Meanwhile, at Golden Key Subdivision...

Tongues swirling,

Bodies melding.

Passions unyielding.

It's moments like this that makes being with my god-brother and star-crossed lover named De'Andre Beckham more worth it given that we were still fighting to be who we are despite our families citing otherwise.

And it's moments like this with De'Andre in my bed that makes me wonder when he and I would ever be more than friends with benefits. "That was...wow," I breathed as the hunky dark-skinned man rolled off me and unsheathed himself. "De'Andre, you never failed to amaze me."

De'Andre smirked as he tossed the condom in the trash while I did the same. "Glad you approve," he remarked. "So, you finally cut ties with your family after today, huh? And you served them with a restraining order. Nice."

"Same to you, though I'm surprised and sad that your situation came from out of a scandal that you never knew about."

De'Andre's eyes went dead as he sat back on the bed. "Don't remind me," he said, his tone bitter. "Mom never knew about what her husband and Treniece were doing on the low. And for them to judge me while the two of them- Dad and Treniece, I mean- were no better proved that our family has too many secrets to handle. I'm actually worried about my mother."

"How's that?" I wanted to know.

De'Andre huffed a sigh. "Josh, my family's been known to keep up appearances, but my father ruled everything with an iron fist," he intoned. "While he never beat us like we were slaves, he and Treniece used mental and emotional blackmail to ensure that they got what they wanted. For me, they accused me of being too sissified or weak with Treniece insisting that I hang out with some of the jocks back at school or attend some drug-and-booze house party when not pressuring me to find a woman to be sweet on. For Mom, Dad would always comment how her hair looked bad or how she needed to lose or gain weight. In a way, I always thought that Dad had some sort of female lover on the side because he'd joke to his friends that 'a woman on the side serves a man better than his own wife' and how 'men should always dog his woman to make her compete for his heart.' Same thing for Treniece when she would tear down a man's esteem because she thought she could have any man she wanted based on her looks."

"And look where it all got her," I pointed out. "Treniece has HIV and your dad might have it as well."

"You think so?" De'Andre asked. "I mean, I don't have a proper relationship with my father anymore given that he disowned me for outing him and his daughter like that. But even I wouldn't wnat to wish that on him. Not even on Treniece, but she's even more vicious than he is."

I sighed as I pulled him closer until we were inches away from each other. "So, where do things stand between you and your family?" I asked him.

He thought for a moment. "I really can't say," he replied softly. "Mom wants to talk to me and Dr. Boatwright tomorrow, but you and I will have a busy day tomorrow with Cameron as we meet up with the sponsors. Not only that, we're introducing Jamal into the fold for our fashion line as he'll be a model. Tyler will need a bit of convincing, but he said that he'll talk to Franklin. But at the moment, Dr. Boatwright insists that Mom and I finally sit down and hash things out. So that's something that needs to be done pronto. But what about you?"

I arched an eyebrow in surprise. "What about me?"

De'Andre gave me a pointed stare. "Come on, bro. You know that your family isn't going to back down no matter what the restraining order says. Hugo and Francesca are known to keep things rolling with trying to get more hate-mongers on their team. And if I know better, I bet that they're going to reach out to either Jamal or Tyler- if not both of them- sometime soon."

"Don't remind me," I said bitterly, "but I'll have some words with Tyler and Jamal by tomorrow, warn them about what my parents will say or do to get them on their team. Anyway, I wanna talk about us."

"What do you mean?"

I took a deep breath, knowing that I needed to get this out of the way before I lost my nerve. "De'Andre, you and I had a lot of history in the past," I began. "We were best friends since we were in diapers with our mothers being friends since their time. And when we became teens, you and I lost our virginities to each other since we knew we weren't into women. Even though we're friends with benefits and we've dove into the world of BDSM a bit, I want us to be more than that. In all honesty, I can't see my life with anyone else but you. I felt like I've known you through many lifetimes and all I can think about is having you for myself."

"How long have you've been feeling like this?" he asked.

I sighed. "A long while, longer than you can ever imagined," I replied, keeping my voice even while I steeled any wave of tears that were on the edge of falling. "Fuck, De'Andre. I can't keep denying what we have, but I just gotta know where you stand. I don't want to waste any more time than I already have right now. If you feel like we should only keep it platonic or remain where they are, then say the word and let me down easy. I rather have things be cool between us than to suffer without you or be with you and have us be miserable and angry. Just don't let my heart be broken or play any games with me. I can't bear it if-"

I was soon cut off with De'Andre giving me a hungry kiss that shattered any doubt that I had racing in my head. And damn it to hell, the man could kiss me like he was living his last day on Earth!

Holy shit! He's actually kissing me, I thought to myself as I let him deepen the kiss while I stroked his already-stiffening member.

We broke apart, our chests heaving in passion before De'Andre climbed on top of me. "Does that answer your question?" he growled, eyes lit like liquid fire. "Because I'm only going to say this once, so listen clearly: I. Want. You. Joshua. Ortega! And yes, I've been feeling the same feelings as you did! So after I fuck you tight ass in several positions, I'm going to make this known at our job, to our friends, and even on social media to our families: We are together forever and you WILL be mine!"

"Fuck me," I groaned.

De'Andre was too happy to oblige. Tonight, ladies and germs, was when De'Andre stopped being friends with benefits and started our journey to being boyfriends.

Hugo and Francesca Ortega and Treniece Beckham could eat their hearts out!

HOT DAMN!

That...was on fire, baby! I can only tell y'all that things will be spicy and seductive for our boys, folks, as De'Andre and Joshua are official as much as Jamal and Cameron are! Let's hope that the same can be said for Franklin and Tyler.

And speaking of the two, we'll check in with them in the next chapter as Tyler debates whether or not he should be a model for Pacifica West Menswear. You can't afford to miss out on this, folks! Don't go anywhere!

Media: "Say So" by PJ Morton ft. Jojo. Dedicating this out to Nablai and Mrsdeemo.

Vote.
Comment.
Share.
Follow.
Add.
FAN!