Impossibly True (Impossibly Duology) (19 page)

CHAPTER
TWENTY-NINE

Branden

  
My doubts proved to be useless
. The moment I entered the ice rink, it
was as easy as breathing. I skated like a pro, revisiting skills I hadn’t used
in so long. From the pleased expression on Coach Evans’ face, I knew I’d
impressed him too. And it only took me less than an hour to convince him how
good I was.

  
I’d officially joined the school team by Wednesday. Moya would be just as
elated when she heard the news. As for my parents, I still needed to clue them
in on what I’d been up to. Mom had an idea I was trying to play again when
she’d found the letter from the school’s athletics department, but she didn’t
know I’d actually gone through with my plans in spite of her disapproval.

  
Whatever.

  
It was my life, and I was going to live it and enjoy it my way.

  
Speaking of enjoying life, Moya was on her way over to my dorm. I’d showered
fast when I came back from hockey practice to straighten the room for her
arrival. I didn’t want her thinking I was a slob with clothes thrown all over
the place. I sprayed some air freshener to eliminate the smell of sweat too.

  
When she knocked lightly on my door, I glanced over my shoulder to make sure
everything was okay before opening it.

  
“Hey, babe,” she smiled.

  
There was something indescribable about seeing the person you loved after going
a day and a half of not seeing their face. And when Moya slipped past me inside
my room, time slowed down for me. An animalistic feeling crawled over my skin.
I had to be inside her now.

  
I closed the door fast and wrapped my hands around her, gripping her tightly
from behind. She gasped in an exotic way, inducing my desire.

  
I whispered in her ear, “I missed you.”

  
She laughed, as if she intended to drive me even crazier. Pulling out of my
hold, she turned and said, “I missed you too.” Then she kissed me, in the most
hot and heavy way she could, while grabbing at my sweatshirt and tracing my
abs.

  
We made love again, and ended up falling asleep in each other’s arms. I woke up
past midnight to turn off the light in the room, slipping back under the covers
with Moya afterwards. She moaned awake then rested her head on my chest, no
longer fearful that I wasn’t fully healed.

  
I listened to her heavy breathing, sounding as if she was troubled about
something.

  
“How’s work going?”

  
She answered in a mellow tone. “It’s okay.”

  
“Hmm…” I ran my hands down her smooth arm. “Anything else you want to tell me?”

  
She eased up and peered into my eyes. “I saw Samantha yesterday.”

  
My eyes narrowed in my confusion.
“Where?
How did you
even know it was her?”

  
Sitting up on the bed, she brushed back her loose curls. “I bumped into her at
the plaza. She knew what I looked like, and turns out she was waiting at your
dorm for you yesterday.”

  
I sat up as well. “I’m sorry, babe. My mom invited her to the house a few times
without my knowing and probably showed her your photo. I’m sorry she’s being a
pain. I thought after the last time she stopped by that I’d made it
clear—”    

  
“Your mom must really like her, if she keeps inviting her over. Sounds like
she’s hoping you’ll get back together.” Her eyes drifted away from mine,
piercing the blue circles on my sheet. “What was all that then? Why did she
pretend to warm up to me?”

  
I brushed her cheek, saying, “That was a stupid mistake on her part, and she
really does like you, babe. It’s just she and Sam hit it off when I was dating
her. They used to go shopping together and all that crap so it’s not easy for
her to forget that. My mom likes anyone willing to rub up to her and kiss her
ass, which was basically what my ex did.”

  
She looked at me and shrugged; a frown still on her face. I reassured her even
more, “Don’t let that stuff bother you. We’re going to get married, remember?
It’s you and me forever, Moya, and no one’s going to come between us.”

  
Finally she smiled, leaning in for a soft kiss on my lips. “You’re right. I’m
only pissed your ex can’t get it through her head. Anyways,” she positioned
herself on top of me. “Forget about it. Let’s focus on us right now.”

  
And so I did. I allowed her to take full control, placing my hands on her butt
and closed my eyes to drown in the utmost pleasure she was giving me.          

  
It was as if we were drunk on love when the heated moment ended. Breathless, we
lay on our sides and stared dazedly into each other’s eyes. My lids started to
feel heavy.

  
I fought off sleep, wanting to gaze into her beautiful eyes for as long as I
could after experiencing our incredible intimacy once again. Only when Moya’s
eyes slowly began to close, I couldn’t resist sleep any longer. Finally giving
in, I slipped away in seconds, where her face haunted my dreams.

  
I went home for the weekend, going in search of Mom the moment I entered the
front door. I found her in the den, walking on the treadmill.

  
“You showed Samantha Moya’s photo?” I asked in a flat tone.

  
She stared at me with a blank expression, and then it was as if a light bulb
went off in her head. “Oh…yes. That time when—”

  
“See,” I brushed back my hair, frustrated. “This is why I need you to stop
butting in, trying to mold everything and everyone into what you think is
best.”

  
 “Branden, it was before we had that talk about giving Moya a chance. I
haven’t said anything to Samantha since.”

  
“But the damage is already done. If you hadn’t convinced her to pursue me then
she wouldn’t be causing trouble for my relationship now.”

  
Mom paused for a moment before saying, “I’m sorry to hear that, Branden. I
spoke to her about it too, so I thought she’d be moving on.” She fixed the hair
band on her head. “Guess I was wrong.” Her voice was laced with regret. It
relaxed my tone.

  
“Just don’t make decisions about my life anymore. I’m old enough to do that for
myself.”

  
She nodded, holding her hands up in peace. “Of course, from here on out I am
completely mum to whatever.”

  
That reminded me. “I guess I should tell you I joined the hockey team.”

  
To my surprise, she didn’t get upset. If anything, she seemed unfazed. “Well, I
was expecting to hear that any moment now.”

  
“You’re not mad?”

  
“No.” She walked over to the couch and plopped down. “I was in your room the
other day, putting clean towels in your bathroom. Then I saw that jersey Moya
gave you for Christmas.”

  
I walked over to the couch and sat down beside her.

  
She continued, “It’s the first time since you got sick that I’d seen a hockey
jersey hanging on your wall and I felt…happy. I started to remember when you
were little, and how excited you were when you discovered the sport. You got so
good at it and your father and I were very proud.

  
“Then when you found out you were sick and had to stop playing, I watched that
light fade away…” She choked back tears and clasped my hands into hers. “I want
you to be happy again, sweetheart. I don’t want to take that joy away from you
now that you’ve found it again.”

  
“So, you’re cool with it?” I confirmed, still surprised by her reaction.

  
“Yeah, I’m cool. Of course I’ll always be worried about you because that’s what
mothers do. Regardless, I’m…okay with you playing again.”

  
I laughed whole-heartedly, hugging her. “Thanks, Mom. You do know that even if
you didn’t want me to play I still would have.”

  
She patted me on the back. “Oh, well. I guess I rather support you instead of
putting more tension between us. You’re all I have now, remember?”

  
Backing away from her, I glanced over her face and admired her motherly smile.
The one that made her blue eyes sparkle.

  
“Oh,” she shot to her feet. “About your birthday dinner, you want to try
Louie’s? I’ll have to make a reservation.”

  
I stood. “Yeah, sounds good. Also, can Moya and her parents come too? I’d
really like for you and dad to meet them.”

  
“Your father’s invited?” she muttered under her breath, moving towards the
stairs.

  
“Um, yeah…why wouldn’t he be?” I followed her up the steps.

  
“No reason. I just hope he doesn’t bring that tramp.”

  
I paused midway, watching as she continued to the top and turned down the
hallway. I almost forgot Dad said he was going to marry Karen. Maybe Mom found
out about it? Whatever the case, I wasn’t going to be the one to tell her if
she didn’t know.        

CHAPTER
THIRTY

Moya

  
I got the weekend off
work so I went home.
On Sunday afternoon, I
stopped by Dad’s jewelry store. He had a few orders he was working on and since
the store was closed for the day, he’d asked me to come by. I made a promise to
try and work on reconnecting with him so when he called, I didn’t hesitate.

  
“When did you start making jewelry?” I asked, sitting on the stool behind him
as he finished a beaded bracelet with silver hearts. “I don’t remember you
being interested in all this when I was little.”

  
He answered, “It was a couple of months after your mom and I split up. The
opportunity came to own this store and I took the risk. I bought all the
supplies and went right to work.” A broad smile played across his lips. “A few
years later and here I am; a semi successful jewelry maker.”

  
Going back to the bracelet, he asked, “What about you, baby girl? What are your
dreams and aspirations?”

  
“Humph...” I lingered in thought for a moment. Branden had asked me that before
too. “I guess…to be the best I can be at whatever I end up doing in life.”

  
He stopped working, turned and eyed me intently as if he was trying to
understand the grown-up me. “But what do you want to do?”

  
I gave more thought to it then answered, “To be honest, I only ever wanted to
get a good job so that I can help Momma. I never really thought about what I
really wanted for
myself
. The main reason why I’m studying finance in
college is because it was something I was good at. It wasn’t exactly a dream of
mine. It was mostly her—”

  
“Your momma’s idea,” he finished for me. “Moya, when I was your age I gave up a
lot of things because I listened to my dad. I wanted to be a craftsman, but he
convinced me to take business courses.” He released a sarcastic laugh. “I only
started being happy the day I stopped letting him control my life.”

  
“So, are you saying momma’s keeping me from happiness too?”

  
“No, baby girl.”
He reached over and patted my arm.
“I’m only saying you should live for you. Don’t let anybody live their dreams
through
you.” He spun around and went back to work, adding, “Not even me.”

  
I went back to looking at some of his works in progress. A pair of silver
earrings with pearl beads caught my eye. They reminded me of a set my momma
owned.          

  
“How’d you and momma meet?” I asked.

  
Getting up from the stool, he walked over to another table with several gift
boxes and picked up a small green one.

  
“She never told you that story?” he sounded amazed, and a tad disappointed.

  
“No. She doesn’t talk about you much and I don’t want to upset her by pressing
her about the past.”

  
“Well,” he turned and perched at the edge of the table, clutching the box in
his hand. “We were around your age actually. I was at the
Ice lounge
, me
and my boys. Then your momma and three other girls walked in. She caught my
attention immediately. It wasn’t exactly the fiery red dress that showed off
her figure, but it was something else about her. It’s like her body glowed in
confidence.” His eyes lit up as he trailed off into memory. It moved my heart
to see how sacred it was to him. There was still a part of him that loved her.

  
“Her hair bounced with every movement; when she danced, when she laughed,” he
continued. “I watched her for a long time that night before finding the courage
to go up and say hi. And when I did, do you know what she said to me?” he
laughed.

  
My interest was beyond piqued now. I urged him on, “What did she say?”

  
He met my gaze, his almond eyes beaming with joy. “She said, ‘man, what took
you so long?” he mimicked her voice.

  
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Sounds like Momma.”

  
“Yeah, well after that night we couldn’t stay away from each other. I was sure
we’d—” he stopped suddenly and peered away from me, placing the bracelet inside
the box.

  
“You thought you’d be together forever,” I ended his sentence.

  
We fell into a quiet moment. Dad fidgeted with the box as his eyes burned into
the tiled floor. Trying to fix the mood, I hopped up from the stool and
suggested, “Lunch?”

  
He perked up.
“Sure thing.
Let’s go.”