
Christopher Lee Rose squinted his eyes at me. “Because they’re some horny old bastards,” he said.
That got a few laughs out of us all, but my shock was still on high.
“So, you’ve kept them away from family functions all your life?”
“Not all my life,” Christopher said. “Only when the girls were of age. I can’t have my friends gawking at my babies. I’d kill ‘em.”
I glanced around, and everyone seemed to be in agreement.
“Wow.”
“I still love ‘em all the same,” Christopher assured.
Josiah leaned into me and whispered, “I’ll be back.”
He stood and left through the back door followed by Jonathon, Jacob, and Jordan.
“Well, I don’t blame you,” Martha chimed. “If it were my Samiyah, I’d do the same thing.”
“As would you all,” Christopher stated.
He went into detail about some of the escapades Fred and Sampson had been on, too much that made me slightly cringe. It’s true we can’t help who our friends are, but Fred an
d Sampson needed wives. That I was sure of.
When Josiah reappeared, there was a thin long rectangular box in his hands and my interest was certainly piqued.
“What do you have there, son?” Christopher asked.
Josiah smiled down at me with a sexy grin. “Santana just landed a position as investigative reporter at the Chicago Chronicle.”
Somebody gasped, and Desiree shouted, “You go, girl!”
I blushed and did a little happy dance in my seat.
“It was not without the help of Josiah,” I assured.
Josiah wagged his finger. “Don’t try and downplay your success.” My smile stretched. “So, I have a little something for you, babe.”
Josiah sat down next to me, and all attention was focused on us. With pleasure, I accepted the outstretched box and opened it to find a diamond incrusted necklace. A gasp left my throat, and I covered my mouth as my eyes watered.
“Josiah!” I said.
“Let me help you,” he offered, lifting the necklace so I could get a full look at the masterpiece. Even in the moonlight its sparkles ran up and down the exquisite jewelry, but hanging from the middle was a diamond ring, the biggest one I’d ever seen in my life.
“Oh, my damn,” Carla said, and everyone laughed.
I, on the other hand, couldn’t find the words to express what this moment was like.
“Baby,” Josiah’s smooth voice crooned, “I want you to marry me, girl.”
I gasped, flabbergasted, and tears sprang from my eyes. Shocked whispers of Oh my God, and questions of did you know about this from others looking on sailed around. But for me I wept like a child, completely taken aback by his proposal. Josiah pulled the ring off the necklace and locked the diamonds around my neck while he waited for me to answer.
Was this real? I wondered. Is he really waiting for a reply? With others looking on, and Josiah’s beautiful eyes boring into me, I spoke from my heart. “Yes.”
Chapter Eighteen
Josiah
The yard erupted in celebration, and I slipped the diamond ring on Santana’s finger. It fit like I knew it would when I had it made for her that morning. With haste, I grabbed her neck with one hand and wrapped my arm around her waist with the other, drawing her in for a sealed kiss. It was different than all the others. In fact, it had lifted my soul and taken my heart with it. Seeing Santana’s tears was unexpected, but I didn’t know what I predicted would happen when I proposed. My folks came over and congratulated us, some saying they saw it coming and others giving money over for bets they’d made. But I was utterly transfixed on Santana. The way her body trembled against mine as she cried, the sincerity in her response. It was real and more wholehearted than I ever could’ve imagined. That’s when I knew; I’d made a mistake.
Where I was certain I loved Santana, this proposal was meant to be for show only. And by me not including her in on my plans, I might had mistakenly misled her. My heart sank as I thought about how she would feel when I revealed the truth behind closed doors. I’d never felt like a dumbass before, but right now that was putting it mildly. A plethora of curse words ran through my head, but I kept the smile on my face, showing no evidence of my distress. Desiree and Samiyah came over with beer.
“We don’t have champagne, but we still have a little bubbly.” They laughed and handed us both one. I must have taken mine down in one swig.
“I could use another,” I said, handing the empty bottle to Samiyah.
“Give the man another one,” she said.
Seconds ticked by before another beer was produced, and the hand that gave it over was that of my father’s. Swiftly, I relieved him of it, but he kept his hand outstretched.
“Congratulations, son. I’ve misjudged you in every way. Whatever you need, I’m taking care of it.” He turned to Santana. “Welcome to the family, Ms. Summers. It won’t be too long now before you’ll be a Rose.” He pulled Santana away from me to hold her in a tight embrace.
The seconds that ticked on went by in slow motion as I watched everyone celebrating, smiling, and some even crying tears of joy. My father might had felt like he misjudged me, but I had misjudged what this entire scenario would feel like. Now that I was here, I could barely maintain the emotional rollercoaster I was on.
“Congratulations, brother, if you ever need to talk, let me know.” Jonathon stood by my side with his hand extended for a shake, but I just stared down at it. “You’re okay, breathe, my man,” he said, mistaking my trance for shocked jubilation. I took down the rest of my beer and silently walked myself through the steps to fix what I’d done, and I dreaded it with every second that passed.
The ride over to Santana’s house was heavy. Behind her Volkswagen Beetle, I followed her as she dropped off Carla then headed to her home. I’d had several conversations with myself of how this would go. I was hoping for the best but expecting the worst. I sighed and ran a hand over my face. I could just be overreacting. It was possible Santana knew the proposal was meant for the others. But the closer we came to her place, the more dread settled over me as if my heart knew that wasn’t the case.
I turned on some music to try and dial down my cumbersome thoughts. It was a short reprieve because when my Infiniti rolled to a stop behind hers, and we strolled into the house hand in hand, there was a gigantic elephant in the room.
“Would you like something to drink?” Santana asked.
“I probably shouldn’t,” I responded.
“Okay…” Santana strolled to her sofa and stood idly next to it. “Would you like to sit down at least?”
She must have felt my awkwardness, and that made me feel terrible. We spoke at the same time.
“I want to ask you a question—”
“I need to tell you something—”
We both chuckled at our haste, but both bore the same troublesome face. I strolled up to her and pulled her in.
With my voice even, I asked, “Are you okay?”
Her hinted smirk gave me little relief.
“I’m just a little shocked I believe.” Santana dropped her eyes for a second then looked back to me. “Am I to believe that this is real? And before you answer,” she said, “this is not me saying our relationship is fake. I…”
I kissed her forehead then looked into her eyes. “I’m sorry,” I said.
The brightness in her eyes dimmed, but she didn’t respond.
I continued my apology. “I shouldn’t have done it that way.”
“Then, why did you?” she asked, her voice a little testy.
“At the time, it made sense to do it without you knowing. I wanted your response to appear sincere. It wasn’t until after the fact that I realized I shouldn’t have.”
Santana let out a breath and pushed away from me.
“I need to sit down,” she said.
I quickly made my way to the side of her and crouched down in front of her, needing to connect with her eyes. “It was the wrong move. I should’ve waited.”
“Until what? You did what you felt was right, and it turns out, you were. It worked like a charm. Even had me fooled.”
My chest tightened, and I reached out to her. “Santana, please…”
“I need to be alone for a while. Just to clear my head.”
I hung my head then looked back at her. “I don’t want to leave you like this.”
She attempted to give a brave front with a weak smile that I could see right through. “It’s okay. Part of it is my own fault. I knew where this road was going; I shouldn’t have been surprised. I just…” she opened and closed her fingers, “I don’t know.”
“Baby,” my knees fell to the ground as I wrapped her in my arms. “I’m so sorry. Please, I don’t want to leave. Let me stay… please.”
I kissed her face on one side than the other. When I kissed her lips, it was one sided, so I held close and only stared in her eyes.
“I need you with me. I don’t want this to mess up what we have going on. My feelings for you are r
eal.” I slid her hair away from her face behind her ear. “Let me stay, don’t push me out.” I leaned my forehead into hers, and she exhaled again.
“You can stay,” she said, rising to her feet.
I rose with her, and she linked our fingers, as we strolled to the bedroom.
Fifteen minutes later, Santana was in the shower and as bad as I wanted to be in there with her, I knew she needed that time to clear her head. An hour had gone by before the bathroom light shut off and the door opened. Heat poured out of the door and followed her to the bed when she shuffled inside. I immediately pulled her to me, needing to comfort her in any way possible. The thing I hoped for most was that Santana would truly forgive me. As we lay there, neither of us spoke. The silence around us seemed to grow past the midnight hour.
When her soft breathing encompassed me, I kissed the back of her neck and closed my eyes wishing like all hell that this would pass.
The next day, Santana was herself again. Laughing, talking and carrying on as if last night didn’t happen. I didn’t know whether to be relieved or be doubtful, but if she was truly okay, I didn’t want to broach the subject. Several times, I found myself set to apologize. But the uplifted spirit she presented kept my act of contrition to a minimum. The days moved and became weeks that we publicly put on a show as Chicago’s youngest and most elite engaged couple. We were approached by CosmoBride and The Nest magazines for exclusive shots of our wedding pictures. I took it all in stride while making sure Santana was okay with how fast things moved.
She would always assure me that she was good, and then we would move on to the next venture. The subject of meeting her parents arose. It was me that brought it up. Santana gave me pause, but I reminded her, we were a real couple, so it was technically okay for me to meet them. That seemed to rest her spirit a bit, but I could tell she was still apprehensive.
“Santana,” I called out to her as we neared the airport, “at any time that you want to call this off, we can. I appreciate you taking things this far. I’m indebted to you.”
Fever (Falling For A Rose Book 4) Page 15