Tina
T ina woke up early, trying to sneak out of Hurricane’s bedroom before he woke up. She had made it all the way to the bedroom door and turned the knob before she heard Hurricane clear his throat. She turned to find him watching her from bed.
“Where are you going?” Hurricane whispered.
“I can’t let Chasity find me in here with you, like this,” she insisted, looking down at her half-naked body.
“I’m pretty sure that your niece has figured out that we’re sleeping together,” Hurricane challenged. “You were pretty loud last night.”
“Oh, God,” she breathed, hugging the clothes in her arms tighter to her body.
“Yeah, I’m sure that’s one of the phrases she’d remember you shouting,” Hurricane teased.
“That’s not funny,” she spat. “This is serious, Hurricane. You and I don’t really know each other, and I promised Chasity that I’d only come over when she invited me.” If her niece found her in Hurricane’s room, she might run again, and that terrified . What if this time, she wouldn’t be able to find her? What if this time, Chasity trusted the wrong people and ended up dead?
“She’s an impressionable kid. Chasity thinks that I came here last night because you invited me to dinner, not to sleep with you. It was her first night here, and I’ve ruined it by jumping into your bed just because you asked me nicely.”
“Oh, honey,” he breathed, “there was nothing nice about me asking you to climb into my bed with me. As for that—we’re both consenting adults and what’s happening between us is just that—between us. Chasity will have to understand that.”
“Did sex mess up your head, Hurricane?” she teased. “How do you propose that we get her to understand that we’re sleeping together?” asked.
He shrugged, “We sit her down and tell her,” he said.
“As though it’s that simple,” she grumbled.
“It worked when we were going over the rules of the house yesterday.” He was right, it had worked. Hurricane seemed to have a way with her niece, and she appreciated that more than he’d ever know. He very possibly saved Chasity’s life and for that, she always be grateful to Hurricane.
“So, how about it?” he asked. “You want to stick around and talk to Chasity with me because I don’t want just one night with you honey,” he said. Hurricane stood from the bed, completely naked, and her girl parts hummed to life all over again. It surprised her that he had that effect on her, but it had been some time since she had been with a man. That wasn’t it though. Hurricane seemed to do it for her—get her engines running on all four cylinders and it was nice to know that she could still feel the way that he made her feel.
“Tell me that you want that too, ,” he ordered, pulling her against his body. “Do you want more than one night with me?”
She didn’t have to give her answer much thought, she did, and telling him so might mean upsetting her niece, but she had to try. “I do want more than one night with you,” she admitted.
“Then, let me make you breakfast, and we can wait together for Chasity to wake up so we can tell her that you’ll be staying here some nights—if that works for you,” he said.
“It would be best since Chasity is staying with you,” she teased. “And yes, I’d love breakfast. I can’t say that I love the idea of telling my niece that we’re having sex, but you’re right, she’s a big girl and can handle the truth.” She left off the last word that stuck on her lips, “Hopefully,” because she didn’t want to jinx things.
“Great, you get dressed and I’ll start making pancakes,” he said. “They are my specialty.”
“Do you mind if I take a shower before I come down?” she asked.
He gently kissed her lips. “You can take anything you want from me, honey,” he said.
“Hurricane, you can’t say things like that—you don’t even know me,” she insisted.
“Well, then, how about we change that? I want to know you, honey—in every way possible.” The way that he whispered those words into her ear made her shiver. There was no way that she’d be able to shower and get herself together to talk to Chasity if Hurricane kept touching her like he was.
“You need to stop touching me and whispering into my ear if we’re going to talk to Chasity,” she said.
“Talk to me about what?” Chasity asked, pushing her way through the door that had left cracked. “Oh, God,” she shouted when she realized that Hurricane was naked, and was mostly naked. At least she had time to slip on her bra and panties before trying to sneak out of Hurricane’s place.
“Shit,” Hurricane said, grabbing the blanket from the bed to wrap it around both of them.
“It’s my fault,” insisted, “I left the door open.”
“How about it’s both of your faults. How could you do this?” Chasity spat.
“I like your aunt, Chasity, and I’m hoping that she likes me,” Hurricane explained. smiled and nodded up at him before he continued. “And when two people like each other—” He didn’t get to finish what he was saying before Chasity shouted at him to, “Stop talking.”
“Please don’t stand there naked and explain the birds and bees to me, Hurricane. I’m aware of how things work between two people who like each other. What I’m trying to figure out is why you and my aunt are having sex. I’m assuming that’s what happened here—you two had sex?”
“Yes,” squeaked, “and I wanted to sneak out of here before you woke up, but Hurricane came up with a different plan.”
“Of course he did,” Chasity spat. “He seems to be full of plans and so far, it’s been twenty-four hours of broken promises.”
“That’s not fair,” insisted.
“Well, none of this seems fair to me,” Chasity said. “So, what now? You’re going to just come over here and be his booty call whenever he summons you?”
“You don’t get to talk to your aunt that way, Chasity. You owe her an apology,” Hurricane insisted. “Now, sit down in that chair and give us a few minutes to get dressed.” could tell that he worried that if she left the room or even their sight, she’d disappear again.
Hurricane waited her out and once Chasity sat down, as he ordered, he pulled to the bathroom, carefully keeping them both covered. “We’ve got this, honey,” he promised.
“What?” asked.
“You looked worried, and I wanted to let you know that we’ve got this. We can work all of this out with Chasity and figure out the rest as we go.” Hurricane seemed so optimistic that she hated telling him that he was wrong, but he was.
“Chasity is angry and hurt. She feels that we betrayed her, and I can’t keep seeing you if it upsets her,” breathed. She slipped on her clothes from the night before and went up on her tiptoes to gently kiss Hurricane’s cheek. “If you’re ever ready for me to come back over for dinner sometime, let me know. I’ll understand if you’ve changed your mind about the open invitation.”
“That’s not going to happen, honey,” Hurricane said, reaching for her. “Don’t do this, ,” he whispered.
“It’s already done,” said, choking back a sob. “Thank you for everything. I’ll be checking on Chasity every day, but seeing you again might take some time. Just be patient with us both, Hurricane,” she said. quickly left the bathroom, leaving Hurricane standing there, still half naked and she didn’t bother to look back. She didn’t want to see the hurt in his eyes that she had caused him.
She stopped in the bedroom and wondered if there was anything that she could say to her niece to change all of this, but there wasn’t. “I’ll check in on you in a few days. Take care of yourself, Chasity,” whispered. Her niece wiped at the tears that spilled down her cheeks and regretted everything—from getting dressed for dinner to talking herself into driving over to Hurricane’s, and especially falling into bed with him. That last one was something that she didn’t regret, but she hated how her actions made her niece feel. That was her biggest regret.
spent the next few weeks trying to throw herself into her work. If she let herself think about what happened between her and Hurricane, she worried that she’d end up calling him and begging him to let her come over.
She had called Chasity every day, trying to find out how she was doing. At first, her niece refused to even answer the phone, but after she wore her down a bit, Chasity started sharing little details that was thrilled to learn about. She seemed to love living with Hurricane, and there was no way that would ruin that for her by showing up at his house. For now, phone calls would have to be enough for her.
grabbed her keys and bag, knowing that if she didn’t leave now, she’d never make it to work on time. She had to get across town and at this hour, that was damn near impossible. “Shit,” she grumbled, checking the time. She pulled her front door shut and was locking it when her phone rang. She didn’t even check to see who was calling and when her boss asked her where she was, she felt a sense of panic that she knew would have her stuttering in no time. It was her only tick—stuttering, and after years of speech therapy, she could control it as long as she stayed in charge.
“I’m leaving my place now,” she said. “I will be to work on time,” she assured.
“We talked about this yesterday, ,” he said. He sounded angry and she wasn’t sure if he was pissed at her or if his day was already off to a crappy start. “Today was an early start for our group. You were supposed to be here at seven-thirty to make coffee for everyone and get everything printed and ready for the meeting.” Shit—was that today? She had been so preoccupied with Chasity and everything that happened with Hurricane that she felt like she didn’t have any control over the rest of her life lately.
“That was this morning?” she asked, knowing damn well that it was.
“Why else would I be calling you if it wasn’t?” her boss asked.
“I’m so sorry,” she insisted. “I’m on my way now, and I’ll work through my lunch.”
“Don’t bother, . You have been warned about taking so much time off to find your niece. We need you hear, ready to work, not running all over the state looking for a kid who’s not even yours.”
didn’t hide her gasp. “How dare you say that about my niece?” she spat. “I’m her legal guardian, and that makes Chasity mine. I’m sorry that you didn’t get your coffee today, but I’m sure that you’ll be able to find someone to fill my very small shoes.” quickly ended the call before he could get another word in, and she wasn’t sure what she had just done, but she was pretty sure of one thing—she was screwed. Without that shitty job, she wouldn’t be able to afford her craptastic place and then, how would Chasity ever be able to come home to live with her again? She wouldn’t be able to, and that broke her heart.
The one thing she was sure of, the clock had started ticking on her time to find another job or be kicked out of her apartment, and that thought terrified her more than going to Hurricane to ask him for help.
“Pride goeth before the fall,” she whispered to herself. But didn’t want to fall. She wanted what her heart had been denying her for weeks now, and she just hoped like hell that it wasn’t too late to ask Hurricane to be her booty call.