“It’s always awesome,” he murmured.
He was right, and I was glad to know he felt the same way.
My hands moved with his hands as one of them slid up to wrap around my chest and the other one slid down to cup me between my legs where he was still buried deep.
“Love you, Shy Cage,” I whispered.
“Love you too, baby,” he whispered back.
After the day before, I didn’t know what that day was going to bring.
I just knew however it carried on, it started great.
* * *
Shy and I were shuffling around in the kitchen, me in my scrubs, Shy in his jeans. We were sipping coffee, sucking back bowls of cereal, chatting, touching, kissing, our usual routine, when my phone rang.
I’d turned my cell off and the ringer to my house phone the night before. Shy needed my concentration so I gave it to hm.
I’d turned my phone on that morning and found I had seventeen missed calls and nearly as many voice-mail messages. Five were from Tyra, three from Dad, two from Rush, one from Big Petey, and the rest were from various brothers or their old ladies. All of them were asking me to call them.
I knew the day was going to go downhill from there.
Luckily, it started at a way-high point. The problem with that, the higher you are, the farther there is to fall.
I looked at my phone at the counter, saw the screen said, “Tyra Calling” and heard Shy say, “Pick it up, babe.”
I looked to Shy to see he had his eyes to the phone.
“I don’t know if I’m ready.”
His eyes came to me. “She wasn’t ready for you to lay into her yesterday either. You took your time to talk, give her hers.”
He was right.
Crap.
I grabbed the phone quickly before it went to voice-mail and put it to my ear.
“Tyra,” I greeted.
“Tabby,” she whispered, and my heart squeezed.
She sounded relieved and something else that didn’t sound great.
Learning from what I lost with Shy, I didn’t delay and extended the olive branch.
“Listen, I know we have a lot to talk about but I’m getting ready for work. Can we set time to talk after work? I’ll meet you someplace and I promise, I’ll come prepared not to be a bitch.”
“Honey, I’m so sorry to have to tell you this, but your grandmother died.”
My middle shifted back as my breath left me in an audible whoosh.
My phone slid out of my hand, and I heard Shy growl, “You got Shy. Whatever else you gotta say, you’re gonna say it to me.”
My eyes lifted to his, I saw he mistook my reaction when his angry eyes that were riveted to my face changed. They went soft, his hand came up and curled around the side of my neck, and he pulled me close.
“Right,” he said into the phone, his voice no longer a growl but a soothing rumble. “Okay,” he went on. “I’ll tell her. She’s bein’ careful at work ’cause of what went down. I’ll talk with her, see how she wants to play this. One of us will call you back.” Pause then, quietly, his eye still on me, “Later, Cherry.”
He didn’t take his gaze from mine when he took the phone from his ear, touched the screen with his thumb, and whispered, “Your mom’s mom. Massive stroke. Your mom told Rush, he told your dad. They’ve been callin’ but didn’t approach ’cause things were not good.”
I nodded.
“You tight with her?” he asked.
“She hated my mom, acted mean to her, but although she could do stupid crap, she was usually great with Rush and me.”
His hand slid to the back of my neck, he pulled me into his chest and his other arm slid around me.
It was then I started crying.
Shy held me, gave me time, and only spoke again when I was pulling myself together.
“Your dad wants to see you,” he said gently, and I sucked in breath and nodded. “How you wanna play this, sugar?”
I pulled my face out of his chest and tipped my head back to look at him. “Unfortunately, I really do need to go to work. I’ll explain what’s going down, read the pulse, and then I’ll know. I’ll, uh… call dad on a break or something.”
He nodded.
“I knew this day would turn shit,” I whispered. “I knew with how great it started, there’d be farther to fall.”
His eyes flashed, his hands moved to cup my jaws, he tilted my head way back, and brought his face to mine.
“May feel like you’re fallin’, Tabby, but remember, I’m at the bottom ready to catch you.”
At these beautiful words, I burst into tears again.
Without hesitation, Shy yanked me back into his arms and held me.
There it was.
I’d reached bottom and I was crying, because I didn’t realize it at the time, but he’d already caught me.
And it felt beautiful.
* * *
Shy
Shy stood on the sidewalk and watched Tab pull out to drive to work. The minute she started rolling, turning to give him a wave, he jerked his chin up to her, waited for her attention to go back to the road, then his eyes moved to the man on the bike across the parking lot who he’d seen the minute he’d walked her down.
Luckily, she didn’t notice.
Shy stood where he was and crossed his arms on his chest as he watched Tack throw a leg over his bike and move his way.
It wasn’t until he stopped three feet away when Shy spoke. “This gonna get ugly, or can you contain your shit so we can do this in Tab’s apartment?”
Tack held his eyes then said quietly, “Not ugly, brother.”
Shy jerked up his chin, turned, and led the way up the stairs and into Tabby’s place.
He moved in five steps, turned to Tack, and watched him close the door.
“It would be cool,” he started the minute Tack turned to him, “if we can keep things good while Tab deals. You know more than me she isn’t tight with her grandma, but she’s still feelin’ this. I haven’t had the chance to talk to her about it, but she’s also feelin’ the fact that her mother showed to share this yesterday but instead she led into that by layin’ into Tabby. You also know she’s got other shit on her mind. You, me, the Club. One last favor I’ll ask of you is you don’t make her feel that until she’s done feelin’ this.”
He watched Tack’s mouth get tight before the man spoke.
“You don’t have to ask me that shit.”
“Wouldn’t think so until the shit you’ve been pullin’. Now I feel I gotta ask,” Shy replied.