50 Shades of Drake 5 and 6

Chapter Twenty-Seven

    Jasmine swatted at Carlos's hand.

    "What?" he shrieked. "You stare at me all morning like you want me to say something, and then I say something, and then you pat my hand like I'm a third grader who wrote on the wall in permanent marker. Keep your hands to yourself, woman." He turned to Destiny and Aubrey. "And you two... this house is too damned big for everyone to be sleeping on top of each other, close enough to you to hear everything that goes on in that bedroom of yours. Either invest in some soundproofed walls or some shit, or...I don't know. Go down to the pool next time. Or to the basement. Or to the nearest hotel."

    Aubrey scratched his head. "I'll take that into consideration. We need to get a move on if we're going to catch these flights on time."

    "Convenient change of subject," Carlos commented.

    Aubrey folded his hands together on top of the table and leaned forward in Carlos's general direction. "Do you really want to talk convenience?"

    Carlos shook his head and sipped his orange juice.

~~~~~~

    "Make sure you call us more often," Mrs. Richards said, her eyes filled with tears. "And keep your phone on you. You never have your phone on you these days."

    "I will. I promise." Destiny wrapped her arms around her mother and held her.

    Her father wrapped his arms around the both of them. "You need to visit us soon. I'll make sure Kevin and Tasha are nowhere to be found."

    Destiny laughed.

    Mr. Richards pulled back from then and turned to Aubrey. Wearing a smile that a father has reserved for his son, he extended a hand to the younger gentleman. "Despite...everything that I've heard in that house, I have faith that you will take care of my little girl."

    Aubrey nodded. "Of course, Mr. Richards."

    Mr. Richards tightened his grip on Aubrey's hand. "I mean it. Watch over her. Protect her. She's mature for her age in many ways, but...she's young. In a lot of ways, she's still naive. She's still learning, and..." His voice became choked up and he stared down at the floor of the airport. "She's still my baby. Still my little girl. So just..."

    "I understand, Mr. Richards," Aubrey said. "You don't have anything to worry about. I'll protect her until my dying day."

    Mr. Richards beamed up at him and threw his arms around him. "Thank you. For everything."

    "It was my pleasure having your family here with us," Aubrey said. "And don't forget, you should have a car waiting for you in the driveway when you get home. Let me know how it rides."

    "You bet, son."

    "Where are Sandi and Dennis?" Mrs. Richards asked Aubrey. "They aren't flying out today?"

    "My dad has a house out here now, and my mom decided to stick around a little longer," Aubrey explained. "She has some friends that she's made in Los Angeles. She decided to pay them a visit while she's nearby."

    "Sandi is a lovely lady," Mrs. Richards told him earnestly. "We really hit it off. Tell her that I wish her the best."

    "I will," Aubrey promised.

    Destiny approached Carlos, Candace, and Jasmine.

    "I'm going to hold Aubrey to that whole 'I'll see what I can do' business," Candace said, tilting her nose into the air. "I want to come back to Cali sooner, rather than later."

    "I'd love for you to come back," Destiny said, hugging her. "I feel like I didn't get to spend enough time with you guys while you were here."

    "Probably because you were busy getting our back blown out in all kinds of directions," Jasmine said, sliding a pair of sunglasses over her eyes. "Good God, girl, don't either of you ever get tired? Like...ever?"

    "His stamina is inhuman," Candace agreed, bobbing her head up and down.

    "So is yours," Jasmine told Destiny with her eyes wide.

    Destiny looked away from them, knowing that she only had herself to blame for everyone hearing her and Aubrey getting it on the night before. Knowing that did very little to ease the embarrassment she felt. "Sorry about that."

    "Sorry? I'm jealous as hell," Candace said.

    "You and me both," Carlos said, smoothing back his dark, shoulder-length hair.

    Destiny said her goodbyes to her friends, and stood waiting while her friends and family boarded their respective planes. With her hands clasped together in front of her, she walked over to the large windows overlooking the runway.

    Aubrey walked up to her and slid his arms around her waist. He pulled her close to him, then rested his chin on her shoulder. "It's hard to believe that when we go back to the house, none of them will be there."

    "What about your crew?" she asked curiously. "Ryan and OB? Chubbs and Mark?"

    "They've got a party to catch in Miami," he replied. "But they insisted on taking the private jet. They're too good for first-class, I guess."

    She giggled and leaned back against him. "So when we get back to the house, it'll really be just us?"

    She felt him nod. "Carlos rides in a separate car from us. From here, he's jumping right into condo hunting. My realtor e-mailed him a list, so he's out of our hair for awhile."

    "So this will be like...the first day of our lives together," she said softly. "Hmm."

    "'Hmm,' indeed," he murmured, squeezing her.

~~~~~~

    The tinted-windowed SUV pulled up to Aubrey's house. Aubrey got out of the car and assisted Destiny out. He made small-talk with the driver, managing to cover family, sports, and a clipped dialogue on politics within the span he of less than ten minutes. Then his arm was around Destiny, and he was walking her up to the front door of his sprawling mansion.

    She glanced over her shoulder at the SUV as it pulled away, then followed Aubrey into the house.

    He stopped walking just inside of the house and started to adjust the cuffs of his dress shirt.

    The door swung closed behind her. She patiently waited for him continue walking, but he didn't.

    Instead, he turned to her while continuing to adjust the cuffs of his dress shirt. His dark, downturned eyes scanned down the length of her, then lifted back up to her face. "Your clothes," he said quietly. "Take them off."