Brown Sugar This Christmas by Lula White

Author:Lula White
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lula White

The shrill sound of Jerrell’s alarm jarred him from sleep at 4:15 a.m. His chest seemed to carry the weight of the ocean when he rose from bed. Instinct made his hands reach to check his phone for messages. His finger scrolled for one in particular.

A couple of screw buddies asked if he was in town.

Why had he set himself up for disappointment? Why hadn’t she been a woman and disclosed she was in a relationship?

For the ride to the City, he turned on his music, punched through news channels, switched podcasts, anything to ignore his burning insides.

An hour and a half later, he waited at the front door of his parents’ home for Gram to come out. Of course, his father didn't resist the urge to appear and mad-dog him. Gruff, tall, foreboding, the man thirty-seven years his senior still scared the hell out of Jerrell.

Only now, Jerrell stood eye-to-eye with him, and refused to waver.

Charles Rouse’s eyes flared. “You have her here no later than seven tonight. A minute more, and I mean one minute…”

“Son,” his mother said, throwing herself between them. The sight of her face for the first time in a month, worried and tense now, massaged Jerrell’s exhausted eyes. Her fingers gripped his jacket. “What he means is keep us in the loop, okay? If you get overwhelmed, or if she needs anything, please, call somebody. You hear me?”

He ignored his father, returning his mother’s gaze and clenching her arms, wishing he could bury his head inside them now. But he would not dare act like a dejected little boy in front of his dad. “Yeah, I got you. And I will.”

Still in her robe, his mother walked them out to his Range Rover, following him as he opened the door for his grandmother and helped her in.

“He wants you to call him, you know,” Mom said.

“Why? So he can jump down my throat some more? Tell me how worthless I am?”

“He’s worried about you is all. So am I. Boy, you’re looking so skinny. Are you eating all right?” she asked, pulling him in close. Her slender, stalwart arms gripped him tight.

Jerrell rolled his eyes, not wanting to state the obvious, but it slipped. “If you and him were so concerned, why didn’t you come to the Ivory a couple nights ago? Or one of my pop-ups? It’s just on Long Island, not the other side of the world.” The youngest Rouse sibling tried not to sound pouty.

His mother’s eyes creased as she rubbed him. “Sweetheart, that’s not fair. All of this happened real quick.”

More like she wouldn’t dare undermine his dad by coming to support Jerrell without him. “Yeah, I know.” Planting a forehead kiss on her, he would not admit running into the ground so much that he wasn’t eating. They absorbed one another’s presence in a last hug. “I gotta go. A lot to do today.” He pulled away from her embrace. Time to man up. “I will make sure Gram takes all her meds.

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