His Secure Embrace

1. Brielle

The music blared all around us as we jammed to a song by one of the hottest female rappers in the game. The beat was intoxicating, and the lyrics were catchy. Every few moments, we’d collectively shout out “aye” after the bars hit a little too hard.

“I’m glad y’all dragged me out of the house this evening,” I commented. I lifted the double Solo red cups up to my lips and drank the frozen mixed drink. I could taste the Everclear and knew I needed to pace myself with the drink, or I’d be folded under the table before the night was over.

“Of course, bestie. You’ve been MIA for weeks, depriving the world of your fineness,” my best friend, Jana, replied. She bumped her shoulder against mine and grinned.

Jana Bridges was my best friend since diapers.

We were neighbors who played on the block until the streetlights came on.

We experienced a majority of our firsts together, including our first kisses, our first times, and our first heartbreaks.

She was my ride or die and biggest hype man.

I was her biggest supporter and voice of reason. She was the yin to my yang.

“Y’all are cute and all, but if my watch is correct . . . It’s shot o’clock, bitches!” Tava commented.

“I don’t know, friend . . . You ain’t even got a watch on your wrist for real. That’s a Van Cleef,” Lynae joked. The section erupted in laughter as Tava and Lynae bickered for a while.

Tava and Lynae were added to the group during college. Their vibes were perfect and meshed well with ours. Though I wasn’t as close to them as I was Jana, we always had a great time together. These crazy women were my girls for life and nothing would change that.

“Thank God for the distraction because I sho’ ain’t ready for another shot just yet,” I admitted as I sipped my frozen drink, which was quickly melting in the Texas heat. The sun had set, but the natural light was doing some heavy lifting as the block party continued to happen in the field.

Cars were parked in the lot next door while tables and things were set up in rows with a small, elevated stage where the deejay and his equipment were set up. There were speakers lined up around the section so every lyric could be heard no matter where people stood.

To the left of the deejay booth was a bar where frozen drinks, iced drinks, and shots were being made.

Their collection was large, and there was something for everyone.

My favorite part was the row of food trucks a few yards away that had the area smelling delicious.

I had already planned my route to try the wing and taco trucks before the lines got too long.

“Girl, you salivating,” Tava teased. Her words brought me back to the group of women who had been looking at me while I was eyeing the food trucks.

“She must be looking at that fine man who keep looking at her,” Lynae stated with a smirk.

My eyebrows pulled together in confusion. “Huh? What man?” I asked.

“You know that security guard over there has been looking at you since we walked over to our section.” Lynae turned her head toward the guard in question.

When my eyes found him, I gulped. He was well over six feet and was wide and strong like I liked them.

He styled his hair in a mess of locs in a thick ponytail.

He had on black pants, a white T-shirt, and a black vest. He wore combat boots and had his weapons holstered around his waist. Tattoos covered his body.

They peeked over the hem of his shirt, painted all over his arms, and I could only imagine the ones covered by the clothes he wore.

He was my type with his sexy ass dark brown skin—the color of my favorite type of coffee. Not to mention the beard that framed his jawline to perfection.

“Baby, you’re gonna flood the place if you don’t tear your gaze from that man,” Jana warned.

I blinked and closed my mouth. “Huh?”

They all laughed.

“Girl, go speak to him if you want him that bad.”

I shook my head. “Hell naw. If he wants me, he can approach me.” I flipped my body wave, jet black bundles over my shoulder and finished my drink.

“Bloop! I know that’s right.” Lynae clapped her hands.

“Girl, please. That man is on the clock. He probably can’t approach you. You might have to make the first move.” Tava tried to play Devil’s advocate, but I waved her off.

“I thought you said it was shot o’clock. What happened to that?”

“Oop. For that, we are taking two shots.” Tava waved the bottle girl over and paid for two rounds of shots. We knocked them back with no chasers. I groaned as the second shot burned my throat as it went down.

The sun set, and the large field lights kicked on.

The atmosphere changed as the vibes of the music changed too.

The deejay had played more R&B. The transition from Wale’s “Bad” to Jazmine Sullivan’s “Need U Bad” had all of us losing our minds.

We sang the song to the top of our lungs before the next song came on.

“He’s coming over,” Jana announced while she bumped my shoulder with hers.

My gaze traveled to see the guard from earlier heading this way. I stood up and made his trip shorter. My heart raced the closer he got to me.

“Hey,” he greeted me. His lips pulled into a full smile that nearly knocked me off my feet. His perfect teeth with those juicy ass lips were a dangerous combination while I was under the influence.

“Hi,” I replied softly.

“My name is James. Can I get your name?”

“My name is, um, Brielle.” I mentally rolled my eyes. The man had me fumbling over my name.

“Don’t tell me you shy now, beautiful.” He smirked.

“Never that,” I replied, finally gaining a bit of my confidence back.

“Good. I finally got a break. I was wondering if I could spend my break with you.”

My pussy jumped with excitement. My bead throbbed with arousal. All the man had done was ask me to spend his break with him and my whole body heated like he was asking to eat me from the back. My panties would be done for if he kept talking to me in that low, deep voice. He was driving me crazy.

“Y-yeah. You can come back to the section me and my girls are at, or we could go over by the food trucks. Either is fine with me.”

“Fa sho. I ain’t ate in a minute. We can hit the food trucks.”

I nodded, and we walked side by side toward the food trucks. His hand brushed mine slightly which made me feel like a giddy little schoolgirl from back in the day. I was a grown ass woman—twenty-five years old with butterflies in my tummy.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

I paused as the loud sound of gunshots filled the air, and screams followed soon after.

Most people ran toward their cars. I, however, was pulled into a firm chest and damn near tackled onto the floor.

I blinked in confusion before I allowed my eyes to adjust to the situation.

James had become my human shield. One of his arms was behind my head while the other was planted firmly in the grass to keep him from crushing me with his weight.

I should have been more scared than I was, but being in his arms made me feel like I was in the safest place on Earth.

BANG! BANG!

More shots pierced the air. It felt like whoever the shooter was had an extended clip on his gun and wouldn’t release the trigger until the mag was empty. I clung to James for dear life. I prayed continuously until the sound of sirens grew closer.

“I got you, Brielle. I got you.” James repeated those words over and over until Cade’s Cove Police Department pulled up to the scene. He slowly sat up and held his hand out for me to grab. He helped me up off the floor and dusted the grass off my clothes.

“T-thank you.”

“No problem. Let me go assess the situation. I can walk you to your car.”

I frowned as I looked past him toward the section I’d left my friends at. I couldn’t see Tava or Lynae. My eyes scanned the seats, one by one, until I saw her.

“No. No. No.” My voice was barely above a whisper as my body moved as fast as it could.

This couldn’t be happening.

“Jana!” I cried out as I ran as quickly as my legs could move. I pumped my arms and moved toward her body.

“Brielle, wait!” James called from behind me, but I ignored him.

The closer I got, the clearer the situation became. Blood covered her body as it lay across the seat.

“Jana!” The cry was louder than the sirens.

I fell to my knees as I pulled her body into my arms. “Don’t you do this to me, bitch.

Jana, please. Somebody help me, please!” I patted her cheeks to wake her up.

She must’ve passed out. Yeah, that was it.

She was shot and the pain was too unbearable that she passed out. Right? Right!

My vision blurred as I buried my face in the crook of her neck and sobbed.

“Brielle.” James spoke softly beside me.

“She’s okay. She has to be okay.” I rocked with her in my arms.

“Brielle. Let the officer check for a pulse. An ambulance is on the way.”

I looked up to see James standing with a female officer. She offered me a gentle smile before she leaned down and placed her hand on Jana’s neck. She waited for a few moments before her eyes revealed more than her mouth had.

“No. No. No.” I could physically feel my heart break as the officer shook her head.

“I’m so sorry, ma’am. There’s no pulse.”

“Shock her back! CPR or something. Please. She can’t be gone . . .” I cried.

“Thank you, officer. Can she have a few more moments with the body?”

The body.

Anger filled my body as I glared at James. “Fuck you! She’s more than a fucking body. She’s my best fucking friend, you insensitive jerk.”

“I didn’t mean?—”

“Leave me alone. This is all your fault.”

He frowned. “You’re looking for someone to blame, and that’s okay. I’ll be your punching bag while you grieve. However, I didn’t pull the trigger, so this is not my fault.”

Before I could curse him out more, the paramedics made their way over to us. They did their routine before solemnly placing a black bag next to us. It all happened in a blur as they bagged my fucking best friend up and placed her on a stretcher. Her blood stained my clothes and covered my hands.

“Ma’am, we need a statement?—”

“I can give you a recount of what happened. She was with me when gunfire began. It wasn’t until police were on scene that she found the bo—her friend.

I was off duty at the time, but I know both shooters were standing near the stage.

I’m not sure which of the dead bodies up there are responsible, but both men I saw in the altercation were hit. ”

The female officer nodded and thanked him for his statement before she and the paramedic walked away. I sat back on my heels and stared blankly at the retreating stretcher with my best friend inside.

“Brielle.” James said my name once again. His eyes were soft. He’d removed his vest and claimed the spot beside me.

“I . . . I can’t breathe.” I clutched at my chest as my lungs burned.

“I’m going to wrap my arms around you, okay?”

I nodded as I clawed at where my heart was beneath the skin. Each scratch of my nails burned my flesh.

“I’m here. I got you.” He wrapped his large, muscular arms around my body and rocked me gently until my lungs could expand with a deep breath. As I exhaled, all of the emotions hit me at once. I cried in this man’s arms. I released every gut-wrenching sob until my eyes were dry.

My best friend was gone. How was I supposed to live without Jana in my life?