Mixed Up Love Page 7

  “It’s at one,” she says, and now I hear her moving around. “I usually get there at noon.”

  “Okay, so what time should I be at your house?” I ask her, walking into my house, the cool air hitting me.

  “Eleven thirty should be good,” she says.

  “Okay, I’ll be there then,” I say, walking to the living room and sitting on my couch. “Did you lock up?”

  I hear her exhale. “Believe it or not,” she starts, “I’ve been doing okay without you.”

  I laugh out loud. “Yes, so I’ve seen.”

  “Okay, I’m going to let you go now,” she says, huffing out. “See you tomorrow.”

  “Lock up,” I tell her, and she disconnects on me. I get up off the couch and head upstairs to repeat exactly what I did yesterday, but this time, when I fall asleep, I sleep the whole night.

  So now I’m in my closet the next morning, drinking my coffee as I choose an outfit to wear for when I meet Laney’s family. I don’t think I’ve ever done the whole “meet the parents” thing. I mean, maybe I did for prom, but apart from that, I’ve never ever gone that route. Especially with my family.

  I grab my blue chinos with a baby blue button-down shirt, then a brown belt with matching shoes. I roll the cuffs to my elbows and run my hands through the top of my hair, pushing it back. I get in the car and stop at the flower shop on the way. Walking in, I look around at all the different flowers. My eyes stop on a bouquet of white roses.

  “How may I help you?” the woman behind the wooden counter asks me.

  “Can I have that bouquet over there?” I point at it.

  “Those have two dozen roses,” she tells me, turning to grab it.

  “That should be good,” I tell her, handing her my card.

  She nods at me and turns to the table behind her to wrap them in clear cellophane. I grab them from her and make my way over to Laney’s.

  Jogging up the steps to her condo, I knock on the door. When she opens it, my mouth suddenly goes dry. If I thought the pink silky pjs were hot, today she looks like a sex goddess. And she is fully dressed.

  She’s standing in front of me with the sides of her blond hair tied back today. Wearing an off-the-shoulder long-sleeved loose ruffled one-piece long shirt that goes into a skirt and ends at her mid-thigh. The sleeves are tied at the wrist, and she has a bunch of bracelets on.

  My eyes roam down her body, past her killer legs, to a pair of purple feathered shoes that go across her toes and tie around her ankles. “Are those feathers?” I ask, looking at her shoes, and suddenly, I’m thinking of her wearing nothing but those shoes while I nail into her against the wall.

  “Are those flowers for me?” she asks with a laugh. I look back up at her and then back at my hand. With a shake of my head, I reach out, giving her the two dozen roses I picked up for her.

  “Thank you,” she says, grabbing them. She turns and walks to the kitchen and grabs an empty vase, filling it with water. “They smell so good,” she says, leaning in and smelling them. I can’t do anything but stare at her. She is honestly a natural beauty. She has almost no makeup on, and I love that about her. That I can put my hands on her face without half of it rubbing off on my hands is everything.

  “You look beautiful,” I finally say to her. She grabs her purse from the counter, stopping in front of me. The smell of citrus fills me, waking my cock up.

  “You’re not so bad yourself,” she tells me, getting on her tippy toes. My hand comes up and cups her neck, bringing her closer. Her smile lights up her blue eyes, and I lean in and kiss her lips. This time, I push it just a bit, and my tongue sneaks out and mingles with hers. “We need to go,” she says once I let her go of her lips.

  I nod at her, and we walk out holding hands. As I watch her lock the door, I say, “You need an alarm,” and I hear her groan. “Do I have to go over the timeline again?” I ask her when we walk down the steps. I walk to the passenger side and open the door for her.

  She stops in front of me. “Please, for the love of god, can you tone down the everyone is waiting to get killed or robbed?” she says, kissing my lips and getting in. “It’s a good thing you’re hot,” she says, and I laugh, closing the door. Walking around, I slide in on the driver’s side.

  “I never said everyone,” I tell her, closing my door and starting the car. “I’m saying you need to be aware of the danger lurking around you.” I put my sunglasses on and look at her.

  “Like I said.” She buckles herself in. “Tone down the stranger danger thing in front of my mother please.”

  “Fine,” I tell her. “I take this to mean we are tabling that talk for another time.” I turn my back to the door and look at her, and she copies my stance.

  “If it will make you shut up, then we will table the crazy talk for another time,” she tells me, smiling.

  “I get my way again.” I wink at her. Asking her for her parents’ address, I enter it in the GPS and proceed. I drive to her parents’ house while she talks.

  “My aunt Martha will be there,” she says. “She’s married to my father’s brother, and she and Mom are like oil and water. The brothers let them be, or, as they say, family is thicker than water. So, it’s been an eventful time. Ever since I can remember, they have always butt heads.”

  “Okay,” I say, looking over at her.

  “My mother doesn’t do well with her, so because we are dating”—she turns to look at me—“you’re on her team.”

  “There are teams?” I ask her. I’ve never really met someone else’s family before, so I don’t know if this is actually a thing. “Do we get jerseys and stuff?”

  “No, there are not”—she laughs—“but I’m her daughter. Therefore, I fall on her team, and you are with me, so you get her by default.” She claps her hands. “Yay you.” She smirks at me. “Aren’t you happy you said yes?”

  I nod. “Makes sense,” I say as we pull up to the house, and I park. “Shit, I should have gotten flowers for your mother.” I look over at her.

  Laney lets out a laugh. “Oh, you silly, silly man.” She shakes her head and reaches out, putting her hand on my leg. “You’re showing up to a family lunch on a Sunday,” she points out. “Do you know the joy she will be feeling right now?” I shake my head, not sure about any of this. I mean, I know what my mother would be doing—fucking cartwheels. “She’ll be planning our wedding before we buckle back in the car.”

  “No way,” I say, pulling open the door and getting out to meet Laney on her side of the street. “You’re joking, right?” I ask her, and she shrugs her shoulders at me. I reach for her hand as we walk up the paved driveway to the house. Shrubs line the driveway all the way to the entrance.

  It’s a two-story house with brown brick. We walk up the four steps to the red front door, and she walks right in. We hear laughter coming from somewhere inside the house. Then I hear a boy yell, “You sank the eight ball.”

  “I guess my cousin’s kids are here. They must be downstairs playing pool.” We step into the entryway, and she walks to the left, and we enter what looks like a study. Brown leather couches face a fireplace, and built-in shelves are all around the room. I scan it, finding a couple of family pictures. She walks over to the side where a wooden desk sits, and she puts her purse on it, turning to me and smiling. “Shall we go face the wolves?” She laughs, walking farther into the house. The staircase right in front of us is on the left. A carpet runs down the middle of each step, and family pictures decorate the wall leading upstairs. The pictures all have different frames and range from when Laney was a baby to now.

  “Is your room upstairs?” I ask her with a smile, suddenly wanting to know everything about her.

  “Yes,” she says, pulling me with her, and we walk past the dining room that is already set for our meal. The brown table has white placemats and white dishes ready. I see a hallway leading to the left. “That is the master bedroom.” She points at it and then points at an open white door where the voices of the kids are sti
ll coming. “That leads to the basement.”

  We walk into the family room where a huge flat-screen television playing the football game hangs above the fireplace.

  “Hey, everyone,” Laney says.

  A man sitting on the long thick plush couch looks over and smiles. “Hey, cupcake,” he says, raising his hand but not getting up.

  The other man sitting on the ottoman gets up and comes to her. “Laney,” he says softly, coming to her and taking her in his arms. “You look beautiful,” he says, kissing her cheek while he holds her arms in his hands.

  “Daddy,” she says, looking at him, “this is Hunter. Hunter, this is my father, Gary.”

  I reach my hand out. “Sir, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

  “Please, call me Gary.” He smiles at me. “That is my brother, Norman.” He points at the guy who didn’t bother getting up.

  I walk to him and extend my hand, nodding. “Pleasure to meet you,” I say while he shakes my hand and then turns back to the game.

  “Go make sure your mother hasn’t killed your aunt,” Gary says under his breath.

  We walk around the couches to the hall that leads to the kitchen. I look around, taking in the biggest kitchen I’ve ever seen in my life.

  The black cabinets are all around the room, and it’s shaped like a U. White counters are all around the three walls. A massive white island sits in the middle of the room with a sink on the side of it that faces another sink that sits under a window. A pile of plates sits on one side of the island, and three bread baskets sit next to it.

  “Are these clean?” I hear a woman with short curly hair ask, holding open the cupboard door. She is reaching up to grab one, and then brings it out, blowing inside it.

  “Martha, everything in my cupboards is clean.” I hear a woman say as she takes something out of the oven and puts it on top of the stove. I know right away who Laney’s mom is even without her calling Martha’s name. She is the same size as Laney in height. Her hair is a bit shorter, but they look so much alike.

  “Honey,” Gary says, and she turns to look at us and then smiles. She walks to us, taking off the gloves she was wearing to take out the hot dish and placing them on the island.

  “Oh, look at you,” she says to me, coming to me and hugging me. “You are so handsome.” She turns to Martha. “Isn’t Laney’s boyfriend handsome?” she asks, holding my arm.

  I look over at Martha, and she’s eyeballing me from head to toe, nodding her head and humming. “Hunter, this is my mother, Corina,” Laney says, and I look down at her.

  “Ma’am,” I say, and she laughs.

  “Don’t you ma’am me,” Corina says. “I will cut a bitch for saying that to me.” I roll my lips, trying not to laugh when she turns to Laney. “Is that how you say it? Cut a bitch? Did I use it right?”

  “Yeah,” she says, rolling her own lips. Shaking her head, she goes over to her aunt Martha and kisses her on her cheek to say hello. “It smells amazing. What did you make?” Laney says, going over to the stove.

  “Beef stew,” she says. “It’s just about ready. I’m just letting it cool down a touch. Why don’t we hustle everyone to the table? Martha”—she looks at her sister-in-law—“get the kids from downstairs.”

  “Where is Rebecca?” Laney asks about her cousin, her daughter.

  “Todd took her away for a romantic weekend to celebrate his big promotion at work,” Martha says, smiling. She walks to the door and yells downstairs, “The food is ready, come and wash your hands!”

  Corina rolls her eyes. “Bitch,” she mumbles under her breath quietly. I try not to laugh and stand here taking everything in as two kids who look nine or ten walk in. Both have brown hair and brown eyes and look like twins, but one is taller than the other.

  “Hey, Laney,” one of the boys says, coming over to her and hugging her. She hugs him and kisses the top of his head as she squeezes him.

  “Justin,” she says, looking at the one in her arms and at the other one, who is at the sink washing his hands. “This is Hunter,” Laney says to them, and they look at me. “That one is Colton,” she says.

  “Ooohhh, Laney has a boyyyyfriend,” Justin says. Laney pushes the kid away, and he looks shocked.

  “I changed your diaper when you were a kid, and I have pictures,” she says, and he shrugs and walks away, but not before grabbing a piece of bread. She walks to me, and I put my arm around her shoulder, kissing her head.

  “Do you really have the pictures on your phone?” I whisper, leaning into her. “You know that is considered child porn.”

  She rolls her eyes. “I don’t have the pictures. I just threaten them.” She pushes me and points at me. “And if you start with the laws and all that, I swear to god ...” I smile at her, and I’m about to lean down and kiss her when her mother yells.

  “Let’s eat!” her mom yells, walking in from the dining room. “Hunter, can you bring in the bread baskets for me?”

  “Sure thing,” I say to her, and she turns to Laney.

  “Can you grab the white wine from the fridge?” she says, and Laney goes to the fridge, opening it and grabbing two bottles. Going to the counter and walking to the drawers, she takes out the corkscrew. “That’s for Martha,” she says under her breath, distributing the beef stew into two deep dishes. “If the cork breaks, no biggie.” She shrugs, picking up one full bowl and turning to go back into the dining while I follow her. “Put one basket at each end and then one in middle,” she orders me, and I see that Norman and Gary are sitting down already.

  Gary is at the head of the table, and Norman is beside him. Justin sits beside Norman, and Colton sits on the other side of Gary. “It smells amazing,” Norman says, looking at the bowl that she just put down in front of the men.

  “Corina,” Martha says, coming into the dining room, “I just threw the towel you had in the powder room into the washing machine because it smelled like mildew,” she says, and her face goes into a grimace. “So bad.”

  Corina straightens next to me, and I look down at her hands to see if she has any weapons or anything she can use as a weapon. “Is it the white towel with the squares at the bottom?”

  “Yes,” she says, going to her seat next to Justin.

  “Oh.” Corina laughs. “That’s your towel that Justin walked in with when he got here.” Now it’s Corina’s turn to grimace. “It might be your washer.” She goes to head of the table, placing her hand on the empty chair that she sits in. “You know, now that I think about it, you did smell a bit funny when you walked in.”

  Martha’s face drops, and Justin leans over and smells his grandmother, who looks over at him and pulls her hand back.

  “I smell fine,” she says when Justin leans over and smells his grandfather on the other side.

  “Grandpa smells weird,” he says, and Laney finally comes out of the kitchen.

  “Here is the wine,” she says, placing it in front of Martha and then walking to the other side to place a bottle in front of her father. She must sense something and just looks at everybody. “Are we eating?” she says. Pointing at the chair next to Colton, she says, “You can sit here.” I take my chair, and she sits next to me. Her mother comes back into the room with the second bowl of stew.

  She sits at the head of the table in the middle of Martha and Laney. “Gary, serve the kids and your brother,” Corina says, and when he grabs the bowl next to him, she picks up the bowl in front of her. “Martha, tell me when to stop,” she says, scooping her a spoonful. When her bowl is almost full, Martha tells her to stop, then she does the same to Laney, and then Laney does my bowl.

  “Can we eat now?” Colton asks, his fingers tapping next to his heaping bowl.

  “Yes,” Martha says, and we all start to eat. “So”—Martha looks up at me mid-chew—“what do you do for work?” I look at her and then look down. I don’t say anything when she pipes in again. “Oh, I’m sorry. Do you not work?” she says, almost smirking and ready to look at Corina.

&nb
sp; I chuckle a bit. “I work,” I say, and suddenly, I feel all eyes on me, and I’m not wrong. Looking up, I see that everyone is looking at me. “I own a security firm,” I say.

  “Oh,” Norman says, “like ADT and all that? I think I see their ads on television.”

  I shake my head. “No, I mean, I have a private security firm,” I say and see his eyebrows pinch together. “We handle public officials when they are in town, or if there is a high-profile celebrity coming into town, we do their detail.”

  “Do you have a gun?” Colton asks me, his eyes opened big.

  “Yes,” I answer honestly.

  “Do you have it with you?” Justin asks.

  “Um.” I look at them, and their eyes go big. “No,” I lie.

  “Have you ever shot someone?” they both ask at the same time, and I just nod.

  “I did two tours in the military,” I tell them, and I really fucking hope someone changes the subject soon. My leg starts bouncing up and down while I sit at the table.

  “Well, we thank you for your service,” Corina says, and I just nod, thankful when the conversation moves on to politics. I don’t contribute anything but just eat my meal.

  I don’t say much and just listen. Laney leans over, whispering in my ear, “Do you really have a gun on you?”

  I turn and whisper, “If you find it, you can keep it.” I wink at her.

  She laughs, and she looks at me up and down, using her hand to rub up and down my back. I laugh when I get up to help clear, and she comes over and grabs my waist, rubbing her hand around it. “Not there,” I say, laughing, as I walk to the kitchen with the plates. Her mother stands by the sink, rinsing off the dishes and putting them in the dishwasher. “Would you like me to continue?” I ask her, and she just shakes her head and leans closer to me.

  “No, because if I’m not doing this, I have to sit at the table with Martha,” she says, winking. “I haven’t digested my food yet.”

  I nod my head. “Got it,” I say, placing the plates on the counter, then turning to walk away. When I see Laney come back in with plates in her hands, I grab them from her and turn to place them on the counter when I look down and see her trying to feel my ankle. “Not even close.”