~ Chapter 9 ~
"How was your workout?" Lisel asked AJ.
He had just gotten out of the shower and was searching for some clean boxers. "It was good," he answered, looking at himself in the mirror. "Li, do you like my balding head?"
"Which one?" she joked.
She joined him in front of the mirror. "I'm a black woman, AJ. We love bald men. Most white boys can't pull off the sexy bald look, but you can and do." She ran her long fingernails down his back.
AJ shivered in delight and dropped his boxers on the dresser. "Guess I won't be needing these after all," he quipped, turning to Lisel. "A little mid-afternoon delight?"
Lisel nodded and started removing her clothes. "I can't think of anything I'd like more."
"Allow me," AJ said. He picked her up and set her down on the dresser.
He thrust his tongue inside her mouth and kissed her like a hungry bear in the dead of winter.
Lisel moaned and wrapped her legs around his waist. The man did things to her that no man had ever done to her before. He could turn her to jello with just one look and right now she was pretty much on her way to becoming just that.
The core of her womanhood screamed and dampened when he inserted a finger inside her and it took all of Lisel's self-control not to grab his penis and insert it where she wanted it the most. She knew that AJ liked it slow -- rough, but slow.
He continued toying with her clit and in a few minutes her body convulsed in a mind-blowing orgasm.
As good as this was, Lisel wanted to taste him. She suggested that he lie down on the bed. She rested on her hands and knees at AJ's side and started sucking him fiercely.
AJ couldn't keep from touching her. He ran his hands between her legs and pushed two fingers inside her. He teased her clit as she continued sucking him hard. As good as she was, AJ wanted to come inside her.
"I wanna fuck you," he growled and Lisel instantly rolled to her back. Once he was inside her, he started pumping her like he hadn't had sex in six months.
Lisel was very vocal and started screaming, "Oh fuck yes, oh fuck YES!!" over and over to which AJ responded with even more of the same. And when he came, he came hard.
Lisel surprised and pleased him immensely when she had him roll over on his back and started sucking on him again. His cock quickly stiffened again to full erection and his stomach quivered uncontrollably as he enjoyed the sensation of nerve endings that were now completely stimulated. This time he let her take him to orgasm and lay there relishing the rapture that she was bringing him.
"There's more tension in this house than there was on the Titanic when it was sinking," Kiri grumbled.
Nick poked his head out from the cabinet where everyone had stored their videos and CDs. "Why do you say that?"
Kiri's eyes widened. "Hello? Where have you been for the past three days? Everybody's pissed at somebody. Brian and Kevin, Dani and Lisel…the list is endless. It's just a matter of time before AJ and Brian go at it, considering their girlfriends hate each other."
Nick found the video he was looking for and shut the cabinet doors. "I found it baby!"
He grinned and held up the videotape.
"Close Encounters of the Third Kind?" Kiri read the box. "I don't think so."
"Aw come on! It's a classic." He popped the video in the VCR and pushed play.
"Nick, I'm not in the mood for weird alien crap." Kiri shot off the couch.
"Aight, get back here." Nick clicked off the movie and patted the empty space beside him. "We'll watch Sweet September or some other cheesy chick flick."
"It's Sweet NOVEMBER doofus and I don't wanna watch it." She crossed her arms and sulked.
Nick came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her. "What's wrong?"
He had never seen Kiri look so pale and upset. He had a feeling it was more than just the tension in the house.
"Nothing…I'm just tired."
"Don't lie to me, Kiri." He turned her so that she was facing him. "Dani told me that you bought me something at the mall and now you don't wanna give it to me. What's gotten into you?"
Kiri's bottom lip quivered. "I don't wanna tell you yet."
Nick's stomach tightened in apprehension. Was she sick? Did she want to break it off with him?
"Tell me," he said, his voice sounding far away. "Whatever it is, I can handle it."
Kiri choked back a sob. "I think I'm pregnant."
Had the room suddenly been stripped of air? Nick broke out in a sweat as he stared at his girlfriend. "H-how? I mean, are you sure?"
Kiri shook her head. "No, but I took one of those home tests and only one line turned pink."
She sank down on the couch, her head in her hands.
Nick sat down next to her and pulled her to him. "What does that mean? Aren't they either positive or negative?"
"I don't know!" Kiri shrieked. "Only one of the two lines went pink."
"Does that mean you're half pregnant?" Nick joked.
Kiri shot him a furious look. "NOT FUNNY!"
"No, it's not," Nick said and looked apologetic. "Can you take the test again?"
"I don't want to."
"Why?"
He had to know if he was going to be a father.
Oh God! He was 21 years old. He didn't want that kind of responsibility yet. But if she were pregnant, he would stand by her.
"Because I don't want a baby now," Kiri wailed. "I just turned 21, Nick. I'm not ready to be a mother. I want to finish college and make something of myself. I need to GROW UP."
Nick was stunned by the vehemence in her voice. "Honey, even if you don't take a test, if you are pregnant, well…you are."
"There's always abortion," Kiri said quietly.
"OVER MY DEAD BODY!" Nick yelled, letting her go. "YOU ARE NOT, I repeat, NOT killing our baby."
Kiri burst into fresh tears. "I don't want to. I don't! But I don't wanna be pregnant."
Nick pulled her off the couch. "We're going to the drugstore to get you another test."
On the way to the drugstore, Kiri told Nick what had led her to believe that she was pregnant in the first place. She hadn't been feeling well for a couple of weeks and when Stacy told her how she had been feeling before she found out that she was pregnant, Kiri had freaked. She had those same symptoms. Therefore, when they were at the mall earlier, she had purchased a pregnancy test.
Nick's head was reeling. Stacy was pregnant and Kiri might be as well. Kiri warned him not to say anything about Stacy's condition.
They got the test and hightailed it back to the house.
Nick waited in the bedroom while Kiri took the test.
"It'll be a few minutes," she said, coming out of the bathroom.
"Stop crying." Nick said, wiping at her tears. "If you are pregnant, we'll get through this together."
"Really?" Kiri peered into his eyes. "You would stay with me?"
"I talked to Kevin this morning," Mya told Howie.
It was nearly 10:00pm and they were sitting out by the pool sipping on cocktails.
Immediately, Howie frowned. "Yea and?"
"And nothing," Mya replied. "I wanted some answers and I guess I got more than I bargained for."
"He told you to leave him alone, didn't he?"
"Something like that," she admitted, her eyes glassing over.
Howie stood up and paced the length of the pool. "Fuck Mya! I told you that he's over you. Did you really expect him to leave his wife and go running back to you?"
Mya didn't respond.
Howie knelt down in front of the lawn chair she was sitting in. "Answer me, dammit. I'm sick of these head games. You're playing with me and I won't stand for it anymore."
Mya's eyes flashed. "What are you complaining about? You get all the pussy you want AND a girlfriend who accompanies you to award shows and other public crap. Your parents think we're a great couple destined to settle down and make them grandparents. What a load of crap."
Her words stung enough to make him wince. "We would be if you weren't hung up on Richardson. What the fuck did he do to you during those 10 months you were fucking one another that you can't let go?"
"IT WAS MORE THAN FUCKING!" Mya screeched. "We connected emotionally. We made each other happy."
"Oh yea?" Howie snarled. "If that's true, then why did he go back to Kaye? You don't leave a gold mine to go search for silver." He stood up and threw his glass against the side of the house.
Mya jumped as the sound pierced through the night air.
"There's only three people that Kevin wants to make happy," Howie continued, "his mother, himself and his dead father."
"What are you saying?" Mya asked, her features withering under Howie's angry face.
"What I'm saying is, you might have been good enough for Kevin, but you weren't good enough for his family. Therefore, he went back to Kaye, who was the picture of a nice southern belle raised the same way he was, with the same ethics."
"Too bad she didn't bring them into adulthood," Mya snapped.
"You still don't get it!" Howie exclaimed. "You're not a southern white girl, Mya. You weren't corn fed, you're not Baptist…" he stopped as he saw a light dawn in her eyes.
"Are you saying that Kevin left me because I'm black?"
"I never said that," Howie corrected.
"But that's what it all boils down, too, doesn't it?" she shrilled.
"Kevin's not racist," Howie said quietly, "and neither is his family. "They just prefer that he marry someone who was brought up the same way he was."
Now Mya was up and pacing while Howie sat down. He hated to hurt her, but she needed to know the truth.
"I can't believe Kevin didn't have the guts to tell me himself," she said.
"He probably didn't want to hurt you anymore," Howie told her.
"Hurt me?" Mya's scornful laughter erupted from her throat. "I don't care if his goddamn family hates me cause I'm black," she said truthfully. "I couldn't care less. Don't you think I've dealt with racism before? It's not the first time and it won't be the last. This world's full of hatred -- all for the wrong reasons."
"Like Kevin left you for all the wrong reasons," Howie commented.
Surprised, Mya pivoted to look at him. "Yea, exactly. Why the hell does he need to please a dead man?"
Howie winced. "This is his father, the man he's always looked up to. I can't begin to comprehend his reason, but I can see how he wants to please him, even in death."
Mya snorted. "I wonder what he's gonna say when I tell him that I had his baby."
Nick looked shocked that Kiri would think otherwise. "Of course!" He put his hands on either side of her face. "I love you, Kiri. I've probably loved you since the day you laughed at my drunken naked ass in Hartford. One day, I'm gonna marry you and we'll make beautiful babies together…all that good stuff. If it so happens that you're pregnant now, then it's what fate had in store for us."
Kiri looked ashamed. "You're a better person than I am, Nick Carter. I don't want a baby right now."
She saw his eyes flicker and quickly added, "but I wouldn't abort it. I'm sorry I said that before. I'm just scared."
"I know, baby. So am I." He glanced at his watch. "Time's up."
Kiri took a deep breath and went into the bathroom.
She came back out holding the little stick. "No color," she whispered, and smiled.
"No baby?" Nick asked.
"No baby," she confirmed, breathing a sigh of relief. "I love you, Nick, but we're not ready to have babies yet."
He held to him, rubbing her back. "I know. Honestly, I'm relieved, too. But if you would've been, I would have been there with you every step of the way."
Kiri touched his cheek. "And for that, I love you more than you'll ever know."
Nick grinned. "Now can we watch the movie?"
"Anything you want," Kiri said, and headed downstairs with the man she knew would make a great husband and father someday.
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