Head Over Heels (39 page)

“You need help with anything?” Gunnar scanned the food on the counter.

Before Thane answered, the doorbell chimed. He furrowed his eyebrows.

“I thought everyone was here already.” Gunnar turned to the entryway.

“So did I.” Thane moved around the breakfast bar to head to the door.

“It’s probably Penny. I invited her.” Janelle ran to it with Ava in her arms.

She opened it, and Penny, her best friend, burst through to hug Janelle and Ava.

“So good to see you.” Penny kissed Ava’s cheek, which made the toddler giggle. “And I brought a date. I’ve been seeing this guy for a couple of months now.” She turned. “Come on in, honey.”

Gunnar and Thane’s faces dropped when Ant strolled into the home.

“You’ve got to be kidding.” Gunnar shook his head. “You’re dating Ant?”

The diminutive man poked his scrawny chest out. “Yes, we’ve been seeing each other. And people don’t call me Ant anymore. I go by my real name. Waldo.”

Thane tried hard to hold back his laughter. “Welcome to my home, Waldo. You two, come in. Get something to eat and drink. Everyone is in there. Mingle.”

Janelle hung her arm around Penny’s shoulder and led her into the room with Ant following behind.

“Incredible.” Gunnar nodded toward the party.

“I know. He’s like a bad penny. He shows up everywhere.” Thane laughed.

“You remember when Mom used to host parties like these at her house?” Gunnar stood next to Thane.

“She celebrated everything. If you got an A on your report card, that called for an intimate get-together with about a hundred of her friends and family.” Thane laughed. He looked into the living room when he heard growling.

Gideon and Dennis made fools of themselves by crawling on the floor like dogs and chasing after the kids, barking at them. The twins squealed and ran away from them. Ava and Ella tried climbing on Gideon’s back for a ride.

“How it should be?” Gunnar nodded to the packed house.

“Always.” Thane and Gunnar strolled back to the living room. “Can I get your attention, folks?”

Janelle turned off the music and made her way to her husband, who still sat on the floor.

“First of all, thank you so much for coming down here. I know spring break has just started, and you all have vacation plans of your own.” Thane kissed the back of Kari’s hand. “We’re thankful you’ve chosen to spend a little time with us. We have a lot of great news to tell you.” He looked to his wife.

“Before you all share your news, I have something to say.” Dennis strutted to the center of the room.

“You always do, man.” Gideon shook his head. “They don’t call you Dennis the Menace for nothing.”

Dennis held his hand up to his friend. “I’ll make it quick. I promise.” He turned to Shay. “My woman. Will you join me, please?”

Shay glanced around first before walking to the center of the room. “You are so silly. What are you doing?”

“This.” He dropped down to one knee.

The women all gasped. The kids giggled. Shay cried.

“You have shared so much with me.” Dennis held Shay’s hand. “I want to be the man who protects you. With me, you will never have to worry. With me, you will always be secure. With me, you will always be my queen.” He pulled a ring from his pocket. “Will you do me the honor of being my queen forever?”

Shay screamed before covering her mouth. Then she nodded. “Yes. Yes, I will.”

Dennis slipped the ring on her finger, stood, and hugged her. Then he looked at Gideon. “I want you to be my best man.”

Gideon smiled. “You know it.”

“You will be Mrs. Menace?” Ella asked.

The group laughed.

“Something like that.” Gideon pulled his daughter onto his lap. “Congratulations, man.”

“Yes, way to make an honest woman out of her.” Gunnar held up his glass to toast the duo.

Eboni walked over to Shay and gave her a hug. With her arm still around Shay’s shoulders, she glared at Dennis. “Shay is special.”

“I know this.” Dennis nodded.

“She’s strong and hard working and beautiful.” Eboni held her tighter.

Dennis stared at his fiancée and nodded. “Yes.”

“And I won’t stand by and watch anyone disappoint her again. She deserves the best in life. She’s my friend.”

“Eb.” Shay kissed Eboni’s cheek.

Dennis shook his head. “It will never happen. Not on my watch, although I might cause her a little pain.”

Eboni’s eyes widened.

“Mom said I was a twelve-pound baby.” Dennis put his hand on Shay’s stomach. “Sorry, sweetie. You are going to carry a little linebacker in there one day.”

Shay pulled away from Eboni to put her hands on Dennis’s shoulders. “How do you know it won’t be a long, lean baby like me?”

“Doesn’t matter. As long as it’s ours, I don’t care. I love you, baby girl.” He kissed her tenderly.

“Now, can my brother and his wife tell us their news?” Gunnar asked.

“Of course. Of course.” Dennis put his hand to the small of Shay’s back and helped her over to the couch.

“Congrats again, Dennis. Thanks for sharing that special moment with us.” Thane held Kari’s hand. “Honey?”

“First of all, this is a gender reveal party.” Kari put her hand to her stomach. “It shouldn’t be a surprise what I’m having.”

In unison, the crowd announced, “A girl!”

“Mom has a sense of humor, even on the other side.” Gunnar laughed. “I can see her wanting us to have families of only girls after being the only female with all of us.”

“Hey, I take offense to that.” Michael stepped forward and nudged his elbow into Gunnar’s side.

“Of course, my son.” Thane put his arm around Michael’s shoulders. “That’s the other news. Michael has chosen a college.”

“Oh, wow. So tell us. What is it?” Gideon got up on his knees. “UNC?”

“Go Tar Heels!” Dennis pumped his fist in the air.

“No.” Michael waved his hand and shook his head.

“I know you’re going to play football.” Gideon pointed to him.

The guests in the room groaned.

“What? Look at those hands. And he’s fast.” Gideon clapped, which made Ella mimic him.

“What’s wrong with wrestling?” Gunnar asked. “He could go to the Olympics with that skill.”

“Stop. I’ve thrown a ball to him since he was ten.” Thane regarded Michael. “I told him then and I’m saying it now. He’s a natural. He’s got a great pitching arm.”

“Will you all stop it and let him talk?” Eboni shook her head. “Go ahead, Michael.”

He looked at Kari first before regarding Leona. “I’ve gotten offers from five top universities including Yale, Harvard, and Columbia. I decided—”

Gunnar drummed his hands over his thighs, which got the rest of the guests in the house to do the same.

“I’m going to Stanford.” Michael beamed.

Kari and Leona didn’t. The rest of the guests hugged him and congratulated him on his decision.

“Stanford in California.” Kari nodded.

“Honey.” Thane squeezed her hand.

“I told him I wanted him to be an astrophysicist. I didn’t think he would go to the other side of the country to do it.” Tears rolled down her cheeks.

“Come on, Mom.” Michael held her shoulders. “I’m going there to be a doctor.” He glanced around the room. “Sports medicine.”

“And you have to go there?” Kari wiped her face with the back of her hand.

Thane handed her a napkin. “He
has
to go there.” He nodded to Michael. “He’s growing up. He’s a man now. We have to respect his wishes.”

Thane heard some sniffling behind him. When he turned, he saw Leona crying.

“We just found each other again.” Leona shook her head.

Michael framed her face. “We won’t lose each other. I promise. And if we do, we’ll find each other again.”

As he watched his son kiss Leona, Thane saw Michael as an adult. When he gazed around the room at all the activity, he saw them all as a family.

Don’t miss the first book in Cyristal B. Bright’s Mama’s Boys series!

You can’t fight love…

There’s only one thing MMA fighter Gunnar Wells is more devoted to than his career, and that’s his mother, “Queen” Elizabeth. An elegant African American woman who adopted Gunnar and his two white brothers, Elizabeth was there when they needed her, and they’ll do anything for her. For Gunnar, that means running her hair salon when she suddenly falls ill. And if that’s not awkward enough for the champion fighter, he’ll have to work alongside Eboni Danielson, the other love of his life. The one he left behind to pursue his dream. The one he’s never forgotten…

Between the salon and her volunteer work, Eboni keeps busy to keep her mind off the man who broke her heart. So when Gunnar shows up again, she does her best to stay cool—on the outside. But the more she watches Gunnar step up and help out, the less she can deny her feelings. Soon Gunnar is doing everything he can to convince Eboni to give him a fighting chance. Can she trust him again—even when old secrets and new dangers come between them once more?

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The adrenaline coursing through Gunnar Wells’s body needed some release. The muscles in his arms and thighs tightened, ready for activity, for combat. A good workout would ease his tensions. Tonight, his mixed martial arts match would have to do.

He paced the cramped dressing room that smelled like rose petals and bleach, too dainty and too clean for what he had to do. The delicate aroma and the rough sport he would be engaging in soon reminded him of his mother, always a lady in demeanor and look, but a tough taskmaster.

A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth before he could arrest it and pull it back down to a scowl. He needed to keep his mind on his match. Staying away from his childhood home helped keep him on track.

A mural of the famous Welcome to Las Vegas sign painted on the locker-room wall snagged his attention for a brief moment. The blue, red, and white neon sign full of diverse geometric shapes attracted tourists every day. Gunnar saw the city as a place to start another part of his life. He didn’t need a reminder of the location he’d made his home for the past ten years.

The Silver Streak Hotel and Casino spared no expense in keeping both the crowds and the performers entertained. Gunnar had heard that hosting these mixed martial arts matches had afforded the hotel enough funds to add a new wing to the hotel with another two hundred hotel rooms. He guessed beating a man to a bloody pulp meant good business.

Gunnar tilted his head from one side to the other to stretch his neck and help clear his head. Even with the door closed to his dressing room, the sounds from the audience in the main arena area filtered through the walls.

With each chant of “Guns” from the crowd, Gunnar’s heart pounded harder and harder until both the chant and his heartbeat became one.

“Guns! Guns!”

Thump! Thump!

He swiped the back of his hand over his sweaty forehead. The tape on his hand scraped across his skin, leaving a tingling sensation in its wake. Gunnar glanced at the tape to make sure he hadn’t ruined its integrity. After doing this sport for so many years, he found that every little thing mattered. A loose binding on his fist would distract him. Like a hunter, he needed to keep his focus.

For his match against a fairly established mixed martial artist like himself, he didn’t feel unnerved. In his ten-year professional career, he’d battled absolute monsters. Being six-foot-three and two hundred forty pounds, he fit in the behemoth category. Like his mama always taught him, it’s not the dog in the fight; it’s the fight in the dog.

Gunnar attempted to push thoughts of his mother from his mind. He couldn’t help but think about her and his brothers before each match. One brutal fight could leave him broken, destroyed, or dead. After all his family had done to support him, he couldn’t let them down. He fought for them as much as he fought for himself and his career.

Truly the only woman who had ever understood him, thinking of her would only turn him into mush. For what he had to do in a few minutes, he needed to be on his game, an animal. He needed to be Gunnar “Guns” Wells, the heavyweight International Ultimate Fighting champion that the spectators loved to hate. Or maybe they hated to love him since he hadn’t lost a match since starting the sport.

As he marched in his bare feet, he closed his eyes and envisioned the entire match, a calming technique he’d employed for years thanks to his yoga-loving mother. He stomped on the thin carpet that covered the concrete flooring. The hardness reminded him that nothing came easy to him, and it shouldn’t. Only hard work would get him the rewards he wanted. Fighting afforded him the lifestyle he’d only dreamed of as a youth. If only he could have shared the success with someone.

“No negative thoughts. No negative thoughts.” Gunnar talked to himself a lot to get into the headspace needed for his match.

As usual, he’d made sure to clear out his locker room before his match. No one disturbed him or retrieved him until he got called to the ring. After each winning match, he did the same ritual. He called his mother and then his two brothers, Gideon and Thane. All three of them understood the mentality it took for him to psych himself up to perform.