I narrow my eyes on her as she glares back. She’s still pissed at me, despite me telling her the truth. I’ll give her space to sort her feelings out. I know she’s stubborn as fuck.
I’m waiting for her to come to me. That is until all of my family turns their attention to what I’m hungrily staring at. Roni pushes from the doorway she’d been watching us from and spins on her heels to leave.
“Oh, shit. That’s guns,” Ry calls out. “Wait, she’s here?”
“Who?” Noah says.
Mom laughs as I rise and start after Roni. “Whoever she is, the two haven’t been able to stop eye fucking each other.”
“Oh my God. That’s her. The girl from the wedding,” Nellie gasps.
“Our wedding? Wait, that’s Roni?” Wyatt replies.
“She’s been to Cali to see him too.”
“Mind your business, Ry,” I call over my shoulder. I can hear the humor in his voice.
He’s the one that sees everything. My relationship with Roni hasn’t reached a place where prying from my family will help any, if at all. The less they know the better.
A mix of my brother’s laughter follows me. “So, it is a woman,” Noah says before I’m out of earshot.
Roni
I head downstairs and to the back of the grounds, in need of some fresh air. My mind is reeling. I’m trying to reconcile my assumptions with what I now know about John.
Thinking about Val, she and most of her friends are married to white men. Although I know a few of them are mixed themselves. However, I wasn’t expecting to see John with his family and the Black women on the arms of at least three of his brothers.
They have little brown kids with them too. I can’t help wondering if I would have felt so out of place at those weddings he invited me to. I step to the stone railing on the massive back deck.
Bending to lean against it on my forearms, I get lost in my thoughts and lift my head to stare up at the stars. I feel him the moment he steps outside. I hate that I always seem to sense his nearness.
John’s scent tells me that I’m not mistaken in who has joined me. It’s the first thing to envelope me. Stepping up behind me, he places his palms on the railing on either side of my elbows, causing his hips to nestle against my ass. Comfort and warmth settle over me immediately.
With a frown, I straighten and turn to face him. Placing a hand on his chest, I shove him back. He doesn’t budge more than a few inches.
As if it’s the most natural thing in the world, he cups my face and plants a kiss on my forehead. He remains silent, allowing his lips to linger before taking a step back and crossing his arms over his chest. I glare up at him.
“So that’s your people?”
“Yeah, that’s my family.” He wrinkles his brows. “Why’d you take off? They don’t bite.”
“They don’t know about me. You still haven’t told them about me. Why would I come over there?”
I don’t know why that bothers me so much. When his brother asked who I was that night in Cali, I was hurt. He’s been coming to see me almost as long as I’ve been here, we’d been talking on the phone practically every day. I thought I meant enough for his family to know he had a girlfriend or whatever I was in New York.
He tilts his head at me. “How do you know I haven’t?”
I mirror his stance, tipping my head to the opposite side. “Am I wrong?”
He shakes my head. Those golden eyes become more appraising than ever. Reaching for my hand, he goes to turn for the entrance back inside.
I tug my arm back. “What are you doing?”
“You want to meet my family. I’m taking you to meet them,” he says, a grin on his lips.
“For what? I’m nothing to you. There’s no need. Not anymore.”
He turns on me and grabs the back of my neck, pulling me into him so fast I’m stunned. Our lips are pressed together as he inhales. Then he starts to devour my lips.
The taste of beer and barbeque ribs assaults my mouth. I whimper as he deepens the kiss and my belly tightens. I can’t help clinging to his T-shirt. I want to growl when he breaks the kiss. I’m not in the mood for him to play with me the way he did earlier.