Page 55 of The Impact (Parachutes #3)

She chuckled nervously. “Wow. I guess you’re owed that one.

” He waited. “I don’t know. I guess I didn’t know any better.

I was comfortable…and I loved him. So,” she switched gears, brightening.

“Next question. Finally meeting Tahli, and seeing how strong-willed she is, I’m surprised you didn’t run to the other side after your divorce. ”

“The other side?” Vin’s forehead wrinkled.

“You know. I see all of these guys, especially on social media–”

“Oh, I don’t know what goes on there,” Vin snickered. “That’s a whole other world.”

“It is,” Bianca laughed. “But…there’s this whole wave of dating non-black women who will submit to you and treat you well.

Passport Guys, or something. I’m sure you’ve encountered this conversation even off of social media.

The advantages of broadening your palette.

” Vin’s brows jumped before he folded his big, scribbled up arms.

“Alright…so keep it a buck, I love all women. Women are just…” He searched. “They’re smarter, they have more emotional intelligence, they’re kinder, they smell better.” Bianca giggled.

“There’s a lot of universal qualities that stretch across the board of women being amazing.

But for me?” He touched his chest. “I have dated all kinds of women, but I always knew the woman that would have my children would be a black woman. When I changed my mind about marriage, I knew it would be a black woman I married. A specific one, but still. For me…it’s natural.

I don’t have to explain or make anyone understand what I’m feeling, when I’m feeling it, or why I’m feeling it.

She gets my struggle. I get hers. Niggas who talk that game of other races catering to and respecting men better…

From my walks of life, those other women were the most transactional experiences.

Whether it’s finance or a fantasy…there’s a price for all of that catering and purring your name in an exotic accent.

But the black women I knew since I was a li’l nigga, those were the ones really holding it down for dudes.

Putting money on books, two bus rides to the island, letting niggas flip tax money they ain’t never seeing again, letting niggas parole to their crib.

Only for niggas to use them as a steppingstone to the status to get the fantasy chick, only because it’s what they not used to.

Turning around and calling black women masculine when they’re actually the biggest nurturers.

But we’ve rewired them. Why you think other races had black women raising their babies?

How anybody from any race will never forget a love from a black woman if they had the privilege to receive it.

They protect you. Genuinely love you with no expectations.

Tahli used to talk me up, and I wasn’t shit,” Vin divulged.

“But she’d speak so much life into me, I felt ten feet tall.

Nah…I wasn’t running to no other side. Truthfully, I’m not running to anything.

But if I did, it wouldn’t be away from that. ”

Bianca’s eyes glossed over. “I am so confounded by you.”

Vin sipped his water again, after oversharing, then put his cap back on bottle. “I’m just a man, baby.”

“Nah. You’re the man.” He grinned.

“Oh, I’m the man?”

“Yup. Too bad we’re just friends. I could show you better than I could tell you.” They held the longest eye contact, and Vin started to see Bianca’s drunken confessions wasn’t alcohol driven.

“I get it,” she tucked her long hair behind her ear. “Tahli was the love of your life. But you have a lot to offer a girl. And you have needs, too.”

Her voice was honeyed, and her face was appealing. And to her, he didn’t fall short. Vin cleared his throat.

“Come over here,” he demanded. When she reached him, he pulled her down for her to mount him, watching her chest rise and fall in expectancy.

“Let’s be clear. There’s a short list of things I need .

Sex is not one of them. I learned very young how to go without it and how much better it is with a little anticipation sprinkled in.

” Vin traced fingers along her neck to grip the back of it.

“But don’t get me wrong. There is shit I miss,” he confessed.

“Like soft ass skin…and you got some soft ass skin. Sweet perfume. Running my fingers through hair.” He did it, stroked his fingers through her tresses to brush against her scalp, and she moaned delicately.

“Tasting lip gloss…” He pulled her close and kissed her slow until she whimpered.

“Oh, Vin…”

“Oh, what?” He breathed against her lips, arousal mounting, as she started to grind in his lap. Distant buzzing made Vin hold her still by her waist. “You hear that? Where’s my phone?”

Vin followed the noise, finding it when it had already ceased. He had a missed call from Tahli and one from a client. He went to return Tahli’s, and his phone rang in his hand.

“Let me call you right back, Lola.”

“Oh…okay.”

“What’s wrong?” Vin picked up on reluctance to share her concern. Like Vin, Lola was used to navigating shit alone.

“Nothing, just. I don’t wanna leave the treatment center, but my leg been bothering me. They checked it out but said it’s fine. Think you can get me an appointment or something? Or like, it’s no big deal. I mean they said it’s fine.”

Tahli was calling again.

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll make you an appointment. Just stay off your feet until I do.”

“Okay. You think you can Doordash me some food? They got some real nasty shit tonight–”

“Lola, call me back in five minutes. Tell me what you want. I gotta take this.” He switched over, already nervous. Tahli never called him back-to-back.

“What’s wrong, Tahli?”

“Viiiiiinnnnnnn!” She shrilled, splitting his skull. Until this moment, Vin thought losing Tahli was the worst thing that happened to him. Until the thought of any of his children being in danger flashed through his mind at sound’s speed.

“What?” He thundered.

“Vin! It’s…it’s…”

“Fucking what, Tahli? Speak!”

“Hey, do you want the last buffalo wing-?” Vin slammed the bedroom door on Bianca before she entered, alarm sprinting through his veins.

“It’s…it’s Abby! Vin, she…she had a heart attack! I’m so scared. Dalviiiinnnnn,” Tahli wailed, tearing into him. “What do I doooooo?”

His eyes watered on the dresser Tahli had once chosen for their bedroom.

“Should we get it in stone or charcoal?”

“Tahli, I don’t care about the color of the dresser. Just make sure it’s strong enough for me to fuck the shit out of you on it.”

“Vin, I can’t lose Abby. I lost too much. Why is everything so fucked up?” She sobbed. He swiped his closed eyes.

“I’m on my way.”

“Where are my kids?”

Vin forgot he hated Drew. He was the first one Vin spotted, pacing the entrance to the emergency room, massaging his goatee. So, Vin grilled him first.

“Uh…Vanessa took them home.”

Vin was thankful for that.

“Where’s Tahli?”

“They just brought Abby out of the ambulance and her and Paige followed them back.”

Vin shook his head. Something dark was targeting them. Ever since Sophie. She set off a plague, picking them off one by one.

Or maybe he was the plague.

“What the fuck happened?” he found himself blowing out, looking at Drew. Vin had vowed never to ask this nigga for ice water in hell. But it was just them. So here they were.

Drew sighed, seeming spooked. Him and Vin on opposites of the wall, the sliding doors opening and closing with emergency patients.

“I was playing softball with Terran in the backyard.”

Vin talked down his temper at that.

“Then Tahli called me screaming.”

Dread rattled Vin’s bones. Nothing could happen to Abby. He wasn’t sure how Tahli would cope.

“I hadn’t been in a hospital since my wife died.” That sobered Vin, straightening his spine. “Now…between Tahli’s accident and this…” Drew rubbed the rest of his words into his lips.

“When did you lose your wife?” Vin didn’t know. Something about it troubled him.

“Five years…three months.”

Vin gulped. He’d almost lost Tahli. Couldn’t imagine breathing if he had.

But what choice would he have? And yes, Tahli may have been here , but Vin had still lost her.

He loved being married to her. Loved having a companion.

Loved coming home to her, lying down with her. Laughing with her. Debating with her.

Something about it made Drew more human. Made Vin wonder what second-chance-at-love fate Drew and Tahli were on and if it ran deeper than what helped him sleep at night.

“I’m sorry.” Vin cleared his throat after giving it, tasting the bitterness. Still hated the nigga.

The doors, reading “EMERGENCY” in big letters, swung open, and Tahli and Paige burst through.

Tahli was a fucking wreck. A white tank top stained brown. Red nose and redder eyes that wouldn’t stop leaking. She seemed to cry more when their eyes met. Distress overtook Vin as he clenched his teeth, trying to maintain composure. But watching someone you loved in pain hurt more than your own.

Dali broke her ankle when she was eleven ice skating. She shrilled in agony for the whole rink to hear, and Vin was busting his ass, running sneakers over ice in a flash. That’s how he felt now, as Tahli opened her arms, legs turning to spaghetti.

Drew rushed to her. “Baby–”

“Dalvin!” Out of her right mind. She avoided Drew’s waiting arms and collapsed into Vin. Of course, he caught her. But he felt for the man, oddly. “Why is this happening?” She sobbed. “I…I can’t lose Abby!”

“I know,” Vin whispered in her ear, clutching her, as her body juddered with choppy weeps. From the edge of his sight, Vin caught Drew’s frown before the boy looked to Paige.

“I ain’t hugging you,” Paige let Drew know. Vin would have found it comical if Tahli’s pain wasn’t paralyzing him.

“Vin, I can’t do this. I…I literally can’t do this,” she shook her head adamantly in stutters.

“I’m not…I’m not me. I’m not strong enough for this shit, yet.

I lost you. I can’t lose Abby, too. I can’t lose both of my best friends.

Please…Please don’t let this happen, Vin. Go in there. Go back there!”

His mouth opened with no words. Caught Drew’s staggered stare into oblivion. Realized the man had no clue how he and Tahli operated. The faith she used to instill in him before she stopped trusting him to kill her fears.

“Hey.” Vin gripped her head, big hands shielding her ears from any outside noise.

“Lock the fuck in. Look at me.” She trained her darting eyes on his.

“Abs is gonna be alright. You got this. It’s just one of those things.

Shit happens. Shit happens and we get through it.

Move past it and more shit happens. Right? ”

She shut her eyes, nodding obediently. Opened them more composed, and Vin’s blinding light dimmed enough for her to spot Drew waiting in the shadows.

“Drew.” Tahli rushed to him with open arms, and Vin lowered his head to the floor, pouting like he was four. When he looked up, he met Paige’s wavering gaze.

“I ain’t hugging yo’ ass, either,” she declared. Vin snorted, giving in to Paige’s humor, which she used as a defense mechanism to her fear. Whole time, he prayed the promises he delivered to Tahli weren’t empty, and that he wouldn’t disappoint her again.