Serena had promised not to say anything to anyone. Nala had told her that the only ones who knew were Kathan and Naomi, along with Jimmy and Jey. Walking into her kitchen, her mom was talking with Malena, Sabrina's mom. They each had a glass of wine in their hands.
"Hey Rena", her mom said.
She smiled before setting her bag down.
"Where's Sabrina?", Malena asked her step daughter.
"She said she was meeting someone at the park for this project", Serena said.
She knew her sister was meeting Mr. Rollins. Alexandria and William ran in and dropped their bags on the floor.
"Hey you two, no running and come back and put your bags away properly.", her mom shouted.
Her brother and sister came back and grabbed their bags. She smiled at them.
"Dad's coming home for lunch.", Malena said.
"Should I call Sabrina and tell her to come home?", she asked.
They shook their heads no. Just as she was going to excuse herself, her dad walked in and smiled at her. Kissing the top of her head.
"Hi sweetie", he said.
He walked over to his wives and kissed each one. To anyone else, this would have looked weird or disgusting, but not to her. Ever since she and Sabrina could understand, their parents explained to them why their dad had two wives.
Some friends didn't understand it, but they were lucky enough to have a close group of girlfriends who didn't care what their family life was like.
"Where's Brina?", her dad asked her.
"With a friend", Serena answered.
"And why aren't you with her? You two have the same group of friends", he said.
"She's working on a project and I don't have that class. Besides, I have this writing assignment I need to work on", Serena said.
He nodded.
Sabrina met Seth at the park again. They walked around and talked. She found out he had an older brother and that he was originally from Iowa.
"So what brought you to New Orleans?", she asked him.
"Work, mostly. After a while I just really loved it here and decided to stay", he shrugged.
She nodded.
"And you? Were you born here?", he asked.
"No. Washington D.C. actually. Our parents decided to move here. My dad opened his own publishing company and well, our moms just loved it here", she said.
Seth was confused.
"Wait. You said our parents and then our moms", he said.
She nodded.
"Do you know what a polyamory relationship is?", she asked.
He nodded. He caught on and stopped walking.
"No way. Seriously?", he said.
She nodded.
"Serena and I are sisters, different moms", Sabrina said.
"And that works?", he asked.
"For them, yes. Before you get any ideas, I don't see my life that way. I want my husband to be, just my husband", she said.
"That's good to know, at least I won't have to share you with anyone.", he said.
"I'm not embarrassed to tell anyone about my parents because trust me, my parents are extremely happy and madly in love. I don't know how my dad does it.", she said.
"No judging here", he said.
She smiled. Usually guys her age asked her how their parents did it to be intimate. Saying inappropriate things about them.
"So do you call them both mom or you call Serena's mom by her name?", he asked.
No one has ever asked her that. She smiled at that question.
"I call Michelle, aunt Michelle", Sabrina answered.
He nodded. He didn't want to focus all the attention on her parents and their relationship. He was sure everyone else picked and prodded.
"Are you going to college after you graduate?", he asked.
She nodded.
"University of Memphis. I want to study sports medicine and physical therapy", she said.
He nodded.
"Sounds neat", he said.
He was definitely impressed, but was also worried that he would end up falling deeply for her and lose her when he does.
"Yeah. So what made you want to be a PE teacher?", she asked.
"I didn't really", he said.
Her smile fell and she could tell this was a touchy subject for him.
"You don't have to tell me", she said.
"It's fine. In high school I got this sports scholarship for wrestling. A lot of schools wanted me.", he said.
He swallowed and looked out towards the lake.
"I was at this party with some of my friends and one of the guys there went behind the wheel, drunk. My friends and I were leaving and this guy hit us, squishing my leg between the door and the seat. Anyway, I guess I was lucky that I didn't lose it. Doctors said it could have been worse. I lost my scholarship. Thankfully my teachers found a way to help me find another way to get to school.", he said.
"That was nice of them", she said.
"It was. I figured I could be a PE teacher since I love working out. It worked out", he shrugged.
"Bonus. You met me", she said.
He laughed and nodded.
"I did", he said.
He leaned down and kissed her gently.
"Want to grab lunch before I drop you off?", he asked.
She nodded against his shoulder.
Serena was doing her homework when she got a text from Dean telling her to come over. She ignored it and he sent another saying Now. She ignored it. He called and she ignored it. He called a few more times. She sighed. She couldn't concentrate on her work.
"Ok, you need to stop", she tried not to shout.
Her parents were downstairs and would hear her.
"Why the fuck haven't you been answering me? I texted you, I called.", he shouted.
He sounded really angry.
"Because, I told you I wasn't going to do this", she said.
"It's over when I say it's over. Now get over here, now", he growled.
She bit her lip. Why did she find his roughness so attractive.
"Don't make me go look for you. It won't be pretty", he said, before hanging up.
She stood and grabbed her bag and car keys.
"Hey, where are you going?", her dad asked.
He was on his way out and back to work.
"I need to pick something up from a friend for this writing assignment", she said.
"Pick what up? Its a writing assignment", her dad said.
"Yeah, but there are certain things we can't write about and I also forgot how many words and pages", she rambled.
He nodded. She felt bad for lying to her dad. Their parents trusted her and Sabrina.
Getting to Dean's, she walked up to his door and knocked. He answered, shirtless and his sweats hanging low.
"I don't like to be kept waiting", he said.
"I'm busy, a lot of senior assignments I need to finish to graduate. Including your packet", she said.
He pushed the door and gestured for her to come in. She did. He followed her to the living room.
"Strip", he said.
She didn't know why, but she listened to him. He smirked, surprised she did it the first time she was told. Usually he had to repeat himself. Man, she was beautiful, and with that thought came the flutter. He rolled his shoulders back.
"Bend over", he said.
She looked at him and he grabbed her hands, placing them on the back of the couch. He moved behind her and entered her roughly. This was way different from last night and what happened at school. He was calling her all kinds of unkind words while he was taking her.
"You dirty fucking slut", he groaned.
He slapped her butt and pulled her hair. He pulled away and walked into the kitchen. She slowly stood. She was sore and the back of her neck hurt. She watched him pop open a beer and chug it.
"I didn't like that", she said.
He didn't look at her. He stared at the fridge while holding his half drunken beer. He didn't like doing that to her either. When she realized he wasn't going to respond, she grabbed her clothes and got dressed as fast as she could.
She reached the door when he stopped her.
"I'm sorry", he said.
She looked over at him.
"You don't understand, I'm not, I can't.", he sighed and brushed his hand through his hair.
She watched him pace.
"Damn it, I don't want to feel like this. I can't feel like this", he said.
He stopped and looked at her.
"I don't know how to give you what you want. The way you look at me, it makes me feel this strange thing I can't explain", he said.
Her heart skipped a beat.
"You love me?", she asked.
"I don't know, because I don't know what that feels like. Any form of it.", he said.
She took a step towards him and he froze.
"See there it is, that look. Why do you look at me like that? I'm nothing special", he said.
She leaned up and kissed him.
"I'm sorry I hurt you. It was easier than admitting that I'm starting to feel something I've never felt, but I couldn't let you walk away. I don't want to lose you", he said softly.
He rested his forehead against hers. She smiled.
"How about, we agree to take things slow. Don't push me away, don't feel like you have to be this big tough macho man around me. I want this Dean", she said.
He swallowed.
"I could do that, but you have to understand that I can't just change over night. I'm going to mess up and you just have to be patient", he said.
She nodded.
"I could do that", she said.
He nodded. He connected their lips and lifted her. She giggled.
"What are you doing?", she asked as he walked them to his room.
"Trust me", he said.
She kissed his neck before he laid her down. She winced.
"I'm sorry", he said.
"It's ok", she said, reconnecting their lips.
Mark couldn't take this stress anymore. He needed a night with the guys to just relax. Adding all the guys to a group text, including Kathan's brother and Nala's dad.
He was looking at Joe's name and thought about it. Maybe he should play nice with him and AJ. He hit their names and sent them the same text.
"Guys night. Friday. Poker. My place"