“You wanna talk about what’s going on up here?” Wes asks, running a hand over my head while pressing into my back, wrapping his arms around my waist.
“Nope,” I reply, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. I don’t know why this is causing me so much stress. I have never hid a relationship with anyone from my family or my father, and if I’m honest with myself, the reason I’m afraid of my father meeting Wes is I want my dad to approve of him. Well, maybe not approve. I don’t know that my dad will ever approve of any man I decide to be with.
“Your mom seems nice,” he says, placing a kiss under my ear.
“She is.”
“Were you serious about the names?” he asks, and I can hear the smile in his voice.
I turn and look over my shoulder at him, my stomach fluttering when I realize just how close he is. “My mom’s mom named her November because she didn’t want to even bother to look for a name for my mom, and it was November when she was born. My dad loves my mom and wanted to turn the memory of her name into something good, so he named all of us girls after the month we were born.”
“Your dad sounds like a good man.”
“He’s the best,” I agree then lower my eyes back to the cutting board.
“What can I help with?”
I look at him again, and Juice takes that moment to come wrap him self around my feet. “Can you feed Juice for me?”
“Sure, where’s his food?”
I point to the cabinet where I keep his cat food then turn again, only to have Wes’ hand slide along the underside of my jaw. He pulls gently until my eyes go to him. His lips wisp over mine softly, then he drops his hand and goes about feeding Juice while leaving me completely exposed.
I have watched my father with my mom since I was a little girl, watched the way he spoke to her, watched the way he watched her, and watched the way he kissed her without reason, doing so just because he wanted too I’ve never had that. I didn’t even know I craved that for myself. Not until Wes.
“Babe, the door.”
“Hmm?” I turn to look at him, his statement barely registering over the loudness of my thoughts.
“Someone’s at the door. Want me to get it?”
My eyebrows pull together as I set down the knife. My momwouldn’t have told my dad about Wes. She would wait until I was ready, and no one had called to tell me they were coming over, so I’m at a loss as to who would be here on a Sunday.
When I make it to the door, I look through the peephole then swing it open.
“What happened?” I say shakily, pulling Kayan into the house. Her eyes fill up with tears and I help her over to the couch, scarcely registering that Wes is talking on the phone behind me. “Talk to me,” I prompt and she lowers her head.
“Wait ’til Z and a couple of the guys get here,” Wes says, getting down on his haunches next to me, handing Kayan some tissue.
“Why do we need to wait for them?” I ask, looking at my friend, who now has a black smudge under her eye and a cut on her bottom lip.
“I only want her to tell us once, and then you’re going to go clean her up,” he says, rubbing my lower back.
I nod then move and sit down next to her so I can wrap my arm around her shoulders. It takes less than five minutes for the loud sound of pipes to vibrate my house. I don’t know how many guys are coming, but judging from the sound, it’s way more than a couple.
“Be right back,” Wes mutters, heading out the door only to come back a few minutes later with Z.
“Fuck no,” Z growls as soon as he sees Kayan. His jaw starts ticking and his hands at his sides lift to cross over his chest like he’s trying to control himself.
“Are you going to be okay talking in front of them?” I ask her, and she nods, taking my hand in hers.
“I went out with Eric to get some food,” she says, and a growl fills the room and my head flies up to look at Z with a glare.
“Can you control yourself?” I snap, and he lifts his chin, making me roll my eyes.
“So you went out with Eric, and then what happened?”
“Um.” She shakes her head and pulls her eyes from Z to look at me. “He dropped me home and when I got inside my apartment, I was shoved into the door and someone grabbed me around the throat. They told me I needed to give you a warning.”
