Page 14 of Hurricane's House

“Move in with me and Chasity,” he said. It sounded more like an order, but she didn’t seem to flinch when he asked the question.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” she insisted. “I can’t move in with the two of you. Things are just now getting better between Chasity and me, and I don’t want to blow that.”

“What about me, Tina?” he asked, stepping closer to her. She backed up against the kitchen counter and he caged her between it and him.

“Wh—what about you?” she stuttered.

“What if I meant what I said about missing you? I miss everything about you—the way that you felt under my body when we made love and the way you felt curled up against me all night long while we slept. I can’t get you out of my mind, Tina. Tell me that you feel the same way about me, honey,” he ordered. She held all the power right now, and if he didn’t get the answer that he wanted from her, he didn’t know what he’d do. Probably walk out of her apartment with his tail between his legs.

“I’ve missed you too, Hurricane,” she admitted. He wrapped her in his arms and kissed her like a starving man. It had felt like an eternity since he last kissed her.

“Will you move in with me?” he asked, pressing his forehead against hers, not willing to give up the same air that they were both sharing.

“What about Chasity?” she asked.

“She and I had a little chat, and we are both in agreement that you should move in with us,” he said.

“Oh, I see,” Tina whispered, “and where will I sleep?” she asked. “The last time that I spent the night at your place, things didn’t end so well the next morning.”

“Chasity and I talked about that too. I explained that we are two consenting adults and that what we do in the bedroom doesn’t concern her,” he admitted.

“And what did she say to that?” Tina asked.

“Since you’re asking, I can guess that you know what she said. But the end result was that I agreed to keep our door shut while we are in there, and she promised not to just walk in without knocking,” he said.

“You really worked all of that out with Chasity?” she asked.

“I did, but don’t be too impressed. She likes to rag me about my age, and my ability to use technology,” he grumbled.

Tina giggled and nodded, “Same,” she said.

“So, how about it?” he asked.

“I guess,” she breathed.

“Well, don’t be so excited about it, honey,” he teased.

“I can’t let myself get excited about moving in with you, Hurricane. I’m worried that things will get bad between Chasity and me, and I won’t stay with you if that happens. Do we have an agreement?” she asked, holding her hand out to him.

He gently shook her hand, “We do,” he agreed. “But don’t be too quick to run out on us. I think you might be surprised how much Chasity has changed. I’m not promising that things will be easy, but we’ll find a way.” She nodded, and Hurricane just hoped that he’d be able to keep that promise to her because once he got Tina back to his place, there would be no way that he’d want to let her go again.

Tina moved completely in with him and Chasity, even giving up the lease on her apartment. To him, that was a good sign, or at least that was what he told himself. Tina would have nowhere to go if things went south and that worked for him because he didn’t want to have to watch her leave again.

Hurricane had gotten pretty good at learning to split his time between his day job, the club, and being at home with Tina and Chasity. He was beginning to feel as though he had finally gotten everything that he ever wanted, but the problem was, he didn’t know how Tina felt about it all. He was thinking of them as a little family, but was she? He’d spent the better part of two months trying to figure out how to ask her how she felt about them being a family. He had promised to play things cool when she moved into his house, but he felt anything but cool around Tina anymore. He wanted to tell her that he’d fallen in love with her, but was she ready to hear that? He had so many questions and no one to help him navigate this new phase of his life. Hurricane was used to being alone, but in this case, he wished that he had someone to bounce questions off and hopefully get some answers.

He knew that some of the guys at the club were happily married and maybe they might have some answers for him, but getting out of the house without Chasity or Tina tagging along was going to be difficult. They both liked coming to the club with him, not that he let Chasity hang around with the guys. No, she was banished to the kitchen or his office when they were all there. But during the days that he had to take inventory and do odd jobs around the place, she tagged along, and he paid her to help him. He had to admit, it was nice having her around.

He found them both in the family room, playing a board game, and Hurricane second-guessed having to go to the club. “Hey, I’m running down to the club,” he said. He hoped that they would be completely enthralled in their game, but when they both looked up, excitement in their eyes, he knew that he wasn’t going to get out of the house alone.

“Hold on,” Chasity said. “I need to grab my phone and my book.” She usually sat in his office and read while the guys were doing their thing. Sometimes, Wren and Tina would sit backthere with her, to keep her company. Hurricane liked that the guys and their women seemed to accept Tina and Chasity being a part of his life.

“You guys don’t have to stop playing your game,” he insisted.

“It’s not a big deal,” Tina said, “I’d like to tag along too. Wren said that she’s going to go into the club tonight with Yonkers and I want to hear everything about the baby,” she gushed. Hurricane rolled his eyes, making her giggle.

“Fine, you two can tag along, but you know the drill,” he said.

“Right, I’m to hide away in your office, pretending as though I don’t exist while you two get to drink beer and have fun with all of your friends,” Chasity grumbled.

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