Impossibly Forever: Two Books in One (Impossibly Duology) (27 page)

CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

Branden

  
I’d never been to a holiday festival
before tonight. I was usually
practicing or playing games around this time of the year. Never had the time to
have fun, even when I was dating Samantha.

  
Peering over at Moya standing next to me, squeezing my hand, she seemed so
enamored by the event. Her eyes beamed at the crowd where a few couples, young
and old, danced together excitedly, and others mingled about the tents, deciding
on which items to purchase.

  
I twisted and peered over my shoulder at Vanessa and Warren, oblivious to their
surroundings, laughing and tuned-in to only what the other was saying.

  
“They seem to be really happy together, huh?” I said to Moya.

  
She looked behind and released a sigh. “You think so?”

  
“Yeah, don’t you?”

  
Turning to me, she said, “I don’t know, Bran. I mean, Vanessa does seem to like
him, and I haven’t seen her laugh so much in a while. But, I still feel like
she’s making a mistake.”

  
“It’s okay to feel that way, but as long as she’s happy, that’s what matters.”

  
“I hope so.”

  
Gently, I pulled her close, stroking her cheek. When her eyes met mine,
something exploded inside. I lowered my mouth to her ear and whispered, “Let’s
go back to the car.”

  
“Sure.” She nodded, evidently wanting some privacy like me.

  
I took her hand and guided her through the crowd, heading back to where I’d
parked. The moment we reached my car, I leaned against the side and pulled her
in for a kiss. Her mouth was warm, as sweet as ever. Her vanilla scent aroused
every part of me, prickling my skin.

  
Moya locked her fingers around my neck and pressed her body deeper into me. She
moaned lightly and began to nibble on my bottom lip. Her burning desire only
intensified mine.

  
I loosened my grip around her and placed my hands inside her coat, caressing
her body. She started to kiss my neck. It turned me on even more.

  
Groaning like a hungry animal, I lowered my hands to her voluptuous bottom and
squeezed. This was new, and bold. I hadn’t thought of how she would react, but
since she hadn’t slapped my hands away from touching her all this time, I
figured Moya was all right with me feeling on her body. I was her boyfriend
after all. She’d grown comfortable with me touching her assets it seemed. And
right now, I wanted to take it further. With any luck, she did too.

  
“Ahem.” Someone cleared their throat. “Get a room,” the bubbly voice said. I
knew it could only be Vanessa.

  
Turning around, I saw it was indeed her. Warren stood beside her, scratching
the back of his head with an awkward expression on his face.

  
“We’re gonna take off,” he said.

  
“Oh, okay. Still on for the game on Thursday?”

  
He nodded, “You bet.”

  
Vanessa strutted over and gave Moya a tight hug. “See you tomorrow, girl.”

  
“All right,” Moya replied in a dreary tone, still collecting herself from our
moment of heat. She peered up at Warren with a pointed look, but didn’t say
anything to him. It would take some time for her to accept their relationship I
guessed.

  
Slipping away from Moya, Vanessa turned and pulled me in for a hug as well.
“Happy holidays, Branden,” she muttered.

  
“Same to you.”

  
“See you, man,” Warren nodded at me, walking closely with Vanessa over to his
car parked next to mine. With a wave, he drove off.

  
Moya’s deep exhale followed their departure. I spun and eyed her with a
quizzical look.

  
“Remember what I said about giving things time?”

  
She smiled. “Yes, Branden, I remember.”

  
“Well,” I edged closer to her. “This is one of those things.”

  
“I know,” she said in a soft voice.

  
I brushed her cheek and asked, “Ready to go home?”

  
“I guess.”

  
Moya walked around the car and climbed inside the passenger seat. I stood there
checking her out the entire time. Damn, she looked good!

  
I slid in as well and brought the engine to life, backing out of the lot. When
we arrived at her house a few minutes later, Moya reached over for another
kiss.

  
“You don’t have to get out,” she murmured after it ended. “I don’t want to wake
Momma.”

  
 I settled my speeding heartbeat before saying, “Okay. I’ll text you when
I get home.”

  
She left me with a loving smile, turning to get out of the car. Just as she
closed the door and started for the gate, I remembered something.

  
“Wait!”

  
I turned the car off and reached around my seat. The blue box was neatly tucked
out of sight in the back.

  
Opening the door, I stepped out and walked over to Moya. Her face lit up in the
moonlight as I drew closer and presented her with her Christmas gift.

  
“I won’t see you in the morning, so I thought I’d give it to you now.”

  
She couldn’t hold back the grin stretching across her lips. In sheer
excitement, Moya took the box out of my hand and opened it. Only when she saw
what was inside, a silver infinity link bracelet with aquamarine gemstones, her
smile wavered.

  
Moya released what sounded like a whimper before saying, “Thank you. It’s
beautiful.”

  
“Don’t you like it?” I asked, confused. I knew she wasn’t materialistic or
wanted to be spoiled with a ton of fancy gifts, but I thought she’d at least
like this bracelet.

  
“Oh no,” her eyes snapped up to meet my gaze. “It’s great. I just thought…” she
peered back at the box.

  
“You thought what?”

  
She looked up at me again and shook her head, “Nothing. It’s beautiful.”

  
“Well, here,” I took the bracelet out of the box. “Let’s see how it looks on
your wrist.”

  
It glistened in the moonlight, as Moya examined it on her wrist. She draped her
arms around me, whispering again, “Thanks, babe.”

  
When she backed out of my grasp, she tipped to plant another kiss on my lips. I
pulled her in for one more before she eased away.

  
“I have a gift for you too,” she said. “Wait here.”

  
And I waited as she hurried up the porch steps and took her time to enter her
house. Anticipation dispersed all over my body. She’d already given me so much,
so I really wasn’t looking for anything else.

  
Not a moment later, Moya came out of the house, a bag in tow as she eased her
way down the steps.

  
“Merry Christmas,” she said, handing it to me. “But don’t open it until
tomorrow.”

  
“Huh? You got me all riled up.”

  
“I know,” she pouted and leaned in for a hug. “But please wait until tomorrow.”

  
“Okay,” I sighed, kissing her once again before letting her go back inside.

  
“Goodnight, Branden,” she said heading up the walkway.

  
“I love you, Moya.”

  
Glancing over her shoulder, the corners of her mouth curved up as she replied,
“I love you too.”

  
She waved at me, and I waited until she went inside the house before getting in
my car and taking off.

  
I definitely couldn’t wait for our weekend getaway now.

CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN

Moya

  
“Merry Christmas!”
momma woke me out of sleep.

  
I uncovered my head and sat up on my elbows, squinting at the brightness of the
sun lighting up the room.

  
“What time is it?” I croaked, tired.

  
“Uh, it’s Christmas morning. Who cares what time it is? Get your butt up.”

  
She hauled me out of bed and handed me my robe. “Let’s go open gifts.”

  
Momma always seemed more excited than I was during the holidays. Probably
’cause she was an early bird and I wasn’t. Still half asleep, I followed her
down the hallway and into the living room to open gifts. She handed me a square
box when I sat down on the sofa.

  
“Open this first,” she gushed, sitting down beside me.

  
When I removed the red wrapping paper and opened the box, a black dress was
folded nicely inside.

  
“Aw, this is lovely, Momma,” I enthused, giving her a peck on the cheek.

  
I lifted the dress to get a better look at it. It was classy with its fit and
flare, high-low design. I particularly liked how the sweetheart neckline and
sleeves were shrouded by lace.

  
“Every girl should have a black dress, and you, my dear, ain’t got
none
.” She brushed my cheek then got up and went for another
gift. “So I wanted to get you something nice. These would go well with them.”

  
I placed the dress over the sofa and took the next box from her. They were black
pumps with red colored heals. The height was just right for me too.

  
“Momma,” I tilted my head in amazement, smiling at her. “This is so nice. Thank
you.”

  
“You’re welcome, baby,” she draped her arms around me.

  
“You gotta open your presents now.”

  
I hopped up from the sofa and went over to the tree, handing her a gift bag
along with the envelope containing her certificate for a day at the spa. I
couldn’t wait to see her reaction to both gifts.

  
“Thank you, Moya,” she got excited as she took the presents from me.

  
“Well, open them first,” I teased.

  
She tittered as she reached inside the bag and took out the first box—the
smallest one. When Momma lifted the top, her eyes expanded and her face lit up
even more. Tears started to well her eyes as she took out Nana’s birthstone.

  
“My God!
Where…how’d you get it fixed?” she whimpered.

  
Sitting down next to her, I took her hand into my grasp. “Daddy knew someone
who cleaned it up for you.
Don’t
it look as good as
new now?”

  
We both glanced at the rose gold ring with an oval red garnet in the center,
surrounded by tiny diamonds that glistened back at us.

  
My grandmother had given the ring to Momma three years ago before she passed.
It got damaged somehow and we thought it impossible to have it restored.
Luckily, it turned out okay, because Momma couldn’t stop touching the ring now.
She was in awe.

  
I tapped her hand and gazed over at the other present in the bag. “You want to
keep going?”

  
She sniffed, dabbed at her eyes, then placed the ring back inside the box and
set it on top of the coffee table. Taking the other gift from me, she quickly
untied the bow to see what was inside; a printed satin scarf and a gray
handbag. She squealed when she opened the envelope and saw the gift certificate
to the spa.

  
Momma planted kisses all over my face, until I managed to break away saying I
wanted to call Vanessa and Branden.

  
“Don’t take too long now,” she called out as I headed out of the living room.
“I’m going to make us gingerbread pancakes.”

  
“I won’t. Be right back.”

  
Gingerbread pancakes was our traditional Christmas morning breakfast. Around
noon time, we’d always make eggnog bread,
then
Vanessa
and her mom would come over to start the big Christmas dinner. I wished Branden
could join us.

  
“Merry Christmas!”
I shouted in the phone the second
Vanessa answered.

  
“Oh shut up!” she sounded hung-over.

  
“Well, seems like somebody partied till late last night.”

  
“Yeah, Warren and I hung out for a while before he brought me home,” her voice
rasped. “I had fun; way too much ‘cause my head feels like a construction
site.”

  
I chortled. “Well, for what it’s worth I’m glad you’re happy with him.”

  
“Really, girl?”

  
“Yeah really.”

  
“Thanks, Moya. I know you wanted me to work things out with Calvin but Warren’s
a good guy. I feel so relaxed with him. He’s like the nicest Christmas gift,”
she oozed with joy.

  
As tired as she sounded before, I found it interesting how her voice perked up
when she started talking about Warren.

  
“So, what you did get me?” she switched the topic.

  
“Uh-uh. You’ll see later. What did you get me?”

  
“Not telling,” she sing-sang. “Anyways, I’m gonna jump in the shower then call
my boo
. See you in a bit.”

  
“All right, girl.
Merry Christmas.”

  
“Merry Christmas!”

  
The moment Vanessa hung up, I called Branden. He sounded so low when he
answered, weighed down by his troubles.

  
“Merry Christmas, babe.”

  
“Same to you,” he replied, unenthusiastic.

  
I started to regret calling him in such a cheerful manner when Christmas was
obviously not so merry at his house. Geez! What was I thinking?

  
“How are you doing?” I asked, sitting on my bed Indian style.

  
“Okay,” he answered after exhaling. “Wish I was with you right now,” he added.

  
“Me too.
Later on I guess.”

  
“Yeah, it’d be selfish of me to take you away from your family on Christmas. I
want you for New Year’s Eve though. When that clock hits midnight, I want your
face, your eyes, to be the first I see in the New Year.”

  
I couldn’t control my racing heart. The butterflies began to swarm around
again. I
laid
back on my bed and drew in a deep breath
before saying, “You really know how to drive a girl crazy. How do I top that?”

  
“It’s easy, Moya. Never stop loving me.”

  
We both fell quiet for a minute, with nothing but our breathing filling the
background. I sat up and leaned against the headboard, giving careful thought
before saying, “Branden, I’m ready.”

  
“Ready for what?” he asked, oblivious.

  
I made myself clear, “Ready to take our relationship further.”

  
“Oh,” he paused in thought. “Oh…okay.”

  
“What’s the matter? You don’t want to anymore?”

  
“Of course I do, babe. I’ve wanted you since day one. I mean,” he backtracked.
“That’s not all I’ve thought about, it’s just that you’re so…sexy, and
tempting, and it’s really hard for me to not want to touch you in every way
possible. Moya, you have this fire. It pulls me in deeper and deeper whenever
I’m with you.”

  
His words warmed my soul. I raised my free hand to my neck and massaged it as
if to loosen the intensity.

  
“I know what you mean,” I finally uttered. “I feel it every time I’m with you,
too.”

  
“I can tell,” the playfulness in his voice returned.

  
“Oh really?
How so?”
I spoke
in a sensual way, like those women in the love-line commercials on TV.

  
“Well, you can’t keep your hands off me.”

  
“Ha! How interesting, I recall you had quite a handful last night,” I teased,
remembering he’d felt on my butt.

  
“Mmm.
A handful indeed,” his voice was silky-smooth,
and laced with desire. My skin got hot.

  
“Moya!”

  
I snapped out of my dirty thoughts as Momma bellowed from down the hallway. I
suppressed the rising emotions and calmed my racing heart.

  
“I gotta go help my momma in the kitchen now, but I’ll talk to you later when
everything’s settled down, okay?”

  
“Sure, babe.
Merry Christmas.”

  
It made me smile, hearing him say it. That meant he’d cheered up a bit in spite
of his issues.

  
“Merry Christmas, Branden.”