Capri 3.5 (Season Three: Delgato Family: Capri)

18. Skyler

skyler

. . .

One thing I learned about Jeffie was that she was the type that took her self-care serious. The girl took a bubble bath every night, had a seventeen-skincare step, and listened to soft music while doing it all. While I had maybe four steps to my skincare routine, this woman had an extensive routine that made me question if I was doing something wrong when it came to my skin.

After her bath, she would change into something silk, and then go sit upstairs on the second deck and journal in her notebook with a cup of tea. The routine was relaxing, and she had me thinking about incorporating some of them into my own.

Except, I had a four-year-old who requested Bluey on my screen every night, and then she had to know what I was doing. You ever took a bath with a child standing there dunking their toys into your bath water?

Yeah.

There was no room for an extensive skincare routine or bath time ritual at home. While she enjoyed her bath, I grabbed my bikini and went into Core’s room to change. When I came out the bathroom, he was sitting at the desk on his computer working. To know Core was to know that he was always going to work. There was no such thing as an off day when it came to him.

He looked up from the small desk in the corner of his room and licked his lip. “How am I supposed to focus when you got my favorite color on, Geeky?”

“Pink isn’t your favorite color,” I laughed.

When he bit down on his bottom lip, I wanted to squeeze my legs together tightly. “Being honest, any color on you is my favorite color.” He motioned for me to come toward him, and I did.

He leaned back as I sat on his lap and looked at his computer. “You do deserve to take time off from working all the time, Corleon.”

“If I take time off, then I got a shit ton of shit to answer when I come back. I work and live my life…I’ve done it for years.”

I turned to face him. “How does that work with wanting two women, one of which comes with a child? Estella gets very attached and she’s four, so that comes with her being needy. I’ve missed out on plenty of money with Landon because of my kid.”

He held my chin and kissed me on the lips. “I’m not saying that things won’t have to change with me and the way I live my life. For right now, this is what I’ve done and how I have lived.”

“Okay.”

He wrapped his arms around me and kissed me on the neck. “Geeky, I’m not saying I am perfect. I don’t always get it right, but I eventually do. If you trust me to be in your daughter’s life, I don’t take that for granted, and I promise that I will get it right when it comes to her.”

“Oh, what happened to our daughter,” I joked with him.

He pulled on my bottom lip. “You joking until you and Estella living with me, and you driving her to private school.”

I blushed and stood up. “You ready to beat they asses?”

He closed his laptop down. “Don’t be hyping yourself up, Geeky, and you make us lose.”

I busted out laughing because Blair was talking big shit, and she had me nervous for a little bit. “I got us.”

“Give me a hug, Skyler.” As much as I’ve grown to love the nickname that was reserved only for me, it was something about the way he said my actual name that made me swoon.

I walked over and tossed my arms around his neck, and he picked me up, holding me tight in his arms. “To know me is to know that I love to be hugged. Shit always make me feel all loved and shit… ight?”

I squeezed him tight and kissed him on the neck. “Like this?”

“A little tighter, baby.” As I hugged him tighter, he hugged me tighter, and the moment felt special.

When he put me back down on the floor, we headed out the room toward the lower deck, and the base throughout the yacht could be felt in my chest. When we looked up, Meer and Capri were on the top deck dancing to reggae music and had all the speakers playing all over the yacht.

The sun was starting to set, and the sky resembled a swirled creamsicle ice pop. The view from the back deck of the island of Capri with the sun in the background was beautiful.

I never envisioned even being here when I met Aimee, and then Landon. Core held my hand and danced as I laughed, too shy to dance with him. Meanwhile Capri’s pregnant ass was tossing all of her ass on her husband while he held onto the railing and hyped her up.

“This is my song!” Blair yelled as she came from inside and started dancing. “Pri, you remember that party in college… had that man being held up by his friends because you broke him.” She laughed while she danced.

Capri ran down the steps and she and Blair did some dance together and then broke out into laughter before hugging. I could tell their college years were some of the best times they had together. This wasn’t the first time they had reminisced together about their glory years.

“In that Jamaican lounge that was off campus,” Meer said, as he came down the steps and Capri smiled at him.

I could tell Meer was her entire world. It was the way they both looked at each other. No one else mattered whenever they were together with each other.

“Yes. They had the best ox tail,” she said in an accent.

“Yo, you sound just like Mama Jean,” Corleon laughed.

Capri laughed. “You hear her fussing at you enough, you learn to sound like her.”

Blair was still dancing when Quasim came downstairs and was watching her. “Skyler, you ready to lose?”

“Hell no… I’m about to smoke you.” I reached up and pulled my hair into a messy bun and started stretching.

Core looked at me. “Geeky, why the fuck you stretching like you bout to run across water?”

Capri had tears in her eyes as she watched me stretch. “I feel like you need to always stretch before doing something.” I goofily smiled.

I watched as Core started laughing as he handed me a life vest. He helped me put it on and looked down into my eyes. “You so damn goofy… shit sexy.”

For a long time, I concealed my personality because the guys I dated in the past always told me that I did too much. They wanted a chick that didn’t have jokes, or snort when she laughed. I remember when Keyshawn told me to act more like his friend’s girlfriend who was always so damn serious and took herself way too seriously.

My mother laughed.

If it was one thing that we did together, it was laughing. Even when I told her that I was pregnant, she was upset, but after cooling off, she said a joke that made us both laugh. I had been so busy in survival mode and trying to be someone that I wasn’t that I forgot how good it felt to laugh and be silly without being judged for me.

“Really?”

He smiled. “Hell yeah… I like a little clown. I’m learning a lot about you on this trip.”

I wrapped my arms around him, and he kissed me on the neck. “Me too.”

We pulled away from our hug when we heard clapping. “Alright, you ready, Quasimmy?”

He had a drink in his hand and nodded his head. “You talking big shit, Love… you better win, too, and don’t make me spill my drink either… or you gonna be in trouble.” He held her chin up and looked down into her eyes.

Blair would have melted on this deck if she could from the way that she looked up at Quasim. She was feeling this man more than anything, and the feeling was definitely mutual. Me, Capri, Core, and Quameer stared at them as they stared into each other’s eyes, Sim’s hand on her waist as she laughed.

They purposely lowered their tone so we couldn’t hear what the hell they were talking about. I cleared my throat and Core pinched my ass. “What? She was talking all this mess, so let’s go.”

Quasim looked up and laughed. “I’ll text you my routing numbers when we done.”

Core looked down at me and I shrugged. “We gonna win… don’t worry.”

I tried to hug him, and he laughed while pushing me away. “Nah, Geeky, don’t try and give hugs ‘cause yo’ ass got us in some shit… you over here stretching and shit.”

“Actually, go on and give Sim twenty bands, and me and Suga like ten bands… gotta start the college fund.”

Core helped me into the jet ski before he got on behind me. Quasim and Blair were already on, and Quasim was serious about holding his drink. He held his drink in one hand, and his other hand around Blair’s waist. How someone could remain so cool and calm on the back of a water vessel was beyond me.

“We gonna have a problem if I spill my drink, Love,” Quasim said, as he smirked, exposing his grills. His fangs were similar to Quameer’s except one of his were diamond.

“Yes, Papi,” Blair blushed, as she took off slowly, further out from the yacht.

Core held me around the waist. “Go ahead, Geeky.”

I may have been talking big shit when I said I knew how to drive this thing, but I was nervous. Pushing it out my head, I took off behind Blair, until we were next to a buoy.

Quasim took a sip of his drink. “Heavenly father, thank you for allowing us the chance to enjoy your creation. Please keep us safe on this water and allow us to have a good clean race where my love wins and Cory ends up with a lighter wallet. Amen.”

“Amen,” I said.

Core pinched me. “Skyler you got me fuc… messed up. He just said a prayer against us and you talking about amen, then he called me damn Cory.”

My sides hurt from laughing so hard. “Quasim, you got me, and Cory messed up… you gonna be the one with the lighter wallet.”

Core got real close to my ear, his beard rubbing against it. “I can promise yo’ ass ain’t gonna call me Cory when I’m inside you, Skyler.”

A small moan threatened to escape as I pushed back on him some and realized what I was doing. “We gotta focus.”

Quasim took another sip with a cocky ass smirk on his face. “Over to that next buoy, around it, and back to this one. First person wins.”

The speakers from the yacht were so loud that we could hear Meer and Capri still playing DJ. Quasim held onto Blair’s waist, still holding his glass while she got ready and looked over at me.

“One…two…” Capri yelled from the top deck.

“Apeshit” played and I stood up and started twerking while Capri counted down. Core slapped my ass and I laughed. “Three… go!”

Me and Blair both took off at the same time, and I moved away from her since we were closer. We were bouncing over the waves, and I was still standing as I commanded this jet ski. Core’s hands held onto my waist as I bit down on my bottom lip.

Sim had lost his glass a while back, and Blair was standing up the same as me. We both looked at each other before smiling, and then sped off. I sat down and Core held onto me as we neared the buoy, and I spun around it, splashing water on both Blair and Quasim.

I didn’t know Quasim much, but the few times I had been with him, he was always quiet and reserved. You never really saw much emotion out of him, but when the water splashed on him, he and Blair were laughing so hard that it made me feel good. Like I cured world hunger or something.

“Geeky, gun this shit!” Core yelled, and I pushed forward, looking back and seeing Blair behind me.

God, the joy I felt in my chest as we drove wildly on this water. I stood back up and Core slapped my ass while I started to twerk, as we neared the buoy.

Soon as I plopped down, a big ass wave of water flooded me and Core, as Quasim rushed past us. Blair had turned around facing him, as she held onto him, and he moved forward and was now driving the jet ski.

Blair held onto him as she laughed, and they circled the buoy. “Fucking cheaters!” I hollered when we finally got over toward them.

“We never said who had to be driving,” Blair countered still tickled that they had cheated us. “You was too busy twerking in Core’s face and now look at you.”

Quasim laughed as Blair still clung onto him, and then headed back over toward the yacht. “Blair, you know what!” I laughed, pissed because I almost won.

The staff helped us off the jet ski and we climbed back on the yacht, as I got ready to sulk and put on the puppy dog eyes for Core. “You know…. It was your fault because of the way?—”

Core scooped me up before I could finish, kissed me on the lips and jumped off the damn yacht, sending us into the water. He already knew I could swim because we had spent most of our time swimming in the ocean.

“Corleon!” I screamed as I wailed my hands and splashed him.

“Nah… you wanted to get cocky and now look at us… broke and the losers.” He splashed me back before swimming over and pulling me into him.

I held onto him and pinched his cheeks. “You could never be broke… now me, that’s a different story. You? Hell nah.”

“You could never be broke when Core got you.” He winked while holding onto me.

“Oh, so you Big Core, huh?” I continued to hold onto his neck, while staring into his eyes.

He pressed himself against me, and I felt what he was working with. “The fucking biggest, Geeky.”

I licked my lips as I rubbed my knee against him, and he kissed me on the neck. Even in this cold water, my body was hot. His arms around me, holding me up in the water felt like security. I’ve never felt this way by someone just touching me.

When Core grabbed my hand, and led the way, pulling me behind him, I got butterflies in my stomach.

“Aye, there go some fucking dolphins in the distance!” Quameer yelled, and we both looked, and saw fins.

We had been seeing them all week but hadn’t gotten into the water whenever they were around. I pushed off Core and quickly swam to the yacht because I wasn’t about to be caught lacking with a dolphin.

The staff helped me up on the yacht and handed me a warmed towel that swallowed me. Wrapping it around me, I walked around the other side of the yacht and yelped when I felt hands around my waist and push me against the wall.

“Geeky, you be having my fucking heart going crazy when you near.” He kissed me on the lips, putting my hand against his chest.

My breath was shallow, as our faces were inches away from each other. Core stared me in the eyes, as I held his gaze, as he held me around the waist. Core’s eye contact was so intense, every time I spoke to him, he had the same gaze.

Being around his brothers, I realized that it was something they all had in common along with their looks. “Quasimmy said that we can split the winnings together…” Blair paused when she realized that we were occupied.

Core smirked, kissing me on the chin, and then removing himself from me. “I mean, it’s only right since you cheated,” he teased Blair. “I’m gonna go shower.”

“K,” I barely had breath in my body to respond.

He walked back toward the other side, and Blair stood there with a smile on her face. “He got you gone, Skyler.”

I wanted and needed to explore Corleon D. Bruster. I’ve always gone with what was safe, and for the first time I wanted to toss caution into the wind and find out what it was like to step out on faith.