After dinner, Brandon and Amber grabbed his cover and made their way to the sofa to watch TV. "I have Netflix," he told her. "Is there anything you want to watch?"
"I've never seen The Walking Dead and your girlfriend is going to bug the fuck out of me if I don't."
Brandon chuckled and picked up the remote to put on The Walking Dead. "I've never seen it either. We can binge on it together. Your wife already asked me to watch it ten times."
"See?"
When Brandon got the show on, he adjusted the cover and made room for Amber between his legs. She made herself comfortable, leaning into his chest.
He hadn't realized how good Amber's hair smelled until she had her head right under his nose. He couldn't resist it as he stroked her hair, pulling a lock up to smell the coconut and mango.
"Why are you being weird?"
"What do you mean?"
"I can feel you smelling my hair."
"I like your shampoo."
Amber looked up at him and turned back to the TV. "I haven't washed my hair in three weeks. You like my leave-in conditioner."
"Well that, I like it."
The two sat through the whole first season together before Brandon turned on the regular TV to watch an episode of Miami Ink recorded in his DVR.
Amber rolled over so that she and Brandon were chest to chest and she closed her eyes, resting her hand on Brandon's chest, listening to the show as she drifted off, making herself comfortable.
When the episode went off, Brandon moved the cover, completely expecting his girlfriend to get the message and get up. "Amber?"
When she didn't respond, he shook her a little bit. Realizing that she was asleep, he decided to let her stay that way and the two of them slept on the couch that way.
When Amber woke the next morning, she just lied where she was a moment, staring at the ceiling, resting her hands on Brandon's arms around her before she slid the cover and gently removed herself from Brandon's embrace, slipping the cover back over him and going into the bathroom to clean herself up before she started on breakfast.
When she scrambled her eggs, she went to wake Brandon. "Chulo," she whispered, leaning over him. "Brandon. Wake up."
"What, Amber?"
"Breakfast."
Brandon wiped the sleep from his eyes and looked over at his girlfriend before he closed his eyes again briefly.
When he got up, Amber was satisfied and went to make plates while she heard him in the bathroom.
The two sat at the table together and Brandon reached across the table to take Amber's hands. "What are you doing?"
"You're going to pray over your food, right? We can say grace together."
Without any more words, Amber dipped her head and began to pray over their food. Then the two began to eat in silence for a few minutes. Amber knew Brandon wasn't much for talking when there was food in his face.
"I have to be to work in a couple hours. But if it's okay with you and Samiya, I'd like to come over tonight."
"That's fine, chulo."
"I want to take you to lunch."
"Then we can go to lunch."
"Do you have anywhere in particular that you would like to go?"
"I'll make the reservation."
"Remember that I'm not as rich as you, so don't pick a place that will break my pockets." He smiled teasingly and leaned over to kiss her so that she knew that he was joking.
Before Amber could reply, Brandon saw that the precinct was calling. "Hold that thought, baby," he told Amber.
Amber began to clean up the kitchen as she waited for Brandon to come back. When he did, he was grinning and she glanced over at him.
"I got good news."
"Well don't keep me in the dark."
"Raul and I traded shifts with a couple other officers, so I don't have to go to work until after midnight. Which means that I can spend all day with you."
Brandon pulled Amber into his arms and was rewarded with a wide smile from Amber, her eyes lighting up. She could never know what seeing that look on her face did for him.
She wrapped her arms around him, resting her hand on his shoulder. "Back to this lunch."
"Just try not to break my pockets."
"I can make lunch. If you don't have work until tonight, I want to stay in."
Brandon was a little conflicted on that. He wanted to be seen with Amber on his arm, but on the other hand, spending the whole day inside with her wasn't a bad thought either.
"What if we order in," he suggested, meeting her in the middle.
"That works for me," she agreed.
Brandon leaned down to kiss her and slid his arms down her waist to lift her up and carry her to the couch. She giggled as he laid her over the arm and she looked up at him as he took her hands in his, looking down at her.
"Should I ever have the fortune of looking at such a beautiful woman," he mumbled before he lifted her up and sat on the sofa beside her, pulling her closer to him.
She slid her arms around his waist, and before she had time to realize it, his lips were against hers. She adjusted herself on the furniture and wrapped herself around Brandon, allowing him to consume her.
Every piece of her ignited with his touch. The feeling of falling in love again was all at once the most luxurious and the simplest pleasure. As badly as Amber wanted to jump Brandon's bones, she respected his need not to feel like a sexual object, and she accepted the necking session for what it was.
Brandon slowly pulled away from Amber and looked down at her for a moment, just admiring her beauty for a moment. He took this moment to be alone with her and just give her 100 percent of his attention like he never could when Samiya was with them.
Amber reached up to stroke his face. There it was, that soft, vulnerable piece of her that surprised him when he got it.
"Amber?"
"Hmm?"
He sat up and she slowly sat up too, her eyes following him in concern. She watched Brandon shake his head slowly before he put his face in his hands. This worried her and she got on the floor, sinking to her knees to take his hands and see into his face.
"What's wrong?"
"I'm sorry. I projected my fears onto you, and that was unfair of me. You owned your end of our last fight, and now it's my turn to own mine."
Brandon sighed and lifted Amber off her knees and sat her back on the couch, holding her hands in his, looking at her.
"I don't believe my father is right. However, I can't help but wrack my mind over the what ifs. I've been hurt so many times, he made me wonder if my judgment is just poor. Just looking at the love you and Samiya share, I want to be a part of that. I want to spend the next several years, the rest of our lives, with the two of you. Sometimes, it's hard to tell how Sammi feels about me. With you, though, there's never any guessing. The fact that you're a physical, sexual person should never take away from that. When we were having breakfast, I had a chance to really think about that. If you want to, we can make love."
Amber was silent for a long time, and she slid slowly away from Brandon. Although the slight move alarmed Brandon, he knew that trying to take that space back was not going to do him any favors, and he allowed her to have the slight distance.
Amber looked up at Brandon and pulled her knees into her chest, saying nothing as she stared out of the window.
"You have every right to feel the way you feel, Brandon. And this time we're spending together right now, I like it. Sex is always going to be there."
Brandon could see Amber fighting back tears and he hurt to see that she was crying.
"My greatest fear since the first time my wife told me that she loved me was to lose her. To wake up one morning and discover that she had found herself happier and more fulfilled somewhere else. I never imagined the day that fear would be matched."
Amber climbed into Brandon's lap and put her arm around him, using her other hand to hold his face and look into his eyes. "Brandon, every day that I wake up, I worry that you will find yourself more fulfilled somewhere else. I will do anything conceivable between the two of you to maintain what we have. If that means that sometimes I have to put sex aside, I have never had a problem with that. Sex is always there."
He slid his arms around her. "As long as I know that you want me, and you show me that you want me, there's nowhere I'd rather be. There is nothing else that will fulfill me. What I have is two beautiful, intelligent, sexy, caring girlfriends. I have double the good." He pecked her lips softly and wiped her cheeks. "And twice the trouble."
Amber laughed as she wiped her tears. "I can't promise that you'll enjoy every little bit of having two girlfriends. Sometimes, I want to slap Samiya silly, and I don't. Now that there's three of us, there's going to be two people I want to slap silly, and I won't."
"Good. Because then I'd have to arrest you for assault of an officer."
Amber grinned wide and kissed Brandon's cheek. "You have no worries, Officer."
Amber laid her head on Brandon's shoulder and Samiya called. "Hello?"
"Your parents called the house and asked if we could come over today. I told them yes."
"Why didn't you have them call me?"
"Because I told them yes. They called as soon as they got back from their trip. I'm on my way to pick you up."
Amber looked at Brandon. "We're going to my parents' house today. Sammi is coming to get us."
"Okay."
"Okay, we'll be ready."
Amber hung up with her wife, and she and Brandon went to have a shower together. Brandon slid his arms around Amber, kissing her neck softly. Her hand slid around him to the nape of his neck and to his face before she moved to wash herself.
"My parents won't be like Sammi's," she promised, standing on her tippy toes to kiss him. "They'll love you. My family is far more accepting than yours and hers. So I don't want you to worry, chulo."
"That's good to know."
Before the two had even made it out of the shower, they heard Samiya enter the bathroom. "Amber, do I need to do something to your hair?"
"Why have you made it here so fast? When exactly did my parents call, Samiya?" Amber asked, rolling her eyes and exchanging a look with Brandon.
It was Samiya's turn to roll her hours. "They called a couple hours ago."
"You know Brandon and I had planned to stay in today?"
"Brandon's here?"
"Yes I am. Hi, Sammi."
"Good morning, Brandon." Samiya closed the toilet and sat down. "Am I doing your hair, Amber?"
"No, Samiya. I'm going to put my hair into a ponytail." Amber looked up at Brandon. "Maybe you should bring your uniform just in case," she suggested, getting a nod in agreement.
The two got out of the shower and grabbed towels. When they got dressed, the three of them headed out and made their way to Amber's parents' house.
"Mami, Papi!" Amber called, pulling her lovers into the house.
Amber found her father on the sofa in the front room watching a DIY show and she went to sit down beside him, grinning. "Hola, Papi."
"Hola, mija." Gabrielle kissed Amber's cheek with a smile before he turned to look for his daughter-in-law. "Get over here and say hello to me, Samiya." Gabriel got up to hug Samiya and when he released her, he noticed Brandon. "Who's the little boy?"
Amber laughed. "Mamá!"
Nayeli came out of the kitchen and she squealed when she saw her girls, squeezing them. "Oh, are you one of Caleb's friends?" she asked, when she noticed Brandon.
Brandon frowned and looked at Amber. She just shook her head and reached her hand out for her boyfriend. He took it and she wrapped her arms around him. "Mami, Papi, this is Brandon. He's Samiya's and my boyfriend. The three of us are in a relationship."
Nayeli's eyes widened and Gabriel tilted his head, looking between the three of them. Husband and wife exchanged a look and Gabriel extended his hand. "It's nice to meet you, Brandon. As long as my little girl is happy with you, we won't have any problems, young man."
"That's good to know, señor."
Nayeli just threw her arms around Brandon as if he were her very own son. "Great! Amber needs two people looking after her at all times. It's the whole reason her father and I stayed together so long!" she joked, and Gabriel chuckled.
Brandon was glad that he had met Amber's parents last. This was such a welcome reception and he was glad that what Amber had told him was true.
Amber smiled at her boyfriend knowingly when her mother released him. "Oh, niñas, que lindo. Good job," Nayeli complimented.
The girls laughed, and immediately, Samiya took her mother-in-law's hand. Before Brandon knew what happened, the two had disappeared. "They're going to conspire against me," Amber informed him. "We can sit here with my daddy."
Brandon heeded this suggestion and sat on the sofa. Amber removed her shoes and laid in Brandon's lap as he and her father spoke. She was ever aware of the soft rubbing of his fingers in her hair, feeling the deep vibrations with each word he spoke as his other hand held her fingers interlocked. She had found her own nirvana.