Chapter Twelve #2
Christian fills the ladies in on the events of the night.
I don’t bother to chime in, but I know he’s exaggerating some of the details.
When he shares the details of what Cortez said about the women, I can feel my fists beginning to itch with the need to hit him again, but Janelle lays her hand on my knee, soothing the ache.
“Rome beat the bricks off that man. I’m telling you he hulked the fuck out. There was a whole steel table separating him from Cortez and he moved that shit out of his way like it was a piece of paper.”
“That’s what ol’ Baby Legs O’Houlihan gets,” Eve huffs.
“Not Baby Legs O’Houlihan. Please,” Dani snorts.
Eve does her best Roger from American Dad impression, leaving everyone in stitches.
“Thanks for coming through for us, ladies,” Micah says.
“We weren’t gonna leave y’all in a cell all night. We didn’t realize Jalen was gonna be able to pull strings to get you out though,” Dani asserts.
“I mean, I would’ve gladly left Christian in a cell for the rest of eternity, but I was told that wasn’t an option.” Eve shrugs.
“No man left behind, sweetheart,” he taunts.
“Pretty sure you were left behind in school but small wins, I guess.”
The two of them fall into their usual banter while the rest of the bus remains quiet, eerily quiet.
Dani, Troy, and Micah seem to be at peace, but there’s a tension floating between Amerie, Arnold, and Janelle.
Janelle won’t even look at the two of them, despite the fact that Amerie is burning a hole on the side of her face with her stare.
We get back to the hotel and everyone rushes off the bus. “Hey, Troy,” I call. He stops and moves to stand in front of me by the side of the bus. “’Preciate you having our back. You didn’t have to do that.”
“It was nothing. Guys like that make me fucking sick so I was happy to help. I would’ve done the same thing if I were you.”
“If you were me?”
He pins me with a knowing stare. “I think you know what I mean.”
I consider his words, choosing to acknowledge them with only a laugh. “Good lookin ’ out.” I offer him my hand and he takes it, pulling me into an embrace.
When I step into the bright entrance of the lobby, Janelle steps around the corner holding a blue box. She smiles as she inclines her head for me to follow her.
Amerie, hand in hand with Arnold, marches over to Janelle with a desperate smile. “Janelle, can we talk?”
“No.”
Amerie’s jaw hits the ground as she watches Janelle’s back disappear around the corner. I step around her, not caring if she sees me trying to catch up with Janelle. Right now, we need each other and that’s the only thing that matters.
She leaves her door open for me as she steps inside, stripping off her rings and earrings but leaving her waist beads on.
I close the door behind me and she grabs my hands, inspecting my busted knuckles. “Come on, Caveman.”
I follow her to her large bathroom where she instructs me to sit on the closed toilet seat.
She fills the basin of the sink up with cold water and lays a hand towel inside of it, wringing it dry, and then filling it with ice.
Then, she opens the blue box she had with her, revealing it to be a first aid kit.
“J, you don’t have to do that. I’m okay.”
“Shhh. I don’t wanna hear it.”
“You don’t?”
“Let me pour into you the way you do for me.”
She holds the makeshift ice pack to my knuckles, using her free hand to massage my forearm.
“Where’d you get the first aid kit?”
“Javier. The man has everything on hand. How’s that feel?” She gestures toward my hand with her head.
“Stings a little but it’s fine. Nothing I can’t handle.”
“That’s right. Maybe I should call you Hulk instead of Caveman.”
I chuckle. “You can call me whatever you want, J.”
She lifts the ice from my knuckles, tossing it back into the sink, and then she grabs some cream and bandages from the first aid kit, gingerly patching me up.
“Mhmm, remember you said that.” She bends down to press a soft kiss against my now bandaged hand and then another one on my lips.
“Thank you. You having my back like that when I wasn’t even around means more to me than you will ever know. ”
“You never have to thank me for that. You just have to trust me to keep doing it.”
A tear slips down the side of her cheek, so I lift my good hand to stop it and she leans into it.
The trance doesn’t last long because she sucks in a deep breath, inspecting her handiwork before grasping my uninjured hand and pulling me into the bedroom.
She pushes me down on the bed and crawls behind me, lifting the hem of my shirt.
“You trying to take advantage of me? Because I’ll allow it,” I joke.
“Well.” A slightly warm liquid hits my back as Janelle’s voice tickles my eardrum. “Some kind, considerate, and caring man had some massage oils sent to me earlier so now I’m going to use them to help you relax.”
“Really? That sounds like a guy you should take a chance on.”
“You think so? See, I was kinda torn between him and the guy who puts men in the hospital for talking bad about me. I don’t know, this could be the beginning of my dark romance era.”
“Ohh, I get it. I think you’re confused. You’re thinking those are two different guys.”
She applies a pressure that makes me putty in her hands. I groan with every knot that comes loose under her touch. “They’re not?”
“Nah. They’re clearly the same guy. They have the same motivation and everything.”
“And what’s that?”
“You.”
She meets my eyes in the full-length mirror facing us, smiling shyly. “That’s something to consider.”
“I hope so.” Her hands continue working their magic on me. I start to change the subject several times but keep losing my train of thought the deeper she kneads my skin. “Damn, you’re good at this.”
She hums her agreement.
I use my good hand to reach up and cover her hand on my shoulder, stopping her motion.
I can’t think straight with her voodoo hands on me.
“You wanna tell me what that was about with Amerie earlier?” The pride I felt at seeing her tell Amerie “ no ” without any further explanation was next level.
I know it’s probably shaking her at her core to be on the outs with her sister, but she did it anyway and stood firm on it.
She doesn’t pull away from me even though her eyes appear somber. She meets my gaze head-on and speaks her mind. “Yes, but I don’t wanna waste any more energy on it right now. ” She takes a brief pause. “But I do need to tell you something about Arnold.”
A shrill tone fills the room and we both glance over at our ringing phones. My call is coming from Christian whereas hers is coming from Dani, but they have the same message. Arnold has called a family meeting.
The hotel has a large outdoor seating area, partially covered by a bamboo ceiling and filled with velvet-lined love seats and wooden benches.
The area is closed off at night, but I guess Arnold found a way to grant us access because that’s where this family meeting is being held.
Janelle and I arrive together, followed by Troy.
Arnold and Amerie are standing beneath a few of the light fixtures, looking like they’re about to tell us which one of us has been voted off the island.
Eve, Dani, Micah, Christian, Troy, Nova, the Crosses, Arnold’s parents, and his aunt and uncle all watch with rapt attention.
“Sorry to call you all here but we figured it’d be easier just to tell everyone at once instead of trying to tell you all individually.”
“Well, first, Arnold wants to say something to you all directly,” Amerie comments.
“Yes, um, I just wanna say I’m sorry for my actions tonight and for my cousin’s actions.
” His comment is a blanket statement to everyone; however, Janelle scoffs quietly.
“Now, moving on to our announcement. Cortez is in the hospital.” He pauses and I’m not sure why because everyone knows he’s in the hospital and no one cares.
His own parents don’t even seem concerned.
His mom chimes in at that moment. “Yes, and he won’t be making any statements to the police so anyone who might’ve been worried about that can rest assured.
” She regards everyone as she speaks but her stare lingers on me.
It’s a sweet gesture, but unnecessary. I wouldn’t have cared even if he had made a statement.
I’m not afraid of the Cortezes of the world.
Her husband drapes his arm over her shoulder and turns her to face Arnold again.
“Okay. Is that all?” Nova asks.
“I also wanted to let everyone know that I told Cortez he’s not welcome to the wedding.
He’ll probably be transferring to a hospital back home anyway, but I just wanted to share that.
I hired security to make sure his friends don’t show up at the hotel or the wedding either.
If you see them, though, please let me know. ”
Everyone murmurs their agreement, not really moved by this announcement.
Amerie thanks us for coming down and dismisses us.
As Janelle’s parents move to leave, her dad spots her and runs over to offer her a comforting hug.
Her mom doesn’t approach but she watches Janelle with a wistful smile, her eyes shining with unshed tears.
Janelle and I haven’t had a chance to talk about the details of her discussion with her mom, but I can tell her mom doesn’t know how to proceed from here.
It seems to me that Amerie learned her way of dropping tears to get her way from their mom.
Marquise makes a beeline for me, offering me his fist and laughing when I hold out my bandaged hand to him.
He leans in close, whispering, “Long time coming if you ask me,” before sending a nod Janelle’s way and walking back to the hotel.
Everyone else clears out relatively fast but Janelle and I stay put.
“It’s been a long day,” she says.
“It has. How do you wanna end it?” She was trying to tell me something before this little press conference, but her eyes are so hooded with fatigue, I know she’s drained. Frankly, the exhaustion is starting to set in on my own shoulders, too.
She takes a step so that she and I are toe to toe. I wrap my arms around her waist, leaning my hands on her ass, and she locks her arms behind my neck.
“With you.”
“That was a given.”
She snorts. “I ain’t gon ’ hold you, I’m so tired the room feels like it’s miles away. I’m about to sleep on one of those couches for the night. They look comfy.” She motions her head toward the velvet loveseats.
I shake my head at her dramatics. “If you wanted a ride, you could’ve just said that.”
I settle my arms under her ass to lift her up, but she wiggles in my hold. “No, dummy, your hand!”
“Fuck the hand. Come here.” I lift her up my body until her legs wrap around my waist. Our lips connect in a hungry kiss, our tongues fighting for purchase.
I didn’t even realize I was moving us backward until I stumble into one of the couches.
The momentum lands me straight on my back so I brace my hands on her to make sure the fall doesn’t jostle her too much.
She laughs into my mouth. “Weren’t you supposed to be giving me a ride back to the room?”
“Well, you did say the couches looked comfortable. I was just testing that theory.”
“Mmm, yeah, I was right. It’d be a shame to waste a perfectly good couch.”
“A damn shame.” She sucks my lower lip into the wet heat of her mouth, moaning around it.
“What the fuck?!”
Our eyes pop open at the sound of a shriek that’s about to make our long night even longer.