Love Before A Wedding

by Lenise Lee

  “Yes?” my breath was also languid.

  “I missed you.”

  In one moment, my world came crashing down and was elevated all at the same time. I forced myself down and out of his arms. Josh stood back, obviously surprised by my actions.

  “I think I’m going home now.”

  “Keri, wait. Why?” He reached for my arm and I dodged his touch.

  “Why?”

  I could not believe he had the audacity to ask the question. After breaking my heart into a million pieces and leaving so fast I did not have the chance to throw anything at him and then not contacting me for over a year, he asks me why I’m leaving.

  “Josh, if you don’t know, then I suggest you search your memory and think on it.”

  Once again, I found myself making a hasty retreat away from Josh Somers.

  As I high tailed it pass the lovely couple, I offered a departing nod.

  Jeanette called my name but I just held up my hand as I pushed through the door and onto the busy New York sidewalk where no less than a dozen passer-bys whizzed by me. After digging through my black clutch bag and retrieving my phone, I started punching the cab company’s number on to the screen.

  Chapter 7

  By Sunday afternoon, I had finally recovered from the Friday fiasco. After making sure to ignore any and all calls from my so-called best friend, I was glad to see she had not given up on me just yet.

  Recognizing her home number on the jingling phone, I quickly flipped the phone open.

  “Hey,” I answered, trying not sound too eager but with a hint of regret for previously pushing her to the side.

  To my surprise, Tyler’s voice came on the line.

  “Hey, Keri,” he answered in his usual upbeat voice.

  My brow wrinkled as I tried to figure out why he would be calling and not Jeanette. Was she mad at me for being mad at her?

  “I know you’re probably wondering why it’s me calling and not Jeanette.”

  “Yeah, kind of.”

  “Her mom and sister decided to pop-up and surprise her with a spa day. You know, try to massage out some of that wedding day stress. Anyway, she still feels bad about what happened at the bar and wanted you to come over for dinner.”

  “Hm, I see. Okay, I guess I can get a cab and be there by five. Is that good?”

  “You don’t need to do that. I can come pick you up in about an hour.”

  “Okay, see you then.”

  This had set-up written all over it but, at the moment, I wanted to make up with my friend too much to care.

  ****

  Exactly one hour later and I heard my doorbell chime.

  “Coming,” I yelled from the bathroom.

  I was still in the process of adding a flip to the ends of my layered hair and seriously entertaining the idea of giving one of those hair relaxer products a try. After wiping my hand on a hand towel and giving myself the once over to make sure I was presentable, I moved to go and open the door. Having decided to keep my look simple, I chose a baby pink cami top and straight leg jeans with baby pink sandals.

  I opened the door and, not really expecting to see Tyler, was face to face with Mr. Handsome himself, Josh. A sudden urge to shut the door in his face worked its way into my mind. Josh probably saw the thought cross my mind by the devious look I was sure I had plastered on my face. He lifted a burgundy colored eyebrow and then quickly placed one large hand against the door and planted one foot across the threshold.

  I smirked.

  “Looks like you read my mind, Josh. Might as well come in.”

  “You don’t look surprised to see me,” he said as he followed me in.

  I showed him to the couch and walked back to the bathroom and positioned myself in front of the large vanity mirror once again to resume attending to my hair.

  “Yes and no,” I called out to the living room.

  A somewhat distant voice answered back.

  “Ty called me and said you needed a ride over to his and Jeanette’s place for dinner.”

  “Let me guess, they invited you too?”

  “Yeah, is that a problem?”

  This time the voice was from the large figure looming in the mirror behind me. For an instant his tall and solid build overcame me in my moderate bathing room. The throbbing on my nub that had started when I opened the door to find him standing on the other side only increased under his intense blue gaze.

  “Not at all.”

  Nonchalantly, I turned my attention back to the bumper curlers I was using.

  “Pink always was your color.”

  The compliment left me with a dazed feeling, especially since Josh had positioned himself directly behind me and taken a firm hold of my hips as he stared at my reflection in the mirror.

  “Your hair.”

  A hand with fine cinnamon colored hairs stroked one side of my tresses. I was powerless to try to stop him. His touch was so familiar and I wanted it so much.

  “You cut your hair. It looks nice – no – sexy, it brings out your face more. I like it.”

  “Thank you. It looks like you let yours grow out.”

  His hand combed through the tousled copper length.

  “Yeah. I remembered you said you liked it on the longer side.”

  “The side burns, too, it looks good on you.”

  Josh really did look manlier, more mature than from the last time I saw him before his return. Though we started out on the rough side, overall his attitude was calmer, more focused. The old Josh was always talking a mile a minute about the next trip he was planning, the next photo shoot he was going to intern at, which bar he and Tyler were going to try to get thrown out of. This Josh also was able to hold his temper for longer than a nanosecond, as was demonstrated on the previous Friday evening. Everything about him seemed that much more polished, refined.

  “Your hips are thinner. You lost weight.” It was more of an observation than a question.

  “A little. I needed a change after you left.”

  “I’m glad you didn’t lose too much of the good stuff.”

  I looked into the mirror and saw his eyes fixed on my backside and the corner of my mouth turned up.

  He moved his gaze back to my face and then moved closer to my back and placed his chin on my shoulder and moved his arms to encircle my frame into his own. I could feel his hard abs rubbing against my back and a definite bulge on my rear end. His warm breath on my naked shoulder was electrically tantalizing. With him, it never took much to get me aroused.

  “Keri, we need to talk.”

  “About?”

  “About what happened the other night.”

  “Nothing happened.”

  He whipped me around with one fast turn and I dropped the curlers on to the counter top.

  “Something did happen and you felt it just like I did.”

  “That was a mistake.”

  “Don’t say that.”

  He leaned his head down and put his cool lips on my forehead. The buds under my strapless bra came to immediate attention.

  Placing my hands square on to his chest, I forced him to step back. He did so willingly because my weight was definitely not enough to make him do so by force.

  “Josh, if you want to talk, let’s talk. Only, shall we go back a little further than last Friday. How about we jump back to one year and six months ago when you told me it was over?”

  “I did not say it was over.”

  “You may as well have. An ultimatum is as good as deciding the outcome, especially when you already know what the person’s answer is going to be.”

  He stepped forward again, even closer than the before.

  “Why was that, Kerine? Why couldn’t you choose me?”

  “Choose you? Will you listen to yourself? It was not as simple that.”

  “It was. I asked you come away with me and you turned me down. What was I supposed to do?”

  It was my turn to cross my arms as the anger boiled up inside me.


  “First off, you did not ask, you demanded.”

  His eyes went to the ceiling.

  “Let me finish. You demanded that I leave my family, my friends, and my job to run halfway across the country with you. How is a person supposed to respond?”

  “It was not a person, it was you, Kerine. It was you and I. I loved you. I still love you.”

  That revelation made me gasp. Josh’s hand went to my cheek and lingered a moment before gently rubbing it with the backside.

  “I would have taken care of us. You I would have. All that mattered was you with me, and I would have done anything to keep it that way.”

  “Josh, I – ”

  “Shh.”

  He placed his index finger against my lips.

  “Keri, you broke my heart when you said ‘no’. I couldn’t stay; I was going out of my mind being here. I wanted to see the world and I wanted you to see it with me. I was young and dumb. I thought if I left here for long enough, you would realize you missed me enough to come find me. You never came.”

  “You never came back or called or anything else that would indicate you were alive much less interested in me anymore.”

  Josh’s hand moved to my hair and pushed my long bang behind my ear.

  “I asked Ty about you every time I called. I asked what you were up to, if you had asked where I went, if you were seeing anyone else. His answers never gave me any reason to hope you wanted me back. I never stopped wanting you. I was just too much of a punk to come home and apologize and hear want you had to say.”

  “Why did you look so unhappy to see me at the church?”

  “I wasn’t. I wanted to see you so badly, Keri, but I knew how you felt about me. I was only trying to protect myself.”

  “Why is now any different?”

  “I had to come to you. I was so empty and lonely without you near me. I need you, Kerine. From the first time I saw you sitting quietly on Ty’s parent’s couch while this wild party was carrying on all around you.”

  We both chuckled at the memory. Tyler was known for having some really crazy parties back then. If it weren’t for he and Jeanette hooking up, I would have never been there that night, and I would have never had a very inebriated Joshua Somers drop down next to me on the couch and draw me into a long, passionate tongue kiss that left my toes curled.

  “I knew you were the one. Six beers can really help open a man’s mind.”

  He laughed out loud and I playfully hit his stomach and then he laughed even harder.

  “Seriously, Keri,” he pressed himself into me thereby backing me into the counter, “I missed you. I missed us. I have covered everything from dog shows to hostage situations and none of that compares to the feeling I use to have when we were together. You gave me a peace of mind like nothing else could.”

  The heat from his body slowly and seductively warped my thinking. I sucked in my lower lip and that’s all it took to unleash his beast.

  “I want you.”

  The last three words Josh said before he grabbed my thighs and picked me up and set me on the countertop. Quick thinking allowed me to remember to pull the plug of the hot curlers out of the socket before one of had a bad scar to remember this moment forever. Then his lips were all over me. He showered my face with soft kisses. The line of my neck was next and down to the top of my cami. His hands went under the fabric and I lifted my arms so he could pull the top off with ease. A second later and his mouth wrapped itself around my breast and nipped gently at my left bud, now standing perfectly erect. While one hand massaged my right one, his free hand went to work to unhook the bra. He wasn’t moving fast enough to my liking and so I skillfully reached back and unpinned the loops and tossed the item to the floor.

  Josh gasped as he took in the fullness of my caramel colored plump flesh and then he began to hungrily suck first the right and then the left one. My eyes rolled to the back of my head and my thin panties instantly became wet. I pulled at the buttons on his jeans while he continued to enjoy himself. Once I had them undone, I tugged until only his boxers remained.

  He pulled back to lift his shirt over his head, while I went to work flicking his hardened nipples with my tongue. The sensation must have got him going because he was at full staff and straining at the boxers. I kissed my way down his rock hard chest and made sure to cover every inch of his abs as I worked my way toward his manhood. Once there, I slid the boxers down past his hips and took him into my mouth like I was embracing a long lost friend.

  “Kerine!” he growled.

  It had been so long since I had Josh, I couldn’t help myself. I wanted every inch of him on me and in, whatever way was fastest. Once I helped him to achieve maximum hardness, he pulled me back up by the arms. Bending down, he retrieved the square packet from his wallet in the pocket of his jeans. Josh slid the latex over his long and wide member and then placed me back onto the vanity counter. Scrambling to unbutton my jeans, he nearly ripped down my pants and panties at the same time and let them drop to the bathroom rug. I allowed my legs to drop open and he went down to find my pulsing bud. His tongue easily glided over my folds and into my center. When I thought I was going to lose my mind, I pulled him up and kissed him hard tasting my juices on his mouth.

  “Josh, now!”

  Pulling my hips against his, he pushed into me with one even stroke and I inhaled a lung full of air. It had been such a long time since I was with anyone. Josh was my last and I felt every inch of him carry me to new heights. My tightness stretched around him and he released a growl from deep in his throat.

  “Kerine, you feel ssssooo good.” He almost couldn’t get the whole sentence out before grunting again.

  “More. Harder,” I panted.

  He obeyed and pushed deeper up into my walls and started a steady and fast rhythm. A thin sheen covered our bodies, as we pumped against each other in natural unison. My hardened breasts rubbed vigorously against his chiseled chest. How I ever went any number of days with out this kind of satisfaction, I will never know.

  “You feel so sweet, so tight. Mine, all mine. Forever.”

  “Oh, Josh, forever and ever.”

  “Ah, Kerine,” he moaned and thrust forward, his entire length entering me as he released an explosion that had the veins in his neck straining through the skin on his neck. I was next and when the orgasm hit, I literally saw stars as a wave of sweet release washed over me. He collapsed on me and I, in turn, leaned back against the mirror.

  Panting hard, I was trying to regain a full breath when I suddenly remembered something.

  “Weren’t we supposed to be going somewhere?”

  Chapter 8

  About one hour and one sensual shower later, we were on our way to Jeanette and Tyler’s as planned. I was starting to get the feeling those two had been playing me from the start. Jeanette and I would have to have a serious discussion later; at the moment, I was trying to figure out where Josh was headed.

  “Where are we going?”

  “My parent’s house.”

  “What? Why?”

  “I know they want to see you.”

  I sucked my teeth.

  “Yeah, right. Your mom hates me,” I said as I nibbled on my fingernail.

  Josh scrunched his face as he turned down a cul-de-sac.

  “No, she doesn’t. What gave you that idea? My mom adores you.”

  “Oh, really. She never had anything nice to say about me. The first time you took me to your house, your mom’s jaw dropped so far, I thought it was going to unhinge.”

  “Ha!”

  Josh laughed hard and I plucked his arm.

  “Hey! Once again, for your information, my mom thought you were great for me. You just never came around enough to hear all the good stuff she had to say about you. When you did come over, she was probably giving me the eye to make sure I treated you right.”

  “Is that right, Mr. Somers?”

  “Yes, it is, Ms. White. She gave me so much shit after we broke up. Sh
e called me everyday for a month to yell at me for not coming back up here and setting things right with you.”

  “Really?”

  The thought of the tough as nails Abigail Somers actually having a soft spot for me brought a small smile to my face.

  “All this time, I thought she didn’t like me because I’m black.”

  Josh eyed me suspiciously as he parked the SUV in front of a modest one family home at the back of lane.

  “Is that what you thought, really?”

  “Yes,” I admitted, “what about your dad? He never looked happy to see me.”

  “My dad never looks happy to see anyone. Not even my me.”

  He unclasped his seat belt and stepped out of the car door and walked around to open the door on my side. This time, I willingly allowed him to pick me up for the short distance from the seat and to the sidewalk. I missed being carried around and it showed because I giggled the entire time. Once he closed the door, Josh turned and kissed my forehead and put his burly arm around my shoulders as we walked up the drive.

  Using a key on his ring set, he undid the lock and pushed the door open enough for me to inch my way forward into the small foyer at the bottom of the staircase leading to the second floor of the home.

  “Josh, is that you?”

  I heard the woman’s heavy voice call from the rear of the home, most likely coming from the kitchen since Mrs. Somers was never far from her stove. The pit of my stomach bubbled up and I looked up at Josh. He winked down at me and closed the door behind him.

  “Yeah, mom, it’s me. I have a surprise for you!”

  My eyes went wide.

  “You didn’t tell them I was coming here?” I tried to whisper but the shock wasn’t letting my voice drop that low.

  “It’s okay. Relax,” he said and grabbed my hand for support.

  There was movement in the corner of my eye as a short, round woman came barreling down the hall next to the staircase and leading from the kitchen. Dressed in short pants and a cardigan top, the fiery red head came straight at me with her arms wide open. I was pulled in a deep bear hug and struggled to return the affection. Abigail Somers was a tiny woman, but she was strong in spirit and physically strong for her size, as I was now finding out.