#Blessed by Malakai, page 13
I was a nervous wreck, so I had to get my shit together. The best thing I could do for myself was to try not to think about Malakai before I absolutely had to. Therefore, I had two days to get everything into perspective.
It’s a little late for that, Avery. You’re already falling in love with him. I closed my eyes at the realization that shouldn’t have even been as surprising to me as it was. If I were honest with myself, I’d admit that I knew I’d fallen in love with him the minute he offered me the job as his image consultant. If I were honest with myself, I’d admit that there wasn’t any man in this world who made me feel the way that Malakai did. If I were honest with myself, I’d admit that a part of me fell in love with him when I was fourteen and he didn’t know I existed, so knowing the man that I knew now, my love for him had only heightened. Intensified. Consumed my mind and body with feelings and emotions that I hadn’t even known I had.
I’d always been a secure person, even if the world gave me reason to lack my securities. However, in this moment, the feeling of insecurity was creeping into my mind and heart faster than I could stop it. And I needed to stop it. I couldn’t let it or him consume me.
Avery
* * *
“That bitch Coco,” I huffed as I pushed back the covers on my bed and groaned after having yet another sex dream about Malakai. Some people didn’t dream hard enough for it to fuck up their day. Unfortunately for me, I was one of those people who remembered their dreams in detail.
For the past forty-eight hours, I had been telling Coco to plant her horny ass in the back of my mind and not to come out unless I called for her. I told her that the past two days were all about Halo because Halo understood that I needed to free my mind of thoughts of Malakai Madden. Halo knew that I needed a break from my psyche if I was ever going to get anything done. Halo knew that a true bitch had your back no matter what, which meant, anything related to Malakai Madden had been put on pause until I met him at the airport.
Instead of listening to me, Coco had decided that she didn’t want Halo to be in charge. Coco had decided that Malakai deserved a permanent spot in my mind. In my heart. In my bed. Damn her.
Although he’d eventually said okay to meeting me at the airport instead of picking me up, I was still nervous to see him soon. However, that wasn’t the only thing I was nervous about. It was long overdue, but I was going to call my sister after three long years of not voicing a word to one another. I was finally calling Vanny.
After I brushed my teeth, got in the shower and got dressed, I made sure my suitcase was packed and reached for my phone to FaceTime her. By the time the phone was on the third ring, I was ready to hang up when Vanny’s surprised face filled the phone.
“Avery, I can’t believe you’re calling me.” She smiled, her eyes darting across the screen as if she were imagining this moment.
“Hey Vanny,” I said. “I know this call may be random, but I figured it was long overdue.”
“I was willing to wait three or more years to talk to you if it meant my little sis would eventually call,” she said. “I’ve missed you so much.”
“I’ve missed you, too.” I smiled as Vanny’s eyes got watery. “I was talking to a friend the other day about how much I miss creating jewelry with you, too.”
“Oh my gosh, me too,” Vanny said. “My best-selling pieces at the shop have all been designs that we’ve come up with together. None of my stuff in the past couple years sells as well. You always were my inspiration.” Frowning, she wiped a couple tears. “Avery, words can’t express how sorry I am for what I did to you. You were more than just my sister. You were one of my best friends. It may not mean much to you, but Julian and I talk all the time about what terrible people we are for what we did. You have always been one of the most selfless people I know and I don’t deserve your love, but damn, sis, I want you back in my life. I have no right to ask and you have every right to say no, but I need you back in my life, Avery.”
“I need you in mine, too.” I sniffled back my own tears. “A part of me feels like something is missing without you. But I’m not going to lie. It’s going to be really strange seeing you and Julian together. And it may even hurt more than I expect it to. But I know being in your life means I’ll have to get used to it.”
“I’ll do whatever it takes to rebuild our relationship and earn your trust back,” Vanny’s tears flowed more freely. “You may never fully forgive me, but trust me, I will never ever forgive myself for what I did.”
“I forgive you, Vanny,” I said. “I forgive Julian, too. I did a long time ago, but every time I thought about telling you, I decided not to.”
“You had every right to take whatever time you needed. I’m just glad that you called me today. Especially since when I got this news, you were the first person I wanted to call.”
My eyes widened in surprise. “Oh my God, you’re pregnant! Aren’t you?”
Vanny nodded her head. “I am. Only a month. Not even Julian knows yet.” She squinted her eyes. “Is that okay? Or should I have not shared that?”
“It’s fine,” I told her, truly meaning it. “I’m happy for you.” Even though I loved hearing the excitement in my sister’s voice, as I’d figured, the conversation did hurt a little. There was no way we would ever have the same relationship we used to have, but I was willing to give a new relationship a try. I only had one sister and regardless of how much I still didn’t care too much for my sister’s husband and my ex-fiancé, I wanted to be in my niece or nephew’s life.
The last thought I had as I ended the call with my sister was once again about Malakai. I’m glad he convinced me to call. And it wasn’t that I was glad for my sister’s sake. I was glad I’d called for my own sake.
Sixteen
Malakai
* * *
Damn, she’s so beautiful. Seeing Avery in my hometown was doing crazy things to my state of mind. I loved my parents’ annual summer party, but I was finding it hard to focus with Avery around.
On the plane ride down a few hours ago, Avery had slept the entire flight. Either that or she was pretending to sleep to avoid talking to me. When we’d arrived at my parents’ B&B, I had barely introduced her to everyone in the room, before they were pulling her in every direction and telling her all about the Friday fish fry they were having in town.
“Are you going to keep watching her all day, or are you going to actually join in on our conversation?” Crayson asked, breaking me from my thoughts.
“I know that look,” my brother, Micah, said.
“Yep,” Malik agreed. “Me too. It’s the look of a man who can’t keep his mind off a particular woman.”
“One of y’all has to fill me in,” my brother, Caden, said.
Crayson and Caden made up two-thirds of the fraternal triplets. My only brother that wouldn’t be in attendance was Carter, but that wasn’t unusual. Carter was in the military and had been living around the world since he was eighteen. So, the few times he popped into town were random, but when he did, we all dropped what we were doing to fly back home and see him.
“I thought Malakai was dating multiple women on Twitter or something like that? When did he start dating his image consultant?” Caden asked.
Caden was the only brother still living in Cranberry Heights, but had also spent some time in the military. Malik, Micah, Crayson, and I all preferred city living, but not Caden. Modern-aged cowboy would best describe him and his style of living.
“I’m not dating the women Dr. Parker set me up with,” I said. “At least not anymore.”
“Malakai was feeling Avery when he first met her during her interview,” Crayson said. “Malik and I knew then that he wasn’t going to keep his hands off her.”
Caden raised an eyebrow. “It’s like that, bruh? Sleeping with your consultant.”
“It’s more than that,” I stated, brushing off his words. "Y'all already know that all of this Twitter mess started when I told crazy Roxanne that I was looking to settle down.”
I glanced over at Avery who was laughing at something that Serenity or one of my sisters-in-law had said. “She doesn’t know it yet, but Avery is it for me, fellas. If she’ll have me, I plan to wife her up.”
As if she knew we were talking about her, she turned to look my way and our eyes caught. She smiled at me and waved, and as I returned the sentiment, I was already secretly thanking my parents for placing our rooms right next to each other. I’d almost told them that one room was fine, but hadn’t wanted to embarrass her.
“Speaking of Roxanne, why hasn’t she been popping up lately?” Crayson asked. “She’s usually all over New York tracking you. With all that mess with Antoine, I missed the story.”
I shook my head. “I had to get a restraining order after she snuck her way into the office a week after the Twitter mess. She was waiting in my office butt ass naked. The cameras in the building caught everything. She apologized, and last I heard, she was dating an NBA player who played for the Bulls.”
“We see her in Chicago from time to time,” Malik said. “Her new guy and I have a mutual friend who said that he’s in love with Roxanne and will probably ask her to marry him soon.”
Micah shivered. “Just the thought of being tied to that woman for the rest of my life gives me the creeps, but there is love out there for everyone.” He clasped Crayson on the shoulder. “See, bruh. If Roxanne found love, there’s a chance that your ugly ass will find someone, too.”
“Get away from me with that mess.” Crayson shrugged off Micah’s hand. “Plus, this conversation isn’t about me. It’s about our porn star brother, Malakai.”
“Fuck you,” I said, giving him a playful shove. “You should be watching out for Mama since you know as soon as I’m married, she’s looking at you next.”
“I don’t see how you figure that.” Crayson took a swig of his Corona. “Caden still lives in town. She can’t pressure me all the way in New York.”
“You’re the oldest by two minutes,” Caden said.
Malik and Micah pinned him with a hard stare. Both were fathers of two, and word was, Mama was still putting on the pressure for them to have more kids.
“Mom is trying to convince Mya and I to adopt,” Malik stated. “She said the twins need a sibling.”
“And Mom is trying to get us to have another one,” Micah said. “But little does she know, Lex is three months pregnant.”
My eyes widened as we all looked at Micah. “Congrats, big brother. When do you plan on telling our parents?”
“During family brunch tomorrow,” Micah said. “Only Malik and Mya know, and now, you all know. I love that Mom and Dad invite the entire town out for their summer barbeque, but we want to tell our family first.”
Wow. I was going to be an uncle … again. Unable to help myself, I glanced Avery’s way and found she was already looking at me. Damn, I want to kiss her.
"Do y'all want to head to Joe's for drinks?" Crayson asked. The sun was setting and Joe's was a perfect place to implement the next part of my plan to talk Avery into going on a date with me. A group date wasn't what I had in mind, but it would have to do.
Avery
* * *
It was official. I loved the Madden family, especially Malakai’s brothers. Separately, they were each amazing in their own way. Together, they were a force to be reckoned with.
“Beautiful sight, isn’t it?” Mya, Malik’s wife, asked.
“It sure is,” I replied, watching Malakai and his brothers catch up with some friends who had entered the bar. I wasn’t sure I’d ever seen so many attractive men in one group before. The friends were good looking, but it was those damn brothers who were stealing all of the attention of every woman—and even a few men—in the bar. “I can’t believe this small town was breeding men like that.”
“Girl, try growing up here.” Serenity shook her head. “I was young when their family moved here and opened the B&B, but my two older sisters said that every girl wanted to get a piece of a Madden brother. Just seeing all six of them walk around in town was enough to stop traffic.”
“Micah’s still sexy as all get out,” his wife, Lex, said. “But when I first met him, he was so attractive that I didn’t know how to behave. Any awkward thing a woman could do or say, I did or said.”
“It was hilarious,” Mya said. “I was a lot smoother when I started falling for Malik, but my girl Lex was literally tripping over herself and falling to the ground.”
Lex shook her head. “Still so embarrassing.”
Mya and Lex were two of the four founders of Elite Events Incorporated, one of the top event planning businesses in the United States. I’d even had the pleasure of attending a few parties they’d thrown in the past for different clients.
“I remember when Micah first brought you here, Lex,” Serenity stated. “It was the talk of the entire town that Micah had brought someone home.”
“More like tricked me into coming to his hometown.” Lex took a sip of her drink. “Water under the bridge.”
Feeling eyes on me, I turned toward Malakai’s direction and smiled when I found him watching me over his glass as he drank.
“I’ve never seen Malakai like this,” Mya remarked. “I love seeing him fall for someone. Especially someone like you. Lex and I were talking and we can already tell you help keep him on his toes, but you balance one another out.”
Sighing, I broke eye contact. “I’m not sure he’s falling for me, but I’m damn sure falling for him.”
“Oh, he’s falling,” Lex said. “Or he’s already fallen. Like Mya said, we’ve never seen him like this.”
Serenity laughed. “I tried to tell her the same thing. In New York, he acts the same way. He can’t take his eyes off her long enough to even acknowledge other people in the room.”
“I usually can’t take my eyes off him either,” I admitted. “I even tried and failed.”
“Sounds about right whenever a Madden is concerned,” Mya said with a laugh. “Are you feeling him as much as he’s feeling you?”
I fidgeted with my napkin. “Yes. Or maybe I’m feeling him more than he is me. I’m not sure.”
“Oh, honey, I doubt that,” Lex said. “But Crayson did tell us that the whole dating on Twitter thing was your idea.”
I sighed. “It was. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
“You were thinking that hell would have to freeze over before you let yourself fall for him,” Mya said. “Am I close to being right?”
“Something like that,” I said with a laugh.
“I think you succeeded in the reason you were doing it,” Serenity explained. “Malakai’s image has taken a complete three-sixty, and even though people are eager to see who he will end up with, the sessions with Dr. Walker are giving people a chance to know the real Malakai.”
“I don’t regret coming up with this idea,” I clarified. “But I do wish that I could shut off my mind sometimes when it comes to that man. We haven't even talked about what the heck we're doing or why he invited me to his hometown. What if all I'm feeling is one-sided?"
Mya opened her mouth to speak, but closed it when the men returned to the table nodding their heads to the R&B song that was playing through the speakers.
“Care to dance?” Malik asked Mya. She eagerly nodded her head before placing a sweet kiss on his lips.
“Come on, baby.” Micah helped Lex from her seat. “Let’s show them the right way to slow dance.”
Crayson and Caden took seats on each side of Serenity, leaving Malakai to sit next to me.
“Carter loves this song,” Crayson said. My eyes went to Serenity in time to see her slightly cringe. I still didn’t know the story, but I remembered Tyler mentioning that they used to date.
“You’re an idiot,” Caden snapped. “Are you trying to give Serenity a reason to hate the rest of us?”
She gave a forced laugh. “No worries, Caden. Crayson is an idiot whether he’s here in Arkansas, in New York, or somewhere else. He doesn’t have a cutoff switch.”
We all shared a laugh, but my laugh stopped the moment I felt Malakai’s lips near my ear. “Dance with me. Please?”
“Sure,” I whispered back as I took his outreached hand. Once we reached the dance floor, Malakai chose a spot right in the middle.
Leaning into his arms, we began to sway to the beat of the music was easy. It was looking into his eyes that was almost making me misstep.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“I’m fine,” I lied. “Your family is wonderful. It’s just, I was wondering … I was trying to figure out … I didn’t know if … Never mind.” I closed my mouth.
“Were you trying to ask why I brought you to my hometown?”
“Yes,” I said. “Especially when you’re dating other women who you could have taken.”
“I’m not dating other women,” Malakai corrected. “The night after we were together, I called Dr. Parker and told her that although I appreciated all that she’d done, there was only one woman I wanted to date. One woman I woke up every morning thinking about and laid down every night dreaming about.”
My eyes widened. “What are you saying?” My heart was beating so fast, I could barely focus on his words.
“Those lunch dates that I went on were me thanking both of the women for dating me during this process, but telling both women that I couldn’t continue because I was feeling someone else.”
“You mean me?” I asked.
“Yes, you.” He laughed. “I brought you to my hometown because I wanted to introduce you to the people I love. I may be a city boy, but I have country roots and if I’m falling for someone and am going to spend a lifetime with that person, I need to see if she can fit in with the town and people who raised me.”
