“Hey, Thicka.” He leaned down and kissed her cheek.
She looked at him like he was crazy. “Haze, what’s going on? Why is all my stuff here?”
He looked around as if he saw all the boxes and new furniture for the first time. Then, he had the nerve to look at her like he was confused. “You live here now.”
“What? When did I agree to that? When did we have that conversation?”
“Conversation?” he asked wearily.
She looked at him like he was touched in the head. “Yes, conversation, Haze. We never talked about what this would look like. Who’s paying the bills?—”
“I’m offended.”
Devyn continued like she didn’t hear him. “What this means for Hazel . . . This is a lot, bae.”
Haze sincerely looked lost before he said, “I’m sorry?”
It was more of a question than a statement. Devyn stared at him for a moment before she burst into laughter. “You are a mess.” She reached for Hazel, who came to her willingly. “Hey, pumpkin.”
“Hi, Mommy.” She laid her head on Devyn’s chest while Devyn shook her head.
“I guess we live here now, baby. How you feel about that?” Devyn asked.
Hazel pondered it for a moment and then pointed at Haze. “Daddy?”
“Yes, we live here with Daddy now.”
“Okay.” Hazel shrugged and laid her head on Devyn’s chest.
Haze grinned. “See, I knew my girl was down wit’ it.”
Devyn brushed by him. “Next time you make a big decision like this—” She stopped and thought about it—“actually,anydecision, talk to me first.”
“You got it, Thicka.”
“I’m just going to change, and then we can go,” she called over her shoulder as she walked up the stairs of her new home. She couldn’t believe she lived with Haze now. Nothing about their relationship was traditional, but she couldn’t worry about that now. She had bigger fish to fry. It was time for her to introduce Haze to her parents.
Devyn tried not to fidget as they walked up the driveway to her parents’ house. Haze seemed cool as a cucumber, and envy filled her. She wished she could be so calm and collected, but the fearthat Haze was not the kind of man her parents would want her with had her in a chokehold.
Through the years, all the men they tried to set her up with were lawyers and doctors. While Haze’s mom seemed down-to-earth and cool to hang around, her parents were a bit stuffier. Loving, but stuffy. They expected greatness from Devyn. Her fear was that they wouldn’t see how great Haze was—that they would judge a book by its cover.
Devyn glanced at Haze. He dressed how he always did: black jeans, black T-shirt, and black leather boots. He looked good as hell to Devyn, but how would her parents receive him?
She pushed the door open and stepped inside. The smell of home cooking wafted through the air, and Devyn’s stomach growled.
“Devyn?” Melanie called out from the kitchen.
“Hey, Mama,” Devyn called back.
“Go on into the dining room. Your father is already in there. Dinner’s almost ready,” Melanie yelled.
Devyn led Haze into the dining room. He held Hazel in his arms. Devyn had pointed out the other day that the girl could walk, but Haze told her to hush. She just laughed it off because she understood that Haze was only making up for lost time.
“Hey, Daddy,” Devyn said as they entered the dining room. Her father had been caught eating a rib off the bone from the platter in the middle of the table. He froze and then held his finger up to his lips. Devyn giggled and then whispered, “And where were you going to hide the bone?”
Robert’s eyes grew wide, and Devyn shook her head while she held her hand out. Robert put the bone in her hand, and Devyn stealthily walked into the kitchen and disposed of it without her mother noticing. She was too busy plating the greens and fussing over the mac and cheese.
When she got back into the dining room, Haze and her father were shaking hands.
