Caught Up

By Tiffany Parker

What started out as a one-night stand for Brandy turned into a full-blown relationship. A thin line between love and lust is formed when she crosses the line and sleeps with her husband's child-hood friend. Things take a turn when they start to fall in love with each other, unbeknownst to her husband who thinks the world for her.

Caught up is a story that really hits home for couples dating, married couples, and couples who are engaged, They deal with lies, bad communication, adultery, trust, deceit, faithfulness, and betrayal while they are in a relationship.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Feb 28, 2021
• ISBN: 9781664152663

Book preview

Caught Up

Tiffany Parker

Copyright © 2021 by Tiffany Parker.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 01/15/2021

Xlibris

844-714-8691

www.Xlibris.com

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Contents

Prologue

One

Two

Three

Four

Five

Six

Seven

Eight

Nine

Ten

Eleven

Twelve

Thirteen

Fourteen

Fifteen

Sixteen

Seventeen

Eighteen

Ninteen

Twenty

Twenty–One

Twenty–Two

Twenty–Three

Prologue

As she laid on the bed with tears staining her beige almost pale face, her hair was a tangled mess hanging midway down her backside resembling the golden sun with frost highlights. Tissues lay scattered around the room, and half of the king-sized bed was also littered with used tissues. Brandy sat up and folded her legs Indian style and looked around her massive bedroom, she loved her king-sized poster bed. It also had the matching chest, dresser, and nightstands as an added bonus. She and her estranged husband had gone together to pick out this set. She remembered the day like it was yesterday; Brandy had been wanting a new bedroom set for a while, so she told her husband Tyler, but told her no.

This one day while they were out driving after dropping their eight-year-old twins, Mya and Mia off at school, Brandy spotted a furniture store and convinced her husband to go in. After looking around for 30 minutes, she spotted a set that she just had to have, and being that Tyler could never say no to his sexy wife, they now had a new bedroom set. Looking around the room now only brought back bad memories; it only brought back how truly fucked up her situation really was. She had not seen or heard from her husband in 2 days he hadn’t talked to anyone, or even seen her twins. The house was empty and quiet; the only time she got up was to go the bathroom, which was in her room or to grab more tissues.

The past few days all seemed like a dream but the absence of her husband next to her brought her back to reality. Brandy slowly got up from where she was sitting and walked the short distance to her bathroom. Each step felt as if it her feet had weights attached, making each step more dreadful than the last step. Upon entering the bathroom, she flipped the switch to illuminate the once dark room she instantly winced and shielded her eyes with the other hand. Not wanting the brightness of the light to take full effect of her darken state, she just stood motionless in one spot and before taking tiny steps forward. When she stepped over to the mirror and looked at the ghostly figure that is looking back at her, she’s uncertain about who is looking back at her. She touches her face and notices the streaks of mascara that has stained the corners of her eyes.

Waterproof my ass! she said to herself.

She rushes over to the full-sized mirror adjacent to the toilet and gives herself a full inspection from head to toe. Her hair looks similar to a golden mop that has been sitting in the corner unused for over a month. It could be the mirror, but from the looks of it, she actually looks as if she’s shed a few pounds. Before her downfall and stupor, she resembled Jessica Alba in the face, although some said she resembled Christina Milian instead.

Is it me or did I lose a few pounds? I guess that’s what happens when you don’t eat for a few days! She exclaims to no one in particular.

She then looks at her fingers and lets out a loud gasp, the once perfect manicure is replaced by chewed off and ragged edges and chipped polish. She takes a hand and tries to comb it through her super tangled hair, but after the third ouch she gives up and runs to the vanity to find a comb or detangling brush. She just can’t believe how fucked-up she looks. Just days before she was on a cloud, looking and feeling the best she ever felt. Now she just wanted to crawl under a rock and stay there, and with the way she looked, no one would notice. After locating a brush, her phone starts to ring at first, she’s tempted to ignore it, but then it hits her that it may be her husband.

She rushes out of the bathroom in a panic and locates her phone hanging out partially under her comforter.

Looking at the screen, she notices that it’s Blake, hope quickly disappears and it’s replaced by frustration as her brows knit together and fire beams into her eyes. She hesitates at first and then quickly pushes the red ignore button, sending the call straight to voice-mail.

After a few minutes, the phone rings again and it’s Blake again, and she once again sends him to voice-mail. After calling for fifteen times straight, she lays flat on the bed, and takes her pillow and places it over her head and screams over and over again.

Please Stop!

Please Stop!

Please Stop!

Each time louder than the previous, until she removes the pillow and sits up and realizes that the ringing has halted. She checks the screen to see if any of the calls were from her husband, and like she thought; they were all from Blake. Then suddenly her phone starts to ring again, and again it’s Blake. So, she does the unthinkable and answers the phone.

What? she asks with attitude that she didn’t know she had.

Who are you talking to, and what’s your problem?

He asks this question like he has no clue to how he played a part in ruining my marriage.

Ugh, I can’t with you right now!

Just tell me what’s wrong. I’m confused, and yo why the hell were you ignoring all my phone calls? All you had to do was send me a quick text and say Fuck off!

Tyler left me, and it’s all your fault, I wish I would have never met you!

She screams…

So, wait you are trying to blame me for this bullshit, well reality check that’s on you I told your dumb ass not to get feelings attached. We were only screwing with no strings attached.

Look, Blake I don’t need this right now my only mistake was loving the wrong man.

The last sentence is said with a snarky tone, and she quickly hangs up and blocks any further calls from Blake. At that moment she decided to fight for her marriage, for her children, for her sanity, and for everything that she loved.

Rewind 15 years ago to where it all began….

One

This is the reason that people go to college, she said to herself as she readjusted her hat for the fifth time.

She hated the fact that she had to wear a uniform in the first place, but that was the job requirements and rules for Pizza Palace. With her working the counter instead of the drive thru window, her appearance wasn’t all that important to her, but it was important to her supervisor. All she cared about was that 3:00 would hurry up so she could go home. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she did not hear nor see the customer that was standing in front of her. Once she did take notice, she was really intrigued by what caught her eye.

There was this tall medium built, man resembling Boris Kodjoe the actor, with light brown eyes and a smile that could instantly melt frozen butter.

You could see his muscles bulging out of the short-sleeved shirt that he was wearing, His apparel was simple yet tasteful, especially his bright Nikes that were her favorite.

For a moment she, forgot about her boyfriend Tyler of 4 years. All she knew right now was that this was a treat standing in front of her. She was so caught up in her thinking that she did not see his hand waving in her face, she also did not hear him repeatedly saying,

Hello!

Hello!

Hello!

How embarrassing, she thought to herself as she started turning crimson red.

He had a nice deep voice, the kind that should read dark, sultry romance novels. She had to focus, so she cleared her throat and said;

Yes, how can I help sir?

He smiled a devious smile that was so sweet, but sexy at the same time.

Yes, Brandy do you happen to have any specials or military discounts that you give out?

Instantly, she became alarmed, confused, and irritated and it was all over her face her brows knitted together, she started to bite her lip a nasty little habit she did when she was mad.

Wait, how do you know my name? He smiled again before responding. Well, it’s on your name tag.

This time he was blushing, and it was even sexier, and she couldn’t help but to chuckle to herself and try to hide her amusement at her silliness. He must think I’m a freaking idiot, or a moron either way she felt really silly at the moment. Military she thought to herself, hmm he wasn’t wearing a uniform or anything, and as badly as she already embarrassed herself, she’d rather not pry either.

Oh yes we have a 10% discount with a valid id, and there is a carry out special, if you buy 2 or more medium pizza’s they are only $4.00 apiece.

He squints his eyes and twists his lips as if he’s in deep thought and then proceeds to ponder his order. So dramatic she’s thinking to herself, he’s sexy and all, but who takes this long to place a freaking order. After 10 minutes of deliberating, pondering, and bullshitting, he’s finally ready. Thank goodness it, was a slow day.

Ok, let me get 2 medium cheese, and 2 pepperoni and sausage, an order of breadsticks, and a large Pyrite drink.

Will that be all?

she asks this question with a bit of attitude, payback for the long unnecessary wait. He picks up on the change in attitude and smirks a bit, which only ignites the fire more.

Yes, that’s it thanks B-R-A-N-D-Y he spelled out her name in a singsong manner only infuriating her even more. She wanted to scream but instead stared blankly at him and told him,

Your order will be ready in twenty- five minutes.

She turned without waiting for his response and returned the order ticket to the window so that the cooks could begin working on his order. When she looked back, she had expected to see Mr. Asshole gone, or sitting down somewhere, but instead he was still lingering at the counter. She calmly walked over, and he was standing there drumming his hands on the counter, it was so annoying. She grabbed his hands before he could further drum on the counter. She expected his hands to be rough, but it was quite the opposite; they were soft and quite large at the same time. She admired the clean fingernails, and the absence of a ring, which meant that he’s single. She quickly placed his hands on the counter, again remembering her boyfriend Tyler. She timidly looks down and tries to busy herself by wiping the counter down with a spray bottle of disinfectant and a few paper towels.

So how long have you been working here?

She stops what she’s doing and stares at him trying to get a good read on him, and then she looks him square in the eyes and says,

Why?

Excuse me, sorry for trying to make conversation.

Before she can respond, the bell is rung indicating that his order is ready, normally they would call out his name, but in her haste to take his order she forgot to ask. She grabbed his order, he paid for his order and left her a twenty- dollar tip. Before she could protest, he left without another word.

When she looked up at the clock, it was already 3:30 and thankfully her relief was there. She grabbed her drawer, quickly counted her money, stashed her tips, and clocked out for the day.

Two

Thank