Elias ‘Stack’ Moore was making his way back to The Blackline as the heat hung over the city, beating down on him something fierce. He had spent most of the day handlin’ business. A shipment needed confirming. Two men owed him money. A supplier on the east side had spent twenty minutes explaining why he was late and another ten apologizing for it. And Smoke was tied up seeing a man about hiring two new runners to travel from Mound Bayou back to Little Rock.

By the time Stack turned down an alley behind a butcher shop, he was ready for a drink and a quiet chair.

That was, until he heard it.

A sharp cry.

Stack stopped.

The sound came again

“Mrrrow”

Stack glanced around the alley.

Wooden crates. Broken barrels. A rusted tub. Flyers for the Dreamland Ballroom. Billie Holiday’s faded picture on the front cover.

Then, he spotted a flash of white beneath a stack of boxes.

Stack crouched.

“Well now.”

Two blue eyes stared back at him.

The kitten looked half-starved. Its fur was dirty. One ear had a small nick. It couldn’t have been more than a few months old.

The kitten immediately hissed.

Stack blinked. “That’s a mighty strong opinion from somebody the size of a biscuit.”

The kitten hissed again.

Stack chuckled. “Yeah. You tough.”

He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out the wrapped piece of smoked sausage from the butcher he’d bought earlier for a little taste until he’d gotten back to see what Aunt Pearl was cooking up.

The kitten watched every movement.

Slowly, Stack tore off a piece and set it on the ground.

The little thing hesitated.

Then, it darted forward and clamped it between its paws, pink beans dirty. It started munching, tiny sharp teeth nibbling away.

Gone in seconds.

Stack tore off another piece.

And another.

By the fourth piece, the kitten wasn’t hiding anymore.

By the sixth, it was standing beside his shoe.

By the eight, it was rubbing against his ankle.

Stack sighed. “Ah, hell.”

The kitten meowed.

“You done made up your mind already, ain’t you?”

The kitten looked up at him.

Stack pointed toward the alley entrance.

“You know I run a juke and brothel, right? Loud music. Drink fools. Women that’ll dress you in ribbons and bows.”

The kitten blinked.

“I ain’t got time for no cat.”

The kitten rubbed against his shoe again.

Five minutes later, Stack Moore was walking toward The Blackline with a white kitten tucked inside his jacket.

The first person to notice was Peaches.

Stack had barely stepped through the back entrance when she narrowed her eyes.

“What you got under there?”

“Nothin’.”

Something moved beneath his jacket.

Peaches gasped.

Cordelia appeared from nowhere.

“What is that?”

Stack groaned.

The kitten poked its head out.

“Mrrrow.”

The women erupted.

“Oh, Lord!”

“Look at that baby!”

“Where’d you find him?!”

“She hungry?”

“Can I hold it?!”

Stack immediately regretted every decision that had brought him to this moment. Within minutes, the kitten had been fed milk, wrapped in a towel, and given three different names.

Stack rejected all of them.

Smoke found them gathered in Stack’s office later that evening. He stepped through the doorway and stopped.

The kitten was asleep on Stack’s desk. Cordelia sat nearby sewing something. Peaches was scratching beneath its chin.

Stack was attempting to read paperwork.

Attempting.

Smoke stared. Then looked at his twin.

“You got a cat.”

Stack didn’t glance up.

“It got me.”

Smoke folded his arms.

The silence lasted several seconds. Smoke staring at the kitten with a peculiar expression. Then, he nodded his head once.

“That’s worse.”

Cordelia and Peaches giggled.

They would not stop hounding Stack about a damn name.

The kitten sat in the middle of Stack’s desk, licking one paw while half a dozen girls stood around staring at it. Even some of Stack’s muscle came peeking in to see.

“You gotta give it a name, daddy.” Peaches said.

“I don’t gotta do nothin’.”

Cordelia rolled her eyes. “You can’t keep callin’ it ‘cat.”

“I damn well can.”

The kitten stepped directly onto one of Stack’s money books. Stack lifted it and placed it back on the desk. The kitten immediately walked onto the book again.

Minnie pointed. “See? She got personality.”

“Or he.” Cordelia said, puffing on a cigarette.

Nobody actually knew. The kitten was too young to tell.

Peaches leaned forward. “What about Pearl!”

“No.”

“Daisy?” Another girl said.

“No.”

“Snowball?” Another girl said.

“Absolutely not.”

Cordelia laughed. “Angel?”

Stack looked at her like she’d lost her mind.

“Have you met this animal?”

As if on cue, the kitten swatted an ink pen off the desk.

It hit the floor.

Everyone watched it happen.

“See?” Stack said.

“Maybe Lily?” Peaches offered.

“No.”

“Magnolia?”

“No.”

“Sweet Pea?” Aunt Pearl called out as she walked past Stack’s office.

The look Stack gave her nearly sent Cordelia into laughter.

“What? She eaten my scraps I outta give my input, Elias.” Aunt Pearl argued.

“That cat ain’t sweet and neither are you.” Stack mumbled.

Aunt Pearl twisted her towel and swatted it at Stack. The girls giggled.

The kitten chose that moment to bite Stack’s finger.

It wasn’t hard but it was just enough.

Stack stared down at it.

The kitten stared right back.

Smoke stepped into the office. He took one look at the gathering.

“What ya’ll doin?”

“Namin’ Stack’s cat.”

Smoke looked at the kitten. The kitten looked at Smoke.

Then, for absolutely no reason, it hissed.

Smoke raised an eyebrow.

Stack pointed. “See? Mean.”

The kitten puffed itself up, all six ounces of attitude on display.

Smoke nodded once. “Mean little thing.”

Stack looked down at the kitten again.

The kitten looked up at him.

Then, it reached out and placed one tiny white paw on top of his hand.

Something about it made him grin. Not a big grin. Just enough.

“Trouble.”

Cordelia blinked. “What?”

Stack scratched beneath the kitten’s chin.

“That’s the name.”

The kitten immediately climbed onto his shoulder as if it approved.

Peaches laughed. “Trouble!”

Smoke nodded. “Fits.”

The kitten settled comfortably against Stack’s neck.

Stack shook his head. “Yeah.” Looking around the room, he added, “Besides, that what everybody call me when I walk through the door anyway.”

The kitten purred.

The name stuck.

Stack shook his head.

The kitten purred.

Trouble stayed. Nobody ever officially decided it. It simply happened.

A small cushion appeared beside Stack’s desk. Bowls for water and mashed up scraps the girls stole from the kitchen sat right outside of the office door. Smoke was talked into making a slot at the bottom of the back entrance door for the cat to come and go when it needed to relieve itself.

Trouble grew. Its fur became soft and bright. Its ribs disappeared. And despite an entire building full of people wanting its attention, it followed Stack everywhere.

It slept in his office. Sat on his desk during meetings. Occupied his bed when he was away. Curled beside him whenever he sat still longer than five minutes.

Every night after closing, Stack would lean back in his office chair while the cat occupied his lap like it owned the place.

Maybe it did.

One evening, long after the music downstairs had ended, Stack scratched beneath the cat’s chin while looking over the night’s books.

Trouble began purring.

Stack shook his head. “Everybody in this city wants somethin’ from me.”

Trouble blinked.

“You don’t even know who I am.”

Trouble stretched and settled deeper into his lap.

A smile tugged at the corner of Stack’s mouth.

For once, there was no business to handle.

No debts to collect.

No trouble waiting around the corner.

Just a small white cat asleep against him while the sounds of The Blackline drifted softly through the floorboards below.

It was the closest thing to peace Elias Moore had found in a very long time.

—

Just like every night, The Blackline was full to bursting. Folks were stacked three deep at the bar. Saturday night had filled The Blackline to the rafters. The poker tables stayed busy, the whiskey flowed without pause, and not a single chair sat empty in the house. Cigarette smoke curled toward the ceiling while laughter rolled through the crowded room.

On stage, Ruby Mae or “Big Beaver Mae” sat atop the piano in a sequined dress that caught every oil lamp in the room. Her voice slid through the Juke and Pussy Haven like warm sorghum syrup drizzled over cornbread. Speaking of, she had a hefty slice of Aunt Pearl’s sweet potato cornbread in her hand while she sung about a man with a hook for a pecker that ran off with her money. She earned whistles and applause from the crowd.

Meanwhile, Stack Moore was three hands into a poker game. He had a decent stack of chips in front of him and a man across the table sweating through his collar.

Then, Cordelia appeared.

Stack immediately knew that look.

He leaned back in his chair with a crease between his brows and a toothpick resting in the corner of his mouth.

“What?”

Cordelia folded her arms. “Don’t get mad.”

His eyes narrowed. “What happened?”

“It ain’t bad.”

“Cordelia.”

She pointed toward the stage.

Stack followed her finger.

Then froze.

There, perched on top of the piano beside the singer, sat Trouble.

The little white menace looked entirely pleased with himself.

Stack closed his eyes.

The poker players around him started laughing.

“How the hell…”

“He climbed up there.”

“Yeah but who let his little ass out my office?!”

Cordelia flicked her gaze away.

“Let me guess. Liza?”

“She said Trouble kept meowin’ wantin’ to get out—”

Stack shoved back from the table.

"That cat so little somebody could've stepped on him."

Cordelia followed as he headed across the room.

“He ain’t been stepped on.”

“Yet.”

By the time Stack reached the stage, Miss Ruby Mae had already spotted him.

A wicked smile spread across her face.

“Oh, look who’s comin’!”

The crowd turned.

Several people immediately started laughing.

Trouble stood, stretched, and sat right back down on top of the piano.

Miss Ruby Mae pointed dramatically. “Ya’ll know that cat?!”

The crowd answered at once.

“That’s Stack’s cat!”

“Hmm,” Ruby Mae laughed. “Just like Stack to surround himself with pussy, ain’t it?!”

“DAMN RIGHT!”

She laughed and slapped the piano. Then, she launched into an improvised verse.

🎶 I got a man named Stack, lord he dress so clean and fine… 🎶

The crowd cheered.

🎶 But his little white cat run that Blackline better than he run mine. 🎶

The room exploded with laughter.

Stack stopped at the edge of the stage.

Ruby Mae wasn’t finished.

🎶 That cat steal fish from the kitchen, knock whiskey on the floor… 🎶

Trouble meowed loudly.

A series of ‘aww’s’ filtered about.

Ruby Mae pointed at him.

🎶 And if Trouble don’t like your face, baby, don’t come back no mo’ 🎶

People were doubled over.

Even the piano player nearly missed a note.

Stack rubbed a hand over his face. “You encouragin’ him, woman!”

Ruby Mae laughed. “Honey, that cat don’t need encouragement.”

Trouble chose that exact moment to walk across the piano keys. A loud, awful cluster of notes rang through the room.

The crowd howled.

Stack finally stepped onto the stage and scooped the cat into his arms.

Trouble immediately started purring.

“You proud of yourself?”

The cat blinked.

Ruby Mae leaned toward the microphone.

“Ladies and gentlemen, give a hand to Mr. Elias Moore!”

The applause started instantly.

She pointed at the cat. “And the real owner of The Blackline!”

The cheering got even louder.

Stack shook his head while Trouble sat comfortably in his arms, completely unbothered by the chaos he’d caused.

As he walked away from the stage, he could still hear people laughing.

Cordelia passed by and grinned. “Trouble suits that cat just fine.”

Stack looked down at the little fluffy menace.

Trouble looked back at him.

Then, the cat had the nerve to yawn.

Stack sighed. “Yeah.”

The cat had been at The Blackline less than a month.

“OKAY!” Delta Slim held his hands up to silence the loud group. He had been gracious enough to let six people join him since they had been effectively banished from the larger cabin that Smoke and Stack Moore owned—the former was not present and the latter sat off from the rest of the group smoking a cigarette like it was his lifeline. Who was responsible for the predicament they were in now was anyone’s guess. “Now, y’all know I don’t mind you bein’ here but we can’t do all this yellin’ and fussin’ ‘round here. Why don’t y’all go one by one and explain what happened?”

“Well, we can start with Grace and Bo,” Mary pointed at the couple. “How did that stuff even get to a spot where Smoke and Annie could get it? I heard her tell y’all to put it away.”

Grace stood up scandalized by the accusation. “Excuse me? You seriously think we dosed our friends with somethin like that? You of all people, Mary!” 

Mary crossed her arms and stared the smaller woman down. “Yes, me of all people, Grace. How did it get out of your possession?”

Grace’s face crumpled trying to remember the details. “I don’t know! I took it to our room and put it in our—” She paused, the memory of that night coming back to her.

2 Nights before NYE

The bulk of the group had arrived at the SmokeStack cabin in the Smoky Mountains. When Grace and Bo arrived Stack, Mary, Smoke, Annie, Pearline, and Sammie were already there.

Annie put together a charcuterie board and finger foods for everyone to snack on after they took their luggage to their rooms and freshened up. It was truly a spread fit for a magazine or one of those food blogs that obviously took a lot of work and everyone quickly partook. 

Except Smoke—he sat away from the group scowling like he’d rather be any place but where he was. He had spent a considerable amount of time warning everyone that, even though it was winter, bears could still be roaming looking for food in the woods nearby so they should be cautious. As usual, they teased him about going into “Papa Smoke” mode and went on about their day.

“Aww. He’s grumpy,” Annie joked. “You’d think his heart would’ve grown three sizes during Christmas.” Her smile was wide but it was obvious that she was tired from the previous day’s travels plus everything she did to prepare for the rest of the group to arrive.

“Annie, I can hear you callin’ me a grinch,” Smoke called to her, his expression turning neutral.

“Good, I didn’t think I was speaking loud enough,” Annie shot back. “Come on over here, Smoke. We don’t bite.”

“I ain’t got proof that you don’t bite,” Smoke grumbled before joining them at the dining table and taking in all of Annie’s hard work. He shot her a disapproving look before taking a grape and popping it in his mouth.

“Slim said he rented out a cabin nearby so we can invite him over on New Year’s Eve,” Stack told the group.

“Imma have to make sure all the liquor locked up then,” Smoke sighed.

“Ooh! Annie, I forgot to show you what we picked up on the way in!” Grace pulled a small satin pouch from her pocket.

Annie groaned already knowing what was in the pouch. “I told you not to waste your money like that, Grace. That ain’t nothin’ but a few dried herbs and some mint oil. It doesn’t even have any natural aphrodisiacs in it.”

Grace waved her friend off. “The girlies on TikTok swear this is the real deal. A love spell in a bag, they say. Said a little pinch of it keep you and your man goin’ all night.” She winked at Annie.

“Don’t be pinchin’ nothin’ around here this week and put that stuff away before somebody confuse it with some seasonin’.” Her phone dinged with a text message. Looking at it, she shook her head and put her phone away.

Sliding the bag back in her pocket, Grace giggled. “Once we find you a man, Annie, I’ll give you a little bit of this.”

“And we will find you a man,” Mary flashed her the ring on her left hand. Her engagement to Stack on Christmas Day only strengthened her resolve to make sure Annie was partnered in the new year.

“I don’t remember losin’ a man so you don’t have find one for me,” Annie countered. No matter how much she insisted that she didn’t want her friends involved in her dating life, they never missed an opportunity to insert themselves anyway. Especially during the holidays when they felt sorry that she was alone.

Smoke scoffed catching everyone’s attention. He cleared his throat and looked away. “Can’t believe I’m agreein’ with Annie. Shit sound like a waste of money.”

“And Scrooge McDuck here ain’t one to waste a nickel,” Annie cracked as she gave him a pat on his head. The two walked a fine line between playful banter and all-out arguments. On separate occasions before this trip started, they had been warned against getting too heated and spoiling the fun for everyone else.

“Annie,” Mary warned looking pointedly at her best friend. She was a major proponent of the “keep Annie and Smoke from killing each other” mission. She could not handle another situation like the one they had on a trip to New Orleans the previous year.

Rolling her eyes, Annie removed her hand from Smoke’s head and went to walk away from him before feeling the sting of a slap on her ass. “Fuck!” She rubbed the spot where it stung turning to get back at him but was dragged away by Mary. 

“Nope, nope, nope! Go put some ice on it or somethin’. Y’all ain’t doin’ this shit this week.” Mary shoved her towards the kitchen and turned back to Smoke. “Now why you do that?”

Smoke shrugged. “Seemed like she needed it.” He bit into a cube of cheese and  sat back like it wasn’t a big deal.

“You better sleep with one eye open, Smoke,” Bo laughed. “Annie ain’t lettin that one go.”

“She better,” Stack pointed at Smoke, “or both of y’all gone be sleepin’ outside with them damn bears for all I care. I ain’t havin’ a repeat of New Orleans.” It was evident that Stack was beyond fed up with Smoke and Annie’s antics.

The evening was peaceful for the most part with very little interaction between Annie and Smoke as the group spent time playing drinking games. Not a huge fan of alcohol, Annie stepped out to smoke a blunt she rolled earlier and make a quick phone call. She returned to her friends laughing uncontrollably and slurring their words.

“Annie! Annie!” Bo yelled her name when she closed the door behind her. “Do you think Smoke is a boob man or an ass man?”

She shrugged, her eyes low and a little red. “I know he can be an ass, man.” 

This set off another round of laughter from everyone except Smoke who was staring Annie down like he was planning his revenge.

“Who was you talkin’ to on the phone?” Smoke asked casually sidestepping her joke about him.

“Yeah, you been on your phone a lot,” Mary pointed out. “You hidin’ a man from us or somethin?” 

Annie grabbed her head obviously tired of this topic. “If I was hidin a man, Mary, you’d be the first to know where I buried his body.” 

“So who was on the phone?” Smoke pressed again.

“Ya mama, Smoke! Damn!” She removed her coat to hang on the coat rack before sitting down on the floor beside Mary.

Mary cleared her throat, her brows furrowed and her face red from the few shots she had downed during their game. 

Annie looked down knowing the topic of Sharon Moore was a sore spot for Mary. She stayed silent the rest of her time with the group, expertly dodging personal questions with jokes and witty quips.

Around 8pm, she called it a night and went upstairs to bed. Smoke retired to his room about thirty minutes later, not wanting to deal with any more obnoxious laughter or comments about his sex life. It wasn’t until 10pm when everyone else started to feel the toll the day took on their bodies and they ended the night as well.

Grace went to get ready for bed, her head swimming from the amount of liquor she consumed. In her room, she emptied her pockets pulling out the bag from earlier. As she went to put it in her luggage she heard clapping coming from Annie’s room. “What the hell is she celebrating this late at night?”

She went to the wall shared between the rooms and pressed her ear against it. There were a few muffled grunts before the clapping started again. Just then, Bo walked into their room making electric guitar noises, startling her. “Bo, you’re being too loud. Folks are tryna sleep.”

“Baby, ain’t nobody but Smoke and Annie sleepin’ right now.” He closed the door and put on a wicked grin and stalked closer to his wife. “You definitely won’t be for a few more hours.” He lunged at her and gathered her in his arms.

All thoughts of the sounds from Annie’s room forgotten, Grace squealed as her husband dropped her on the bed and covered her mouth with his.

*****************

“So I don’t think I put the bag in our luggage but it was definitely in our room somewhere,” Grace insisted. “Somebody had to go in and take it.”

“Yeah, that’s possible,” Mary agreed. “Or you did what you said you were gonna do and put that stuff in her drink?”

“Fuck off, Mary! I said I’d give her some once we found her a man! And what about you? The first one to point the finger is usually the guiltiest. The way you and Stack just left them at the overlook without telling them where we were goin’. You wanted this to happen so you could have your ‘no drama, no stress’ trip. That was more important to you.” Grace threw her hands up and walked over to Bo and took a seat in his lap.

“Don’t you try to spin this around on me, Grace Chow! Me and Stack were the only ones keepin them from rippin each other’s heads off so everyone could have a good time. Besides, why would I want them two together? It’s obvious they hate each other.” 

“It would be cute though, right? You and Stack and Annie and Smoke. Maybe you put it in a spot where they could put in their coffee or somethin,” Pearline chimed in. 

“Ugh!” Mary groaned running her hands through her hair. “Not you too, Pearline. Why would I do something like that? How would I do something like that? Annie doesn’t drink coffee anyway.”

“Nah, baby, you ain’t gotta explain nothin to them,” Stack spoke up, the scowl on his face matching one that Smoke would normally wear. “So they six hours into a sex marathon. They’ll come out of it and either they won’t do all that bitchin’ they like to do or they’ll be even worse than before.” He put his hands up in prayer. “I PRAY this fix all the shit they be causin on these trips.”

“So Stack did it,” Sammie said matter-of-factly after observing quietly the entire time.

“Hell naw, nigga,” Stack went to slap his cousin upside the head. “You think I wanted to hear my brother beggin’ Annie to sit on his face at 10 o’clock in the damn mornin?! Maybe it was you.”

Sammie put his hands on his chest astonished at the accusation. “Me?!”

Pearline considered this for a second. “To be fair, it kinda makes sense, Sammie.”

“Well, I’m glad we agree that it wasn’t me,” Mary held up her hands and went to have a seat on the floor.

“How does that make sense, Pearline? Annie and Smoke? I wouldn’t do that.” Sammie crossed his arms wondering how he got dragged into it.

Stack chuckled. “Is it Annie and Smoke, Sammie? Or is it mommy and daddy to you?” He stood in front of his cousin and crouched down like he was about to explain something simple to a child. “This whole trip, you stayed close to at least one of them. Asking Annie to cook for you, sew up somethin you ripped, layin your head in her lap while we watched a movie. The only thing she didn’t do was tuck you in at night! And if Pearline wasn’t here with you, you probably would’ve asked Annie to read you a bedtime story.”

“I can’t help that she’s a comfortin’ person, Stack! That don’t mean I gave her any of that stuff y’all talkin about.” Sammie looked over to Pearline who was deep in thought.

“And with Smoke?” Stack continued. “Oh, that’s Papa right there, ain’t it Sammie? Followin him around, askin’ him for advice or how do make somethin’, even dressin’ like him sometimes.” He flicked Sammie’s chain which was similar to the one Smoke wore often. “These trips make you miss Uncle Jed and Aunt Ruth so you had to have somebody to fill in, huh? Smoke and Annie naturally filled that void but they argued too much and Lil Sammie don’t like when mama and daddy argue so he made a plan to fix it.”

Sammie just shook his head furiously. “I ain’t do that.”

“But Sammie, you did—” Pearline was cut off by Sammie’s hand over her mouth. Instead of fighting against him, she bit his hand. 

This had everyone’s attention. Delta Slim took a swig from his flask watching in fascination. “Nah, let her speak now, boy. If it done caused y’all to end up in my cabin, we need to hear it.”

“Fuck, Pearline!” Sammie clutched his hand and looked at his girlfriend in fear. 

Pearline cleared her throat and folded her hands over her knee. “Sammie did want Smoke and Annie together. It didn’t go the way he expected it to yesterday though.”

*****************

1 Day before NYE

Things were tense in the cabin after the group left Smoke and Annie arguing at a scenic outlook and spent the day without them.

Annie was cordial to everyone but not warm like she usually was. She cooked the meal Sammie wanted with her earbuds in and avoided conversation. Smoke was in the woods nearby taking pictures of the sunset through the trees.

Sammie sat at the kitchen island waiting for Annie to acknowledge him. He wasn’t used to the silent treatment from her and he felt a little guilty that he listened to Stack and didn’t tell her where the group went. He honestly thought some extended time together would help them and he’d been thinking of something he could do to maybe bring them closer.

He walked over and tapped Annie on her shoulder. His heart warmed the way her face softened for him. She really couldn’t stay mad at Sammie. “Smoke need your help outside. Said somethin’ about the exposure on his camera and you could help.” The lie rolled off his tongue so easily, he impressed himself.

“Why Smoke just can’t look it up on YouTube then?” Annie rolled her eyes and went back to cooking. “He know more about cameras than I do anyway.” Her phone dinged in that moment she pulled it out, her eyes widened before she rubbed her temples in distress.

“You know how Smoke is. Plus, I think he left his phone upstairs.”

Annie looked at him skeptically but finally nodded. “Turn that pot off in about ten minutes.” With that, she left to go see what Smoke needed.

Pearline walked in as Annie left. She knew Sammie was up to something. “What you up to now, Sammie?” She had gone along with his plan to get Smoke and Annie together but after a few attempts, she was ready to give up. Nothing was working.

“Sunsets are romantic, Smoke and Annie are alone in the woods, easy peasy,” Sammie said simply as if that explained anything.

Pearline pulled some grapes out of the fridge and rinsed them off rolling her eyes at her boyfriend. “That don’t make sense, Preacher Boy. You think Annie just gone fall into Smoke’s arms because there’s a sunset?” Pearline felt sorry for Annie after only knowing her for a few months. 

It was obvious to her that\ everyone had their own idea of what Annie should do and what would make her happy. The work she put in to make everyone’s time at the cabin easier was obviously being taken for granted.

“Maybe, just gotta wait and see.” He tossed a grape in the air and caught it in his mouth. It didn’t take long for Sammie to get his answer when he heard a scream from outside.

“OPEN THE DOOR!” Smoke yelled from outside the cabin, his voice panicked. 

Stack rushed from the living room to open the door. “What the hell happened?” He moved back as Smoke ran in carrying an unconscious Annie.

Smoke took her in the living room and laid her down on the couch. “Annie, open your eyes for me.” Panic seeped into his usually steady voice. “Go get a cold wet towel or something!” He yelled at everyone that had gathered around worried. He took her hand in his. “Please, baby, open your eyes for me.” He tapped lightly on her face.

Grace returned with a wet towel and dabbed at Annie’s forehead. “Did she hit her head or something?”

“It was a fuckin bear! She smelled like food and it charged at her.” He felt her hand grip his and squeezed back. “We back in the cabin now, Annie. It’s okay, just open your eyes.”

Sammie stomach was in knots. The only reason Annie was out there in the first place was because he lied.

Blinking her eyes open, Annie groaned and tried to sit up but was stopped by Smoke and Grace. “I’m fine, y’all. There was—that bear it was taller than me—I think my grandmama spoke to me. Said I should’ve had my Black ass in Clarksdale instead of in the woods. Elijah, your camera is still out there!” She tried again to get up but was unsuccessful.

Everyone looked at her in confusion not sure how to take her rambling. Smoke kept her hand in his rubbing soft circles with his thumb. “You come face to face with a bear, get away without a scratch, and now you tryna go back out there for a damn camera? Maybe you did hit your head.” He rubbed the back of her head checking for any bumps.

The group was too concerned about Annie’s well-being to notice the way Smoke cradled her in his arms and whispered things they couldn’t hear. 

“Should we report this as a sighting or an attack?” Mary asked pulling out her phone.

“I don’t want to talk to no police tonight. Just say it was a sighting.” The adrenaline of the encounter began to wane leaving Annie feeling tired. 

“Okay, but what if the officer is single?” Mary tapped her head like she made a good point. “Be nice to have a strong man of the law come to your rescue, huh?”

If looks could kill, Mary would be six feet under with the way Annie and Smoke glared at her. “Girl, what the fuck? Stack, get your fiancée before she become bear food.” Annie gripped her head like she was in pain. 

Stack took Mary’s phone and tapped on it a few times before handing it back. “We don’t want pigs snoopin around here and we sho don’t want Annie to end up with one of em.”

“Why did you even come out there Annie? I told everybody bears can still be roaming the woods.” Smoke scolded still concerned that she had been hurt in some way.

Shrugging, Annie avoided glancing over to Sammie. “I wanted to see the sunset too. Unless that’s against the rules, Smoke.” 

“Hell yeah, it is when you smell like a bear’s favorite meal! You could’ve sat on the patio and saw the sunset just fine.” He still hadn’t let Annie go. In fact he pulled her closer to him as if something might take her away.

Groans erupted from around the room with Smoke and Annie getting back to their original selves. 

“Okay, Papa,” Annie words dripped sarcasm. “Can I finish dinner now—wait something is burning. Sammie did you forget to turn the stove off?”

Sammie’s eyes widened as he realized he was supposed to turn the pot off ten minutes ago. “Shit! I’ll get it!” He ran to the kitchen and saw smoke billowing from the silver pot. Turning off the stove, Sammie waved a towel around hoping to thin out the thick smoke filling up his lungs. 

Pearline joined him and turned on the fan above the stove and opened the kitchen window. “I hope you ain’t ruin Annie’s good pot or she gone put you outside with that bear.”

Annie walked in surveying the scene. Her favorite pot sat smoking and maybe it was the near-death experience that she had or maybe it was the sheer disaster this trip had become but she burst into tears at that moment and left out of the kitchen with Smoke following closely behind her.

Sammie stayed up late that night trying to get all of the burnt stuff out of the bottom to no avail. It wasn’t until Smoke came down and pulled out a strong cleanser that he was able to make progress.

************************

“I did try to get them together,” Sammie admitted. “But I absolutely had nothing to do with what’s goin’ on with them now.” He tried not to think of it because Stack was right, he did kind of think of them as parents what they did in the bedroom was not his business.

“Okay, so we still don’t know who was responsible,” Bo sighed. “Did somebody maybe see the bag and assumed it belonged in the kitchen?”

Everyone in the room shook their head.

“Do y’all think that maybe they are just together and didn’t take any of that stuff at all?” Pearline asked. “I know y’all said they don’t like each other but, they have been pretty isolated from the group.”

The tension turned to humor as everyone but Sammie laughed at Pearline’s suggestion.

“Smoke would’ve told me if somethin was happenin between him and Annie,” Stack said with surety. “I ain’t noticed him being weird around her or nothin’.”

Mary shook her head and wiped the tears that had slipped out from laughing so hard. “The only way Annie would even kiss Smoke is if she was under some spell or it was life or death.”

Grace snapped her fingers. “What if that’s it? What if that’s all this is? They’re both single in a group of couples and they both came face-to-face with a bear so maybe they needed some kind of release.”

“Okay, but you found the bag half empty in the kitchen,” Bo reasoned turning Grace slightly so he could see her face. “You think they just used some of it to get in the mood?”

“Maybe,” Grace shrugged. “They’ve never even flirted with each other before and now they’re…you know.” It was difficult for her to even say Smoke and Annie were having sex. “Like Mary said, it would take something powerful as hell to get them together like that.”

Stack’s phone dinged. “Okay, Smoke just texted me and said we can come back. I guess we can figure out what happened when we get there.”

Delta Slim’s shoulders shook as he laughed at the group in front of him. “Wait! I’m comin’ wit y’all. I bet I know how this all will turn out.”

*******************

Annie didn’t want to come to Gatlinburg for the holiday. She didn’t even want to leave her house, but she had Grace and Mary tag teaming her in their group chat so she decided to come along. Immediately informing Smoke that she didn’t want to be there in the first place.

Smoke supported her choice and promised that they could still spend some time together in the cabin. They weren’t quite ready to make their relationship public especially with all the trouble they caused back in New Orleans that led to them acknowledging their feelings for each other. It took many more months for them to act on those feelings and everything still felt new.

His request to Annie was to not do too much. No making sure everyone was taken care of before taking care of herself, no cooking full meals just because somebody asked, and no spending hours on an itinerary that no one would follow anyway. It surprised him very little when she did exactly the opposite of what he asked.

After seeing the meal she prepared for everyone ruined, she couldn’t hold back the tears. She wasn’t trying to ruin this trip and she wasn’t picking arguments with Smoke like their friends assumed.

********

1 day before NYE

“I didn’t even want to be here, Elijah,” she cried into the crook of Smoke’s neck. “They keep treating me like I’m the problem to be fixed and it’s just making everything worse.” She knew what Sammie was trying to do and it was the same thing Mary tried to do earlier that day after she shut down all of Annie’s suggestions for group activities.

He rubbed her back. “We can pack up and leave tonight if you want, baby. Let them do this shit without you.” He knew that this would be the case, but he didn’t have it in him to tell Annie that right now, especially when it wouldn’t do any good.

For months, Grace and Mary have been on her about “finding a man” so they could do couple things. For this trip, Annie spent a lot of time finding group activities for them just for Mary to opt for more couple centered activities. 

“And then they’ll say I’m overreactin’ and if I had a man, I wouldn’t be doin’ all this,” she sniffled, her head feeling heavy from crying.

“You do have a man though,” Smoke pointed out. “And I don’t think you should let them put you in a box like this. Even with me, I want you to be your own person.” He kissed her forehead. “You don’t listen to me half the time anyway so I don’t know what they think is gonna change with a man around.”

Smacking his shoulder, she couldn’t help but laugh at him. She ran her fingers across his face, her nail tracing his features. “You were right this time. I just have to accept I can’t do everything to please them. And your mama, Elijah. I love her so much but she’s been textin’ and callin’ me everyday because she had a dream about a baby and she swear it’s ours. She sent me a picture of an outfit she already bought! I love her but I’m not ready for kids yet.”

Though they were keeping their relationship secret from their friends, Sharon Moore had picked up on what was going on between them almost immediately. They swore her to secrecy but that didn’t stop her from bombarding them with questions about when they’d marry or give her some grandbabies. 

“I’ll take care of my mama. I love that she love you but she gotta know when to step back.” He kissed her forehead. “I damn sure ain’t gon’ let her scare you away from me. In the meantime, you need to start treatin’ Sammie like he’s a grown ass man. He know how to order food. He don’t need you cookin’ him breakfast, lunch, and dinner everyday.”

Her heart softened thinking about Sammie. “But he’s still a baby to me!”

“He ain’t no damn baby. He’s 21-years-old and he know better. And you gotta draw some boundaries with Grace and Mary. If you say no the first time, let that be it. Don’t let them make you feel bad because you ain’t where they think you should be.” He lifted her chin up with his finger. “I’m fallin’ in love with you more everyday, Annie, and that’s because you got so much good in you that it get on everybody around you. I don’t want you doubtin’ that for a second. If they can’t see that, fuck ‘em.”

“But I don’t even wanna deal with them tomorrow. You wanna stay in the cabin with me and let them do their own thing?” 

“And what you wanna do in the cabin?” Smoke asked pulling her into his lap so that she was straddling him. His face immediately went into her cleavage. It was definitely his favorite place to be.

“Mmm,” she moaned feeling his tongue run across her chest before sucking lightly. “I wanted to watch some movies but I’m open to suggestions.” 

“As long as you open.” He gave her a few more gentle nips. “I need you to get some sleep tonight though because tomorrow, Imma keep you busy.” 

“Whatever you say. I can’t promise that I’ll be quiet like I been these last few days.”

“That’s what I’m countin’ on.”

**********

NYE

Once Mary woke and did her morning routine, she went to Annie’s room to check on her. For the rest of her life she would question why she didn’t think to knock. It was the most courteous thing to do. It was the smartest thing to do. It was the safest thing to do. Instead she was greeted with the vision of her friend’s legs in the air while a male figure rested between them obviously enjoying his first meal of the day.

The horror wasn’t in the what, it was the who. She knew the male figure because she had the same make and model. Before they knew she had barged in, she quickly shut the door and ran back to her room to wake Stack.

Shaking her fiancé with an urgency reserved for a house fire, Mary tried to wake Stack. “Elias, get up! Smoke and Annie—Stack get up!” She shook him harder until his eyes cracked opened.

Alert and alarmed, Stack sat up quickly and looked around for any sign of danger. “What? What happened?” His voice was thick with sleep. He rubbed his eyes to clear his vision. “Somethin’ happen?” 

Mary bit her lip trying to think of the words to explain what she saw. “I think Smoke and Annie are—

“Fuck, Elijah! Like that! Like that! Don’t fuckin’ stop!” Annie’s words were surely loud enough to wake the entire cabin.

“Aye, yo!” Stack threw the covers back and stood up to put on a shirt. “I know they ain’t—” He opened their bedroom door and saw Bo and Grace in the hall with the same confused expressions at the sounds coming from Annie’s room.

“Sit on my face, baby. I wanna drink it all!” Smoke’s pleading filtered through the door.

Without a word, they all filed down the stairs and into the living room where Sammie and Pearline were sitting watching a t.v. show.

“Is Annie up yet?” Sammie asked pausing the show. “I got her pot clean and I wanted to show her.” He was oblivious to the stunned faces of everyone who had just come downstairs.

Grace nodded, her mind far away like her brain was trying to solve a complex problem with no discernible variables. “She’s definitely up.”

“Okay, I’ll go up—” Sammie started to get up but was stopped by Pearline. It was then that he noticed everyone had weird looks on their faces. “What’s wrong?”

“Your cousin decided to grab him a bite to eat at Café Annie,” Stack said humorlessly. “Did y’all know about this?” He looked around to see if anyone would confess.

“Maybe Annie did hit her head gettin’ away from that bear last night,” Bo suggested. “Maybe both of ‘em did.” It was hard to fathom that either of them were of sound mind.

“I mean, it was a scary situation. Maybe Annie hasn’t snapped out of it yet,” Mary posited. “That’s it right?” Because what else could it be?

It took Sammie a moment before he understood what was going on. “Oh. Oooooooh! Smoke and Annie? Fa’real?”

“I’m surprised you can’t hear ‘em all the way down here,” Stack said before a loud moan traveled down to the first floor of the cabin. “Aw, HELL naw! This gotta be a joke. They just fuckin’ with us, huh?” He rubbed at his temples trying to make any sense of the situation.

Mary put her hand on his shoulder. “I promise you, they fuckin’ but not with us. I accidentally walked in on them. That would be one hell of a joke to make.” 

Rubbing at her eyes, Grace yawned. “I’m not even awake enough for this shit. I need some coffee.” She made a beeline for the kitchen while everyone else stood thoroughly confused about the turn of events.

“So we agree, they both hit their heads last night runnin’ from that bear? Or maybe they smoked some bad weed?” Bo asked. “That’s the only explanation I can think of right now.”

“I think I might have another explanation.” Grace returned holding up a small black statin bag—the love spell pouch. “This was in the kitchen and it’s been used.”

“Goddamn it!” Stack cursed and started pacing. “That shit work forreal? How long it take to wear off? How the hell did they even get it?”

“I don’t know, it depends on how much they had.” Examining the bag, she sighed. “It looks like half of it is gone. Fuck! They ain’t stoppin no time soon.”

“Well, I’m not stayin’ in here listenin to them all day,” Mary said. “We gotta get out of here. Maybe they’ll have it out of their system before midnight.”

The group prepared themselves for another day outside of the cabin. In the meantime, Smoke and Annie were off in their own world.

While Annie was recovering from her second orgasm of the morning, Smoke had latched on to her nipple. “Ahh! Elijah, I need another one, baby.”

He released her nipple with a POP and smirked at the way she squirmed underneath him. “You bein’ greedy now, Annie. I just gave you two.”

“And if you keep suckin my titties like that, it might be three.” She spread her legs and wrapped them around him. “I coulda gotten eaten by a bear last night. You really gon’ make me beg for it, Elijah?”

He refocused his attention her nipple and hummed. “Mhmm. That’s for calling me the Grinch and Scrooge McDuck.” He thrusted his hips making contact with her center but offering no relief. 

“Ugh! I’m sorry, baby! Please just put it in! You feel how wet you made me? You ain’t gone do nothin’ about it?” She pulled his face from her chest so he could see the pout she wore. 

Having already decided that he would give this woman anything she asked for, he crumbled immediately. Smoke reached between their bodies and slid his finger between Annie’s wet folds. “Imma take care of you, Ma, don’t worry.” He moved his finger until it was on her  hardened nub. He drew circles eliciting quiet whimpers from the woman beneath him. His mouth watered at the thought of tasting her again but he also needed to feel her clenching around him. 

Rolling back on to the bed, he pulled Annie on top of him, her massive breasts nearly eclipsing his entire face. “Ride it, baby. I wanna see you bounce on that shit.” 

Not needing to be told twice, Annie grabbed his thick length in her hand and lined it up with her dripping hole. She eased down on it her toes curling at the way she stretched to fit around it. “Damn, Papa, it’s so thick.” She bit her bottom lip to keep from squealing at the sensation of their connection. 

Bracing herself, with her hands flat on his chest, she dropped her hips down burying him deep inside her. Egged on by Smoke’s grunts of pleasure, she rose up and slammed her hips back down. She continued developing a rhythm that had them both moaning each other’s names. “You like the way this pussy grippin you, Elijah?”

“Fuck yeah, baby.” His eyes were closed tight as he focused on not finishing too soon. Smoke already knew that he’d give everything she asked him for but now he was thinking about stuff to give her that she’d never need. “Pussy feel like heaven. Keep ridin’ it, Ma.”

The sounds of their skin slapping together filled Annie’s ears and made her gush even more. Knowing the power she now held over Smoke, she leaned forward to grip his throat. “Don’t fuckin’ cum until I tell you to.” She switched from bouncing and rolled her hips at a tantalizing pace. 

The hand on his throat sent a jolt straight to his dick. “Annie, please, baby!” 

“Please, baby!” Annie mocked still teasing him with a slow roll of her hips. “That’s what yo ass get for makin’ me beg for this dick. You know who it belong to.” Gripping his throat tighter, she leaned forward. “Who this dick belong to, Elijah?”

“You, Annie. It’s yours! This dick belong to you!” He attempted to thrust his hips but was stopped by Annie putting her full weight on him.

“Try that again, Elijah, and Imma finish without you,” she threatened using her lower muscles to clench around him. “If it’s mine, let me do what I want with it.”

Smoke groaned and nodded. “Do what you need to, baby.”

Speeding up, she rode him like it her life depended on it. “Fuck! I’m close, Papa.” She threw her head back and let out a cry loud enough to scare all the wildlife nearby. Pleasure pulsed through her as her core spasmed uncontrollably. “Cum with me, Elijah!”

Smoke’s release was instant feeling the way Annie’s soft center massaged him. It was his turn to yell out, screaming Annie’s name like the highest praise he knew. He pumped all he had into her wet cunt his mind turning to mush. “You want a spaceship?”

Her mind still foggy from her orgasm, she flopped down next to him in bed sure she misheard what he said. “What?”

“I said do you want a spaceship? I think Imma buy you one.” Smoke’s words were slurred as if he’d had too much to drink. “I’ll buy you the moon too.”

Annie would laugh about it later but at that moment she just kissed him with every bit of her. “I love it when you get pussy drunk and start promisin’ me stupid shit, Elijah.” They spent time wrapped up in each other until the mood struck again and led them down paths of pleasure.

They stopped to give their bodies a break and hydrate but couldn’t stop themselves from falling right back into each other. One moment, Annie was preparing them a quick snack and the next moment, she was pressed into the countertop as Smoke plowed her from behind. 

“Yo pretty ass owe me for what you did upstairs.” He pounded into her, his pace brutal and unforgiving. “Who this pussy belong to?”

“Please, Smoke! I need to—AH!” A hard swat to her thigh made her remember who she was dealing with. “It’s yours! This pussy is yours!”

“I know it is,” Smoke chuckled darkly. “You better not forget it either, okay?”

“Okay, Elijah,” Annie whimpered losing all will to fight back. 

When they were finally able to separate, they cleaned up and ordered food. Smoke sent a message to Stack telling him the coast was clear. 

“They gon’ be mad,” Annie said as they sat down to watch a movie. “Stack especially. Y’all tell each other everything.”

“He’ll be all right. He get mad over little stuff sometimes but he’ll be good after I talk to him.”

Side-eying Smoke, Annie smacked her lips. “This ain’t little though. I know why we kept this between us but they might feel like we don’t trust them.”

“We don’t. You see how they been actin all week. They asses will get over it.” He wrapped his arm around Annie and pulled her to him saying no more on the subject.

************

Stack pulled up to the cabin and parked. “The next trip, we will be leavin they asses in the Delta. It’s always somethin with them.” He huffed, got out the car, and stomped toward the front door leaving Mary, Sammie, and Pearline to follow as Bo had pulled up beside them with Grace and Slim.

As Pearline exited the vehicle, something shiny under the seat caught her attention. She picked it up to see it was a silver hoop earring. “Mary, I think you dropped your earring. It was under the seat.” She held it up not expecting it to be snatched from her hand so quickly.

“This ain’t mine.” Mary clutched the earring in her hand. This is Smoke’s car, not Stack’s.” She promptly turned and rushed past Stack practically kicking the door open.

Inside, Smoke and Annie were cuddled on the couch watching a movie like they didn’t upend everyone’s day. 

Mary stomped in, her face red and her eyes narrowed taking in the couple before her while pieces of a puzzle she didn’t even know existed fell into place. “Hey, Annie. Smoke.”

“Hey, Mary,” Annie responded not looking away from the tv. “Y’all have fun today?”

“Obviously not as much fun as you did, Annie. And I guess you had as much fun in the back of Smoke’s car three weeks ago.” She held up the earring. “You told me you lost the other one at work.”

Stack stepped beside his fiancée confused. “What’s goin on?” He looked at his brother and Annie with their arms wrapped around each other. “So y’all a thing now?”

“Nah,” Mary shook her head as the rest of the group walked into the living room and sat down where they could. “This ain’t just happen now. They been hiding this from us for at least three weeks. Ain’t that right, Annie?”

“At least that long.” Annie confirmed and held out her hand for the earring. “I knew it would turn up somewhere.” She slid it in Smoke’s shirt pocket. “Keep that safe for me, baby.”

“What is she talkin’ about, Annie?” Grace was seriously confused. “You and Smoke?” She pointed to the two of them.

“Smoke, that ain’t true is it?” Under the anger that was bubbling in Stack’s chest was a twinge of hurt. 

Smoke just looked at Stack and shrugged. “We were gonna tell y’all soon and things kinda went crazy this week so now y’all know.”

“Wait so y’all didn’t take any of the love potion stuff?” Sammie asked, the excitement visible on his face. 

“What?” This time Annie did look at the rest of them. “Hell no we didn’t take that shit. It was on the floor by the stairs this morning. Half of it spilled out when I picked it up and when I went to clean it, somebody distracted me.” She nudged Smoke playfully. “I guess I left it on the kitchen counter.”

“Wait,” Stack held up his hand not caring about the love spell. “Smoke, you been hidin’ this from me? Your own brother? Why? I tell you everything! You was the first person I told when I wanted to propose to Mary. You think I was gon’ try to stop you?”

The liquid in Delta Slim’s flask was louder than the movie still playing as he took a swig. “Goddamit, I knew it! They been tryna shake y’all this whole week and y’all ain’t notice nothin. Bet not ever become detectives.”

Ignoring Slim, Smoke sat up and looked at his brother. “It wasn’t like that, Elias. We just wanted some time with each other for the last three months without anybody’s questions or pressurin’ us about what we should be doin’.”

“Three months?!” Stack, Mary, and Grace said together. Suddenly Smoke and Annie were hit with a barrage of questions. “Why not tell us?” “Don’t you trust us?” “How did you hide this from us?” “How did this even happen?”

“Stop! Be quiet, please!” Annie stood up, her head starting to throb. Silence fell across the room. The tv was muted. “This is why we kept it to ourselves. I’m tired of having to justify my choices to this group. Tired of every single time we’re together, it turns into the “let’s fix Annie” committee. So yeah, we kept this one from y’all until we were sure that it wouldn’t waiver under y’all’s judgment and questions.”

“But I don’t have a problem with you and my brother bein’ together, Annie.” Stack stepped forward. “It’s the fact that we don’t keep things like this from each other.” He glared at Smoke. “You ain’t tell me because you thought I’d break y’all up or somethin?”

“We ain’t tell nobody, Stack,” Smoke responded weakly. “It wasn’t just that we thought y’all would break us up. We didn’t want anybody chiming in on what we had goin on. Good or bad. Already bad enough Mama been doin’ it.” 

Annie’s head whipped around when she heard a squeak from Mary. “Mary, it’s not—”

“That’s why she’s been callin’ you? Because she knew already?” Tears filled Mary’s eyes. “I bet she been plannin’ y’all’s weddin’ and she don’t even care about mine. I guess she will get the daughter-in-law she actually wants.” She turned and left, her footsteps thudding up the stairs.

Stack shot a look of disappointment to Annie and Smoke before following behind her.

No one said anything until Sammie cleared his throat and rubbed his hands together. “I’m happy for y’all. I always thought y’all would make a good couple.”

“Shut up, fool.” Smoke threw a pillow at him. “We know what you been tryna do. We ain’t dumb. Leave my woman alone and stop askin her to cook for you.” He motioned for Annie to come sit next to him. “You a grown ass man.”

“What? But Annie don’t mind! Ouch, Pearline!” Sammie clutched the back of his head.

Pearline smirked. “You a grown ass man, Preacher Boy. You’ll figure it out.”

Grace observed Annie and Smoke from across the room and the two of them together made so much sense. “They’re kinda perfect for each other,” she whispered to Bo who had been a quiet onlooker most of the day. 

“Mhmm,” Bo agreed. “What the hell were y’all arguin about at the overlook?”

“Nothin,” Smoke said simply. “We just knew y’all would leave us alone if it looked like we was arguin. It worked. It was bullshit that nobody backed Annie up though. So we gon’ take our own trip somewhere and do whatever she want.” He kissed the side of Annie’s neck causing her to giggle.

“I knew once y’all said ‘bout that bear,” Slim slurred, “I knew then what these two was doin. They done had this big ole cabin to do whatever they want to do without y’all.” He stomped his foot and slapped his leg as his shoulders shook. “And look at ‘em done wore each other out. They ain’t gon’ make it til midnight.”

Annie stood and gestured toward the kitchen. “Well, we still ordered food for everybody to eat. Just a bunch of party food really and Smoke brought a nice bottle of champagne. Make sure Slim gets some food but don’t give him no champagne.” She looked down at her watch. “We got about two hours til the New Year but y’all can play some games or somethin’ ’til then.”

“You not stayin’ down here with us?” Sammie asked ready to run to the kitchen.

Shaking her head, Annie headed towards the stairs. “I’m tired, lil Sammie. Your cousin—” Her mouth was covered by Smoke’s strong hand. 

“Oh, so it runs in the family,” Pearline joked pushing her boyfriend towards the kitchen. “Happy New Year, Annie and Smoke. See you in the mornin.”

“Happy New Year, Pearly,” Annie sang once Smoke removed his hand. “Happy New Year Grace and Bo.”

“Yeah, Happy New Year, y’all,” Smoke threw behind him as he moved them both quickly up the stairs. “Don’t be down here destroyin’ shit.”

Annie moved towards her door but was dragged towards Smoke’s instead. “Smoke, please, Miss Kitty needs to recover from the day she had.”

“And she will.” He opened the door and pulled her inside. “My bed is ready for you to sleep in though. Ain’t gotta change the sheets and I already moved your stuff.” His lips traced her jawline  while his hands gripped her ass.

“You promised me sleep, Papa.” Even as she said it, she pushed herself closer to him. “You think Stack and Mary okay?”

“They’ll be fine. We can talk to ‘em tomorrow. Let’s get you to bed though.”

**************************

The next morning, Annie woke to her phone vibrating repeatedly on the nightstand. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she picked it up and saw that it was Sharon Moore. She turned over to hand the phone to Smoke because she could not deal with his mama this early in the morning only to find his side of the bed empty. Sighing, she steeled herself and answered the phone.

“Good morning, Ms. Sharon! Happy New Year!” She masked the sleepiness in her voice.

“It would be much happier if you called me Mama like I told you to, Annie but Happy New Year to you too, baby. Y’all have fun last night? I texted those sons of mine but they ain’t respond.”

“Oh yeah! We had a lot of fun,” Annie lied smoothly. “The town had a fireworks show that was visible from the cabin. What did you get up to last night?”

“Me and the girls stayed in and made drinks and watched that lil gay man—Andy or somethin—we watched his countdown on tv for a little bit.  Willie Mae got drunk as a skunk. She passed out in the guest room right now. Cathy up though, cookin’ breakfast but she don’t make the biscuits like you do.” 

There was yelling from the background that Annie couldn’t make out. “I’m talking to Annie!” A pause. “Cuz you don’t make biscuits like her, Cathy! Yo dough is too loose or somethin’. Chile, now she in her feelins. Anyway, I didn’t want nothin’ just checkin to see how y’all doin. You and Smoke gon tell everybody soon, right? I’ll keep ya secret a lil bit longer but I almost let it slip after a two margaritas.”

Annie was close to ripping her hair out hearing Sharon ramble this early in the morning. “We let them know yesterday. Most of ‘em took it well.” She rubbed her face not ready to talk to Mary just yet.

“I bet Elias and Mary had somethin’ to say, huh? He ain’t never liked when his brother kept stuff from him. Got mad at him a whole week when he found out Elijah was savin’ up the lil money that they got from me to buy me somethin for my birthday. They’ll be okay though. What about you and Mary?”

“I don’t know. I guess. I think she is feelin’ kinda alone with the engagement and wantin’ to plan the weddin’ since her mama is…you know. I think maybe she want you to help her.” Annie bit her lip hoping for the best but truly not knowing where Sharon stood when it came with Mary. 

She seemed to be happy that Stack and Mary were engaged but she didn’t bring it up much and she certainly wasn’t calling Mary on the daily to ask how she was doing or tell her random things.

 “Really? She want me to help?” Sharon sounded genuinely surprised. “I didn’t think she wanted my help so that’s why I hadn’t said anything about it. Did she tell you she wanted my help?”

“You know the way you been callin and textin’ me all week? It kinda looks like you have a favorite especially to Mary.”

“I do!” She said without hesitation. “And Elijah better be putting a ring on your finger soon. That don’t mean I don’t like Mary though. She can be…a lot but hell, so can I. She just never seemed that interested in me and I ain’t one to push.” At this Annie had to roll her eyes. “If she want me to help her with the weddin’, I will. You know I like stuff like that.”

“I think that would make her feel a lot better.” Annie looked up to see that Smoke had come back into the room with a steaming mug. “And maybe the baby you’ve been dreaming about is actually hers and Stack’s.”

“No, I’m sure it was yours and Elijah’s. It was a girl with your pretty brown eyes. Elias and Mary’s first will be a boy. I know that for sure.”

Annie groaned. “Well, she won’t be around for a long time so I guess you’ll have a grandson first.” 

“No—”

“Elijah just walked in,” Annie interrupted her before she could say anything else. “I think he want to talk to you.” She handed Smoke the phone and took the mug of hot tea from his hand. Sharon was right, she was a lot and definitely too much for Annie this early in the morning.

After getting off the phone with Sharon, Smoke sat on the bed stared at Annie as she drank her tea. 

“What you lookin at, Elijah?”

“What you think I’m lookin at, woman?”

Looking down, Annie checked to see if she had anything exposed. “Well my titties ain’t out and we both know that’s the real reason you with me.”

“I mean, if I die with my face buried in ‘em, I wouldn’t be mad.”

“I would be. Planned on smotherin’ you between my thighs once I got a good life insurance policy on you. You talk to Stack?”

Smoke nodded. “Yeah, we cool. He still don’t like that I did it but he’ll get over it. He said Mary is mostly sad that Mama ain’t said much about their engagement.”

“Yeah and I talked to Sharon about that. I wanna leave that between them as much as possible though. I won’t answer for their relationship with each other and I don’t want to be their buffer. Everything else, Mary needs to get over though.”

“Well, she up if you wanna go talk to her. It’ll be a long drive back to Mississippi if y’all ain’t speakin’ to each other.”

“Uuuuugh, I guess. Let me get myself together before I do anything.” She rolled out of bed, her muscles aching from the previous day. “Shit! Maybe we overdid it yesterday.”

“I feel okay.” Smoke shrugged. 

“Because your legs weren’t up in the air, and your face wasn’t pressed against the mattress, and you weren’t bent over the counter, or laying down on the stairs.”

“I’ll give you a massage later on.” He walked up behind her and pressed himself into her back. 

“I don’t think me or my birth control is strong enough to handle one of your massages, Elijah, so I’ll have to decline.”

When Annie found Mary, she was outside on the patio wearing a coat over her pajamas. “You ain’t cold out here?” Annie was fully dressed with her coat on and still felt the chill in the air.

Mary shook her head. “I have my coat on. It’s supposed to warm up today a little. I need to apologize for last night. It wasn’t right to put my issues with Sharon on you like that.”

Sitting beside her friend, Annie nodded. “You know I’m not competin' to be her favorite.”

“But you are and I know that. I don’t even know if you’ll want to be my friend after I tell you this.” She looked off. “You and Smoke made more sense than I ever wanted to admit. I noticed it back in New Orleans Even when y’all would fight, you couldn’t be apart.” She laughed at the memory. 

“I just didn’t want y’all together because then you’d have the calm twin who wouldn’t second guess a lifetime with you and the attentive mother-in-law who would love to have you around. She always liked you but to have you as a daughter? I’m sure she was over the moon when she found out.” She sniffled and wiped away a tear. “That’s why I pushed so hard to find you somebody else—anybody but Smoke.”

Annie was stunned to hear this. “Mary, Stack loves you. He was nervous as hell that he’d mess something up when he was plannin to propose.”

“I know he loves me, Annie, but you weren’t around when we first got together. We fought harder than you and Smoke. He didn’t really take us seriously until I left him. I’m glad we were able to move past that but it would’ve been nice if it was easy. Knowin’ Smoke, he probably picked out a ring after your first kiss.”

“Well, he better hold on to it for as long as possible. I’m not gettin married any time soon.” Annie hugged herself willing the weather to warm up. “And we knew back in New Orleans too, just didn’t do nothin’ about it until recently. But this ain’t about me and Elijah. Lots of women ain’t close to their husband’s mamas. What’s really the issue with Sharon?”

“I know it’s not her job to be my mama but it’d be nice if someone wanted to. My own mama blocked me on everything when she saw I got engaged to Stack, which is fine because she’s a crazy bitch. I just want some guidance through this and I have nobody. Sharon’s the only one.”

“Have you ever just sat down and talked with her?”

Mary shook her head. “No, she probably wouldn’t want to though.”

“Okay, I gotta be honest, Mary. It don’t sound like you tryin’ much with her and I’m blamin’ Stack too because he should’ve addressed this a long time ago.”Annie huffed not liking the fact that she had to explain to grown adults that they should just talk to each other. “Sharon supports y’all’s engagement one hundred percent. She made Stack practice his proposal so it would be perfect for you. She likes you but you gotta show her you want her involved. Go have lunch with her sometimes or buy her some scratch offs. She’s easy to get along with.”

“You forreal?”

“Yes! You don’t get blessed with frequent calls from Sharon Moore unless you’ve put a little effort in. Hell, at this point, I need a break before she starts planning the baby shower.”

Mary looked at her questionably. “Are you—”

“Don’t even fuckin’ finish that question. Absolutely not, but that ain’t stopped Sharon from insisting that I will be soon. Elijah may have to wrap it up for the foreseeable future.”

“That’s what she’s been callin about?” Mary doubled over in laughter.

“It’s not funny,” Annie grumbled sitting back in her seat. “I’ll let you take the honor of givin’ her her first grandchild. According to her it’ll be a boy.”

Mary looked like she saw a ghost. “You not serious. That’s just how older people talk sometimes, right?”

“Yeah, my grandmama used to say stuff like that. She was never wrong though. That’s why I’ve been freakin’ out every time Sharon call me. The fuck Imma do with a baby?”

“I sure don’t need one now. Gotta make sure me and Elias bein’ careful from now on.” The wind picked up slightly causing Mary to fold her arms together and hunch over for warmth. “We spent almost the whole day at Slim’s accusin’ each other of dosin’ y’all with that love spell stuff. Now it’s makin’ me realize why y’all didn’t tell us. I’m sorry for doin all that and pressurin’ you to come here.”

“Yeah, you gotta leave me alone for a week when we get back.” 

“A week?! Why that long?”

“Because, I wanted to be at my house gettin my feet rubbed by Elijah but instead, I let you talk me into comin’ here and ended up gettin chased by a damn bear.” Annie sucked her teeth.

“But he rubbed more than your feet yesterday. You tellin’ me you gon’ ignore me for a week when you got multiple days of Smoke foldin’ you like pressed laundry?” 

“Yep! Don’t forget I got chased by a bear.” Annie stood up. “If I stay out here any longer, I might turn into a block of ice. Come on.” The two walked in to see Grace standing near the door.

“Y’all kiss and make up?” She asked jokingly but her eyes were serious. 

“Annie said I can’t talk to her for a week when we get back home so yeah, we made up.” Mary pulled Annie over and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “And there’s the kiss.”

Grace looked at Annie in confusion. “Why won’t you speak to Mary for a week?” 

“I ain’t speakin’ to yo ass either, Grace. Y’all got me up in these damn mountains with bears and shit. Got love potions or spells or whatever the hell y’all was tryna give me.”

Mary leaned over to Grace with a faux-whisper. “She ain’t gon’ be able to talk no way if she screamin’ Smoke name the whole time.”

“I didn’t wanna say nothin’,” Grace whispered back. “But she barely able to walk today. After a week, she might be on crutches.”

Annie rolled her eyes but couldn’t help smiling at her friends. “While y’all standin’ here laughin’ I’m about to cash in on a spaceship I was promised yesterday. See y’all whenever.” She turned, trying to walk away as normal as possible but heard the laughter behind her. 

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

They know they’re wrong. 

It’s not something they’re proud of.

It’s not something they can pray away, avoid, or convince themselves has died never to be resurrected—a funeral can’t take place for something alive and well. If that would’ve worked, they wouldn’t be in the situation they were currently in.

It is something inevitable—like the Delta heat that walked hand in hand with them since the first day they felt it beat down on their skin, both comforting and overwhelming. Something unyielding like the way sweating bodies grinded close together, prohibited drinks flowed, the smell of Southern delicacies fried in oil, and music woven into the inner fabric of their soul every Saturday at The Juke was the only time their people ever truly felt free. 

Neither of them had ever been known for being deceitful in any way, fashion, or form. It was one of the things that bonded them in the first place. Being honest when it was comforting and it felt like a radiating light enveloping them in a warm embrace and when it was hard and felt heavy on the tongue and the truth was the last thing they wanted to hear.

Always being honest was a promise that bound them as well as bonded them, which led to them doing something they never had—choosing to be vulnerable enough to lay their entire selves bare to the other as lasting as ink permanently etched on bare skin. 

The versions of them who made the initial promise would balk at the way the current version of them discarded the very promise that was the foundation of their union. They found out that even certain values could be sacrificed if it meant avoiding a life lived without the one they called home.

What good were morals if it led to a fate that would kill you…for what good was a life without the one who made living itself not a penance but a privilege? They barely survived separation the first time as they walked around like haints occupying a body whose true soul had passed on.

EIGHT YEARS AGO…

Annie tried her hardest to start over. Even with them maintaining contact those first two years, she never let herself be lulled into Smoke's promise of returning. The third year when he had gone radio silent was when she had completely lost her whole world all at once. An experience that shook her faith to the core, which led to a deep disconnection in her root work only compounded by the loss of Luna.

From a young age, Annie had always had a strong connection to the Earth, her ancestors, and the sacred practice passed down for generations. The trauma resulting from the loss of her little moon, who was a manifestation of the purest, strongest, and most everlasting love she had ever known was enough to have her question everything starting with why this healing, life affirming practice had not worked the one time she needed it most.

She mourned in a way that would both shake the ground beneath her feet in one moment while she felt so empty she questioned if she could ever feel again in another. Whatever force in this world that thrives off pure devastation decided they weren’t through with her yet as they took her love from her too. 

While he was not gone from this world, he was gone from her orbit. The gravitational pull that would keep her connected to the Earth despite the betrayal of such as the loss of a child was gone when he was never needed more.

The most difficult part was that he did not do something foul in a way that she could discard their love or curse his name from the moment she woke till the second sleep overtook her at night. If Elijah had truly betrayed her— the love would have gone sour. Annie was raised by strong women who hammered into her the importance of having her own and not allowing mistreatment or betrayal from a man and those lessons were ingrained so deep that it became a non-negotiable. It was commonplace for men to cheat and have multiple families being loyal to nothing but the urge to keep their dicks wet.

That wasn’t her man though loyalty and fidelity was a huge part of their love and no one could even catch his eye after they met. His love, yearning, passion, and desire for her was a fire that had only burned brighter and had never waned. He had regularly told her that he would live inside of her if he could to which she always playfully rolled her eyes and smirked. Something else led to the exodus he would have never embarked on if it was based on what he actually wanted. 

Stack. His selfish, ill-timed, fly-by-the-seat of his pants ass brother determined to go on a dangerous mission (as he called it) to Chicago and expected Smoke to be as he had always been, by his side. Annie felt at times that Stack was a test to push the very limits of her patience by being an ever present thorn in her side when he was around.

This was by far the worst time to be the most selfish he ever had been with such a request or what Stack himself had seen as a guarantee. He could not conceptualize nor fully grasp (or respect) the love they had and what it meant. So, he struggled understanding why Smoke was heavily hesitant where he would have been on board with strict ground rules in the past, but that was before Annie. Before an insurmountable loss they still could not measure. Elijah was not a love that strayed or left; he was a love that planted roots, built something eternal, one you felt in your bones, and was enveloped by a peace that could not be disturbed. Smoke was a love that surrounded, watched, interceded on the behalf of, and above all protected—not being able to do that for his daughter did damage to his self concept and identity that he was not even fully aware of the extent of the damage. ‘Protector’ had become the role he held the longest and the most consistently. Yet, when it was needed most there was nothing he could do in his power to save who mattered most— it was as if he had a mortal wound yet still remained alive. 

They grieved differently. Elijah felt grief as deep as the ocean where he would weep or become so lost in thought Annie would have to shake him to the point of his whole body moving to snap out of the frozen state. He had only ever been in trances like that following flashbacks from the War. Meanwhile, Smoke distracted himself and avoided the deep hurt by practicing control—to an even greater extent than before. His leaving being a manifestation of trying to prevent his greatest fear happening again when he felt he could possibly control it was something Annie simultaneously understood but also resented. 

Smoke was not blind to his brother’s selfishness. He felt partially responsible for maybe being too indulgent to make up for what their dad had put them through—with Stack being the target who faced the much crueler punishment than he had. While Smoke had no choice but to fall for Annie, he had chosen to build a life with her and it was the first thing he did in his entire life just for him. It was his treasure, his freedom, his joy, and his foundation. That very decision led to a pattern of tug of war that happened with Stack struggling to accept that Smoke’s dream did not mirror his.

Elias desired freedom through his dream of creating worlds and safe spaces for their people while also being able to make a profit. Elijah desired freedom in the creation of a home, a groundedness and a peace that couldn’t be destroyed and was his without question, which he found in Annie through love. The love that he found with Annie was one he thought someone like him who carried a pain, a hardness, a wall 100 feet wide and 50 feet deep would never feel the reprieve of  experiencing. She was his salve and his salvation. His kryptonite and strength. His desire and his joy. Stack refused to accept that Annie got access to the innermost part of Smoke and who he was at his core, his most vulnerable, his most free—Elijah. Smoke continued to reject Stack’s plan as he just could not imagine a life where he and Annie were not side by side on the daily. That was before.

Grief was not unfamiliar to Smoke. It was something that walked with him side by side, almost like a companion. The grief of losing his mother and only getting to know her through pictures and the memories of others. The grief of never knowing parental love because of the abusive piece of shit he had for a dad.  The grief of not getting to really be a kid as he had to step into a parental role for Stack. The grief of what the trauma from the War took from him with scars and flashbacks he still deals with. None of his prior grief could prepare him for the loss of Luna.

His whole life he felt abandoned by God. Falling in love with Annie and then Luna being a physical representation of how deep that love is— sparked the mustard seed sized hope that maybe God hadn’t completely forsaken him. Being someone who only believed in what he could see he wasn’t one for religion or spirituality but Annie finding, loving, and choosing someone like him had to be due to a force he couldn’t see. The way they lost Luna when she was just over a year extinguished the minuscule hope as if it never existed. The man known for running shit, being immovable, unshakable, had become a shell of himself in the only place he felt safe—at home.

Smoke could count on one hand how often he had cried in his life. Of all the times he had, he never weeped or bellowed in such a guttural way that he felt he could wake the dead with the intensity of the pain alone. A mourning so deep that those who had passed on could feel it. The only way he held on at all was due to Annie and the way they supported each other but it was a grief neither had experienced. Sometimes their days looked like complete silence outside of affirmative grunts. Others looked like shouting until their throats were raw. At their most vulnerable they would spend the whole day crying and holding each other. Throughout it all they vacillated between hard fucking and love making—just to feel something and to remind themselves that they were still here. Somehow. 

It had been six months since they lost her and they were surviving solely due to having each other. That is when Smoke had to make a decision that he still regrets to this very day while knowing he was just trying to prevent another loss that would be sure to finish the job of destroying him. Stack decided that he could not wait any longer and was leaving for Chicago next week. Smoke tried his best to reason with the fool but he just wasn’t hearing shit. Smoke was torn in two making this decision—his head and heart in a tumultuous war where either choice would leave catastrophic damage in its wake. Stack’s recklessness and tendency to not watch his back created a serious deficit in his survival instinct, which was the only reason he was even considering leaving. There is no single thing or person that could get Smoke to leave Annie—especially now but he just knew without a shadow of a doubt that his twin would find a way to get himself killed out there which is just a loss that he could not even conceptualize.  

Even then his mind wasn’t made up. It couldn’t be when it would mean leaving his heart behind in Clarksdale. He hoped to return within a year but he knew Stack and his often hare-brained schemes lacked planning and discipline. Another failure on his part for being too lenient so Stack over-relied on him.  He felt torn in two even breaking the news to Annie that he was considering this. 

The next day he reluctantly brought it to Annie. It was still hypothetical as he had still felt stuck between a rock and the hardest place. She responded the way anyone who had lost their precious daughter not even a year ago would only to find now that the love of her life was considering leaving for an indefinite amount of time to watch out for his brother who thought so little of what they were navigating.

Even eight years later he still remembers the look on Annie’s face and how it shook him to his core. How could someone look so despondent as if it was the end of the world as they knew it while simultaneously radiating an anger that could burn down the rest of the world in retribution for their pain? For four days, they had yelled, cried, constantly talked through how he could even consider this, and then didn’t talk at all in a cycle he saw as his own personal hell. Even with his tendency to feel moments instead of filling them with words, their communication had been relatively healthy. So, this departure only served to further break him down. 

On the fifth day, he made the decision that would change the trajectory of his life in a way he still felt to this day. Annie had barely reacted once he told her what he decided. Being as bonded as they were, there were times when they knew what the other was going to say or in this case before the words left their mouth. This wasn’t news. She knew from the moment he brought it up what his decision would be. She knew the loss of their daughter had wounded them in similar but different ways which for him showed up in his inability to protect her.

For better or worse, due to their upbringing he was put in a difficult spot of not only being a brother but he was also a father figure. The loss of Stack would not just be the soul crushing loss of a twin, but another child he could not protect. So, on the fifth day she was quiet. Shuffling across the floorboards, pouring liquid from glass bottles for protection charms, and warming water for baths were the only sounds to fill the room after Smoke broke the news. 

The sixth day was different. It has settled in Annie's spirit that he was leaving and she felt the weight of it. She had to make a decision about the kind of last day she wanted with him. She tried to remind herself that he wasn’t leaving forever and that he told her as soon as they were done he would be coming back. That was not something she found comforting considering the timing was not up to him. None of this was. If his wants or needs mattered, he wouldn’t be leaving in the first place. She wanted this day to be a memory that could wrap her in warmth when the bitter cold of loneliness and grief threatened her very survival. 

“Okay. This is the last full day until—”Annie said to break her silent pact from the day before. 

“I know. I’m sor—”Elijah replied before she could finish the thought as if that would make it less real. The relief that comes after waking up from a nightmare that never came true would not find him this time. He made a conscious decision to approach this day as Elijah as this wasn’t the time for Smoke to be at the forefront. At his most vulnerable, his most open, his most free—all emotions he felt due to Annie, the one who brought him back to life through her eyes, her smile, her ease, her centeredness, her love—Elijah. 

“Save the words. I already know them.” Annie interrupted as she already knew. She didn’t want the little time they had left littered with genuine yet ultimately meaningless platitudes. Apologies wouldn’t make him stay. They wouldn’t have him change his mind. They wouldn’t save her the heartache of the strongest love she had ever known having to do the very thing he had proven from the very beginning he would never do. 

“We’ve talked this through in circles the first four days. Let’s feel today.” She stated clearly as if it was the first thing she could control since the death of their daughter. “Who knows the next time we’ll get to.” 

“You’re right. I’ll follow your lead. Take the reins.” Elijah acknowledged as he stared straight into her eyes showing just how much he had meant it. The day was spent doing things they knew made the other feel whole and bonded. They had not separated the whole day acting as shadows for each other. They started with visiting Luna’s grave together and replacing the flowers and fresh bottle of milk as they did everyday. Elijah walked alongside Annie as they went around their land collecting the different roots,  herbs, and stones. It reminded him how even the mundane felt special with her.

Every moment of every day felt like a gift, one way too good for someone like him. Hands on projects had always made Elijah feel grounded and got him out of a cycle of debilitating over thinking. He fixed up some walls, floors, and fortified the porch while Annie watched as she cooked their favorites. Cooking reminded Annie of her rootwork practice. Creating something from individual, distinct ingredients that not only filled bellies but touched souls in the same way her ancestors had. 

They shared their meal in the way they always did—starting with prayers, Eliajh’s exclamations about how good her food was, Annie smiling because he had done this every day without fail since the very first time she cooked for him, talking about anything and everything under the sun. She talked more while he listened more. In their natural rhythm she moved to her rootwork table preparing ingredients, saying prayers, and combining items while he sat in his chair smoking from his pipe that hung directly above where his chair sat. Elijah’s brows furrowed as he tried to figure out what she was doing as the shop was closed for the day so she could not have been completing an order for a client. In the midst of his line of thinking, Annie called him over. 

Elijah moved to stand directly in front of Annie’s work table as she slowly circled around. “You said I take the reins today so I have one thing I need from you before you leave tomorrow.”

Elijah nodded his full attention on Annie.

“Wear this for me and never take it off.” Annie had been making a mojo bag for Elijah as he sat and tried to decipher what she was working on. She knew that he was a person who only trusted what he could see with his very own eyes so his belief in her hoodoo had always been an uphill battle. She knew a secret he would not name. As much as he challenged her on it, the utmost trust and belief he had in her also extended itself to her practice so she knew he would honor request. After all, their love for each other was not something he could see or measure like dollars and cents yet it couldn’t be more real. 

“Okay, for you.” Elijah offered without contesting. Normally he would give her pushback but he could not find that in him today. He knew this was a symbol of just how deep and wide her love went for him. She poured everything she had into this mojo bag even with him having to leave. He could never reject an item that was a symbol of her love for him. Not now. Not ever. 

In the silence of the moment, not even an inch of space existed between them in this moment. The heaviness of the moment lingered following the expression of their love for each other in its purest form. Annie expressing it through pouring her all into a mojo bag she believed would keep him safe until he returned. As it was what she wanted most. She knew that she would not wait forever and didn't know and couldn’t feel when he would return. When he did, it would be in one piece, limbs in tact, heart beating, brain working the same way it did today. Elijah expressed it through the promise he kept despite his skepticism of hoodoo. He’d seen it protect and he’d seen it not deliver when it was needed most. Still, his love, trust, respect, and belief in Annie had him making space for what he wouldn’t have believed in any other circumstance. 

Love was not the only thing felt. Desire made an appearance as it always had. It was always looming even before the very first time they ever touched. It never took much for them. Sometimes the smallest thing would ignite the heat that always wafted right beneath the surface. Annie adorning Elijah with the mojo bag around his neck acted almost like an aphrodisiac.

As they stood face to face, so close they could feel the warmth of their breath, their lips crashed into each other in sync. Elijah’s lips chasing Annie’s with her returning the favor as they moved about without separating. The contrast of feeling of soft, plush lips delivering hard kisses only intensified the lust they were both feeling that demanded to be satisfied. They knew what followed when they got like this. Tongues dancing, titties caressed, dick grabbed, taking turns on their knees, mouths open to pray at the altar of their love; while moans, grunts, nasty words, and squeaking legs of the bedframe served as the soundtrack.

There was a different weight tonight though. They couldn’t stop tomorrow from coming and all the day would bring, but they could spend the whole night feeling. The feel of skin to skin so close they could hear the other’s heartbeat. The feel of being impossibly filled to the point of overflow. The feel of limbs stretched in ways that tested the concept of flexibility. The feel of nails against his back. The feel of sheets caressing them as they tumbled through them.

Exhaustion came second to lust that demanded to be satiated the whole night. The hard and frantic rounds that made them feel like fiends chasing the euphoric feeling of their next hit alternated with rounds that were soft, slow, and deep--where each caress, kiss, stare, thrust, honey laced whisper, and whiskey soaked command was made a memory that could hold them when they were beyond each other’s reach.  

The seventh and last day was much more somber. Even with knowing what was coming at the end of the day they still tried to maintain a sense of normalcy until they couldn’t. The same patterns didn’t feel the same when the weight of his departure turned the vivid colors of the life they lived together pitch black. Their meals didn’t fill their bodies and feed their souls the way they always had. The arrangement of the rooms and their accompanying furniture and decor that felt like expressions of their tastes and personalities began to feel drab and mundane. The place they built that housed memories, milestones, and livelihoods had always felt like a perfect fit until now--where the walls closed in tighter with each hour that passed. 

Elijah waited to the last possible hour to leave as they were traveling by train. Bo Chow, their childhood friend, had agreed to meet them at the station to keep their car for safe keeping. Stack was already waiting outside but had enough sense to stay in the car because if Annie had a chance he wouldn’t be making it to Chicago. They slowly made their way to the door with each step becoming more hesitant. Once they reached their porch, they knew it was time for the goodbye they had been holding off.

“Elijah, I hope that you find peace in making this decision. My understanding of why you feel like you have to do this does not snuff out the hurt and anger. All three coexist at once. The hope of saving one while abandoning the other,” Annie stated matter-of-factly.

 “Annie, I’m not—” Elijah interrupted. 

“Let me finish without contesting.” Annie replied frustrated that he even tried to fight what she was saying. She was tired of pain, anger, grief, and fighting. After deciding that he had to go, Elijah had repeatedly told Annie he would keep in contact and then this wouldn’t be a long exodus. Annie knew better though. She knew how shit tended to go with Stack. This was the first time she could not trust his words which wounded her in a way that she couldn’t adequately name. Of all the promises he made, she only had faith that one would be kept--Elijah keeping on his mojo bag. He would not let his only tether to Annie and the strength of the love they shared be something else he sacrificed. 

“Elijah, you have only been honest from the first day I ever looked into those eyes that said everything you couldn’t allow yourself to say, before we ever were anything to each other. What was the very first promise we ever made as a way to honor our love? We said we would never lie. That promise is the very foundation of that love. Don’t do me the disservice of lying now.” Annie noted calmly before continuing. “Telling the truth don’t make it pretty--just makes it real. You don’t know if you can keep up with the promise you made. You don’t know even if you can consistently write or call. You can’t even tell me how long.” Annie pauses before she says what’s next as it sounds like a threat but it’s just her honoring her promise to always be true. “Love, even one like ours that feels fated in a way that I’d only heard about from those who came before us, won’t wait or coast on the hope that you may come back someday. By the time you return, the bones of the home you forsook may be the only thing here to welcome you back.”

Elijah was silent. Not in a way that was reflective of the silent nature he was known for. This silence wasn’t a self-imposed decision. It was recognition—the realization in that very moment that he could be coming home to a self-appointed séance of the only love he ever got to freely choose.

He couldn’t walk away using his less is more approach. Not after what Annie had just expressed. Not in this situation.

He had spent his last full day with Annie “feeling” instead of offering platitudes that provided no comfort. Now, it was time for him to speak. This could likely be the most important set of words he ever uttered when the stakes are a life with Annie or barely existing with his memories of what they had being the only thing keeping him in this world.

 “Annie, I love you. You know that. Deep. Strong. Without ceasing. I’ve given you parts of me freely that no one else has ever seen.” Elijah said as his hands shook, a trauma response from his time in the war that was elicited whenever he was anxious or panicked. He was not one for impassioned speeches but if there was ever a time to lay it all out there, it was now. “I know my decision feels like I’m breaking us and I’ll hold that. I’m not asking for you to forgive me and I know understanding my motives won’t change how you feel but I’m asking you to believe in what you’ve always known. You’ve never doubted my love, listen to your heart, your intuition, the words your ancestors who guided you told you when you sought guidance and confirmation about our love being destined.” Elijah pleaded with desperation as the floodgates he had used every ounce of strength he had to hold at bay began to break. “I have never lied to you and I won’t now so I can’t promise when but I AM returning. To my heart, my foundation, my reason why, my everything…I love you still and I always will.”

The weight of the moment mixed with Elijah laying his feelings out bare without silencing or pushing them down immediately brought tears to Annie’s eyes.

Now, they both stood in front of the physical home that was reminiscent of the home they found in each other years ago in a place they never thought they would be. Completely broken down. Faces wet with tears, eyes rimmed red, staring into the depths they had always found comfort in. The only sound passing between them is the wind as it shakes the bottles that hang from the Magnolia trees spread out on the property. Elijah pulled Annie into the tightest hug they may have ever shared. An embrace that embodied every feeling they expressed and the ones they were afraid to say out loud.

As they looked into each other’s eyes, nose to nose they leaned into a searing kiss not unlike the kind of kisses they had shared thousands of times. Elijah’s lips creating a seal over Annie’s as his hands framed both of her cheeks so that each part of him had a point of contact with her. Their eyes instinctively shut as if to burn every second into their memory. There was a melancholy beneath this one though as if it wasn’t a promise for a reunion but an acceptance of a reluctant goodbye neither of them ever wanted to have. 

Eventually, they separated and he watched her as he walked backwards toward the truck until he was out of her vision on the driver’s side.

Elijah swung the door open prepared to get in, but paused because there was one thing he had to do before he departed. He leaned down to Luna’s resting place and asked something selfish as the man who was leaving. 

“Can you do one thing for your fool of a father, baby girl?” Smoked asked aloud. “Please watch over your mama—you and your ancestors together. Protect every hair on her head, organ in her body, don’t let a single injury touch her.” Smoke pressed a kiss to the stone in front of her altar. “You’re the only one I can trust with this.”

That was eight years ago now. Smoke returned the seventh year with the only promise kept being his mojo bag not moving one centimeter since Annie placed it around his neck.

How do you go from years of no communication to a full blown affair that could obliterate the very foundation of their lives as they know it within a year of Smoke returning?

The seeds were sown the day the twins made their way back into the life they left behind...

A/N: Thanks for reading. We are definitely in for a ride! I actually pretty much have the next two chapters written so those chapters should be out pretty soon! If I somehow missed you and you wannabe tagged you can either comment or reply to my taglist h e r e ♡

“OKAY!” Delta Slim held his hands up to silence the loud group. He had been gracious enough to let six people join him since they had been effectively banished from the larger cabin that Smoke and Stack Moore owned—the former was not present and the latter sat off from the rest of the group smoking a cigarette like it was his lifeline. Who was responsible for the predicament they were in now was anyone’s guess. “Now, y’all know I don’t mind you bein’ here but we can’t do all this yellin’ and fussin’ ‘round here. Why don’t y’all go one by one and explain what happened?”

“Well, we can start with Grace and Bo,” Mary pointed at the couple. “How did that stuff even get to a spot where Smoke and Annie could get it? I heard her tell y’all to put it away.”

Grace stood up scandalized by the accusation. “Excuse me? You seriously think we dosed our friends with somethin like that? You of all people, Mary!” 

Mary crossed her arms and stared the smaller woman down. “Yes, me of all people, Grace. How did it get out of your possession?”

Grace’s face crumpled trying to remember the details. “I don’t know! I took it to our room and put it in our—” She paused, the memory of that night coming back to her.

2 Nights before NYE

The bulk of the group had arrived at the SmokeStack cabin in the Smoky Mountains. When Grace and Bo arrived Stack, Mary, Smoke, Annie, Pearline, and Sammie were already there.

Annie put together a charcuterie board and finger foods for everyone to snack on after they took their luggage to their rooms and freshened up. It was truly a spread fit for a magazine or one of those food blogs that obviously took a lot of work and everyone quickly partook. 

Except Smoke—he sat away from the group scowling like he’d rather be any place but where he was. He had spent a considerable amount of time warning everyone that, even though it was winter, bears could still be roaming looking for food in the woods nearby so they should be cautious. As usual, they teased him about going into “Papa Smoke” mode and went on about their day.

“Aww. He’s grumpy,” Annie joked. “You’d think his heart would’ve grown three sizes during Christmas.” Her smile was wide but it was obvious that she was tired from the previous day’s travels plus everything she did to prepare for the rest of the group to arrive.

“Annie, I can hear you callin’ me a grinch,” Smoke called to her, his expression turning neutral.

“Good, I didn’t think I was speaking loud enough,” Annie shot back. “Come on over here, Smoke. We don’t bite.”

“I ain’t got proof that you don’t bite,” Smoke grumbled before joining them at the dining table and taking in all of Annie’s hard work. He shot her a disapproving look before taking a grape and popping it in his mouth.

“Slim said he rented out a cabin nearby so we can invite him over on New Year’s Eve,” Stack told the group.

“Imma have to make sure all the liquor locked up then,” Smoke sighed.

“Ooh! Annie, I forgot to show you what we picked up on the way in!” Grace pulled a small satin pouch from her pocket.

Annie groaned already knowing what was in the pouch. “I told you not to waste your money like that, Grace. That ain’t nothin’ but a few dried herbs and some mint oil. It doesn’t even have any natural aphrodisiacs in it.”

Grace waved her friend off. “The girlies on TikTok swear this is the real deal. A love spell in a bag, they say. Said a little pinch of it keep you and your man goin’ all night.” She winked at Annie.

“Don’t be pinchin’ nothin’ around here this week and put that stuff away before somebody confuse it with some seasonin’.” Her phone dinged with a text message. Looking at it, she shook her head and put her phone away.

Sliding the bag back in her pocket, Grace giggled. “Once we find you a man, Annie, I’ll give you a little bit of this.”

“And we will find you a man,” Mary flashed her the ring on her left hand. Her engagement to Stack on Christmas Day only strengthened her resolve to make sure Annie was partnered in the new year.

“I don’t remember losin’ a man so you don’t have find one for me,” Annie countered. No matter how much she insisted that she didn’t want her friends involved in her dating life, they never missed an opportunity to insert themselves anyway. Especially during the holidays when they felt sorry that she was alone.

Smoke scoffed catching everyone’s attention. He cleared his throat and looked away. “Can’t believe I’m agreein’ with Annie. Shit sound like a waste of money.”

“And Scrooge McDuck here ain’t one to waste a nickel,” Annie cracked as she gave him a pat on his head. The two walked a fine line between playful banter and all-out arguments. On separate occasions before this trip started, they had been warned against getting too heated and spoiling the fun for everyone else.

“Annie,” Mary warned looking pointedly at her best friend. She was a major proponent of the “keep Annie and Smoke from killing each other” mission. She could not handle another situation like the one they had on a trip to New Orleans the previous year.

Rolling her eyes, Annie removed her hand from Smoke’s head and went to walk away from him before feeling the sting of a slap on her ass. “Fuck!” She rubbed the spot where it stung turning to get back at him but was dragged away by Mary. 

“Nope, nope, nope! Go put some ice on it or somethin’. Y’all ain’t doin’ this shit this week.” Mary shoved her towards the kitchen and turned back to Smoke. “Now why you do that?”

Smoke shrugged. “Seemed like she needed it.” He bit into a cube of cheese and  sat back like it wasn’t a big deal.

“You better sleep with one eye open, Smoke,” Bo laughed. “Annie ain’t lettin that one go.”

“She better,” Stack pointed at Smoke, “or both of y’all gone be sleepin’ outside with them damn bears for all I care. I ain’t havin’ a repeat of New Orleans.” It was evident that Stack was beyond fed up with Smoke and Annie’s antics.

The evening was peaceful for the most part with very little interaction between Annie and Smoke as the group spent time playing drinking games. Not a huge fan of alcohol, Annie stepped out to smoke a blunt she rolled earlier and make a quick phone call. She returned to her friends laughing uncontrollably and slurring their words.

“Annie! Annie!” Bo yelled her name when she closed the door behind her. “Do you think Smoke is a boob man or an ass man?”

She shrugged, her eyes low and a little red. “I know he can be an ass, man.” 

This set off another round of laughter from everyone except Smoke who was staring Annie down like he was planning his revenge.

“Who was you talkin’ to on the phone?” Smoke asked casually sidestepping her joke about him.

“Yeah, you been on your phone a lot,” Mary pointed out. “You hidin’ a man from us or somethin?” 

Annie grabbed her head obviously tired of this topic. “If I was hidin a man, Mary, you’d be the first to know where I buried his body.” 

“So who was on the phone?” Smoke pressed again.

“Ya mama, Smoke! Damn!” She removed her coat to hang on the coat rack before sitting down on the floor beside Mary.

Mary cleared her throat, her brows furrowed and her face red from the few shots she had downed during their game. 

Annie looked down knowing the topic of Sharon Moore was a sore spot for Mary. She stayed silent the rest of her time with the group, expertly dodging personal questions with jokes and witty quips.

Around 8pm, she called it a night and went upstairs to bed. Smoke retired to his room about thirty minutes later, not wanting to deal with any more obnoxious laughter or comments about his sex life. It wasn’t until 10pm when everyone else started to feel the toll the day took on their bodies and they ended the night as well.

Grace went to get ready for bed, her head swimming from the amount of liquor she consumed. In her room, she emptied her pockets pulling out the bag from earlier. As she went to put it in her luggage she heard clapping coming from Annie’s room. “What the hell is she celebrating this late at night?”

She went to the wall shared between the rooms and pressed her ear against it. There were a few muffled grunts before the clapping started again. Just then, Bo walked into their room making electric guitar noises, startling her. “Bo, you’re being too loud. Folks are tryna sleep.”

“Baby, ain’t nobody but Smoke and Annie sleepin’ right now.” He closed the door and put on a wicked grin and stalked closer to his wife. “You definitely won’t be for a few more hours.” He lunged at her and gathered her in his arms.

All thoughts of the sounds from Annie’s room forgotten, Grace squealed as her husband dropped her on the bed and covered her mouth with his.

*****************

“So I don’t think I put the bag in our luggage but it was definitely in our room somewhere,” Grace insisted. “Somebody had to go in and take it.”

“Yeah, that’s possible,” Mary agreed. “Or you did what you said you were gonna do and put that stuff in her drink?”

“Fuck off, Mary! I said I’d give her some once we found her a man! And what about you? The first one to point the finger is usually the guiltiest. The way you and Stack just left them at the overlook without telling them where we were goin’. You wanted this to happen so you could have your ‘no drama, no stress’ trip. That was more important to you.” Grace threw her hands up and walked over to Bo and took a seat in his lap.

“Don’t you try to spin this around on me, Grace Chow! Me and Stack were the only ones keepin them from rippin each other’s heads off so everyone could have a good time. Besides, why would I want them two together? It’s obvious they hate each other.” 

“It would be cute though, right? You and Stack and Annie and Smoke. Maybe you put it in a spot where they could put in their coffee or somethin,” Pearline chimed in. 

“Ugh!” Mary groaned running her hands through her hair. “Not you too, Pearline. Why would I do something like that? How would I do something like that? Annie doesn’t drink coffee anyway.”

“Nah, baby, you ain’t gotta explain nothin to them,” Stack spoke up, the scowl on his face matching one that Smoke would normally wear. “So they six hours into a sex marathon. They’ll come out of it and either they won’t do all that bitchin’ they like to do or they’ll be even worse than before.” He put his hands up in prayer. “I PRAY this fix all the shit they be causin on these trips.”

“So Stack did it,” Sammie said matter-of-factly after observing quietly the entire time.

“Hell naw, nigga,” Stack went to slap his cousin upside the head. “You think I wanted to hear my brother beggin’ Annie to sit on his face at 10 o’clock in the damn mornin?! Maybe it was you.”

Sammie put his hands on his chest astonished at the accusation. “Me?!”

Pearline considered this for a second. “To be fair, it kinda makes sense, Sammie.”

“Well, I’m glad we agree that it wasn’t me,” Mary held up her hands and went to have a seat on the floor.

“How does that make sense, Pearline? Annie and Smoke? I wouldn’t do that.” Sammie crossed his arms wondering how he got dragged into it.

Stack chuckled. “Is it Annie and Smoke, Sammie? Or is it mommy and daddy to you?” He stood in front of his cousin and crouched down like he was about to explain something simple to a child. “This whole trip, you stayed close to at least one of them. Asking Annie to cook for you, sew up somethin you ripped, layin your head in her lap while we watched a movie. The only thing she didn’t do was tuck you in at night! And if Pearline wasn’t here with you, you probably would’ve asked Annie to read you a bedtime story.”

“I can’t help that she’s a comfortin’ person, Stack! That don’t mean I gave her any of that stuff y’all talkin about.” Sammie looked over to Pearline who was deep in thought.

“And with Smoke?” Stack continued. “Oh, that’s Papa right there, ain’t it Sammie? Followin him around, askin’ him for advice or how do make somethin’, even dressin’ like him sometimes.” He flicked Sammie’s chain which was similar to the one Smoke wore often. “These trips make you miss Uncle Jed and Aunt Ruth so you had to have somebody to fill in, huh? Smoke and Annie naturally filled that void but they argued too much and Lil Sammie don’t like when mama and daddy argue so he made a plan to fix it.”

Sammie just shook his head furiously. “I ain’t do that.”

“But Sammie, you did—” Pearline was cut off by Sammie’s hand over her mouth. Instead of fighting against him, she bit his hand. 

This had everyone’s attention. Delta Slim took a swig from his flask watching in fascination. “Nah, let her speak now, boy. If it done caused y’all to end up in my cabin, we need to hear it.”

“Fuck, Pearline!” Sammie clutched his hand and looked at his girlfriend in fear. 

Pearline cleared her throat and folded her hands over her knee. “Sammie did want Smoke and Annie together. It didn’t go the way he expected it to yesterday though.”

*****************

1 Day before NYE

Things were tense in the cabin after the group left Smoke and Annie arguing at a scenic outlook and spent the day without them.

Annie was cordial to everyone but not warm like she usually was. She cooked the meal Sammie wanted with her earbuds in and avoided conversation. Smoke was in the woods nearby taking pictures of the sunset through the trees.

Sammie sat at the kitchen island waiting for Annie to acknowledge him. He wasn’t used to the silent treatment from her and he felt a little guilty that he listened to Stack and didn’t tell her where the group went. He honestly thought some extended time together would help them and he’d been thinking of something he could do to maybe bring them closer.

He walked over and tapped Annie on her shoulder. His heart warmed the way her face softened for him. She really couldn’t stay mad at Sammie. “Smoke need your help outside. Said somethin’ about the exposure on his camera and you could help.” The lie rolled off his tongue so easily, he impressed himself.

“Why Smoke just can’t look it up on YouTube then?” Annie rolled her eyes and went back to cooking. “He know more about cameras than I do anyway.” Her phone dinged in that moment she pulled it out, her eyes widened before she rubbed her temples in distress.

“You know how Smoke is. Plus, I think he left his phone upstairs.”

Annie looked at him skeptically but finally nodded. “Turn that pot off in about ten minutes.” With that, she left to go see what Smoke needed.

Pearline walked in as Annie left. She knew Sammie was up to something. “What you up to now, Sammie?” She had gone along with his plan to get Smoke and Annie together but after a few attempts, she was ready to give up. Nothing was working.

“Sunsets are romantic, Smoke and Annie are alone in the woods, easy peasy,” Sammie said simply as if that explained anything.

Pearline pulled some grapes out of the fridge and rinsed them off rolling her eyes at her boyfriend. “That don’t make sense, Preacher Boy. You think Annie just gone fall into Smoke’s arms because there’s a sunset?” Pearline felt sorry for Annie after only knowing her for a few months. 

It was obvious to her that\ everyone had their own idea of what Annie should do and what would make her happy. The work she put in to make everyone’s time at the cabin easier was obviously being taken for granted.

“Maybe, just gotta wait and see.” He tossed a grape in the air and caught it in his mouth. It didn’t take long for Sammie to get his answer when he heard a scream from outside.

“OPEN THE DOOR!” Smoke yelled from outside the cabin, his voice panicked. 

Stack rushed from the living room to open the door. “What the hell happened?” He moved back as Smoke ran in carrying an unconscious Annie.

Smoke took her in the living room and laid her down on the couch. “Annie, open your eyes for me.” Panic seeped into his usually steady voice. “Go get a cold wet towel or something!” He yelled at everyone that had gathered around worried. He took her hand in his. “Please, baby, open your eyes for me.” He tapped lightly on her face.

Grace returned with a wet towel and dabbed at Annie’s forehead. “Did she hit her head or something?”

“It was a fuckin bear! She smelled like food and it charged at her.” He felt her hand grip his and squeezed back. “We back in the cabin now, Annie. It’s okay, just open your eyes.”

Sammie stomach was in knots. The only reason Annie was out there in the first place was because he lied.

Blinking her eyes open, Annie groaned and tried to sit up but was stopped by Smoke and Grace. “I’m fine, y’all. There was—that bear it was taller than me—I think my grandmama spoke to me. Said I should’ve had my Black ass in Clarksdale instead of in the woods. Elijah, your camera is still out there!” She tried again to get up but was unsuccessful.

Everyone looked at her in confusion not sure how to take her rambling. Smoke kept her hand in his rubbing soft circles with his thumb. “You come face to face with a bear, get away without a scratch, and now you tryna go back out there for a damn camera? Maybe you did hit your head.” He rubbed the back of her head checking for any bumps.

The group was too concerned about Annie’s well-being to notice the way Smoke cradled her in his arms and whispered things they couldn’t hear. 

“Should we report this as a sighting or an attack?” Mary asked pulling out her phone.

“I don’t want to talk to no police tonight. Just say it was a sighting.” The adrenaline of the encounter began to wane leaving Annie feeling tired. 

“Okay, but what if the officer is single?” Mary tapped her head like she made a good point. “Be nice to have a strong man of the law come to your rescue, huh?”

If looks could kill, Mary would be six feet under with the way Annie and Smoke glared at her. “Girl, what the fuck? Stack, get your fiancée before she become bear food.” Annie gripped her head like she was in pain. 

Stack took Mary’s phone and tapped on it a few times before handing it back. “We don’t want pigs snoopin around here and we sho don’t want Annie to end up with one of em.”

“Why did you even come out there Annie? I told everybody bears can still be roaming the woods.” Smoke scolded still concerned that she had been hurt in some way.

Shrugging, Annie avoided glancing over to Sammie. “I wanted to see the sunset too. Unless that’s against the rules, Smoke.” 

“Hell yeah, it is when you smell like a bear’s favorite meal! You could’ve sat on the patio and saw the sunset just fine.” He still hadn’t let Annie go. In fact he pulled her closer to him as if something might take her away.

Groans erupted from around the room with Smoke and Annie getting back to their original selves. 

“Okay, Papa,” Annie words dripped sarcasm. “Can I finish dinner now—wait something is burning. Sammie did you forget to turn the stove off?”

Sammie’s eyes widened as he realized he was supposed to turn the pot off ten minutes ago. “Shit! I’ll get it!” He ran to the kitchen and saw smoke billowing from the silver pot. Turning off the stove, Sammie waved a towel around hoping to thin out the thick smoke filling up his lungs. 

Pearline joined him and turned on the fan above the stove and opened the kitchen window. “I hope you ain’t ruin Annie’s good pot or she gone put you outside with that bear.”

Annie walked in surveying the scene. Her favorite pot sat smoking and maybe it was the near-death experience that she had or maybe it was the sheer disaster this trip had become but she burst into tears at that moment and left out of the kitchen with Smoke following closely behind her.

Sammie stayed up late that night trying to get all of the burnt stuff out of the bottom to no avail. It wasn’t until Smoke came down and pulled out a strong cleanser that he was able to make progress.

************************

“I did try to get them together,” Sammie admitted. “But I absolutely had nothing to do with what’s goin’ on with them now.” He tried not to think of it because Stack was right, he did kind of think of them as parents what they did in the bedroom was not his business.

“Okay, so we still don’t know who was responsible,” Bo sighed. “Did somebody maybe see the bag and assumed it belonged in the kitchen?”

Everyone in the room shook their head.

“Do y’all think that maybe they are just together and didn’t take any of that stuff at all?” Pearline asked. “I know y’all said they don’t like each other but, they have been pretty isolated from the group.”

The tension turned to humor as everyone but Sammie laughed at Pearline’s suggestion.

“Smoke would’ve told me if somethin was happenin between him and Annie,” Stack said with surety. “I ain’t noticed him being weird around her or nothin’.”

Mary shook her head and wiped the tears that had slipped out from laughing so hard. “The only way Annie would even kiss Smoke is if she was under some spell or it was life or death.”

Grace snapped her fingers. “What if that’s it? What if that’s all this is? They’re both single in a group of couples and they both came face-to-face with a bear so maybe they needed some kind of release.”

“Okay, but you found the bag half empty in the kitchen,” Bo reasoned turning Grace slightly so he could see her face. “You think they just used some of it to get in the mood?”

“Maybe,” Grace shrugged. “They’ve never even flirted with each other before and now they’re…you know.” It was difficult for her to even say Smoke and Annie were having sex. “Like Mary said, it would take something powerful as hell to get them together like that.”

Stack’s phone dinged. “Okay, Smoke just texted me and said we can come back. I guess we can figure out what happened when we get there.”

Delta Slim’s shoulders shook as he laughed at the group in front of him. “Wait! I’m comin’ wit y’all. I bet I know how this all will turn out.”

*******************

Annie didn’t want to come to Gatlinburg for the holiday. She didn’t even want to leave her house, but she had Grace and Mary tag teaming her in their group chat so she decided to come along. Immediately informing Smoke that she didn’t want to be there in the first place.

Smoke supported her choice and promised that they could still spend some time together in the cabin. They weren’t quite ready to make their relationship public especially with all the trouble they caused back in New Orleans that led to them acknowledging their feelings for each other. It took many more months for them to act on those feelings and everything still felt new.

His request to Annie was to not do too much. No making sure everyone was taken care of before taking care of herself, no cooking full meals just because somebody asked, and no spending hours on an itinerary that no one would follow anyway. It surprised him very little when she did exactly the opposite of what he asked.

After seeing the meal she prepared for everyone ruined, she couldn’t hold back the tears. She wasn’t trying to ruin this trip and she wasn’t picking arguments with Smoke like their friends assumed.

********

1 day before NYE

“I didn’t even want to be here, Elijah,” she cried into the crook of Smoke’s neck. “They keep treating me like I’m the problem to be fixed and it’s just making everything worse.” She knew what Sammie was trying to do and it was the same thing Mary tried to do earlier that day after she shut down all of Annie’s suggestions for group activities.

He rubbed her back. “We can pack up and leave tonight if you want, baby. Let them do this shit without you.” He knew that this would be the case, but he didn’t have it in him to tell Annie that right now, especially when it wouldn’t do any good.

For months, Grace and Mary have been on her about “finding a man” so they could do couple things. For this trip, Annie spent a lot of time finding group activities for them just for Mary to opt for more couple centered activities. 

“And then they’ll say I’m overreactin’ and if I had a man, I wouldn’t be doin’ all this,” she sniffled, her head feeling heavy from crying.

“You do have a man though,” Smoke pointed out. “And I don’t think you should let them put you in a box like this. Even with me, I want you to be your own person.” He kissed her forehead. “You don’t listen to me half the time anyway so I don’t know what they think is gonna change with a man around.”

Smacking his shoulder, she couldn’t help but laugh at him. She ran her fingers across his face, her nail tracing his features. “You were right this time. I just have to accept I can’t do everything to please them. And your mama, Elijah. I love her so much but she’s been textin’ and callin’ me everyday because she had a dream about a baby and she swear it’s ours. She sent me a picture of an outfit she already bought! I love her but I’m not ready for kids yet.”

Though they were keeping their relationship secret from their friends, Sharon Moore had picked up on what was going on between them almost immediately. They swore her to secrecy but that didn’t stop her from bombarding them with questions about when they’d marry or give her some grandbabies. 

“I’ll take care of my mama. I love that she love you but she gotta know when to step back.” He kissed her forehead. “I damn sure ain’t gon’ let her scare you away from me. In the meantime, you need to start treatin’ Sammie like he’s a grown ass man. He know how to order food. He don’t need you cookin’ him breakfast, lunch, and dinner everyday.”

Her heart softened thinking about Sammie. “But he’s still a baby to me!”

“He ain’t no damn baby. He’s 21-years-old and he know better. And you gotta draw some boundaries with Grace and Mary. If you say no the first time, let that be it. Don’t let them make you feel bad because you ain’t where they think you should be.” He lifted her chin up with his finger. “I’m fallin’ in love with you more everyday, Annie, and that’s because you got so much good in you that it get on everybody around you. I don’t want you doubtin’ that for a second. If they can’t see that, fuck ‘em.”

“But I don’t even wanna deal with them tomorrow. You wanna stay in the cabin with me and let them do their own thing?” 

“And what you wanna do in the cabin?” Smoke asked pulling her into his lap so that she was straddling him. His face immediately went into her cleavage. It was definitely his favorite place to be.

“Mmm,” she moaned feeling his tongue run across her chest before sucking lightly. “I wanted to watch some movies but I’m open to suggestions.” 

“As long as you open.” He gave her a few more gentle nips. “I need you to get some sleep tonight though because tomorrow, Imma keep you busy.” 

“Whatever you say. I can’t promise that I’ll be quiet like I been these last few days.”

“That’s what I’m countin’ on.”

**********

NYE

Once Mary woke and did her morning routine, she went to Annie’s room to check on her. For the rest of her life she would question why she didn’t think to knock. It was the most courteous thing to do. It was the smartest thing to do. It was the safest thing to do. Instead she was greeted with the vision of her friend’s legs in the air while a male figure rested between them obviously enjoying his first meal of the day.

The horror wasn’t in the what, it was the who. She knew the male figure because she had the same make and model. Before they knew she had barged in, she quickly shut the door and ran back to her room to wake Stack.

Shaking her fiancé with an urgency reserved for a house fire, Mary tried to wake Stack. “Elias, get up! Smoke and Annie—Stack get up!” She shook him harder until his eyes cracked opened.

Alert and alarmed, Stack sat up quickly and looked around for any sign of danger. “What? What happened?” His voice was thick with sleep. He rubbed his eyes to clear his vision. “Somethin’ happen?” 

Mary bit her lip trying to think of the words to explain what she saw. “I think Smoke and Annie are—

“Fuck, Elijah! Like that! Like that! Don’t fuckin’ stop!” Annie’s words were surely loud enough to wake the entire cabin.

“Aye, yo!” Stack threw the covers back and stood up to put on a shirt. “I know they ain’t—” He opened their bedroom door and saw Bo and Grace in the hall with the same confused expressions at the sounds coming from Annie’s room.

“Sit on my face, baby. I wanna drink it all!” Smoke’s pleading filtered through the door.

Without a word, they all filed down the stairs and into the living room where Sammie and Pearline were sitting watching a t.v. show.

“Is Annie up yet?” Sammie asked pausing the show. “I got her pot clean and I wanted to show her.” He was oblivious to the stunned faces of everyone who had just come downstairs.

Grace nodded, her mind far away like her brain was trying to solve a complex problem with no discernible variables. “She’s definitely up.”

“Okay, I’ll go up—” Sammie started to get up but was stopped by Pearline. It was then that he noticed everyone had weird looks on their faces. “What’s wrong?”

“Your cousin decided to grab him a bite to eat at Café Annie,” Stack said humorlessly. “Did y’all know about this?” He looked around to see if anyone would confess.

“Maybe Annie did hit her head gettin’ away from that bear last night,” Bo suggested. “Maybe both of ‘em did.” It was hard to fathom that either of them were of sound mind.

“I mean, it was a scary situation. Maybe Annie hasn’t snapped out of it yet,” Mary posited. “That’s it right?” Because what else could it be?

It took Sammie a moment before he understood what was going on. “Oh. Oooooooh! Smoke and Annie? Fa’real?”

“I’m surprised you can’t hear ‘em all the way down here,” Stack said before a loud moan traveled down to the first floor of the cabin. “Aw, HELL naw! This gotta be a joke. They just fuckin’ with us, huh?” He rubbed at his temples trying to make any sense of the situation.

Mary put her hand on his shoulder. “I promise you, they fuckin’ but not with us. I accidentally walked in on them. That would be one hell of a joke to make.” 

Rubbing at her eyes, Grace yawned. “I’m not even awake enough for this shit. I need some coffee.” She made a beeline for the kitchen while everyone else stood thoroughly confused about the turn of events.

“So we agree, they both hit their heads last night runnin’ from that bear? Or maybe they smoked some bad weed?” Bo asked. “That’s the only explanation I can think of right now.”

“I think I might have another explanation.” Grace returned holding up a small black statin bag—the love spell pouch. “This was in the kitchen and it’s been used.”

“Goddamn it!” Stack cursed and started pacing. “That shit work forreal? How long it take to wear off? How the hell did they even get it?”

“I don’t know, it depends on how much they had.” Examining the bag, she sighed. “It looks like half of it is gone. Fuck! They ain’t stoppin no time soon.”

“Well, I’m not stayin’ in here listenin to them all day,” Mary said. “We gotta get out of here. Maybe they’ll have it out of their system before midnight.”

The group prepared themselves for another day outside of the cabin. In the meantime, Smoke and Annie were off in their own world.

While Annie was recovering from her second orgasm of the morning, Smoke had latched on to her nipple. “Ahh! Elijah, I need another one, baby.”

He released her nipple with a POP and smirked at the way she squirmed underneath him. “You bein’ greedy now, Annie. I just gave you two.”

“And if you keep suckin my titties like that, it might be three.” She spread her legs and wrapped them around him. “I coulda gotten eaten by a bear last night. You really gon’ make me beg for it, Elijah?”

He refocused his attention her nipple and hummed. “Mhmm. That’s for calling me the Grinch and Scrooge McDuck.” He thrusted his hips making contact with her center but offering no relief. 

“Ugh! I’m sorry, baby! Please just put it in! You feel how wet you made me? You ain’t gone do nothin’ about it?” She pulled his face from her chest so he could see the pout she wore. 

Having already decided that he would give this woman anything she asked for, he crumbled immediately. Smoke reached between their bodies and slid his finger between Annie’s wet folds. “Imma take care of you, Ma, don’t worry.” He moved his finger until it was on her  hardened nub. He drew circles eliciting quiet whimpers from the woman beneath him. His mouth watered at the thought of tasting her again but he also needed to feel her clenching around him. 

Rolling back on to the bed, he pulled Annie on top of him, her massive breasts nearly eclipsing his entire face. “Ride it, baby. I wanna see you bounce on that shit.” 

Not needing to be told twice, Annie grabbed his thick length in her hand and lined it up with her dripping hole. She eased down on it her toes curling at the way she stretched to fit around it. “Damn, Papa, it’s so thick.” She bit her bottom lip to keep from squealing at the sensation of their connection. 

Bracing herself, with her hands flat on his chest, she dropped her hips down burying him deep inside her. Egged on by Smoke’s grunts of pleasure, she rose up and slammed her hips back down. She continued developing a rhythm that had them both moaning each other’s names. “You like the way this pussy grippin you, Elijah?”

“Fuck yeah, baby.” His eyes were closed tight as he focused on not finishing too soon. Smoke already knew that he’d give everything she asked him for but now he was thinking about stuff to give her that she’d never need. “Pussy feel like heaven. Keep ridin’ it, Ma.”

The sounds of their skin slapping together filled Annie’s ears and made her gush even more. Knowing the power she now held over Smoke, she leaned forward to grip his throat. “Don’t fuckin’ cum until I tell you to.” She switched from bouncing and rolled her hips at a tantalizing pace. 

The hand on his throat sent a jolt straight to his dick. “Annie, please, baby!” 

“Please, baby!” Annie mocked still teasing him with a slow roll of her hips. “That’s what yo ass get for makin’ me beg for this dick. You know who it belong to.” Gripping his throat tighter, she leaned forward. “Who this dick belong to, Elijah?”

“You, Annie. It’s yours! This dick belong to you!” He attempted to thrust his hips but was stopped by Annie putting her full weight on him.

“Try that again, Elijah, and Imma finish without you,” she threatened using her lower muscles to clench around him. “If it’s mine, let me do what I want with it.”

Smoke groaned and nodded. “Do what you need to, baby.”

Speeding up, she rode him like it her life depended on it. “Fuck! I’m close, Papa.” She threw her head back and let out a cry loud enough to scare all the wildlife nearby. Pleasure pulsed through her as her core spasmed uncontrollably. “Cum with me, Elijah!”

Smoke’s release was instant feeling the way Annie’s soft center massaged him. It was his turn to yell out, screaming Annie’s name like the highest praise he knew. He pumped all he had into her wet cunt his mind turning to mush. “You want a spaceship?”

Her mind still foggy from her orgasm, she flopped down next to him in bed sure she misheard what he said. “What?”

“I said do you want a spaceship? I think Imma buy you one.” Smoke’s words were slurred as if he’d had too much to drink. “I’ll buy you the moon too.”

Annie would laugh about it later but at that moment she just kissed him with every bit of her. “I love it when you get pussy drunk and start promisin’ me stupid shit, Elijah.” They spent time wrapped up in each other until the mood struck again and led them down paths of pleasure.

They stopped to give their bodies a break and hydrate but couldn’t stop themselves from falling right back into each other. One moment, Annie was preparing them a quick snack and the next moment, she was pressed into the countertop as Smoke plowed her from behind. 

“Yo pretty ass owe me for what you did upstairs.” He pounded into her, his pace brutal and unforgiving. “Who this pussy belong to?”

“Please, Smoke! I need to—AH!” A hard swat to her thigh made her remember who she was dealing with. “It’s yours! This pussy is yours!”

“I know it is,” Smoke chuckled darkly. “You better not forget it either, okay?”

“Okay, Elijah,” Annie whimpered losing all will to fight back. 

When they were finally able to separate, they cleaned up and ordered food. Smoke sent a message to Stack telling him the coast was clear. 

“They gon’ be mad,” Annie said as they sat down to watch a movie. “Stack especially. Y’all tell each other everything.”

“He’ll be all right. He get mad over little stuff sometimes but he’ll be good after I talk to him.”

Side-eying Smoke, Annie smacked her lips. “This ain’t little though. I know why we kept this between us but they might feel like we don’t trust them.”

“We don’t. You see how they been actin all week. They asses will get over it.” He wrapped his arm around Annie and pulled her to him saying no more on the subject.

************

Stack pulled up to the cabin and parked. “The next trip, we will be leavin they asses in the Delta. It’s always somethin with them.” He huffed, got out the car, and stomped toward the front door leaving Mary, Sammie, and Pearline to follow as Bo had pulled up beside them with Grace and Slim.

As Pearline exited the vehicle, something shiny under the seat caught her attention. She picked it up to see it was a silver hoop earring. “Mary, I think you dropped your earring. It was under the seat.” She held it up not expecting it to be snatched from her hand so quickly.

“This ain’t mine.” Mary clutched the earring in her hand. This is Smoke’s car, not Stack’s.” She promptly turned and rushed past Stack practically kicking the door open.

Inside, Smoke and Annie were cuddled on the couch watching a movie like they didn’t upend everyone’s day. 

Mary stomped in, her face red and her eyes narrowed taking in the couple before her while pieces of a puzzle she didn’t even know existed fell into place. “Hey, Annie. Smoke.”

“Hey, Mary,” Annie responded not looking away from the tv. “Y’all have fun today?”

“Obviously not as much fun as you did, Annie. And I guess you had as much fun in the back of Smoke’s car three weeks ago.” She held up the earring. “You told me you lost the other one at work.”

Stack stepped beside his fiancée confused. “What’s goin on?” He looked at his brother and Annie with their arms wrapped around each other. “So y’all a thing now?”

“Nah,” Mary shook her head as the rest of the group walked into the living room and sat down where they could. “This ain’t just happen now. They been hiding this from us for at least three weeks. Ain’t that right, Annie?”

“At least that long.” Annie confirmed and held out her hand for the earring. “I knew it would turn up somewhere.” She slid it in Smoke’s shirt pocket. “Keep that safe for me, baby.”

“What is she talkin’ about, Annie?” Grace was seriously confused. “You and Smoke?” She pointed to the two of them.

“Smoke, that ain’t true is it?” Under the anger that was bubbling in Stack’s chest was a twinge of hurt. 

Smoke just looked at Stack and shrugged. “We were gonna tell y’all soon and things kinda went crazy this week so now y’all know.”

“Wait so y’all didn’t take any of the love potion stuff?” Sammie asked, the excitement visible on his face. 

“What?” This time Annie did look at the rest of them. “Hell no we didn’t take that shit. It was on the floor by the stairs this morning. Half of it spilled out when I picked it up and when I went to clean it, somebody distracted me.” She nudged Smoke playfully. “I guess I left it on the kitchen counter.”

“Wait,” Stack held up his hand not caring about the love spell. “Smoke, you been hidin’ this from me? Your own brother? Why? I tell you everything! You was the first person I told when I wanted to propose to Mary. You think I was gon’ try to stop you?”

The liquid in Delta Slim’s flask was louder than the movie still playing as he took a swig. “Goddamit, I knew it! They been tryna shake y’all this whole week and y’all ain’t notice nothin. Bet not ever become detectives.”

Ignoring Slim, Smoke sat up and looked at his brother. “It wasn’t like that, Elias. We just wanted some time with each other for the last three months without anybody’s questions or pressurin’ us about what we should be doin’.”

“Three months?!” Stack, Mary, and Grace said together. Suddenly Smoke and Annie were hit with a barrage of questions. “Why not tell us?” “Don’t you trust us?” “How did you hide this from us?” “How did this even happen?”

“Stop! Be quiet, please!” Annie stood up, her head starting to throb. Silence fell across the room. The tv was muted. “This is why we kept it to ourselves. I’m tired of having to justify my choices to this group. Tired of every single time we’re together, it turns into the “let’s fix Annie” committee. So yeah, we kept this one from y’all until we were sure that it wouldn’t waiver under y’all’s judgment and questions.”

“But I don’t have a problem with you and my brother bein’ together, Annie.” Stack stepped forward. “It’s the fact that we don’t keep things like this from each other.” He glared at Smoke. “You ain’t tell me because you thought I’d break y’all up or somethin?”

“We ain’t tell nobody, Stack,” Smoke responded weakly. “It wasn’t just that we thought y’all would break us up. We didn’t want anybody chiming in on what we had goin on. Good or bad. Already bad enough Mama been doin’ it.” 

Annie’s head whipped around when she heard a squeak from Mary. “Mary, it’s not—”

“That’s why she’s been callin’ you? Because she knew already?” Tears filled Mary’s eyes. “I bet she been plannin’ y’all’s weddin’ and she don’t even care about mine. I guess she will get the daughter-in-law she actually wants.” She turned and left, her footsteps thudding up the stairs.

Stack shot a look of disappointment to Annie and Smoke before following behind her.

No one said anything until Sammie cleared his throat and rubbed his hands together. “I’m happy for y’all. I always thought y’all would make a good couple.”

“Shut up, fool.” Smoke threw a pillow at him. “We know what you been tryna do. We ain’t dumb. Leave my woman alone and stop askin her to cook for you.” He motioned for Annie to come sit next to him. “You a grown ass man.”

“What? But Annie don’t mind! Ouch, Pearline!” Sammie clutched the back of his head.

Pearline smirked. “You a grown ass man, Preacher Boy. You’ll figure it out.”

Grace observed Annie and Smoke from across the room and the two of them together made so much sense. “They’re kinda perfect for each other,” she whispered to Bo who had been a quiet onlooker most of the day. 

“Mhmm,” Bo agreed. “What the hell were y’all arguin about at the overlook?”

“Nothin,” Smoke said simply. “We just knew y’all would leave us alone if it looked like we was arguin. It worked. It was bullshit that nobody backed Annie up though. So we gon’ take our own trip somewhere and do whatever she want.” He kissed the side of Annie’s neck causing her to giggle.

“I knew once y’all said ‘bout that bear,” Slim slurred, “I knew then what these two was doin. They done had this big ole cabin to do whatever they want to do without y’all.” He stomped his foot and slapped his leg as his shoulders shook. “And look at ‘em done wore each other out. They ain’t gon’ make it til midnight.”

Annie stood and gestured toward the kitchen. “Well, we still ordered food for everybody to eat. Just a bunch of party food really and Smoke brought a nice bottle of champagne. Make sure Slim gets some food but don’t give him no champagne.” She looked down at her watch. “We got about two hours til the New Year but y’all can play some games or somethin’ ’til then.”

“You not stayin’ down here with us?” Sammie asked ready to run to the kitchen.

Shaking her head, Annie headed towards the stairs. “I’m tired, lil Sammie. Your cousin—” Her mouth was covered by Smoke’s strong hand. 

“Oh, so it runs in the family,” Pearline joked pushing her boyfriend towards the kitchen. “Happy New Year, Annie and Smoke. See you in the mornin.”

“Happy New Year, Pearly,” Annie sang once Smoke removed his hand. “Happy New Year Grace and Bo.”

“Yeah, Happy New Year, y’all,” Smoke threw behind him as he moved them both quickly up the stairs. “Don’t be down here destroyin’ shit.”

Annie moved towards her door but was dragged towards Smoke’s instead. “Smoke, please, Miss Kitty needs to recover from the day she had.”

“And she will.” He opened the door and pulled her inside. “My bed is ready for you to sleep in though. Ain’t gotta change the sheets and I already moved your stuff.” His lips traced her jawline  while his hands gripped her ass.

“You promised me sleep, Papa.” Even as she said it, she pushed herself closer to him. “You think Stack and Mary okay?”

“They’ll be fine. We can talk to ‘em tomorrow. Let’s get you to bed though.”

**************************

The next morning, Annie woke to her phone vibrating repeatedly on the nightstand. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she picked it up and saw that it was Sharon Moore. She turned over to hand the phone to Smoke because she could not deal with his mama this early in the morning only to find his side of the bed empty. Sighing, she steeled herself and answered the phone.

“Good morning, Ms. Sharon! Happy New Year!” She masked the sleepiness in her voice.

“It would be much happier if you called me Mama like I told you to, Annie but Happy New Year to you too, baby. Y’all have fun last night? I texted those sons of mine but they ain’t respond.”

“Oh yeah! We had a lot of fun,” Annie lied smoothly. “The town had a fireworks show that was visible from the cabin. What did you get up to last night?”

“Me and the girls stayed in and made drinks and watched that lil gay man—Andy or somethin—we watched his countdown on tv for a little bit.  Willie Mae got drunk as a skunk. She passed out in the guest room right now. Cathy up though, cookin’ breakfast but she don’t make the biscuits like you do.” 

There was yelling from the background that Annie couldn’t make out. “I’m talking to Annie!” A pause. “Cuz you don’t make biscuits like her, Cathy! Yo dough is too loose or somethin’. Chile, now she in her feelins. Anyway, I didn’t want nothin’ just checkin to see how y’all doin. You and Smoke gon tell everybody soon, right? I’ll keep ya secret a lil bit longer but I almost let it slip after a two margaritas.”

Annie was close to ripping her hair out hearing Sharon ramble this early in the morning. “We let them know yesterday. Most of ‘em took it well.” She rubbed her face not ready to talk to Mary just yet.

“I bet Elias and Mary had somethin’ to say, huh? He ain’t never liked when his brother kept stuff from him. Got mad at him a whole week when he found out Elijah was savin’ up the lil money that they got from me to buy me somethin for my birthday. They’ll be okay though. What about you and Mary?”

“I don’t know. I guess. I think she is feelin’ kinda alone with the engagement and wantin’ to plan the weddin’ since her mama is…you know. I think maybe she want you to help her.” Annie bit her lip hoping for the best but truly not knowing where Sharon stood when it came with Mary. 

She seemed to be happy that Stack and Mary were engaged but she didn’t bring it up much and she certainly wasn’t calling Mary on the daily to ask how she was doing or tell her random things.

 “Really? She want me to help?” Sharon sounded genuinely surprised. “I didn’t think she wanted my help so that’s why I hadn’t said anything about it. Did she tell you she wanted my help?”

“You know the way you been callin and textin’ me all week? It kinda looks like you have a favorite especially to Mary.”

“I do!” She said without hesitation. “And Elijah better be putting a ring on your finger soon. That don’t mean I don’t like Mary though. She can be…a lot but hell, so can I. She just never seemed that interested in me and I ain’t one to push.” At this Annie had to roll her eyes. “If she want me to help her with the weddin’, I will. You know I like stuff like that.”

“I think that would make her feel a lot better.” Annie looked up to see that Smoke had come back into the room with a steaming mug. “And maybe the baby you’ve been dreaming about is actually hers and Stack’s.”

“No, I’m sure it was yours and Elijah’s. It was a girl with your pretty brown eyes. Elias and Mary’s first will be a boy. I know that for sure.”

Annie groaned. “Well, she won’t be around for a long time so I guess you’ll have a grandson first.” 

“No—”

“Elijah just walked in,” Annie interrupted her before she could say anything else. “I think he want to talk to you.” She handed Smoke the phone and took the mug of hot tea from his hand. Sharon was right, she was a lot and definitely too much for Annie this early in the morning.

After getting off the phone with Sharon, Smoke sat on the bed stared at Annie as she drank her tea. 

“What you lookin at, Elijah?”

“What you think I’m lookin at, woman?”

Looking down, Annie checked to see if she had anything exposed. “Well my titties ain’t out and we both know that’s the real reason you with me.”

“I mean, if I die with my face buried in ‘em, I wouldn’t be mad.”

“I would be. Planned on smotherin’ you between my thighs once I got a good life insurance policy on you. You talk to Stack?”

Smoke nodded. “Yeah, we cool. He still don’t like that I did it but he’ll get over it. He said Mary is mostly sad that Mama ain’t said much about their engagement.”

“Yeah and I talked to Sharon about that. I wanna leave that between them as much as possible though. I won’t answer for their relationship with each other and I don’t want to be their buffer. Everything else, Mary needs to get over though.”

“Well, she up if you wanna go talk to her. It’ll be a long drive back to Mississippi if y’all ain’t speakin’ to each other.”

“Uuuuugh, I guess. Let me get myself together before I do anything.” She rolled out of bed, her muscles aching from the previous day. “Shit! Maybe we overdid it yesterday.”

“I feel okay.” Smoke shrugged. 

“Because your legs weren’t up in the air, and your face wasn’t pressed against the mattress, and you weren’t bent over the counter, or laying down on the stairs.”

“I’ll give you a massage later on.” He walked up behind her and pressed himself into her back. 

“I don’t think me or my birth control is strong enough to handle one of your massages, Elijah, so I’ll have to decline.”

When Annie found Mary, she was outside on the patio wearing a coat over her pajamas. “You ain’t cold out here?” Annie was fully dressed with her coat on and still felt the chill in the air.

Mary shook her head. “I have my coat on. It’s supposed to warm up today a little. I need to apologize for last night. It wasn’t right to put my issues with Sharon on you like that.”

Sitting beside her friend, Annie nodded. “You know I’m not competin' to be her favorite.”

“But you are and I know that. I don’t even know if you’ll want to be my friend after I tell you this.” She looked off. “You and Smoke made more sense than I ever wanted to admit. I noticed it back in New Orleans Even when y’all would fight, you couldn’t be apart.” She laughed at the memory. 

“I just didn’t want y’all together because then you’d have the calm twin who wouldn’t second guess a lifetime with you and the attentive mother-in-law who would love to have you around. She always liked you but to have you as a daughter? I’m sure she was over the moon when she found out.” She sniffled and wiped away a tear. “That’s why I pushed so hard to find you somebody else—anybody but Smoke.”

Annie was stunned to hear this. “Mary, Stack loves you. He was nervous as hell that he’d mess something up when he was plannin to propose.”

“I know he loves me, Annie, but you weren’t around when we first got together. We fought harder than you and Smoke. He didn’t really take us seriously until I left him. I’m glad we were able to move past that but it would’ve been nice if it was easy. Knowin’ Smoke, he probably picked out a ring after your first kiss.”

“Well, he better hold on to it for as long as possible. I’m not gettin married any time soon.” Annie hugged herself willing the weather to warm up. “And we knew back in New Orleans too, just didn’t do nothin’ about it until recently. But this ain’t about me and Elijah. Lots of women ain’t close to their husband’s mamas. What’s really the issue with Sharon?”

“I know it’s not her job to be my mama but it’d be nice if someone wanted to. My own mama blocked me on everything when she saw I got engaged to Stack, which is fine because she’s a crazy bitch. I just want some guidance through this and I have nobody. Sharon’s the only one.”

“Have you ever just sat down and talked with her?”

Mary shook her head. “No, she probably wouldn’t want to though.”

“Okay, I gotta be honest, Mary. It don’t sound like you tryin’ much with her and I’m blamin’ Stack too because he should’ve addressed this a long time ago.”Annie huffed not liking the fact that she had to explain to grown adults that they should just talk to each other. “Sharon supports y’all’s engagement one hundred percent. She made Stack practice his proposal so it would be perfect for you. She likes you but you gotta show her you want her involved. Go have lunch with her sometimes or buy her some scratch offs. She’s easy to get along with.”

“You forreal?”

“Yes! You don’t get blessed with frequent calls from Sharon Moore unless you’ve put a little effort in. Hell, at this point, I need a break before she starts planning the baby shower.”

Mary looked at her questionably. “Are you—”

“Don’t even fuckin’ finish that question. Absolutely not, but that ain’t stopped Sharon from insisting that I will be soon. Elijah may have to wrap it up for the foreseeable future.”

“That’s what she’s been callin about?” Mary doubled over in laughter.

“It’s not funny,” Annie grumbled sitting back in her seat. “I’ll let you take the honor of givin’ her her first grandchild. According to her it’ll be a boy.”

Mary looked like she saw a ghost. “You not serious. That’s just how older people talk sometimes, right?”

“Yeah, my grandmama used to say stuff like that. She was never wrong though. That’s why I’ve been freakin’ out every time Sharon call me. The fuck Imma do with a baby?”

“I sure don’t need one now. Gotta make sure me and Elias bein’ careful from now on.” The wind picked up slightly causing Mary to fold her arms together and hunch over for warmth. “We spent almost the whole day at Slim’s accusin’ each other of dosin’ y’all with that love spell stuff. Now it’s makin’ me realize why y’all didn’t tell us. I’m sorry for doin all that and pressurin’ you to come here.”

“Yeah, you gotta leave me alone for a week when we get back.” 

“A week?! Why that long?”

“Because, I wanted to be at my house gettin my feet rubbed by Elijah but instead, I let you talk me into comin’ here and ended up gettin chased by a damn bear.” Annie sucked her teeth.

“But he rubbed more than your feet yesterday. You tellin’ me you gon’ ignore me for a week when you got multiple days of Smoke foldin’ you like pressed laundry?” 

“Yep! Don’t forget I got chased by a bear.” Annie stood up. “If I stay out here any longer, I might turn into a block of ice. Come on.” The two walked in to see Grace standing near the door.

“Y’all kiss and make up?” She asked jokingly but her eyes were serious. 

“Annie said I can’t talk to her for a week when we get back home so yeah, we made up.” Mary pulled Annie over and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “And there’s the kiss.”

Grace looked at Annie in confusion. “Why won’t you speak to Mary for a week?” 

“I ain’t speakin’ to yo ass either, Grace. Y’all got me up in these damn mountains with bears and shit. Got love potions or spells or whatever the hell y’all was tryna give me.”

Mary leaned over to Grace with a faux-whisper. “She ain’t gon’ be able to talk no way if she screamin’ Smoke name the whole time.”

“I didn’t wanna say nothin’,” Grace whispered back. “But she barely able to walk today. After a week, she might be on crutches.”

Annie rolled her eyes but couldn’t help smiling at her friends. “While y’all standin’ here laughin’ I’m about to cash in on a spaceship I was promised yesterday. See y’all whenever.” She turned, trying to walk away as normal as possible but heard the laughter behind her. 

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

“OKAY!” Delta Slim held his hands up to silence the loud group. He had been gracious enough to let six people join him since they had been effectively banished from the larger cabin that Smoke and Stack Moore owned—the former was not present and the latter sat off from the rest of the group smoking a cigarette like it was his lifeline. Who was responsible for the predicament they were in now was anyone’s guess. “Now, y’all know I don’t mind you bein’ here but we can’t do all this yellin’ and fussin’ ‘round here. Why don’t y’all go one by one and explain what happened?”

“Well, we can start with Grace and Bo,” Mary pointed at the couple. “How did that stuff even get to a spot where Smoke and Annie could get it? I heard her tell y’all to put it away.”

Grace stood up scandalized by the accusation. “Excuse me? You seriously think we dosed our friends with somethin like that? You of all people, Mary!” 

Mary crossed her arms and stared the smaller woman down. “Yes, me of all people, Grace. How did it get out of your possession?”

Grace’s face crumpled trying to remember the details. “I don’t know! I took it to our room and put it in our—” She paused, the memory of that night coming back to her.

2 Nights before NYE

The bulk of the group had arrived at the SmokeStack cabin in the Smoky Mountains. When Grace and Bo arrived Stack, Mary, Smoke, Annie, Pearline, and Sammie were already there.

Annie put together a charcuterie board and finger foods for everyone to snack on after they took their luggage to their rooms and freshened up. It was truly a spread fit for a magazine or one of those food blogs that obviously took a lot of work and everyone quickly partook. 

Except Smoke—he sat away from the group scowling like he’d rather be any place but where he was. He had spent a considerable amount of time warning everyone that, even though it was winter, bears could still be roaming looking for food in the woods nearby so they should be cautious. As usual, they teased him about going into “Papa Smoke” mode and went on about their day.

“Aww. He’s grumpy,” Annie joked. “You’d think his heart would’ve grown three sizes during Christmas.” Her smile was wide but it was obvious that she was tired from the previous day’s travels plus everything she did to prepare for the rest of the group to arrive.

“Annie, I can hear you callin’ me a grinch,” Smoke called to her, his expression turning neutral.

“Good, I didn’t think I was speaking loud enough,” Annie shot back. “Come on over here, Smoke. We don’t bite.”

“I ain’t got proof that you don’t bite,” Smoke grumbled before joining them at the dining table and taking in all of Annie’s hard work. He shot her a disapproving look before taking a grape and popping it in his mouth.

“Slim said he rented out a cabin nearby so we can invite him over on New Year’s Eve,” Stack told the group.

“Imma have to make sure all the liquor locked up then,” Smoke sighed.

“Ooh! Annie, I forgot to show you what we picked up on the way in!” Grace pulled a small satin pouch from her pocket.

Annie groaned already knowing what was in the pouch. “I told you not to waste your money like that, Grace. That ain’t nothin’ but a few dried herbs and some mint oil. It doesn’t even have any natural aphrodisiacs in it.”

Grace waved her friend off. “The girlies on TikTok swear this is the real deal. A love spell in a bag, they say. Said a little pinch of it keep you and your man goin’ all night.” She winked at Annie.

“Don’t be pinchin’ nothin’ around here this week and put that stuff away before somebody confuse it with some seasonin’.” Her phone dinged with a text message. Looking at it, she shook her head and put her phone away.

Sliding the bag back in her pocket, Grace giggled. “Once we find you a man, Annie, I’ll give you a little bit of this.”

“And we will find you a man,” Mary flashed her the ring on her left hand. Her engagement to Stack on Christmas Day only strengthened her resolve to make sure Annie was partnered in the new year.

“I don’t remember losin’ a man so you don’t have find one for me,” Annie countered. No matter how much she insisted that she didn’t want her friends involved in her dating life, they never missed an opportunity to insert themselves anyway. Especially during the holidays when they felt sorry that she was alone.

Smoke scoffed catching everyone’s attention. He cleared his throat and looked away. “Can’t believe I’m agreein’ with Annie. Shit sound like a waste of money.”

“And Scrooge McDuck here ain’t one to waste a nickel,” Annie cracked as she gave him a pat on his head. The two walked a fine line between playful banter and all-out arguments. On separate occasions before this trip started, they had been warned against getting too heated and spoiling the fun for everyone else.

“Annie,” Mary warned looking pointedly at her best friend. She was a major proponent of the “keep Annie and Smoke from killing each other” mission. She could not handle another situation like the one they had on a trip to New Orleans the previous year.

Rolling her eyes, Annie removed her hand from Smoke’s head and went to walk away from him before feeling the sting of a slap on her ass. “Fuck!” She rubbed the spot where it stung turning to get back at him but was dragged away by Mary. 

“Nope, nope, nope! Go put some ice on it or somethin’. Y’all ain’t doin’ this shit this week.” Mary shoved her towards the kitchen and turned back to Smoke. “Now why you do that?”

Smoke shrugged. “Seemed like she needed it.” He bit into a cube of cheese and  sat back like it wasn’t a big deal.

“You better sleep with one eye open, Smoke,” Bo laughed. “Annie ain’t lettin that one go.”

“She better,” Stack pointed at Smoke, “or both of y’all gone be sleepin’ outside with them damn bears for all I care. I ain’t havin’ a repeat of New Orleans.” It was evident that Stack was beyond fed up with Smoke and Annie’s antics.

The evening was peaceful for the most part with very little interaction between Annie and Smoke as the group spent time playing drinking games. Not a huge fan of alcohol, Annie stepped out to smoke a blunt she rolled earlier and make a quick phone call. She returned to her friends laughing uncontrollably and slurring their words.

“Annie! Annie!” Bo yelled her name when she closed the door behind her. “Do you think Smoke is a boob man or an ass man?”

She shrugged, her eyes low and a little red. “I know he can be an ass, man.” 

This set off another round of laughter from everyone except Smoke who was staring Annie down like he was planning his revenge.

“Who was you talkin’ to on the phone?” Smoke asked casually sidestepping her joke about him.

“Yeah, you been on your phone a lot,” Mary pointed out. “You hidin’ a man from us or somethin?” 

Annie grabbed her head obviously tired of this topic. “If I was hidin a man, Mary, you’d be the first to know where I buried his body.” 

“So who was on the phone?” Smoke pressed again.

“Ya mama, Smoke! Damn!” She removed her coat to hang on the coat rack before sitting down on the floor beside Mary.

Mary cleared her throat, her brows furrowed and her face red from the few shots she had downed during their game. 

Annie looked down knowing the topic of Sharon Moore was a sore spot for Mary. She stayed silent the rest of her time with the group, expertly dodging personal questions with jokes and witty quips.

Around 8pm, she called it a night and went upstairs to bed. Smoke retired to his room about thirty minutes later, not wanting to deal with any more obnoxious laughter or comments about his sex life. It wasn’t until 10pm when everyone else started to feel the toll the day took on their bodies and they ended the night as well.

Grace went to get ready for bed, her head swimming from the amount of liquor she consumed. In her room, she emptied her pockets pulling out the bag from earlier. As she went to put it in her luggage she heard clapping coming from Annie’s room. “What the hell is she celebrating this late at night?”

She went to the wall shared between the rooms and pressed her ear against it. There were a few muffled grunts before the clapping started again. Just then, Bo walked into their room making electric guitar noises, startling her. “Bo, you’re being too loud. Folks are tryna sleep.”

“Baby, ain’t nobody but Smoke and Annie sleepin’ right now.” He closed the door and put on a wicked grin and stalked closer to his wife. “You definitely won’t be for a few more hours.” He lunged at her and gathered her in his arms.

All thoughts of the sounds from Annie’s room forgotten, Grace squealed as her husband dropped her on the bed and covered her mouth with his.

*****************

“So I don’t think I put the bag in our luggage but it was definitely in our room somewhere,” Grace insisted. “Somebody had to go in and take it.”

“Yeah, that’s possible,” Mary agreed. “Or you did what you said you were gonna do and put that stuff in her drink?”

“Fuck off, Mary! I said I’d give her some once we found her a man! And what about you? The first one to point the finger is usually the guiltiest. The way you and Stack just left them at the overlook without telling them where we were goin’. You wanted this to happen so you could have your ‘no drama, no stress’ trip. That was more important to you.” Grace threw her hands up and walked over to Bo and took a seat in his lap.

“Don’t you try to spin this around on me, Grace Chow! Me and Stack were the only ones keepin them from rippin each other’s heads off so everyone could have a good time. Besides, why would I want them two together? It’s obvious they hate each other.” 

“It would be cute though, right? You and Stack and Annie and Smoke. Maybe you put it in a spot where they could put in their coffee or somethin,” Pearline chimed in. 

“Ugh!” Mary groaned running her hands through her hair. “Not you too, Pearline. Why would I do something like that? How would I do something like that? Annie doesn’t drink coffee anyway.”

“Nah, baby, you ain’t gotta explain nothin to them,” Stack spoke up, the scowl on his face matching one that Smoke would normally wear. “So they six hours into a sex marathon. They’ll come out of it and either they won’t do all that bitchin’ they like to do or they’ll be even worse than before.” He put his hands up in prayer. “I PRAY this fix all the shit they be causin on these trips.”

“So Stack did it,” Sammie said matter-of-factly after observing quietly the entire time.

“Hell naw, nigga,” Stack went to slap his cousin upside the head. “You think I wanted to hear my brother beggin’ Annie to sit on his face at 10 o’clock in the damn mornin?! Maybe it was you.”

Sammie put his hands on his chest astonished at the accusation. “Me?!”

Pearline considered this for a second. “To be fair, it kinda makes sense, Sammie.”

“Well, I’m glad we agree that it wasn’t me,” Mary held up her hands and went to have a seat on the floor.

“How does that make sense, Pearline? Annie and Smoke? I wouldn’t do that.” Sammie crossed his arms wondering how he got dragged into it.

Stack chuckled. “Is it Annie and Smoke, Sammie? Or is it mommy and daddy to you?” He stood in front of his cousin and crouched down like he was about to explain something simple to a child. “This whole trip, you stayed close to at least one of them. Asking Annie to cook for you, sew up somethin you ripped, layin your head in her lap while we watched a movie. The only thing she didn’t do was tuck you in at night! And if Pearline wasn’t here with you, you probably would’ve asked Annie to read you a bedtime story.”

“I can’t help that she’s a comfortin’ person, Stack! That don’t mean I gave her any of that stuff y’all talkin about.” Sammie looked over to Pearline who was deep in thought.

“And with Smoke?” Stack continued. “Oh, that’s Papa right there, ain’t it Sammie? Followin him around, askin’ him for advice or how do make somethin’, even dressin’ like him sometimes.” He flicked Sammie’s chain which was similar to the one Smoke wore often. “These trips make you miss Uncle Jed and Aunt Ruth so you had to have somebody to fill in, huh? Smoke and Annie naturally filled that void but they argued too much and Lil Sammie don’t like when mama and daddy argue so he made a plan to fix it.”

Sammie just shook his head furiously. “I ain’t do that.”

“But Sammie, you did—” Pearline was cut off by Sammie’s hand over her mouth. Instead of fighting against him, she bit his hand. 

This had everyone’s attention. Delta Slim took a swig from his flask watching in fascination. “Nah, let her speak now, boy. If it done caused y’all to end up in my cabin, we need to hear it.”

“Fuck, Pearline!” Sammie clutched his hand and looked at his girlfriend in fear. 

Pearline cleared her throat and folded her hands over her knee. “Sammie did want Smoke and Annie together. It didn’t go the way he expected it to yesterday though.”

*****************

1 Day before NYE

Things were tense in the cabin after the group left Smoke and Annie arguing at a scenic outlook and spent the day without them.

Annie was cordial to everyone but not warm like she usually was. She cooked the meal Sammie wanted with her earbuds in and avoided conversation. Smoke was in the woods nearby taking pictures of the sunset through the trees.

Sammie sat at the kitchen island waiting for Annie to acknowledge him. He wasn’t used to the silent treatment from her and he felt a little guilty that he listened to Stack and didn’t tell her where the group went. He honestly thought some extended time together would help them and he’d been thinking of something he could do to maybe bring them closer.

He walked over and tapped Annie on her shoulder. His heart warmed the way her face softened for him. She really couldn’t stay mad at Sammie. “Smoke need your help outside. Said somethin’ about the exposure on his camera and you could help.” The lie rolled off his tongue so easily, he impressed himself.

“Why Smoke just can’t look it up on YouTube then?” Annie rolled her eyes and went back to cooking. “He know more about cameras than I do anyway.” Her phone dinged in that moment she pulled it out, her eyes widened before she rubbed her temples in distress.

“You know how Smoke is. Plus, I think he left his phone upstairs.”

Annie looked at him skeptically but finally nodded. “Turn that pot off in about ten minutes.” With that, she left to go see what Smoke needed.

Pearline walked in as Annie left. She knew Sammie was up to something. “What you up to now, Sammie?” She had gone along with his plan to get Smoke and Annie together but after a few attempts, she was ready to give up. Nothing was working.

“Sunsets are romantic, Smoke and Annie are alone in the woods, easy peasy,” Sammie said simply as if that explained anything.

Pearline pulled some grapes out of the fridge and rinsed them off rolling her eyes at her boyfriend. “That don’t make sense, Preacher Boy. You think Annie just gone fall into Smoke’s arms because there’s a sunset?” Pearline felt sorry for Annie after only knowing her for a few months. 

It was obvious to her that\ everyone had their own idea of what Annie should do and what would make her happy. The work she put in to make everyone’s time at the cabin easier was obviously being taken for granted.

“Maybe, just gotta wait and see.” He tossed a grape in the air and caught it in his mouth. It didn’t take long for Sammie to get his answer when he heard a scream from outside.

“OPEN THE DOOR!” Smoke yelled from outside the cabin, his voice panicked. 

Stack rushed from the living room to open the door. “What the hell happened?” He moved back as Smoke ran in carrying an unconscious Annie.

Smoke took her in the living room and laid her down on the couch. “Annie, open your eyes for me.” Panic seeped into his usually steady voice. “Go get a cold wet towel or something!” He yelled at everyone that had gathered around worried. He took her hand in his. “Please, baby, open your eyes for me.” He tapped lightly on her face.

Grace returned with a wet towel and dabbed at Annie’s forehead. “Did she hit her head or something?”

“It was a fuckin bear! She smelled like food and it charged at her.” He felt her hand grip his and squeezed back. “We back in the cabin now, Annie. It’s okay, just open your eyes.”

Sammie stomach was in knots. The only reason Annie was out there in the first place was because he lied.

Blinking her eyes open, Annie groaned and tried to sit up but was stopped by Smoke and Grace. “I’m fine, y’all. There was—that bear it was taller than me—I think my grandmama spoke to me. Said I should’ve had my Black ass in Clarksdale instead of in the woods. Elijah, your camera is still out there!” She tried again to get up but was unsuccessful.

Everyone looked at her in confusion not sure how to take her rambling. Smoke kept her hand in his rubbing soft circles with his thumb. “You come face to face with a bear, get away without a scratch, and now you tryna go back out there for a damn camera? Maybe you did hit your head.” He rubbed the back of her head checking for any bumps.

The group was too concerned about Annie’s well-being to notice the way Smoke cradled her in his arms and whispered things they couldn’t hear. 

“Should we report this as a sighting or an attack?” Mary asked pulling out her phone.

“I don’t want to talk to no police tonight. Just say it was a sighting.” The adrenaline of the encounter began to wane leaving Annie feeling tired. 

“Okay, but what if the officer is single?” Mary tapped her head like she made a good point. “Be nice to have a strong man of the law come to your rescue, huh?”

If looks could kill, Mary would be six feet under with the way Annie and Smoke glared at her. “Girl, what the fuck? Stack, get your fiancée before she become bear food.” Annie gripped her head like she was in pain. 

Stack took Mary’s phone and tapped on it a few times before handing it back. “We don’t want pigs snoopin around here and we sho don’t want Annie to end up with one of em.”

“Why did you even come out there Annie? I told everybody bears can still be roaming the woods.” Smoke scolded still concerned that she had been hurt in some way.

Shrugging, Annie avoided glancing over to Sammie. “I wanted to see the sunset too. Unless that’s against the rules, Smoke.” 

“Hell yeah, it is when you smell like a bear’s favorite meal! You could’ve sat on the patio and saw the sunset just fine.” He still hadn’t let Annie go. In fact he pulled her closer to him as if something might take her away.

Groans erupted from around the room with Smoke and Annie getting back to their original selves. 

“Okay, Papa,” Annie words dripped sarcasm. “Can I finish dinner now—wait something is burning. Sammie did you forget to turn the stove off?”

Sammie’s eyes widened as he realized he was supposed to turn the pot off ten minutes ago. “Shit! I’ll get it!” He ran to the kitchen and saw smoke billowing from the silver pot. Turning off the stove, Sammie waved a towel around hoping to thin out the thick smoke filling up his lungs. 

Pearline joined him and turned on the fan above the stove and opened the kitchen window. “I hope you ain’t ruin Annie’s good pot or she gone put you outside with that bear.”

Annie walked in surveying the scene. Her favorite pot sat smoking and maybe it was the near-death experience that she had or maybe it was the sheer disaster this trip had become but she burst into tears at that moment and left out of the kitchen with Smoke following closely behind her.

Sammie stayed up late that night trying to get all of the burnt stuff out of the bottom to no avail. It wasn’t until Smoke came down and pulled out a strong cleanser that he was able to make progress.

************************

“I did try to get them together,” Sammie admitted. “But I absolutely had nothing to do with what’s goin’ on with them now.” He tried not to think of it because Stack was right, he did kind of think of them as parents what they did in the bedroom was not his business.

“Okay, so we still don’t know who was responsible,” Bo sighed. “Did somebody maybe see the bag and assumed it belonged in the kitchen?”

Everyone in the room shook their head.

“Do y’all think that maybe they are just together and didn’t take any of that stuff at all?” Pearline asked. “I know y’all said they don’t like each other but, they have been pretty isolated from the group.”

The tension turned to humor as everyone but Sammie laughed at Pearline’s suggestion.

“Smoke would’ve told me if somethin was happenin between him and Annie,” Stack said with surety. “I ain’t noticed him being weird around her or nothin’.”

Mary shook her head and wiped the tears that had slipped out from laughing so hard. “The only way Annie would even kiss Smoke is if she was under some spell or it was life or death.”

Grace snapped her fingers. “What if that’s it? What if that’s all this is? They’re both single in a group of couples and they both came face-to-face with a bear so maybe they needed some kind of release.”

“Okay, but you found the bag half empty in the kitchen,” Bo reasoned turning Grace slightly so he could see her face. “You think they just used some of it to get in the mood?”

“Maybe,” Grace shrugged. “They’ve never even flirted with each other before and now they’re…you know.” It was difficult for her to even say Smoke and Annie were having sex. “Like Mary said, it would take something powerful as hell to get them together like that.”

Stack’s phone dinged. “Okay, Smoke just texted me and said we can come back. I guess we can figure out what happened when we get there.”

Delta Slim’s shoulders shook as he laughed at the group in front of him. “Wait! I’m comin’ wit y’all. I bet I know how this all will turn out.”

*******************

Annie didn’t want to come to Gatlinburg for the holiday. She didn’t even want to leave her house, but she had Grace and Mary tag teaming her in their group chat so she decided to come along. Immediately informing Smoke that she didn’t want to be there in the first place.

Smoke supported her choice and promised that they could still spend some time together in the cabin. They weren’t quite ready to make their relationship public especially with all the trouble they caused back in New Orleans that led to them acknowledging their feelings for each other. It took many more months for them to act on those feelings and everything still felt new.

His request to Annie was to not do too much. No making sure everyone was taken care of before taking care of herself, no cooking full meals just because somebody asked, and no spending hours on an itinerary that no one would follow anyway. It surprised him very little when she did exactly the opposite of what he asked.

After seeing the meal she prepared for everyone ruined, she couldn’t hold back the tears. She wasn’t trying to ruin this trip and she wasn’t picking arguments with Smoke like their friends assumed.

********

1 day before NYE

“I didn’t even want to be here, Elijah,” she cried into the crook of Smoke’s neck. “They keep treating me like I’m the problem to be fixed and it’s just making everything worse.” She knew what Sammie was trying to do and it was the same thing Mary tried to do earlier that day after she shut down all of Annie’s suggestions for group activities.

He rubbed her back. “We can pack up and leave tonight if you want, baby. Let them do this shit without you.” He knew that this would be the case, but he didn’t have it in him to tell Annie that right now, especially when it wouldn’t do any good.

For months, Grace and Mary have been on her about “finding a man” so they could do couple things. For this trip, Annie spent a lot of time finding group activities for them just for Mary to opt for more couple centered activities. 

“And then they’ll say I’m overreactin’ and if I had a man, I wouldn’t be doin’ all this,” she sniffled, her head feeling heavy from crying.

“You do have a man though,” Smoke pointed out. “And I don’t think you should let them put you in a box like this. Even with me, I want you to be your own person.” He kissed her forehead. “You don’t listen to me half the time anyway so I don’t know what they think is gonna change with a man around.”

Smacking his shoulder, she couldn’t help but laugh at him. She ran her fingers across his face, her nail tracing his features. “You were right this time. I just have to accept I can’t do everything to please them. And your mama, Elijah. I love her so much but she’s been textin’ and callin’ me everyday because she had a dream about a baby and she swear it’s ours. She sent me a picture of an outfit she already bought! I love her but I’m not ready for kids yet.”

Though they were keeping their relationship secret from their friends, Sharon Moore had picked up on what was going on between them almost immediately. They swore her to secrecy but that didn’t stop her from bombarding them with questions about when they’d marry or give her some grandbabies. 

“I’ll take care of my mama. I love that she love you but she gotta know when to step back.” He kissed her forehead. “I damn sure ain’t gon’ let her scare you away from me. In the meantime, you need to start treatin’ Sammie like he’s a grown ass man. He know how to order food. He don’t need you cookin’ him breakfast, lunch, and dinner everyday.”

Her heart softened thinking about Sammie. “But he’s still a baby to me!”

“He ain’t no damn baby. He’s 21-years-old and he know better. And you gotta draw some boundaries with Grace and Mary. If you say no the first time, let that be it. Don’t let them make you feel bad because you ain’t where they think you should be.” He lifted her chin up with his finger. “I’m fallin’ in love with you more everyday, Annie, and that’s because you got so much good in you that it get on everybody around you. I don’t want you doubtin’ that for a second. If they can’t see that, fuck ‘em.”

“But I don’t even wanna deal with them tomorrow. You wanna stay in the cabin with me and let them do their own thing?” 

“And what you wanna do in the cabin?” Smoke asked pulling her into his lap so that she was straddling him. His face immediately went into her cleavage. It was definitely his favorite place to be.

“Mmm,” she moaned feeling his tongue run across her chest before sucking lightly. “I wanted to watch some movies but I’m open to suggestions.” 

“As long as you open.” He gave her a few more gentle nips. “I need you to get some sleep tonight though because tomorrow, Imma keep you busy.” 

“Whatever you say. I can’t promise that I’ll be quiet like I been these last few days.”

“That’s what I’m countin’ on.”

**********

NYE

Once Mary woke and did her morning routine, she went to Annie’s room to check on her. For the rest of her life she would question why she didn’t think to knock. It was the most courteous thing to do. It was the smartest thing to do. It was the safest thing to do. Instead she was greeted with the vision of her friend’s legs in the air while a male figure rested between them obviously enjoying his first meal of the day.

The horror wasn’t in the what, it was the who. She knew the male figure because she had the same make and model. Before they knew she had barged in, she quickly shut the door and ran back to her room to wake Stack.

Shaking her fiancé with an urgency reserved for a house fire, Mary tried to wake Stack. “Elias, get up! Smoke and Annie—Stack get up!” She shook him harder until his eyes cracked opened.

Alert and alarmed, Stack sat up quickly and looked around for any sign of danger. “What? What happened?” His voice was thick with sleep. He rubbed his eyes to clear his vision. “Somethin’ happen?” 

Mary bit her lip trying to think of the words to explain what she saw. “I think Smoke and Annie are—

“Fuck, Elijah! Like that! Like that! Don’t fuckin’ stop!” Annie’s words were surely loud enough to wake the entire cabin.

“Aye, yo!” Stack threw the covers back and stood up to put on a shirt. “I know they ain’t—” He opened their bedroom door and saw Bo and Grace in the hall with the same confused expressions at the sounds coming from Annie’s room.

“Sit on my face, baby. I wanna drink it all!” Smoke’s pleading filtered through the door.

Without a word, they all filed down the stairs and into the living room where Sammie and Pearline were sitting watching a t.v. show.

“Is Annie up yet?” Sammie asked pausing the show. “I got her pot clean and I wanted to show her.” He was oblivious to the stunned faces of everyone who had just come downstairs.

Grace nodded, her mind far away like her brain was trying to solve a complex problem with no discernible variables. “She’s definitely up.”

“Okay, I’ll go up—” Sammie started to get up but was stopped by Pearline. It was then that he noticed everyone had weird looks on their faces. “What’s wrong?”

“Your cousin decided to grab him a bite to eat at Café Annie,” Stack said humorlessly. “Did y’all know about this?” He looked around to see if anyone would confess.

“Maybe Annie did hit her head gettin’ away from that bear last night,” Bo suggested. “Maybe both of ‘em did.” It was hard to fathom that either of them were of sound mind.

“I mean, it was a scary situation. Maybe Annie hasn’t snapped out of it yet,” Mary posited. “That’s it right?” Because what else could it be?

It took Sammie a moment before he understood what was going on. “Oh. Oooooooh! Smoke and Annie? Fa’real?”

“I’m surprised you can’t hear ‘em all the way down here,” Stack said before a loud moan traveled down to the first floor of the cabin. “Aw, HELL naw! This gotta be a joke. They just fuckin’ with us, huh?” He rubbed at his temples trying to make any sense of the situation.

Mary put her hand on his shoulder. “I promise you, they fuckin’ but not with us. I accidentally walked in on them. That would be one hell of a joke to make.” 

Rubbing at her eyes, Grace yawned. “I’m not even awake enough for this shit. I need some coffee.” She made a beeline for the kitchen while everyone else stood thoroughly confused about the turn of events.

“So we agree, they both hit their heads last night runnin’ from that bear? Or maybe they smoked some bad weed?” Bo asked. “That’s the only explanation I can think of right now.”

“I think I might have another explanation.” Grace returned holding up a small black statin bag—the love spell pouch. “This was in the kitchen and it’s been used.”

“Goddamn it!” Stack cursed and started pacing. “That shit work forreal? How long it take to wear off? How the hell did they even get it?”

“I don’t know, it depends on how much they had.” Examining the bag, she sighed. “It looks like half of it is gone. Fuck! They ain’t stoppin no time soon.”

“Well, I’m not stayin’ in here listenin to them all day,” Mary said. “We gotta get out of here. Maybe they’ll have it out of their system before midnight.”

The group prepared themselves for another day outside of the cabin. In the meantime, Smoke and Annie were off in their own world.

While Annie was recovering from her second orgasm of the morning, Smoke had latched on to her nipple. “Ahh! Elijah, I need another one, baby.”

He released her nipple with a POP and smirked at the way she squirmed underneath him. “You bein’ greedy now, Annie. I just gave you two.”

“And if you keep suckin my titties like that, it might be three.” She spread her legs and wrapped them around him. “I coulda gotten eaten by a bear last night. You really gon’ make me beg for it, Elijah?”

He refocused his attention her nipple and hummed. “Mhmm. That’s for calling me the Grinch and Scrooge McDuck.” He thrusted his hips making contact with her center but offering no relief. 

“Ugh! I’m sorry, baby! Please just put it in! You feel how wet you made me? You ain’t gone do nothin’ about it?” She pulled his face from her chest so he could see the pout she wore. 

Having already decided that he would give this woman anything she asked for, he crumbled immediately. Smoke reached between their bodies and slid his finger between Annie’s wet folds. “Imma take care of you, Ma, don’t worry.” He moved his finger until it was on her  hardened nub. He drew circles eliciting quiet whimpers from the woman beneath him. His mouth watered at the thought of tasting her again but he also needed to feel her clenching around him. 

Rolling back on to the bed, he pulled Annie on top of him, her massive breasts nearly eclipsing his entire face. “Ride it, baby. I wanna see you bounce on that shit.” 

Not needing to be told twice, Annie grabbed his thick length in her hand and lined it up with her dripping hole. She eased down on it her toes curling at the way she stretched to fit around it. “Damn, Papa, it’s so thick.” She bit her bottom lip to keep from squealing at the sensation of their connection. 

Bracing herself, with her hands flat on his chest, she dropped her hips down burying him deep inside her. Egged on by Smoke’s grunts of pleasure, she rose up and slammed her hips back down. She continued developing a rhythm that had them both moaning each other’s names. “You like the way this pussy grippin you, Elijah?”

“Fuck yeah, baby.” His eyes were closed tight as he focused on not finishing too soon. Smoke already knew that he’d give everything she asked him for but now he was thinking about stuff to give her that she’d never need. “Pussy feel like heaven. Keep ridin’ it, Ma.”

The sounds of their skin slapping together filled Annie’s ears and made her gush even more. Knowing the power she now held over Smoke, she leaned forward to grip his throat. “Don’t fuckin’ cum until I tell you to.” She switched from bouncing and rolled her hips at a tantalizing pace. 

The hand on his throat sent a jolt straight to his dick. “Annie, please, baby!” 

“Please, baby!” Annie mocked still teasing him with a slow roll of her hips. “That’s what yo ass get for makin’ me beg for this dick. You know who it belong to.” Gripping his throat tighter, she leaned forward. “Who this dick belong to, Elijah?”

“You, Annie. It’s yours! This dick belong to you!” He attempted to thrust his hips but was stopped by Annie putting her full weight on him.

“Try that again, Elijah, and Imma finish without you,” she threatened using her lower muscles to clench around him. “If it’s mine, let me do what I want with it.”

Smoke groaned and nodded. “Do what you need to, baby.”

Speeding up, she rode him like it her life depended on it. “Fuck! I’m close, Papa.” She threw her head back and let out a cry loud enough to scare all the wildlife nearby. Pleasure pulsed through her as her core spasmed uncontrollably. “Cum with me, Elijah!”

Smoke’s release was instant feeling the way Annie’s soft center massaged him. It was his turn to yell out, screaming Annie’s name like the highest praise he knew. He pumped all he had into her wet cunt his mind turning to mush. “You want a spaceship?”

Her mind still foggy from her orgasm, she flopped down next to him in bed sure she misheard what he said. “What?”

“I said do you want a spaceship? I think Imma buy you one.” Smoke’s words were slurred as if he’d had too much to drink. “I’ll buy you the moon too.”

Annie would laugh about it later but at that moment she just kissed him with every bit of her. “I love it when you get pussy drunk and start promisin’ me stupid shit, Elijah.” They spent time wrapped up in each other until the mood struck again and led them down paths of pleasure.

They stopped to give their bodies a break and hydrate but couldn’t stop themselves from falling right back into each other. One moment, Annie was preparing them a quick snack and the next moment, she was pressed into the countertop as Smoke plowed her from behind. 

“Yo pretty ass owe me for what you did upstairs.” He pounded into her, his pace brutal and unforgiving. “Who this pussy belong to?”

“Please, Smoke! I need to—AH!” A hard swat to her thigh made her remember who she was dealing with. “It’s yours! This pussy is yours!”

“I know it is,” Smoke chuckled darkly. “You better not forget it either, okay?”

“Okay, Elijah,” Annie whimpered losing all will to fight back. 

When they were finally able to separate, they cleaned up and ordered food. Smoke sent a message to Stack telling him the coast was clear. 

“They gon’ be mad,” Annie said as they sat down to watch a movie. “Stack especially. Y’all tell each other everything.”

“He’ll be all right. He get mad over little stuff sometimes but he’ll be good after I talk to him.”

Side-eying Smoke, Annie smacked her lips. “This ain’t little though. I know why we kept this between us but they might feel like we don’t trust them.”

“We don’t. You see how they been actin all week. They asses will get over it.” He wrapped his arm around Annie and pulled her to him saying no more on the subject.

************

Stack pulled up to the cabin and parked. “The next trip, we will be leavin they asses in the Delta. It’s always somethin with them.” He huffed, got out the car, and stomped toward the front door leaving Mary, Sammie, and Pearline to follow as Bo had pulled up beside them with Grace and Slim.

As Pearline exited the vehicle, something shiny under the seat caught her attention. She picked it up to see it was a silver hoop earring. “Mary, I think you dropped your earring. It was under the seat.” She held it up not expecting it to be snatched from her hand so quickly.

“This ain’t mine.” Mary clutched the earring in her hand. This is Smoke’s car, not Stack’s.” She promptly turned and rushed past Stack practically kicking the door open.

Inside, Smoke and Annie were cuddled on the couch watching a movie like they didn’t upend everyone’s day. 

Mary stomped in, her face red and her eyes narrowed taking in the couple before her while pieces of a puzzle she didn’t even know existed fell into place. “Hey, Annie. Smoke.”

“Hey, Mary,” Annie responded not looking away from the tv. “Y’all have fun today?”

“Obviously not as much fun as you did, Annie. And I guess you had as much fun in the back of Smoke’s car three weeks ago.” She held up the earring. “You told me you lost the other one at work.”

Stack stepped beside his fiancée confused. “What’s goin on?” He looked at his brother and Annie with their arms wrapped around each other. “So y’all a thing now?”

“Nah,” Mary shook her head as the rest of the group walked into the living room and sat down where they could. “This ain’t just happen now. They been hiding this from us for at least three weeks. Ain’t that right, Annie?”

“At least that long.” Annie confirmed and held out her hand for the earring. “I knew it would turn up somewhere.” She slid it in Smoke’s shirt pocket. “Keep that safe for me, baby.”

“What is she talkin’ about, Annie?” Grace was seriously confused. “You and Smoke?” She pointed to the two of them.

“Smoke, that ain’t true is it?” Under the anger that was bubbling in Stack’s chest was a twinge of hurt. 

Smoke just looked at Stack and shrugged. “We were gonna tell y’all soon and things kinda went crazy this week so now y’all know.”

“Wait so y’all didn’t take any of the love potion stuff?” Sammie asked, the excitement visible on his face. 

“What?” This time Annie did look at the rest of them. “Hell no we didn’t take that shit. It was on the floor by the stairs this morning. Half of it spilled out when I picked it up and when I went to clean it, somebody distracted me.” She nudged Smoke playfully. “I guess I left it on the kitchen counter.”

“Wait,” Stack held up his hand not caring about the love spell. “Smoke, you been hidin’ this from me? Your own brother? Why? I tell you everything! You was the first person I told when I wanted to propose to Mary. You think I was gon’ try to stop you?”

The liquid in Delta Slim’s flask was louder than the movie still playing as he took a swig. “Goddamit, I knew it! They been tryna shake y’all this whole week and y’all ain’t notice nothin. Bet not ever become detectives.”

Ignoring Slim, Smoke sat up and looked at his brother. “It wasn’t like that, Elias. We just wanted some time with each other for the last three months without anybody’s questions or pressurin’ us about what we should be doin’.”

“Three months?!” Stack, Mary, and Grace said together. Suddenly Smoke and Annie were hit with a barrage of questions. “Why not tell us?” “Don’t you trust us?” “How did you hide this from us?” “How did this even happen?”

“Stop! Be quiet, please!” Annie stood up, her head starting to throb. Silence fell across the room. The tv was muted. “This is why we kept it to ourselves. I’m tired of having to justify my choices to this group. Tired of every single time we’re together, it turns into the “let’s fix Annie” committee. So yeah, we kept this one from y’all until we were sure that it wouldn’t waiver under y’all’s judgment and questions.”

“But I don’t have a problem with you and my brother bein’ together, Annie.” Stack stepped forward. “It’s the fact that we don’t keep things like this from each other.” He glared at Smoke. “You ain’t tell me because you thought I’d break y’all up or somethin?”

“We ain’t tell nobody, Stack,” Smoke responded weakly. “It wasn’t just that we thought y’all would break us up. We didn’t want anybody chiming in on what we had goin on. Good or bad. Already bad enough Mama been doin’ it.” 

Annie’s head whipped around when she heard a squeak from Mary. “Mary, it’s not—”

“That’s why she’s been callin’ you? Because she knew already?” Tears filled Mary’s eyes. “I bet she been plannin’ y’all’s weddin’ and she don’t even care about mine. I guess she will get the daughter-in-law she actually wants.” She turned and left, her footsteps thudding up the stairs.

Stack shot a look of disappointment to Annie and Smoke before following behind her.

No one said anything until Sammie cleared his throat and rubbed his hands together. “I’m happy for y’all. I always thought y’all would make a good couple.”

“Shut up, fool.” Smoke threw a pillow at him. “We know what you been tryna do. We ain’t dumb. Leave my woman alone and stop askin her to cook for you.” He motioned for Annie to come sit next to him. “You a grown ass man.”

“What? But Annie don’t mind! Ouch, Pearline!” Sammie clutched the back of his head.

Pearline smirked. “You a grown ass man, Preacher Boy. You’ll figure it out.”

Grace observed Annie and Smoke from across the room and the two of them together made so much sense. “They’re kinda perfect for each other,” she whispered to Bo who had been a quiet onlooker most of the day. 

“Mhmm,” Bo agreed. “What the hell were y’all arguin about at the overlook?”

“Nothin,” Smoke said simply. “We just knew y’all would leave us alone if it looked like we was arguin. It worked. It was bullshit that nobody backed Annie up though. So we gon’ take our own trip somewhere and do whatever she want.” He kissed the side of Annie’s neck causing her to giggle.

“I knew once y’all said ‘bout that bear,” Slim slurred, “I knew then what these two was doin. They done had this big ole cabin to do whatever they want to do without y’all.” He stomped his foot and slapped his leg as his shoulders shook. “And look at ‘em done wore each other out. They ain’t gon’ make it til midnight.”

Annie stood and gestured toward the kitchen. “Well, we still ordered food for everybody to eat. Just a bunch of party food really and Smoke brought a nice bottle of champagne. Make sure Slim gets some food but don’t give him no champagne.” She looked down at her watch. “We got about two hours til the New Year but y’all can play some games or somethin’ ’til then.”

“You not stayin’ down here with us?” Sammie asked ready to run to the kitchen.

Shaking her head, Annie headed towards the stairs. “I’m tired, lil Sammie. Your cousin—” Her mouth was covered by Smoke’s strong hand. 

“Oh, so it runs in the family,” Pearline joked pushing her boyfriend towards the kitchen. “Happy New Year, Annie and Smoke. See you in the mornin.”

“Happy New Year, Pearly,” Annie sang once Smoke removed his hand. “Happy New Year Grace and Bo.”

“Yeah, Happy New Year, y’all,” Smoke threw behind him as he moved them both quickly up the stairs. “Don’t be down here destroyin’ shit.”

Annie moved towards her door but was dragged towards Smoke’s instead. “Smoke, please, Miss Kitty needs to recover from the day she had.”

“And she will.” He opened the door and pulled her inside. “My bed is ready for you to sleep in though. Ain’t gotta change the sheets and I already moved your stuff.” His lips traced her jawline  while his hands gripped her ass.

“You promised me sleep, Papa.” Even as she said it, she pushed herself closer to him. “You think Stack and Mary okay?”

“They’ll be fine. We can talk to ‘em tomorrow. Let’s get you to bed though.”

**************************

The next morning, Annie woke to her phone vibrating repeatedly on the nightstand. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she picked it up and saw that it was Sharon Moore. She turned over to hand the phone to Smoke because she could not deal with his mama this early in the morning only to find his side of the bed empty. Sighing, she steeled herself and answered the phone.

“Good morning, Ms. Sharon! Happy New Year!” She masked the sleepiness in her voice.

“It would be much happier if you called me Mama like I told you to, Annie but Happy New Year to you too, baby. Y’all have fun last night? I texted those sons of mine but they ain’t respond.”

“Oh yeah! We had a lot of fun,” Annie lied smoothly. “The town had a fireworks show that was visible from the cabin. What did you get up to last night?”

“Me and the girls stayed in and made drinks and watched that lil gay man—Andy or somethin—we watched his countdown on tv for a little bit.  Willie Mae got drunk as a skunk. She passed out in the guest room right now. Cathy up though, cookin’ breakfast but she don’t make the biscuits like you do.” 

There was yelling from the background that Annie couldn’t make out. “I’m talking to Annie!” A pause. “Cuz you don’t make biscuits like her, Cathy! Yo dough is too loose or somethin’. Chile, now she in her feelins. Anyway, I didn’t want nothin’ just checkin to see how y’all doin. You and Smoke gon tell everybody soon, right? I’ll keep ya secret a lil bit longer but I almost let it slip after a two margaritas.”

Annie was close to ripping her hair out hearing Sharon ramble this early in the morning. “We let them know yesterday. Most of ‘em took it well.” She rubbed her face not ready to talk to Mary just yet.

“I bet Elias and Mary had somethin’ to say, huh? He ain’t never liked when his brother kept stuff from him. Got mad at him a whole week when he found out Elijah was savin’ up the lil money that they got from me to buy me somethin for my birthday. They’ll be okay though. What about you and Mary?”

“I don’t know. I guess. I think she is feelin’ kinda alone with the engagement and wantin’ to plan the weddin’ since her mama is…you know. I think maybe she want you to help her.” Annie bit her lip hoping for the best but truly not knowing where Sharon stood when it came with Mary. 

She seemed to be happy that Stack and Mary were engaged but she didn’t bring it up much and she certainly wasn’t calling Mary on the daily to ask how she was doing or tell her random things.

 “Really? She want me to help?” Sharon sounded genuinely surprised. “I didn’t think she wanted my help so that’s why I hadn’t said anything about it. Did she tell you she wanted my help?”

“You know the way you been callin and textin’ me all week? It kinda looks like you have a favorite especially to Mary.”

“I do!” She said without hesitation. “And Elijah better be putting a ring on your finger soon. That don’t mean I don’t like Mary though. She can be…a lot but hell, so can I. She just never seemed that interested in me and I ain’t one to push.” At this Annie had to roll her eyes. “If she want me to help her with the weddin’, I will. You know I like stuff like that.”

“I think that would make her feel a lot better.” Annie looked up to see that Smoke had come back into the room with a steaming mug. “And maybe the baby you’ve been dreaming about is actually hers and Stack’s.”

“No, I’m sure it was yours and Elijah’s. It was a girl with your pretty brown eyes. Elias and Mary’s first will be a boy. I know that for sure.”

Annie groaned. “Well, she won’t be around for a long time so I guess you’ll have a grandson first.” 

“No—”

“Elijah just walked in,” Annie interrupted her before she could say anything else. “I think he want to talk to you.” She handed Smoke the phone and took the mug of hot tea from his hand. Sharon was right, she was a lot and definitely too much for Annie this early in the morning.

After getting off the phone with Sharon, Smoke sat on the bed stared at Annie as she drank her tea. 

“What you lookin at, Elijah?”

“What you think I’m lookin at, woman?”

Looking down, Annie checked to see if she had anything exposed. “Well my titties ain’t out and we both know that’s the real reason you with me.”

“I mean, if I die with my face buried in ‘em, I wouldn’t be mad.”

“I would be. Planned on smotherin’ you between my thighs once I got a good life insurance policy on you. You talk to Stack?”

Smoke nodded. “Yeah, we cool. He still don’t like that I did it but he’ll get over it. He said Mary is mostly sad that Mama ain’t said much about their engagement.”

“Yeah and I talked to Sharon about that. I wanna leave that between them as much as possible though. I won’t answer for their relationship with each other and I don’t want to be their buffer. Everything else, Mary needs to get over though.”

“Well, she up if you wanna go talk to her. It’ll be a long drive back to Mississippi if y’all ain’t speakin’ to each other.”

“Uuuuugh, I guess. Let me get myself together before I do anything.” She rolled out of bed, her muscles aching from the previous day. “Shit! Maybe we overdid it yesterday.”

“I feel okay.” Smoke shrugged. 

“Because your legs weren’t up in the air, and your face wasn’t pressed against the mattress, and you weren’t bent over the counter, or laying down on the stairs.”

“I’ll give you a massage later on.” He walked up behind her and pressed himself into her back. 

“I don’t think me or my birth control is strong enough to handle one of your massages, Elijah, so I’ll have to decline.”

When Annie found Mary, she was outside on the patio wearing a coat over her pajamas. “You ain’t cold out here?” Annie was fully dressed with her coat on and still felt the chill in the air.

Mary shook her head. “I have my coat on. It’s supposed to warm up today a little. I need to apologize for last night. It wasn’t right to put my issues with Sharon on you like that.”

Sitting beside her friend, Annie nodded. “You know I’m not competin' to be her favorite.”

“But you are and I know that. I don’t even know if you’ll want to be my friend after I tell you this.” She looked off. “You and Smoke made more sense than I ever wanted to admit. I noticed it back in New Orleans Even when y’all would fight, you couldn’t be apart.” She laughed at the memory. 

“I just didn’t want y’all together because then you’d have the calm twin who wouldn’t second guess a lifetime with you and the attentive mother-in-law who would love to have you around. She always liked you but to have you as a daughter? I’m sure she was over the moon when she found out.” She sniffled and wiped away a tear. “That’s why I pushed so hard to find you somebody else—anybody but Smoke.”

Annie was stunned to hear this. “Mary, Stack loves you. He was nervous as hell that he’d mess something up when he was plannin to propose.”

“I know he loves me, Annie, but you weren’t around when we first got together. We fought harder than you and Smoke. He didn’t really take us seriously until I left him. I’m glad we were able to move past that but it would’ve been nice if it was easy. Knowin’ Smoke, he probably picked out a ring after your first kiss.”

“Well, he better hold on to it for as long as possible. I’m not gettin married any time soon.” Annie hugged herself willing the weather to warm up. “And we knew back in New Orleans too, just didn’t do nothin’ about it until recently. But this ain’t about me and Elijah. Lots of women ain’t close to their husband’s mamas. What’s really the issue with Sharon?”

“I know it’s not her job to be my mama but it’d be nice if someone wanted to. My own mama blocked me on everything when she saw I got engaged to Stack, which is fine because she’s a crazy bitch. I just want some guidance through this and I have nobody. Sharon’s the only one.”

“Have you ever just sat down and talked with her?”

Mary shook her head. “No, she probably wouldn’t want to though.”

“Okay, I gotta be honest, Mary. It don’t sound like you tryin’ much with her and I’m blamin’ Stack too because he should’ve addressed this a long time ago.”Annie huffed not liking the fact that she had to explain to grown adults that they should just talk to each other. “Sharon supports y’all’s engagement one hundred percent. She made Stack practice his proposal so it would be perfect for you. She likes you but you gotta show her you want her involved. Go have lunch with her sometimes or buy her some scratch offs. She’s easy to get along with.”

“You forreal?”

“Yes! You don’t get blessed with frequent calls from Sharon Moore unless you’ve put a little effort in. Hell, at this point, I need a break before she starts planning the baby shower.”

Mary looked at her questionably. “Are you—”

“Don’t even fuckin’ finish that question. Absolutely not, but that ain’t stopped Sharon from insisting that I will be soon. Elijah may have to wrap it up for the foreseeable future.”

“That’s what she’s been callin about?” Mary doubled over in laughter.

“It’s not funny,” Annie grumbled sitting back in her seat. “I’ll let you take the honor of givin’ her her first grandchild. According to her it’ll be a boy.”

Mary looked like she saw a ghost. “You not serious. That’s just how older people talk sometimes, right?”

“Yeah, my grandmama used to say stuff like that. She was never wrong though. That’s why I’ve been freakin’ out every time Sharon call me. The fuck Imma do with a baby?”

“I sure don’t need one now. Gotta make sure me and Elias bein’ careful from now on.” The wind picked up slightly causing Mary to fold her arms together and hunch over for warmth. “We spent almost the whole day at Slim’s accusin’ each other of dosin’ y’all with that love spell stuff. Now it’s makin’ me realize why y’all didn’t tell us. I’m sorry for doin all that and pressurin’ you to come here.”

“Yeah, you gotta leave me alone for a week when we get back.” 

“A week?! Why that long?”

“Because, I wanted to be at my house gettin my feet rubbed by Elijah but instead, I let you talk me into comin’ here and ended up gettin chased by a damn bear.” Annie sucked her teeth.

“But he rubbed more than your feet yesterday. You tellin’ me you gon’ ignore me for a week when you got multiple days of Smoke foldin’ you like pressed laundry?” 

“Yep! Don’t forget I got chased by a bear.” Annie stood up. “If I stay out here any longer, I might turn into a block of ice. Come on.” The two walked in to see Grace standing near the door.

“Y’all kiss and make up?” She asked jokingly but her eyes were serious. 

“Annie said I can’t talk to her for a week when we get back home so yeah, we made up.” Mary pulled Annie over and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “And there’s the kiss.”

Grace looked at Annie in confusion. “Why won’t you speak to Mary for a week?” 

“I ain’t speakin’ to yo ass either, Grace. Y’all got me up in these damn mountains with bears and shit. Got love potions or spells or whatever the hell y’all was tryna give me.”

Mary leaned over to Grace with a faux-whisper. “She ain’t gon’ be able to talk no way if she screamin’ Smoke name the whole time.”

“I didn’t wanna say nothin’,” Grace whispered back. “But she barely able to walk today. After a week, she might be on crutches.”

Annie rolled her eyes but couldn’t help smiling at her friends. “While y’all standin’ here laughin’ I’m about to cash in on a spaceship I was promised yesterday. See y’all whenever.” She turned, trying to walk away as normal as possible but heard the laughter behind her. 

&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Wunmi had always tried to be careful. Especially after that day in his trailer.

She tried not to think about it anymore. But it seemed that moment lived inside of her.

And now there was someone else in the picture.

He was a steady, consistent man who always made time for her. He preferred to show up rather than to supply her with hopes and dreams. He was uncomplicated in the ways Michael had never been.

So when flowers arrived, she immediately knew who they were from.

They were white lilies and deep green stems, graceful and beautiful without being too showy. Which was exactly Michael’s taste.

The note attached was simple: Congratulations on the nominations. So proud of you.

A smile graced her face before she could stop it. Not thinking much about it, she pulled out her phone and snapped a quick picture for her Instagram story.

Thank you brother for the flowers! @/michaelbjordan

And just after she posted it, her phone vibrated. She looked at it and her stomach dropped.

Don’t ever call me that again.

Suddenly, the distance she had been maintaining felt like a joke she was the only one taking seriously.

Across the room, her boyfriend was talking about dinner plans, scrolling through something on his phone, completely unaware of what was happening right under his nose.

Wunmi kept her face neutral and voice steady.

She didn’t reply to Michael because replying meant acknowledging that he still had access to her attention in a way no one else did. And he knew it.

The next morning’s interview was supposed to be simple.

Michael arrived first looking so relaxed with an easy smile. He turned his charm up to the max. The room easily fitting around him.

Wunmi arrived five minutes later and if anyone was truly paying attention they noticed the shift between them.

The interviewer started with simple questions about their characters and on screen chemistry. Nothing that they weren't used to at this point.

Michael answered steadily, and Wunmi followed, just as composed. But every time their answers overlapped, it felt like the real words between them were being held back.

At one point, the interviewer stated, “You two have such an interesting dynamic off-screen too. You seem very comfortable with each other.”

It should’ve been harmless, but it felt like the first domino to fall.

Michael looked at Wunmi long enough to not be obvious to everyone else but her.

“I think we just understand each other well,” he said smoothly.

Wunmi gave a small smile. But her fingers tightened in her lap.

“Yeah, we do,” she agreed.

Because understanding, in their case, was the danger zone.

And Michael was very aware that the line she kept drawing wasn’t disappearing. He just didn't care.

The interview ended and the cameras stopped rolling, but neither of them left the room right away. The crew filtered out until it was just the two of them.

Michael stood near the edge of the set, loosening his cuffs. Wunmi stayed seated for a little longer, face calm and collected, showing no signs of disturbance. Except her eyes wouldn’t stop tracking him.

Finally, she stood up.

“You did that on purpose,” she said.

Michael didn’t look surprised. “Did what?”

“The way you looked at me. Don't pretend like you didn't know what you were doing,” she gestured vaguely, voice tight.

He fully turned toward her.

“I only answered a question.”

“Oh please. You tried to control everything with that one response.”

A small, humorless smile flickered at his mouth. “And you didn’t?”

Wunmi exhaled through her nose, stepping closer without meaning to. But she stopped herself from going further, knowing how things could get if they got too close.

“No, I didn't. I've always been very clear with you Michael,” she said carefully. "I have a boyfriend. I am not doing whatever this is with you. So I set some simple boundaries.”

“Simple boundaries huh?” Michael tilted his head. "None of this is simple and you know it. You're just avoiding it."

“That’s not fair.”

“The truth hurts, don't it?”

Wunmi laughed once, short and sharp. “So what am I supposed to say to you then?”

Michael’s gaze held hers without blinking.

“Start with calling me by my name,” he said. "Because I think you're not really ready to deal with what, who, I truly am to you. You try to slap a label on me as if that will change what you feel for me…and it won't."

Wunmi shook her head immediately. “Don’t psychoanalyze me.”

“You love me.”

“Don’t,” she warned.

Yet Michael didn’t stop.

“And I love you,” he added.

Wunmi’s voice came out rougher than intended. “That doesn’t mean anything.”

“I was never your 'brother' and you know it,” he said.

“And what do you want me to do with that, Michael?”

His jaw tightened, frustration bleeding through the restraint he’d been holding.

“I want you to stop running from me. From us, baby.”

Wunmi looked away just for a second. When she looked back, her voice was quiet, but firm. She was intent on keeping as much control as she could.

“I'm not going to lose control of my life because of feelings,” she said. “Not again.”

“Wunmi, baby, I'm not asking you to give up control you already don't have,” he said. "We know what we are, and it's clear, but you just don't like what it is."

Wunmi was laying against her pillow, phone tilted just low enough that the glow didn’t fill the whole room. Her boyfriend was beside her, one arm tucked behind his head, scrolling on his own phone.

She was scrolling through Instagram when Michael’s post popped up. It was a picture of him during the press day. Her fingers moved to type before she fully thought anything out.

Looking good brother 🔥🔥

Even with their conversation earlier, her comment was simple and yet said everything. She scrolled on trying not to think too much about it.

Ten minutes passed of aimless scrolling and tapping. Then she got a message.

Keep playing with me and see what happens.

Her eyebrows pulled together immediately.

She turned her head slightly, as she texted back.

What are you talking about?

Within seconds a screenshot in their messages appeared. It was her own comment that she had just made.

We just talked about this.

Wunmi exhaled through her nose. She was more annoyed now than anything else. She shifted slightly under the covers.

Boundaries. Remember?

Yeah okay

That was what Wunmi thought was the end of it.

Three dots appeared. Then disappeared. Then reappeared again.

Her grip tightened on the phone as she could tell he was trying to hold back fromsaying something else, but she didn't know what.

Her boyfriend shifted slightly beside her, “You okay?”

“Yeah, just work stuff,” she said too fast.

Just then another message came through. But it wasn't a text. It was a picture. A picture that made every bone in her body freeze up.

Michael was there, legs spread, shorts pulled down as he held himself. The thickness and how hard he was, was displayed boldly. And she could feel every bit of confidence radiating through the phone. He didn't care who she was around or who her attention was on because he knew she would stop just for him.

Her breath caught as she immediately angled her phone away, turning the brightness down.

“Babe, you good?”

She didn’t look up.

“I'm fine. It was nothing,” she said, softer now.

But her attention was locked to the screen.