Chapter 27
27
Anais
Confetti swirls in the air and for the second time we’re all down on the field, celebrating the Wranglers World Series win. Everyone is hugging and kissing one another, and exuberant smiles are passed from one person to the other.
Bishop hugged me as much as he could without drawing attention when the ninth inning ended and the Wranglers were victorious. And while I’m happy, I can’t get this afternoon’s events off of my mind or the weight of what could come of it off my chest.
After Bishop made us breakfast, I went back to my dorm to change and grab an extra set of clothes for tonight’s game. Keyara was already gone, making me feel guilty once again, but after what happened in the restaurant yesterday and seeing the look on Bishop’s face when he saw Blake with me, she understood my need to make sure things were okay with us.
When I was done, he was waiting for me in the parking lot, his bike revving and my helmet in his hands. I looked around the lot, but it was late Sunday morning and there weren’t many students around. I climbed on, bu ckled my helmet into place, and we sped off towards the record store.
We probably spent two hours there, searching through stacks of albums, listening to songs in one of the music listening rooms, and picking out albums for one another. Some were spot on in music tastes, but others were funny and had us laughing out loud.
Bishop ended up buying me several albums to start my collection –RAYE, Miley Cyrus, Dua Lipa and Bebe Rhexa as my choices, and Lenny Kravitz, Michael Jackson, Otis Redding and Dr. Dre as his picks. It was a pretty eclectic mix, but it was us to a T. Some of these albums contained the songs we’ve sent to one another as there are many. But the one that got me the most was when he played Butterfly by Lenny Kravitz in the booth. He remembered it as the song we danced to at Cami and Vaughan’s wedding and said it’s the song he hears playing in his head every time he sees me.
Talk about a swoon moment. It gets better. He said the lavender dress I wore struck him so strongly that he went out and bought a lavender dress shirt the next weekend. He said he wasn’t sure if he’d ever wear “the darn thing,” but he sees it when he walks into his closet each morning and it makes him smile to start off the day thinking of me.
I swear I melted right then and there in the store. Pieces of me are still lying amongst the stacks of albums where he admitted all of this.
It was a great morning. I had the promise and love of Bishop, and mind blowing morning sex which is always the best way to start the day. We had worry-free time together outside of his house where we could be us and share moments that meant something. It all lasted until we walked out through the doors of the store.
Our purchases were in a bag that Bishop held in one hand, while his other arm was wrapped around my neck as he pulled me in for a kiss. When we parted, shock and dread filled my belly.
“Coach?” We heard and spun around to see Blake and a few other guys from the team, watching us with dropped jaws.
“Hey. Uh, what’re you guys doing down here?” he asked them. But the real question was, what were we doing together .
“Lunch,” one of them said, holding up a paper cup.
“Is this why you weren’t interested in a date, Anais?” Blake asked me.
My stomach felt sour and my eyes fell to the floor with guilt. The day prior Blake had asked for my number and wanted to know if I’d go out with him sometime. I was still reeling from seeing Bishop that I told him I’d love to be friends, but I really wasn’t looking for anything other than that with anyone. I explained that I just wanted to focus on my studies before I thought about adding a relationship to the mix. He said he understood, but I saw a little bit of pain in his eyes.
Bishop immediately tried to defuse the tense situation by explaining the administration was aware of our relationship, but we preferred to keep it quiet so as not to affect my standing with any of my professors. He didn’t want them to be swayed in any way. He asked that the boys keep it just between us and while they agreed, I got the feeling it was all lip service. My gut told me that by the end of the week, the entire baseball team would know about us along with a few other departments.
Bishop took my hand in his and pulled me away, leaving the guys standing in shock on the sidewalk. I looked over my shoulder at them and saw Blake staring at us with a mixture of hurt and resentment on his face.
A loud horn blares and I’m brought back to the celebration. Dagen has bounced between everyone and now she comes barreling towards me.
“Ana!” She shouts. “Isn’t this amazing?”
I open my arms and pull her into a tight hug. “It is! But were you really worried that Uncle Nix couldn’t pull it off?”
“Nah,” her face scrunches and she shakes her head. “Besides Uncle Bishop, Uncle Phoenix is the best baseball player in the history of the world.”
We laugh and hear Vivian’s voice fill the stadium.
“Get over here Phoenix,” she says, waving him over to where she stands with the microphone. “Another year, another championship. How does it feel to be a two-time World Series champion and league MVP?”
“It feels amazing. The only thing that could make this moment better is if you finally agree to a set wedding date.” Uncle Nix smiles the biggest smile ever, knowing Vivian hates when he puts her on the spot.
Last year, he dropped to one knee and asked her to marry him. She agreed, tears streaming down her face, but she sure did let him have it later for doing it on national television. I have a feeling that this will be no different.
In fact, everyone laughs when she smacks his chest and says, “You just had to do that, didn’t you? Fine. March. Take it or leave it, buddy.”
“Take it!” he shouts and grabs her with two hands, lifting her off the ground and kissing the life out of her.
I feel a little tug at my heartstrings as I witness this moment and look around, only to catch the watchful eyes of Bishop. He looks lovingly at me and winks discreetly. A warmth crawls over my body from my toes to the tips of my ears. The most simple thing from him can set me on fire. It gets harder and harder each day to hide this from people. But now that the series is over, we can tell Nix and Viv and it will all be over.
But what is it that will be over? The weight of holding the secret? The relationship between Bishop and I? The friendship that has spanned over a decade and is more of a brotherhood? I worry myself sick just thinking about it.
The fans remaining in the stands shout and clap, whistles blaring in the vast stadium. Families wait for their guys to climb off the stage to continue hugging and sharing tears of joy with them. Our group of friends begins to crowd together, closer and closer, until we all stand shoulder to shoulder.
Bishop finds his way to me and while we all press our bodies together, he reaches over and latches his pinky with mine. They’re hooked together and hang between us, the eyes of everyone fully focused on what is happe ning on stage and allowing us to have our moment.
I feel a tap on my arm and look to my left to see Dagen with a grin that you could see from Dallas. She crooks her finger at me and I lean closer to her.
Her lips brush against the shell of my ear and she says, “If you marry Uncle Bishop, will I call you Auntie Ana, or just Ana?”
I feel all of the blood drain from my face and it’s suddenly very hard to breathe.
“Um. I…”
“It’s okay. I heard mommy and Auntie Cat talking about it. But I promise I haven’t said a word to anyone.” I try to give her something that resembles a smile and nod my head.
She goes back to watching everything that’s going on around us, and the dread that was brewing is now boiling over.
“What’s wrong, baby girl?” The deep timber of a voice I know so well pulls my attention the other direction.
“Day knows,” I tell him, simply.
I see his chest fill with a deep breath and deflate when he blows it out. “It’s okay. Day’s my number one girl. She loves her Uncle Bish and I’ll talk to her about keeping a secret.”
“I thought I was your number one girl,” I tell him from the side of my mouth, trying to keep my expression neutral.
“You’re my number one girl in a much different way.” My eyes lock on his, and tell him the words that I wish I could say at this very moment.
“Ana!” someone shouts, and in my peripheral I see Uncle Nix jogging in my direction.
I quickly put space between Bishop and I as I leap into his arms when he’s within a foot of me. Our celebration continues on through the night, as we move the party from the club rented out for the team, to Luca and CeCe’s downtown penthouse for a more intimate gathering.
The black and red decor gives off a Dracula vibe, and creeps me out a little. When I tell this to CeCe, she laughs and shares it with Luca. He counters with, “at least that is better than what you told me”.
I excuse myself to use the restroom and feel a presence behind me. I look over my shoulder to see Bishop coming up quickly behind me. He points his chin in the direction of the restroom and I move inside, flipping on the light which gets shut back off immediately.
The door closes and the lock clicks into place, as I’m spun around. I blink trying to adjust my eyes to the sudden darkness, and smell the muskiness of Bishop’s cologne as he draws closer.
“Why are you looking so sad tonight, my little butterfly?” he whispers.
I run my fingers lightly over his face, caressing the contours I love so much. “I’m worried about talking to Nix and Viv.”
His hand lays over mine as I smooth across his jaw. “I know, baby girl. But it will all be okay. We’ll do it together and deal with whatever happens.”
“Can we wait just a few more days? You know, to let him rest and ride out the high of the win?”
Bishop’s silence stretches on as he thinks. “This weekend. Okay? We will tell them this weekend. We’ll go to dinner. Someplace public and neutral, so that Nix doesn’t murder us with witnesses around.” He laughs but I don’t find it the least bit funny.
“That’s not funny,” I pout and press my head to his chest.
“I’ve got you. Don’t worry. Okay?” He taps me under the chin, lifting my face to his, then says, “I know how to make you feel better.”
He lifts me up and sets me down on the counter and stands between my legs. Our eyes have adjusted and now we stare at one another, our features shrouded in darkness. His hands smooth along my jaw and his fingers dive into my hair. The roots are tugged and my head is jerked back until my neck stretches to look up at him.
“Do you want me to make you feel better, baby girl?”
“Yes,” I whisper and Bishop licks my lips.
He growls when I stick my tongue out to meet his, the tips brushing against each other. I lean into him and lick a line up his neck much like he did mine. I do it again and finish with a bite to his earlobe.
My hair is fisted in his hand and he yanks my head to the side. “Are you hungry, my little butterfly? I can give you something to lick if you are.”
I bite my lip and slide off the counter and straight down onto my knees. My hands smoothly pull his zipper down and he watches me with eager attentiveness. The jeans fall open and I reach inside of his boxers and circle my hand around his thick cock.
I stroke him and he hisses his pleasure. I grip the base and bring him to my lips. My tongue swirls around the throbbing head, swiping at the bead of precum that has leaked. The saltiness thrills my taste buds and I want more.
My lips spread wide as I take him in as far back as I can. The bite of pain makes me wet and I squeeze my thighs together. I moan and he twitches in my mouth. My head moves and glides back and forth, saliva dripping from the corners. I set a pace and hear Bishop’s breathing turn shallow.
“Do you want me to pull out?” he chokes out between groans.
I shake my head no but don’t stop even for a second to answer with words. I take a deep breath then slide down, down, down until my gag reflex reacts. I swallow him down and use my tongue to massage the sensitive underside.
Bishop’s body grows tense and then a large palm lands on either side of my face. I drop my grip on him, relax my jaw, and let him fuck my face until he’s coming down my throat. I drink him until he’s drained and his body relaxes. He’s barely pulled himself from my mouth when I’m being lifted from the floor and pulled in for a deep kiss.
“God, I love you,” she mumbles against my mouth.
I smile and my heart beats triple time. “I love you, cari?o.”
He pulls back and finds my eyes in the dark and asks, “Are you okay?” I nod and he swipes my bottom lip. “We better get back out there before someone comes looking for us. Remember. There’s nothing to worry about. Everything will be fine. ”
He tucks himself into his pants and with one last kiss, he slowly opens the door, looking out into the hallway before stepping out and closing the door behind him.
I search the wall for the switch and flip it on. I look in the mirror and immediately scrunch my face when I see my haggard reflection. The small bit of makeup I was wearing is smeared under my eyes. I wipe it clean and then put on some lip gloss before washing my hands and stepping out from the bathroom.
“Woah,” a voice says when I smack straight into a body.
“Sorry,” I breathe and look up into the judging eyes of CeCe.
She stares at me with a hardened expression and it’s nothing like the caring ones she gave me just a couple of weeks ago. I wait for her to say something but all she does is exhale a heavy breath and side steps past me.
I hang my head, my heart aching at what seems like her rejection, and shuffle back into the living area where everyone congregates.
I put on the best smile I can manage for the rest of the evening then say goodbye under the pretense of going back to my dorm, when I really drive straight to Bishop’s where he meets me ten minutes later.
His home is our haven and the only place we don’t face judgment. I want to live here forever.