Page 73 of D’Vaughn and Kris Plan a Wedding

“Good,” she said again, this time punctuating the word with a slow, meaningful kiss to my lips. She doled those things out like candy on Halloween and I lived for it. I couldn’t get enough and my hunger for them stung a little. She pulled back from the kiss and landed several pecks along my neck. “I’m going to run to the restroom. When I get back, I’ll call Mami to see where she and your mother disappeared to, and then we can wrap this up.” Reaching up, she brushed a thumb under my eye. “You coming home with me tonight?”

I nodded, unable to find a few words that wouldn’t tug the stopper on more of my “deep-end” observations.

“Okay. Be right back.” With a pat to my hip, she straightened and waited for me to step back so that she could exit the room.

As soon as she was gone, I released the shuddering breath I’d been holding. I wanted to cuss. That conversation hadn’t eased my fears at all. All it did was make me take notice of the way there was never anything concrete in the words Kris spoke. She had a way of managing to skirt the issue while making it seem resolved that terrified me.

What was the “this” that she’d referenced and how would we continue doing it when Instant I Do wrapped in less than two weeks? Were we supposed to carry on the farce of our engagement until eternity? Did we announce that we’d called off the engagement but decided to stay together? They seemed like straightforward and easy enough questions, but to ask them was to risk everything. If I put voice to the worries in my head—and heart—and Kris became offended or angry, it could affect how everyone saw our relationship, bringing this house of cards tumbling to the ground just before we made it to the judges’ table. On top of everything, it would ruin the little time I had left with her.

No matter how much I wanted a clear answer from her about what we planned to do when the for-public-consumption side of this ended, I had to hold my tongue until Kevin either placed a check in my hands or tapped me on the shoulder and asked me to clock out. Even if the money was never the goal, I’d come too far to let a few hurt feelings keep me from the prize.

Chapter Thirteen

Kris

Word From the Wise

I stepped out into the hall, heading left as Jae had instructed when I’d first arrived. When I turned the corner that would lead me to the bathrooms, I spotted Kevin and Joe having a conversation at the end of the hall. It had been a few days since I’d seen Joe, and I started to call out to them, but then Kevin put his hand on Joe’s waist and I realized that they were standing far closer than was probably necessary for discussing work.

It hit me that their positioning was rather intimate. Kevin stood in front of Joe, who was leaning back against the wall. Although Joe’s arms were crossed in front of him, he didn’t seem closed off. He seemed to be listening, his head slightly bowed as he nodded every few seconds. After a moment, Kevin stepped in closer, used a finger to nudge Joe’s chin up, and leaned down to kiss the older man. My eyes widened at the scene, but when Joe uncrossed his arms and reached around to palm Kevin’s ass, I quickly looked away, not wanting to be caught creeping on a clearly private moment.

The sound of a throat clearing made me look up. Joe was coming down the hall, a satisfied smile on his face. He shot me a wink and dropped a hand on my shoulder as he passed me.

“Hey, Joe. Missed you these last couple of days.”

His smile grew, making his deep-set, dark brown eyes crinkle. “I had to check on the other couples and their teams. Can’t be out here showing favoritism like Kev.”

I grinned, looking down the hall at Kevin, who was now leaning his shoulder against the wall, his legs crossed at the ankle as he watched us. “Oh? Are we getting special treatment or something?”

Joe glanced back at Kevin, and the tender look that came across his face as he took in the other man hit me right in the feels. When he turned back to me, his smile had softened a little. He nodded.

“Or something.” He cleared his throat. “I’ll be seeing you later, Kris.”

“Yessir.”

The moment that he disappeared around the corner, I rushed over to Kevin.

“Let me find out you mackin’ on old man Joe.”

Kevin glared, but it was devoid of heat, and dripping with amusement. “Hey, watch your mouth! Joe is not old. He’s only fifty. That’s barely seasoned.”

Trying—and failing—to hold back my giggles, I nodded. “Oh, my bad. So, you’re saying he’s just a teaspoon of adobo instead of a quarter cup?”

He squinted at me. “No matter how much adobo you use, you’re winning.”

Lifting my shoulders, I tilted my head to the side and nodded. “I won’t argue with you there. But, uh... Can I ask you a question?”

He quirked a brow. “Another question, you mean?”

I grinned. “Yeah, man. I’m curious.”

“Ah, hell,” he murmured, straightening against the wall. “Let’s hear it.”

“Bet. You look like you’re only a couple of years older than us, and Joe looks closer to my parents’ age. So...is he your sugar daddy or nah?”

His mouth spread into a toothy grin as he barked out a laugh. “Ooh! Thank you, dearheart! That’s cute,” he admitted with a chuckle, “but Joe isn’t my sugar daddy; he’s my husband. We’ve been together for almost twenty years and married for ten.”

I gasped as my eyes tried to pop out of their sockets. “Did you say twenty years? As in veinte años? You’re a motherfucking goddamn lie!” I swung my head from left to right, desperately needing to search for my flabber because, without a doubt, it was trembling in a corner somewhere, gasted out of its mind. There was no damn way that they’d been together for more than two thirds of my life.