Crossing the Barrier (27 page)

“Let’s go home, okay?” she asked as people began to leave the stands. “I really, really want to spend some time with you.”

“Okay. I’ll be waiting for you at school.”

“Okay.”

Chapter Fifty-Four

MALAKAI

Finally, the buses
hauling the band pulled into the schoolyard.

Finally, Malakai would get some alone time with his girlfriend.

He had no intention of leaving her side tonight. That’s why, before he drove to school, he stopped by his house and grabbed an overnight bag. It might have been pretentious of him, but he had missed her while she practiced like a slave for her competition. Now he was craving her presence, kissing her, her body underneath his. He had done that only once or twice since they began dating, and it wasn’t nearly enough. All he could think about when she was sitting in front of him in class was her soft curves against his hard body, her eyes shiny and her lips swollen from all their kissing.

When she finally made it out of the bus, she walked to him, a wide smile on her face. He took her in his arms and inhaled her green tea scent, finally feeling like he was home.

“I was wondering if you would want to come over to my place tonight,” she said quietly. If he hadn’t been so totally in tune with her, he wouldn’t have heard.

In the next moment, he did imagine her underneath him, caressing her naked shoulder, kissing her.

“To sleep, Malakai!”

“To sleep,” Malakai repeated with a chuckle. “Yeah, I’d like that.”

“Good. I already left my car keys with Sandra. I’m ready when you are.”

Ten minutes later, they pulled onto her street, and Malakai parked in front of her house. He was as nervous as when he had played his first varsity game. He was afraid he would do or say something wrong.

He got out of his jeep and walked to the front where Lily joined him. The moment her small hand was in his large one, he knew he couldn’t do anything wrong by her. She loved him and he loved her; he would know what to do.

They walked to the door, and she unlocked it with a steady hand. At least, she didn’t look nervous, Malakai thought.

A few moments later, they were walking into her bedroom, and Malakai didn’t quite know what to do.

“Do you want to take a shower?” she offered.

“Okay,” he answered when, in reality, all he wanted was to throw her on the bed and kiss her until she passed out in bliss.

Lily showed him where to go and where to find everything he would need, and Malakai walked to the guest bathroom, his change of clothes and toiletries in hand. He turned on the shower and got under the cool water. He let it trickle on him for a while before grabbing the soap.

Ten minutes later, showered and now wearing his boxers and T-shirt, he opened the bathroom door. As he took a step out, he ran into someone. He looked up, ready to apologize.

It was Lily’s mother.

“Oh, sorry about that,” he said with a sincere smile. “Hi, I’m Malakai,” he added, offering her his hand.

“What are you doing here?” she hissed, ignoring his offered hand. “I see she didn’t get rid of you yet.”

At her tone, Malakai lost his smile. He hadn’t expected such hostility, but with everything he had been told, he should have known. As he pulled his hand away, he remembered what David and Lily had said about the woman, and Malakai decided to keep things as polite as possible for Lily’s sake.

“You should stay away. Your kind isn’t welcome here. You’re not good enough for her, and she certainly doesn’t need the likes of you.

“Besides, how will you ever provide for her? You’re only a football player. I bet you’re not even good enough for the pros. So, what are you going to do? Football coach? Sure, that’s going to provide for her,” she said, her features distorted into something Malakai could only describe as ugly.

Malakai frowned.

He had never believed he would play pro. That’s why he wanted to study kinesiology. To think he wouldn’t be able to provide for Lily…He had never thought about how much a coach made. He had always thought he would do something he loved, not something to make money. But would that be enough to support Lily? Then Malakai’s mind went back to something else the woman had said, something he wasn’t sure he had understood right.

“My kind?” he asked.

“N…You know what I mean.”

Malakai felt like he had been slapped. He had received his fair share of insults as a biracial kid, but the woman had been about to say something to him he had never been referred to in his life, at least not to his face. He knew then that whatever he did this woman would never, ever approve of him, and his resolve to be civilized evaporated in a heartbeat.

He looked the blond woman up and down, then noticed her brown-orange artificial salon tan. It was darker than his complexion, even after he had spent so much time practicing in the sun.

“Well, since my skin is actually paler than yours, what does it make you?” he asked quietly.

“Get out of my house!”

“Beatrice, it’s my house. And what are you doing up here?” Lily intervened.

The woman turned around, contempt all over her face.

“I heard noises. I came to investigate.”

“It’s only us.”

“I can see that,” she said, glancing at Malakai with a snarl. “Get this…person out of here.”

“No,” Lily said in a voice so cold Malakai wouldn’t have recognized her if she hadn’t been standing right in front of him. “Malakai is in
my
house and he’s welcome to stay as long as he wants.”

Lily sounded so strong Malakai’s heart swelled with pride.

“I’m not leaving until he’s gone.”

“Really? I wonder what Uncle Charlie would say about that if I texted him?”

The woman stared at Lily for a long moment, then, without adding a word, she left.

A few moments after she had disappeared down the stairs, they heard the front door open and close. The moment she was outside, Lily sagged against the doorframe.

“Lily,” Malakai said, crossing the few steps that separated them. He dropped his folded clothes on the floor and took her in his arms. “Are you okay?”

“I am now.”

Then Malakai remembered something he had practically forgotten. Lily knew everything her mother felt toward her, and the thought broke his heart. He had just witnessed firsthand the woman’s hatred and could only imagine how Lily must feel. If he had to live with someone like that woman, he wouldn’t last, even though he wasn’t an empath.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah,” she answered. “You’re holding me, and I love the way you feel even if you’re worried out of your mind right now. But you’re blocking her.”

Malakai kissed the top of her head. “I love the way you feel too…well, not the same way,” he added with a chuckle. “I mean when you’re like that, in my arms.”

They remained like this a few moments more, then Lily sighed. She took a step away from him and walked into her bedroom. She was wearing a loose gray and pink tank top, which left a lot less to the imagination than her regular school attire. She was also wearing a pair of pajama shorts, and Malakai found her so sexy he hoped the lights were dimmed enough to hide his reaction to her. She went to her bed and jumped on it, waiting for him.

He grabbed his clothes from the floor and followed her into the bedroom, blushing as he closed the door. He put his clothes on her dresser and walked to her bed where he sat by her legs.

“I…” he began, but not knowing what to say next, he glanced at his hands.

Then he looked up at her. She was waiting expectantly, giving him time to gather his thoughts. He liked that about her. She was never in a hurry when she was with him.

“I need to know what’s okay and what’s not,” he finally said. “I need to know when to stop.” He blushed furiously, but if they didn’t have the conversation now, he didn’t know if he would be able to stop himself if he was taking things too far. “I love you. And I don’t want to take you down paths you’re not ready to travel.”

“Oh, Malakai,” she said, a warm smile on her face.

In the next moment, Lily was on his lap, her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly.

“I’m scared,” she admitted. “I want to spend the night with you, but I’m not ready for all of it. I…” She pulled away and looked up at him, then looked down rapidly. “I’ve never been with a guy before.”

“I’ve never been with a girl before,” Malakai said, smiling at her reassuringly. “I’m not in a hurry, you know.”

His body was telling him loud and clear he wanted her, but he would respect her. She had a lot more to lose than he did, and he realized that.

“I want to spend the night with you but sleeping…and kissing,” she said, looking at him again with a shy smile. “When you’re with me, it’s like I have a big fuzzy feeling inside and at the football field, it made me sleep so much better, even if we were outside, on the hard ground, with bugs and mosquitos. I really need ‘better’ right now.”

As she said that, she looked so sad, so defeated, a flare of anger crossed his heart. Then his heart filled with something else he was dying to give: protection and support. Lily needed him to protect her mind and soul, and it filled his heart with a sense of purpose, the likes of which he had never felt before.

He wanted to be up to par. Just like he had promised on homecoming night, he wanted to be the one to protect her from the ugliness around her. He wanted to be the one she would rely on. He wanted it with a fierceness he hadn’t known he possessed.

Malakai brought his hand to her cheek and caressed it with his thumb. “I’m here,” he said.

The insecurity all but left Lily’s beautiful gray eyes, and she smiled at him.

A few moments later, they lay in bed and pulled the blankets over themselves. Malakai removed his T-shirt while Lily turned off the light. Then she snuggled next to his side, her hand across his chest. Malakai’s body responded to her proximity to the point of pain. He wanted her, badly, but she had set the limit, and he would respect that, at all costs.

“I could have you next to me like this forever,” he said after a few moments of silence.

“Really?”

“Yeah, really.”

Then Malakai did what he had wanted to do for so long. He flipped her on her back, and covered her body with his, pinning her between the bed and himself. With his arms on each side of her face, he slowly brought his lips to hers, and she welcomed him with a soft moan. This little moan all but set Malakai on fire.

As the kissing intensified, becoming more urgent by the moment, Malakai imagined her naked under him, his hands touching her soft curves, him making love to her slowly, her moaning under him, him coming into her, millions of stars exploding behind his closed eyelids. He was about to lose control when two small hands grabbed his face and pulled him away from her sweet lips.

“You want me,” Lily said, her eyes shiny from their kissing.

“Of course I do!”

Lily just stared at him, as if she didn’t comprehend what he was saying.

“You’re beautiful, perfect, you smell of green tea, you’re soft,” he said, caressing her cheek. “And every time we walk in school, I’m afraid someone else will sweep you off your feet, and I’ll become a distant thought in your beautiful mind.”

“Oh, Malakai, no,” she said, shaking her head. “Why would you think that?”

“Because you deserve what’s best.”

“You’re what’s best. For me, you are.”

“Lily, I love you,” he said, his eyes searching hers.

Lily’s breath caught in her throat.

Malakai kissed her one more time, then rolled onto his back, pulling her to him. He wanted to kiss her more, but if he did, he was afraid he would lose all control. Once she was snuggled against him again, he kissed the top of her head, then caressed her back.

“Malakai, I love you, too,” she said, after a few moments of silence.

He didn’t need to be an empath to know she meant it as much as he did. He loved that she loved him too and could say it. Slowly, he squeezed her against his side and kissed the top of her head again.

It felt good not to be alone anymore.

Chapter Fifty-Five

LILY

When Lily woke
up the next morning, Malakai was wrapped around her back and holding her with his hand on her belly, his other arm under her neck, right below the pillow. He was warm and at peace, but he was waking up too. His mind was still sluggish but was slowly becoming coherent.

“Hi,” he mumbled, confirming Lily’s suspicion.

He pulled her closer to him and Lily felt, against her back, that he was awakened in more ways than one.

“It’s good to wake up with you in my arms. I could definitely get used to that.”

His words made her heart swell to the point her ribcage hurt. If she were to believe Beatrice, she wasn’t worthy of a guy who loved her, a guy like Malakai.

But Malakai thought she was worthy of him.