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  You’re My Little Secret

  By: Chenell Parker

  Copyright © 2014 Chenell Parker

  Published by Write House Publishing

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without prior written consent of the publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. Any references or similarities to actual events, real people, living or dead, or to the real locals are intended to give the novel a sense of reality. Any similarity in other names, characters, places, and incidents are entirely coincidental.

  Acknowledgements

  Once again, I give all thanks to God for every talent that He has blessed me with. I know that it is impossible for me to have done it alone. I am also very thankful for my family. My spoiled babies, Lil Terrence and Kiara, whom I love unconditionally. My mother, Rhette Parker, my grandfather Jeff Stirgus, my brother Earl Parker (who actually reads my books) my sisters, Racquel, Lynell and Trina Parker (My strong support system), my aunts Serita Walker and Susan Atkins (my cheerleader) and all of my cousins, nieces, and nephews, both near and far. I also want to send a special shout out to my special friends, QuoVadis, Trina J., Mattie, Kelly, Latrice, Roderick, TaGermanie, Danielle, Amy and Teresa, for your encouragement and words of kindness. I definitely want to show much love to my publisher, Mr. Torica Tymes for everything he has done and continues to do in assisting me on this journey along with Tiece Mickens, Cole Hart and Danielle Marcus, who has built a strong team of authors at Write House Publishing and who are also awesome authors as well. Also, a big Thank You to Ebony Smith, who works tirelessly behind the scenes to make sure everything runs as smoothly as possible. Your hard work is appreciated. I want to give a big thanks to my entire WHP Family for all of your support as a team and also Latarsha Banks (Editor). Last, but not least, I want to give special, heartfelt thanks to each and every person who has purchased this book as well as all of the others. Your support is greatly appreciated.

  TEXT Writehouse to 22828 for Updates, Spoilers, Giveaways & Announcements!

  Other Titles By Me Include:

  Her So Called Husband 1

  Her So Called Husband 2

  Her So Called Husband 3: Till Death Do Us Part

  Follow me on Facebook under Chenell Parker or Author Chenell Parker

  Follow me on Instagram and Twitter at cocochenell504

  Table of Contents

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7

  CHAPTER 8

  CHAPTER 9

  CHAPTER 10

  CHAPTER 11

  CHAPTER 12

  CHAPTER 13

  CHAPTER 14

  CHAPTER 15

  CHAPTER 16

  CHAPTER 17

  CHAPTER 18

  CHAPTER 19

  CHAPTER 20

  CHAPTER 21

  CHAPTER 22

  CHAPTER 23

  CHAPTER 24

  CHAPTER 25

  CHAPTER 26

  CHAPTER 27

  CHAPTER 1

  BROOKLYN

  It was early Saturday morning when I awoke to the shouting that came from my brother, Bryce’s room. Bryce’s room is right down the hall, so it wasn’t hard to make out what was being said. His girlfriend of three years, Tiffany, seems to always have the same problem. It just so happens that the problem is me. For whatever reason, Tiffany can’t stand the ground that I walk on and she doesn’t try very hard to hide it.

  “When is she going home?” Tiffany asked angrily. “I’m not a fucking maid to be cleaning up after her.”

  “You don’t have to clean up shit behind her. She’s not a damn baby,” Bryce yelled back.

  “Well, you need to stop treating her like one. She’s eighteen years old and can’t do a damn thing for herself.”

  “Whatever! If you don’t like it, I’m not forcing you to stay,” Bryce said calmly.

  “Wow, so it’s that simple? If I say one thing about your sister that you don’t like, you’re ready to give me the boot.”

  “No, it’s not one thing. You always have something to say about her and I’m getting sick of hearing that shit,” Bryce said.

  “I wouldn’t have anything to say if she took her ass back home,” Tiffany replied.

  I didn’t hear my brother’s reply, but after a few seconds I heard the door to their room open and slam shut. Knowing Tiffany, she probably stormed out after the argument didn’t go her way. I looked at the clock and saw that it was only a little before seven. I had a few more minutes before it was time for me to get up for my first and only class of the day. I was a freshman at the University of New Orleans, studying to get my degree in early childhood education. I love kids, so teaching them was going to be something that I looked forward to. My mother wanted me to follow in her footsteps and become a registered nurse, but I didn’t have the stomach for it.

  At eighteen years old, I’m the youngest of five and the only girl. Besides Bryce, I have three other overprotective brothers, Caleb, Jaden and Brian that drive me crazy. Bryce is the oldest at thirty years old and by far the worst of the four. Since I’m the youngest and the only girl, my family nicknamed me, “Baby,” but Bryce actually treats me like one. He lives about ten minutes away from my school’s campus, so he insisted I stay with him whenever I have classes. I begged my parents to let me live on campus, but when he got wind of it, he wasn’t trying to hear it. I despise the way they let him make decisions when it comes to me, but he always seems to get his way. Thanks to him, I’ve never had a boyfriend and I was probably going to die a virgin.

  Besides my other brothers, the only male he lets get just a little close to me is my best friend, Kevin. He and Kevin’s older brother Kyle have been best friends since high school so that eased his mind a bit. Little did he know, but Kevin wants me just as much as some of the other men that he tries to warn me about. I even caught Kyle looking at me with lust filled eyes from time to time, but I would never tell Bryce.

  I hurriedly turned my back and pretended to be asleep when I heard someone fumbling with the knob on the door. I knew it was Bryce because his cologne entered the room before he did.

  “Baby, you up?” He whispered when he got close to me.

  I ignored him, hoping he would leave, but that didn’t happen. He sat on the edge of my bed and started to shake me softly. It was no use playing sleep, so I turned over and let him know that I was up.

  “I’m up,” I replied sitting up straight in the bed.

  “Get dressed, so we can stop and get you some breakfast before you go to class.”

  Once he left the room, I kicked the covers away and went to the bathroom. After doing my morning hygiene, I got dressed and ready to go. I headed down the hall towards the kitchen and ran right into Tiffany. She was on the phone, but that didn’t stop her from telling me what she had to say.

  “You need to make sure you wash whatever dishes you use after you eat. I don’t know what you think this is, but I’m nobody’s maid,” she said indignantly.

  “I didn’t eat a damn thing in this kitchen, so I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I yelled.

  “Don’t play with me little girl, I’m not your brothers.”

  “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” Bryce said showing up out of nowhere. I hated how he always jumped into our arguments to defend me. Tiffany didn’t scare me and she needed to know that.

  “Girl, let me get dressed and get out of here before I go off on somebody. I’ll see you in a few minutes,” Tiffany said to the person she was on the phone with.
Most likely it was her stuck-up cousin Kennedi on the other end. She complains about me, but her family is here just as often as I am.

  “Let’s go Baby,” Bryce called out.

  Today is my last day at his house and I was about to let him know how I felt.

  “I’m going home today,” I said when we pulled up to the McDonald’s drive-thru.

  “Why? I know you not worried about that shit that Tiffany’s saying?” Bryce asked.

  “It’s going to turn out bad, so it’s best if I go back home. Daddy can bring me to school before he goes to work,” I replied.

  “No, that’s too early. You’ll be sitting around for an hour before your first class starts.”

  “So!” I yelled. “I’m not a child. I can take care of myself. No matter what you say, I’m going home.”

  “I see you in your feelings right now, so I’m not even going to argue with you,” he said after paying for my breakfast.

  “I’m not in my feelings, I’m just sick of her always saying something to me.”

  “Fuck Tiffany, that’s my house,” he yelled.

  “Yeah, your house that she lives in, which makes it hers too and let’s not forget that she’s on the lease,” I replied.

  “Whatever, but you know I still need your help later on today,” he said.

  My brothers had officially appointed me to be the family’s chef. Whenever we had any kind of gathering, they depended on me to prepare the food. Thanks to my mother I was a damn good cook. She taught me how to make everything that her mother taught her. My grandmother was a retired restaurant owner and chef.

  “I know and I’ll be there. At least I’ll have Co-Co and Candace to keep me company,” I replied.

  “Your nieces are going to be there to keep you company too,” Bryce said.

  I have three nieces that I absolutely adore. Two are from Bryce and his ex-girlfriend Taylor and one is by Jaden. My brother Jaden, who was once labeled the problem child of the bunch, had just graduated from cosmetology school with his barber license. In honor of his accomplishment, we are having a cookout at Bryce and Tiffany’s house later today. At twenty-five, Jaden had been in and out of jail since he was a juvenile. For him to have stayed home and out of trouble for the last two years was something worth celebrating. Bryce is happy because Jaden will finally be working in the shop with him and the rest of our family. Bryce was a tattoo artist with a huge shop in the third ward of uptown New Orleans. Aside from him doing tattoos in the rear of the shop, he also has three other artists that worked under him as well. My cousin Cordell, or Co-Co as he liked to be called, does hair in the front along with his sister Candace, who does the braiding. My brother Brian was the only barber before Jaden decided to get his act together and join him. Caleb is the only one who took his career in a different direction. Our father, Bryce, Sr. is an electrician so Caleb decided to follow in his footsteps. He makes a nice salary working for our local electric company while my father is a supervisor at a private company. Our parents are very big on education, so it doesn’t matter what we do just as long as we do something.

  I spotted Kevin standing out front as soon as we pulled up to the campus. He walked over to Bryce’s car and opened the door for me.

  “What’s up Kevin?” Bryce spoke to my best friend.

  “Hey Bryce,” Kevin said shyly. No matter how many times he came in contact with any of my brothers he was always scared.

  “You and Kyle are still coming through later, huh?” Bryce asked him.

  “Uh, yeah, I think so,” he replied nervously. He was sweating like a runner, so I jumped in to rescue him.

  “Don’t worry Bryce, he’ll be there,” I said pulling Kevin along.

  “I’ll be back at noon Baby,” he yelled.

  “I’ll catch a ride home with Kevin,” I replied before disappearing into the courtyard.

  Once Bryce pulled off, Kevin let go of the breath that I knew he was holding and smiled at me.

  “You look cute today Brook,” he said with an appreciative glance.

  “Thanks, Kevin, but I always look cute to you,” I replied. College was far from being a fashion show, so I wasn’t wearing anything fancy. My denim shorts and tank was cool, yet comfortable enough for me to get through a three-hour English class. It was a step up from the jeans and t-shirt that I usually wore.

  “That’s because you’re pretty without trying to be. Everybody can see it but you,” he said.

  I never thought I was ugly, but I didn’t see myself as the beauty queen that everyone else saw me as. My brothers were always saying how pretty I was, but I didn’t expect them to say anything other than that.

  “Come here Kevin,” a female voice called from behind us. We turned around and saw Kevin’s girlfriend Shannon walking over to us. Just like always, Shannon looked at me with disgust written all over her face. She hated me and Kevin’s friendship even though I was in the picture for years before she came along.

  At twenty, Shannon was two years older than us, but she carried herself like she was much older. She was ready to settle down, but Kevin wasn’t having it just yet. It’s crazy how she’s always popping up on campus even though she’s not a student. Kevin couldn’t go anywhere without her showing up and showing out.

  “Wait Brook, let me see what she wants,” he said jogging off in her direction. I stopped walking and waited for him to talk to his girl. I could tell that they were arguing just by Shannon’s body language.

  After a few minutes, Kevin walked back over to where I was standing.

  “She gets on my damn nerves with her insecure ass,” he said when he got closer to me.

  “I don’t know what she’s insecure about, we’re just friends,” I replied continuing my stride.

  “Yeah okay, we’re just friends alright,” he replied with a smirk.

  “Don’t start with that shit again,” I said turning to face him.

  “I’m just saying, friends don’t just do some of the things we do.”

  “You mean some of the things we did,” I said correcting him. “Things that we swore to never talk about or do again.”

  “Only because you don’t want to,” he replied.

  He pissed me off when he talked about the past. It was obvious that it meant something to him because it damn sure didn’t mean anything to me. Since my brothers were so overprotective, it was almost impossible for me to have a boyfriend. They scared off anybody who expressed just a little interest in me. Going to prom with a boy wasn’t happening as long as they had anything to say about it, so of course, it was Kevin to the rescue. When Bryce found out who I was going with, he paid for everything and even let Kevin drive his new Chrysler 300. All of my friends were talking about spending the night with their boyfriends after prom. The only action I had planned was going to IHOP with Kevin. I could never participate in their conversations because I was the only virgin in the group. Besides TV, I didn’t know what the male genitalia even looked like up close. That was until after prom. When Kevin and I got back into the car to go eat, I expressed all of my feelings to him. To him, sex was overrated and he felt like I should wait. That was easy for him to say being that he’d been with over half of our graduating class. He was a football star and a male slut, so he was nowhere near being a virgin. He was petrified when I told him I wanted him to be my first, but he eventually agreed. I don’t know why, but I just had to see what all of the fuss was about. Kevin and I ended up getting a room instead of going out to eat. I asked him a million questions and he was happy to answer them all.

  After both of us were undressed, Kevin explained everything to me in detail. I was nervous until he laid on top of me and covered my mouth with his. It was my first kiss, so he was actually my teacher. He showed me what to do and how to do it well. When he went down and put his mouth on my breasts, my entire body was on fire. To me, it was the best feeling in the world until he went down further. I swear I thought I was having an outer body experience when his lips connected with my lower l
ips. My back arched and my eyes were rolling around in my head like marbles. I got scared when my body started shaking, but it felt too good for me to stop him. Kevin explained to me that I was having an orgasm and I never wanted it to stop. Everything was going good until it was time for him to enter my virgin territory. As wet as he said I was the pain was still too much for me to bare. Kevin was the perfect gentleman. He didn’t try to force me to do anything that I wasn’t comfortable doing. For the remainder of the night, Kevin and I kissed and fondled each other until it was time for our night to end. Sadly, I went home the same way I left, a virgin. We got together a few more times, but besides him giving me oral sex and me giving him a hand job, nothing else ever happened. When he started dating Shannon a few months ago, I put a stop to it altogether. He was upset, but we remained best friends. Of course, Shannon hated me, but that didn’t stop Kevin from coming around.

  “You were supposed to be my girlfriend instead of Shannon,” Kevin said breaking my thoughts.”

  “No, I wasn’t. I’m your best friend, just like I’ve been since fourth grade,” I replied.

  “That’s because you’re scared to take a chance. I would never hurt you and you should know that by now.”

  “It’s one thing for you to be my best friend, but my brothers will kill you if they even thought we were messing around.”

  “You can’t let them run your life forever Brook,” he replied.

  I knew that he was right, but my hands were tied. My brothers called the shots and there was nothing I could do about it.

  We walked to our class in silence, both lost in our own thoughts. Kevin was handsome, but I didn’t see him the way he saw me. I regret that we ever took things further than a friendship level in the first place. In his mind, we were really meant to be together. It was getting harder to let him down easy.

  “I’ll meet you out front after class Brook,” he said once we reached our destination.

  “Okay, I’ll see you later,” I replied walking into my class.