Chapter 11
Skai
I can not believe what just happened! Not only did I sleep with a man, I slept with Jabarri! What the hell! After making love under the waterfall we got dressed and headed back to the hotel. If I thought Jabarri was tactile before it has multiplied exponentially now. He has to have some part of his body touching mine. If I wasn’t sure if I was in love with him before I know I am now. Most men creep me out immediately, but with him, I want to be with him. I want him touching me, I feel safe with him, not just physically safe, but I can trust him with my heart and my trust, and I know he won’t hurt or disappoint me. His hand is on my thigh as we ride back to the hotel. I lay my head back and fall right on to sleep. I didn’t have to keep my eyes open, or be on the lookout, or navigate. Nope all I had to do was ride and be with him, and that is a new and frankly intoxicating feeling. I used to make fun of my mother for being like that with DJ, but I get it now. I am in my soft girl era, and I have no intention of ever going back to anything else.
When we reach the hotel, I sit there like I don’t even know how to operate a door. I don’t move until he comes around and opens the door to help me out of the car.
“If I had known all I needed to do was fuck you proper to get this side of you, I would have fucked you a lot sooner,” he says in my ear as we walk in the hotel, and I blush like a high school girl with a crush.
“Shut up, Barbie, I still have my gun on me,” I tell him.
“Yes, ma’am,” he says.
“We have to tell your mom and my brother,”
“Do we have to?”
“Skai, baby, you know we do,”
“I have enjoyed keeping this between us, especially now. How is the family going to take this?”
“I know. Me too, but with our family, it is unrealistic to think we can keep this a secret. And even though my other brothers have made fun of me over the years and even offered advice, will they actually feel that way when we confirm we are together? I mean, I am your uncle, by the way,”
“Get the fuck out of here! You were never my uncle. I never felt that with you. If I am being honest, I never once felt uncle niece relationship with you. Besides, I was a grown adult when my mom married your brother. So that shit doesn’t count,” I tell him, but deep down, I know some people will feel like this relationship is inappropriate. I just dare one of them to say it to my face. Although if we get married my uncles will also be my brother-in-laws and my mom will be my mom and sister-in-law! Yeah, that”s weird as hell.
Our trip is over faster than I would have liked, and we are on our way back home and back to reality. I look at the ring that he proposed to me with, and I still can’t wrap my head around the fact that I am engaged to Jabarri Manaia Gideon.
“Do you like your ring? You keep looking at it,”
“I love it.”
“When do you want to tell our family?”
“Umm…” I hedge.
“Mrs. Gideon, I am sure they will be fine with it and happy for us.”
“Really? So you’re ready to talk to my mom and DJ? How do you think that conversation will go?”
“I am a Gideon, baby, you can’t get better than us for a husband.”
“Wow,” I say, not at all impressed.
“Seriously, for as long as I have desired you, I am sure they’ll be fine. It might be an adjustment period, but things will be fine,”
“Ok, but can we enjoy this just between us for a little while longer?”
“Of course, N?ku Ahi. But I just want to warn you Jaasiel knows,” he says as they place our bags in the trunk and we slide in the back seat.
“You told him?” I say practically hysterically.
“No, I didn’t have to. My brothers aren’t dumb, and as the baby, they’ve been looking out for me my entire life,” he reminds me, and I fully understand since Saint and Shepp treat me the exact same way.
“He won’t say anything,”
“I know. For now, at least because you know just like I do, no one wants to have to answer to Josh over another secret,”
“True. I swear if he learns about another secret one of us has, his head is going to explode,”
“Facts!” I agree, laughing with Jabarri.
“Alight, we’ll tell them soon,”
“Thanks, baby,” he says, taking my hand as the driver navigates the road to take us back to the airport. I watch the unreal scenery out of the window, thinking, Hawaii was amazing and I can’t wait to come back. This island is not one of the popular ones, so it was not filled with tourists, and as an introvert, it was perfect.
It’s been several weeks since we have been back from Hawaii and Jabarri has been on a strong campaign to tell everyone about us being together and engaged. We were going to tell everyone at the family dinner, but all hell broke loose when Brooklyn came heavily pregnant with Uncle Aryan’s baby, and he knew she was pregnant. I swear, I think all the brothers were going to take turns beating his ass. And just when we thought things couldn’t get worse, his sister-in-law shows up! I thought Brooklyn was going to go into labor. She was so understandably upset. Then, after a quick private conversation with Brook, he came back and explained who this woman was and a past he kept from everyone, and I think all of our hearts broke from the story he told. I remember looking across the table at Jabarri when DJ realized there was yet another secret between the brothers. I had to fight back the smile that was trying to break free, remembering the conversation Barbie and I had in Hawaii.
“You’re not focusing, Skai,” Jabarri barks at me and he is right since I have a gun in my face.
“Jabarri, I am already proficient with a gun. I do not need all this extra training,”
“You know how to use a gun on your own, but you need to practice shooting with a partner,”
“Why?” I ask, pouting. He has been on this training kick, and I do not understand why.
“Because Aryan’s late wife’s sister has potentially brought trouble to our doorstep, and I want you ready to face anything that may happen,”
“Fine,” I acquiesce because he has a good point. We don’t know if this man is going to act a fool, and if he does, we all need to be ready.
“You need to be able to feel your partner’s moves, anticipate his or her next move, have their back,”
“Okay,” I say. Even though I am tired and just want to go lie down, I push through. We are back-to-back, but when I begin to focus, I feel his body, and I begin to anticipate his next moves. When he moves right, I move, I feel his weight shift, and I move backward with him. I feel his foot shift, and I move left with him. He spins, and I stay with him, my back never losing contact with his. When he begins moving across the floor, I move with him, “left,” he commands, and I turn without a second thought, shooting the target’s center mass. “Right,” I move again. At one point, I spin in front of him, my back to his chest, and turn so we are chest to chest as I take out the targets behind him. By the time we are done, my arms are aching from all the shooting we’ve done, but if something goes down, I will not be the weakest link.
“You are getting too good, baby, but a word of advice. Always take the head shot. They can wear something to protect their chest but not their head.”
“Okay,” I say because that makes sense, especially with Kevlar. There are so many different options other than the basic bulletproof vest, but a head shot is a guaranteed kill.
“Once we get this baby shower over with, I think we should finally tell our family about us,”
“Okay,” I finally give in because it’s time. Honestly, it’s been time, if Aryan and Brooklyn hadn’t dropped bombs the night of the family dinner they would have already known.
“That was too easy. I was expecting a real fight.”
“Naw, it’s time, and besides, I’m ready to begin planning our wedding.”
“You are going to be a stunning bride. I can’t wait to see you walk down the aisle to me.”
“Me too. And I can’t wait to do all the wedding things with my mom.”
“Yeah, Savvy is going to go all out for her only daughter.”
“Yeah, probably,” I say, smiling from ear to ear. “But I would love for it to be just us,”
“I mean, we can try. But even if we only do family and closest friends, it will still be a huge event.”
“True. Alright, I guess it’s a small price to pay to finally become your wife. I mean, you made me wait long enough,” I tell him, walking past him. “Eeekkk!” I scream as he scoops me up and throws me over his shoulder.
“I kept you waiting? If it wasn’t for you we probably would’ve been married before your mom and my brother got married. I knew who you were to me the moment I set my eyes on you.”
“Jabarri,” I whisper as he sets me down staring me in my eyes so I can see that he means what he is saying.
“I am just stating facts. But I am a firm believer in things happen for a reason and when they are supposed to happen. We both had to grow and mature so we could get to this place, and even though it took years just knowing we are together, I know it was worth it.”
“I love you, baby,”
“I love you, too. I have to show you something, but first I need to go by your house. Okay?”
“Yeah, lets go,” I tell him.