The limousine pulled up to the newest gym of the Knight brothers. We arrived in style, even walking up to the gym on a red carpet. Jonathan and Jason spared no expense.
The gym had all of the latest gym trends available to their clients. They even had special equipment installed for their clients with different handicaps and disabilities. The site that they chose also had accessibility, including proximity to roads and public transport. There was plenty of space for parking and the building was large enough to accommodate the guests.
I felt beautiful in my new dress that Jonathan had purchased for me. He made me feel beautiful as I stood by his side. He looked so handsome in his Armani suit and I was honored to be alongside him to celebrate his hard work and accomplishments. Jason entered a few moments after we did with a clingy vine on his arm. She was wrapped around his arm so tight that I didn’t think he could breathe comfortably. He was standing tall and handsome like his brother. Jason sported a Brooks’ Brothers custom-made suit. His dreads weren’t flowing free tonight like on previous occasions. He had them tamed with a black twister that held them in place.
I urged myself to bring my attention full force back onto my man. He bent his head and whispered against my ear. A tingle went up my spine as I inhaled his scent.
“You look absolutely beautiful tonight, my love.”
“Thank you kind sir,” I said. “You look mighty handsome yourself,” I reached up to straighten his silk tie.
He gave me a rakish grin before placing a quick peck onto my lips, then led me towards the reception area. The elegantly dressed crowd was already seated at various tables scattered throughout the room. The caterers were busy passing out champagne glasses filled to the brim with the fizzy golden liquid.
The drinks would be flowing aplenty as the patrons imbibed and conversation buzzed around the well-lit room. “Our table is over there,” Jon said as he led the way with his hand on the small of my back. The table had engraved place cards with our names already arranged on it in bold black lettering.
Jason and Emma-Jay brought up the rear as we went to be seated. Since I had no control of us all being seated together I decided to suck it up and make the best out of the situation at hand.
Jonathan seated me before taking a seat himself across the table from me. Jason seated a reluctant Emma-Jay beside me before taking a seat himself directly across from her. My eyes met Jason’s briefly before I quickly averted my gaze.
I looked over at his girlfriend instead and attempted a civilized smile. “You look wonderful tonight, Emma-Jay. I especially like how that color complements you,” I said, meaning it.
Her icy blue eyes met mine but the smile on her lips never reached her eyes. “Thank you, Serenity. You look nice as well. That black dress really does make you look slender,” she extended me a fake ass tight smile to her thin painted lips.
My mouth tightened as I bit my bottom lip to hold back a mean retort. Here this witch was being catty and all I was trying to do was make nice. If she kept that up, I didn’t know how long I would be able to keep my cool. I was not in the ass kissing business and she would soon be in for a rude awakening if she thought I was. I had no problem in putting my foot up her ass.
“You look very beautiful, Serenity,” Jason said to dispel the awkward silence. “I know Jon already knows it but he is one lucky man,” he added.
“Thank you Jason, but I’m the lucky one to be loved by such an honorable man as your brother. I am truly blessed,” I replied looking into his eyes briefly.
“I agree with you, bro. I’m one lucky man to meet and fall in love with a woman as sweet and lovable as my Serenity. There’s not too much more that I can ask for, except one day very soon she will make an honest man out of me and become my wife.”
Emma-Jay was quiet until that point. Her eyes were watchful as Jonathan made his comment. I watched her as a real brilliant smile lit up her face and eyes for once. “That’s absolutely wonderful. You and Serenity make a beautiful couple and I’m sure your future children will be just as beautiful,” she gushed enthusiastically.
“Wait a minute,” Jason said with irritation. “Who said anything about children? I think that you are putting the carriage before the horse, Emma.” Jason eyes held a wealth of emotion, I noted as I looked between the two with interest.
“If you would have been listening correctly, darling, I said future children. You know, after they are married. That’s what most married couples do, you know.”
A thunderstorm of an expression appeared on Jason’s face. I thought I had better diffuse the situation before his brother figured out something was amiss. “Jon, why don’t we toast to our love and the success of the Knight brothers.”
“Great idea, honey,” he said opening the champagne and filling the glasses before passing them around. We all held up our champagne glasses as he made the toast. “To the great women in our lives,” he said as his look included both Emma-Jay and me. “And also to my very best friend, twin brother, and business partner; may we have long, happy lives and prosperous success.”
“Hear-hear,” we all said in unison as we joined in on the toast.
Jason threw his head back and drained the contents of his glass in one gulp. “I think I’ll go get me something stronger,” he said rising from the table. “Does anyone else want anything from the bar?”
“I could go for a cosmopolitan,” replied Emma-Jay.
“I’ll go with you,” Jonathan said, rising from the table as well. “Serenity, would you like anything?”
“I will have a margarita, please.”
“Okay, one cosmopolitan and one margarita coming up,” he said.
The two handsome brothers walked away to fill our drink orders. They were enough to fill the whole room with raw animal magnetism. What the heck, I thought to myself. I would unwind and let myself loose tonight by celebrating the success of my man. I wasn’t a drinker but I wasn’t going to be the odd one out tonight.
I could feel Emma’s eyes boring into me. She was really starting to piss me off. I turned to face her. Since I seemed to be the oldest, I decided to be the peacemaker. “Emma-Jay, we may have started out on the wrong foot but we need to get along for the brothers’ sake,” I extended my hand out towards her as an olive branch.
“I don’t think so, bitch. You may have Jason and Jonathan fooled but I know that you want my man. But I am warning you… if you don’t back off I will expose you, slut!”
I gasped, not believing the venomous acid that spewed from her red-painted lips. How she dare call me a bitch, I thought to myself. She didn’t know who she was messing with. I was just getting ready to let loose a torrent of curses when the brothers placed our drinks on the table. Damn, they made it back fast, I thought to myself.
The brothers looked from one to the other, realizing that something was amiss. I was breathing so hard that I thought my boobs were going to pop out of my dress. I took the drink that Jonathan placed before me and chugged it in a few gulps.
“Is anything wrong, Serenity?” Jonathan asked me with a concerned tone as he sat down across from me.
“It will be if I don’t get out of here and get some air,” I muttered under my breath. I slammed my empty glass down on the table before standing.
“Wait, baby, I will go with you,” Jon said.
“No, you stay and mingle with your colleagues. I won’t be long… I promise.” I threw an evil look over my shoulder toward that red-haired witch before going out the doors to cool off and admire the beautiful flower garden I’d spotted on arrival.
I leaned over the brick wall and breathed the sultry night air deeply into my lungs to settle my anger. It took everything in me to not reach over and strangle the life out Emma-Jay. She had some fucking nerve talking to me in that way. Jason better put a leash on her or I will, I thought vehemently to myself.
I was so full of anger that I started to tremble. It was a humid night, yet I continued to tremble uncontrollably. I heard footsteps come up behind me. I smelled his cologne before I saw him. He smelled deliciously of his signature fragrance of Dolce & Gabanna cologne.
I stayed with my back turned towards him, not acknowledging his presence. He just stood there, quietly observing me. I felt his eyes scorching into my back. It burned straight through me so much so that my trembling disappeared altogether.
Finally, the silence and his presence got to be too much for me to take. “Go back to Emma-Jay,” I said with my back still turned towards him. “I want to be alone; this is why I came out here.”
He sucked in his breath harshly. “What did Emma do to you to make you run like a scared rabbit?”
I swirled around quickly to face Jason. His face was so much like his brother’s. But he wasn’t his brother. He was as different in temperament as Jonathan as night and day…dark and light, sinful and good. The anger that I couldn’t unleash on his girlfriend, I suddenly felt like unleashing on him. It was all because of him that I was mixed up and had all of these forbidden feelings for him bundled deep inside. All of this shit was his fault and I wanted to hate him for it, but I couldn’t.
“Get the hell away from me, Jason, and go back to your psychotic girlfriend. Be sure to tell her if she ever threatens me again, I will not walk away as nicely as I did tonight. I did it out of respect for you and your brother. But I swear to you, that the next time she won’t be so lucky because I will strangle that bitch’s scrawny ass neck!”
“Calm down, baby, and tell me what happened. Maybe I can help make it better, sweetheart.”
“The only thing you can do for me is to stay away from me and keep your girlfriend even further away.”
“TELL ME WHAT SHE SAID! RIGHT NOW!” he enunciated each word forcefully between clenched teeth, as he stepped closer, facing me.
“She warned me to keep my distance from you. She had the audacity to accuse me of trying to take you from her. How dare her,” I spat out, filling up with uncontrollable anger again.
He sucked in his breath before speaking. “I will handle her. She had no reason to talk to you like that, Serenity. I’m sorry and I can promise you that it won’t happen again.”
“It doesn’t matter, Jason. I can fight my own battles.”
“I know you can, baby,” he regarded me under hooded lashes.
I backed off from him. He watched my every move. A brooding expression was written across his strong face. I noticed the drink in his hand that I hadn’t noticed before. It was an amber colored liquid on the rocks. He turned up the glass and swallowed. I noticed the bobbing motion of his Adams apple as he swallowed. He took the back of his hand and wiped the residue of the liquid from his lips...
I frowned at him in warning to not come any closer. He took a step towards me. I backed away which led to my butt being pressed against the brick wall. My glare didn’t waiver him from coming any closer. “What do you want, Jason?” I asked, trying to divert him from stalking even closer. “Shouldn’t you be inside entertaining Emma-Jay?” Even though her name tasted like battery acid on my tongue, I tried to take his attention away from me. Instead of diverting his attention, his eyes filled with desire. He didn’t even try to hide the emotion.
“You know what I want, Serenity. That was a loaded question that you walked straight into.”
“Stop it right now, Jason. Please go away and leave me alone. You have to stop doing this to us. It can only lead to trouble.”
I tried to blame it on the alcohol that he kept tossing back, but Jason was just bold and reckless in his own right. “What the hell do you think you are doing?” I asked as he wedged me between him and the wall, leaving me no avenue of escape.
He stepped even closer, if that was possible. He bent to sniff the side of my neck like he was an animal in heat. “You smell so good and that dress hits all of your curves just right,” he said in my ear with an animalistic growl. “It leads me to wonder what you have on under the dress,” his words were slightly slurred.
I let out a surprised gasp. He swooped down his head and captured my full lips, and thrust his liquored tongue into my mouth. I tried with all of my might to push him away, but he wouldn’t budge. His hardness grew in length. He wedged his muscular thigh between my legs and settled his rigid hardness against the intimate heat between my thighs. My core flooded with need as he pressed himself closer against me. I moaned against his demanding lips.
My hands went to his head, touching his mid length dreads temptingly. My insides were becoming a gooey mess as his mouth continued to seduce me most intimately. His hand worked its way under my dress and to my soft rounded ass that was encased in a thong. He gripped its plush softness and squeezed.
A guttural groan slid from deep in his throat into my own. Music could be heard from the building as the hired band started playing a song. The music brought me back to my senses. I don’t know how I found the strength this time, but I pushed Jason away so hard he slightly stumbled. My hand reared back and found solid contact with his cheek. His hand instantly went to his cheek as his light brown eyes flared to a darker shade of brown. He continued to feast upon me as if I was a tasty treat. Suddenly he smirked. Anger coursed through my entire body.
“Jason, don’t ever do that again!” I warned him before running off as fast as my heels let me. He didn’t try to follow me through the door as I went in search of his brother, Jonathan, who was my safety. He was and would always be my safe haven to run to in times of trouble.
---
The flight back was relatively quiet, the same as the arrival to Las Vegas. I was able to avoid interacting with Jason and Emma for the remainder of the trip. Jason forced a half-ass apology out of Emma-Jay for me. I half-assed said that I accepted it. We both know that it was for show and nothing else.
Even if Jason wasn’t in the picture, I knew that she and I would never be friends. It was just something about her shallow beauty that grated on my nerves. Her type of beauty was based on size. If you were of a certain thickness, I guess you were fat and not beautiful in her eyes. But what she or anyone else thought about me didn’t matter. What mattered was what I felt when I looked at my reflection in the mirror.
It was about the love that I felt for myself. There is nothing like self-love. When you love yourself, you open up the doorway to be loved by others. I realized that I was blessed to have the love of a man who loved all of me. He loved and appreciated all of my thick curves and that was a plus for me.
I looked over at Jonathan. He had his earbuds in listening to music as he relaxed his head against the headrest. I reached over to lace my fingers through his. He turned his head towards me and bestowed a glance filled with love onto my face. He squeezed my hand lovingly in his. I returned his smile before laying my head onto his strong shoulders. The shoulders of the one that I knew was meant just for me and no one else. I tuned out everyone and everything else. Everyone else was just a mere distraction that I vowed to allow no more.