A few minutes later, he placed a plate of French toast, bacon, scrambled eggs, and a glass of orange juice in front of me. My stomach growled loud enough for him to hear, causing us to laugh.
“As you can hear, I’m hungry, so this better be good,” I warned.
“I told you my mama made sure I could cook before I left for college.”
“I won’t find any eggshells in the eggs or baked into the French toast?”
“You’re funny. Hell nah, baby. I can cook, for real.”
“Okay. Make your plate so we can eat.”
A few minutes later, he returned with a plate with the same thing for him, but he had a glass of milk instead. We held hands, and he quickly blessed the food. He looked at me while I squeezed syrup over everything on my plate.
“Baby, what the hell?”
“Mind your business, Sylas. This is how I like mine.”
“Drowning in syrup? That’s childish.”
“So is minding somebody else’s business, yet here you are in mine.”
He chuckled as his head went from left to right. I was able to eat my first few bites in peace, and they were good.
“Did I pass?” he asked.
“Yeah, but it’s breakfast. It’s kinda hard to mess that up.”
“Damn. You’re a hard one.”
“I’m not. You did good, and I’m pleased. Thank you for going through the trouble.”
“It was no trouble at all. I’m glad it passed your test.”
“With flying colors. So . . .”
“Uh-oh. Should I be worried?”
“Only if you don’t want to meet my parents. My mother asked about meeting you when I told her I was coming to visit.”
“I’d love to meet your parents. We’re having dinner with mine tomorrow, as well as Taylor and Maison.”
“Wait. What? Were you gonna tell me?”
“Eventually.”
“Sylas, you can’t just spring something like that on someone.”
“Do you not want to go? I can reschedule.”
“We can’t reschedule, because we barely see each other as it is. Plus, I don’t want your family to think I don’t want to meet them.”
“They won’t think that, baby. I’ll reschedule?—”
“I said it’s fine.”
“Are you mad?” he asked in a soft tone.
“No, just surprised. I hope what I brought to wear is appropriate to meet the family.”
