“Girl,” Dallas said around a spoonful of grits, “This shit slaps.”
“Period,” Blake added.
I tasted the grits and groaned. “Oh God, yes.”
“That’s what I like to hear,” Duke murmured.
“You heard it all night too,” Asa said, barking out a boisterous laugh.
I gripped the butter knife in my palm. Once again, Dallas slipped it from my hand. “He’s annoying, no doubt. But I don’t want you to butter him to death.”
Raven hummed while she ate her shrimp. “Uncle Duke, I love you.”
Duke held up a fist and she gave him a bump. “Love you too, baby girl.”
“So…” Raven said. “…since the grandparents aren’t here and we’re all adults. Except Naija and Nique. Can we talk about the fact that Demi is getting dicked down by Uncle Duke?”
The room went silent as I scanned all their faces. Tristan set his fork down and dropped his napkin on the table. Paityn happily ate her food as if nothing was said, while Bishop avoided eye contact with me. Lennox dropped his head on Blake’s shoulder, and she smirked at me. Bliss flashed a mischievous grin my way but played it off by nuzzling Naija’s nose with hers. Dallas’ eyes were wide, but her smile was genuine. Preston just gave me the you-know-how-they-are look. Charlye hid her smile behind her hand and Dex bumped his elbow with Duke’s. And Raven… my sweet Raven. I remember when she was a baby. So cute, so innocent. Now, she was a woman, capable of putting me on blast just like everyone else in this family.Myfamily.
Then, everyone laughed. Loud. Even Duke. And Tristan.What the hell is happening here? Mortified, I blinked a few times and sunk in my chair, covering my face.
Duke nudged me gently. “It’s okay, Baby.”
“It’s really not,” I said with a nervous giggle. “I’m so embarrassed.”
“Don’t be.”
“He’s right, Demi,” Tyn said. “It’s just your turn. We all have one.”
Conversation shifted to other things, mainly the upcoming wedding, and we finished our meal without talking further about my sex life. The free feeling I’d had earlier exploded, filling every space in my heart. Because I was home. I was happy. And for the first time in a long time—maybe forever—I looked forward to lifeandlove.
ChapterFifteen
GET RIGHT BACK TO MY BABY
Duke
“It is my privilege as a minister and a friend, by the authority given to me by the State of Michigan, to pronounce you husband and wife.”
Demi was so damn distracting, so tempting, so everything that I couldn’t concentrate on anything the Pastor had said during the ceremony. I was focused on her, and only her. It had started that morning when her mouth around my dick served as the perfect alarm clock and finished with my face in her pussy as we showered together.
I’d spent the last two days familiarizing myself with her body in new ways. It had gotten so bad, so all-consuming that I hadn’t been in a kitchen in twenty-four hours. My mind was on Channel Demi, all day, every day. And I wasn’t sorry.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” the pastor said, “it is my privilege to introduce to you for the first time, Mr. and Mrs. Young.”
I met Demi’s gaze from her seat on the front row. She was stunning in her rose gold sequin dress, matching the wedding colors. The dress was classy, elegant, but sexy, showing just the right amount of skin to make me want to hike her dress up and fuck her in the damn ceremony space.Lord, forgive me.
“You may now salute the bride,” Pastor said.
Cheers erupted as Dex kissed Charlye. They jumped the broom to more roaring applause before Dex scooped her up in a fireman’s carry and walked down the aisle and out of the room. I followed shortly after, linking arms with Charlye’s sister, Elise. We paused at the front row to allow Charlye’s parents and siblings to exit first, then my parents and siblings. Charlye and Dex wanted to honor the families in a different way.
When Demi brushed past me, I whispered, “I’ll have you in five minutes.”
Once the recessional was over, everyone gathered in a designated room for the family while we waited for the photographer. Charlye was glowing and Dex was the happiest I’d ever seen him.I want that.
When Paityn married Bishop, it wasn’t a shock because she’d always wanted to be someone’s wife. It was her second marriage, but Bishop was the right man for her. X fell in love with Zara when they were fighting over a promotion at Pure Talent. They’d been happily married for a while now, and parents to my sweet goddaughter. And Skye… she deserved happiness. Garrett had offered her that and more. Blake was the last person I expected to find someone she wanted to marry. Lennox was also the only man who could handle her. Dallas and Preston worked on paper and in real life. And Dex had loved Charlye since we were kids. She was his heart.
Even as my closest friends and family linked up and moved into their new lives with their significant others, I’d never longed for the day I would be in the same position. In fact, I’d firmly avoided that shit at all costs. Until I realized I wanted Demi. Now, I was determined to spend the rest of my life making her feel as safe as she made me feel. My main mission in life had shifted from becoming a Top Chef to becominghereverything.
