AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter 2
Braxton
I was thankful Nevaeh was distracted by her parents and talking about her turning down the job offer some headhunter had been sent to hire her for. The guy had shown up on campus one afternoon. Her adviser had asked her to come in for a meeting to talk about her future goals. Neveah’d called me, and I’d shown up just in time for the man to introduce himself.
In the doorway of the adviser’s office, he’d gotten out his name and who he worked for before she’d told him point-blank that she wasn’t interested and turned to leave. While she’d been walking toward me, I’d kept my gaze on the NASA representative and nearly split my gut open trying to contain my laughter.
He’d been slack-jawed, with a mixture of confusion and irritation in his eyes as my kitten walked away from him.
The man most likely had been about to offer her a job most nerds would have given their firstborn for. But Nevaeh knew what she wanted from her future, and working in Houston wasn’t in her plans.
While she reassured her father again that she didn’t want to live in Texas, I caught sight of my own parents making their way through the crowded restaurant. They kept as much distance between themselves as was possible, given the busy waitstaff moving around, delivering food and drinks to the other patrons. My father’s face was tight, displeasure clear in his expression. Meanwhile, my mother looked as if she’d been sucking on lemons all day. Pursed lips, clenched jaw, narrowed eyes.
Neither of them was happy about being present for this little get-together that Lana had insisted on. She wanted to meet the people who had raised me, get to know her daughter’s future in-laws a little before the big move. I’d warned her it wasn’t going to go as she hoped, and from the looks on my parents’ faces, I knew my prediction was going to be more accurate than I’d expected.
I attempted to keep myself from tensing so that Nevaeh wouldn’t grow nervous once again since her dad had already distracted her enough to put the reason for this meal out of her mind. When I alerted Lana to the couple that was slowly making their way toward us, she barely shifted her eyes to see them. Putting on one of her smiles that could light up a room just like her daughter’s, she pushed back her chair and walked over to meet my mom before she could reach the table.
“You must be Belinda,” Lana said, offering her hand. “I’m Lana Stevenson, Nevaeh’s mom.”
My mother glanced down at Lana’s hand as if it were covered in filth, but all eyes were on the two women. She had no choice but to lightly put her hand in Lana’s and shake. Before the women dropped their arms, Drake was at his wife’s side, greeting my dad with a handshake.
Beside me, Neveah began to fidget with her dress again. Leaning in, I kissed her forehead. “Relax, Kitten. It’s one dinner, and then we will probably never have to see them again.”
Sadness filled her eyes when they met mine. “But they’re your family, Brax.”
“Barrick and Lyla are my family. Judge and Howler are my family. You,” I rasped against her ear, “you are my everything. Those two people over there? They mean very little to me in comparison. Especially my father.”
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I tried to talk Mom out of this.”
“She has every right to want to meet the people who brought me into the world. I only hope she understands that just because I was raised by them, doesn’t mean I’m like them.”
Nevaeh cupped the side of my face, her engagement ring catching the lights and glittering like a beacon. “No one would ever think that you are anything like them.” She pressed her lips to mine for a kiss that was over far too soon. “If random thoughts come out of my mouth, start shoving things in it to keep me quiet, okay?”
I brushed my nose against hers. “But Kitten, I’ll get arrested if I shove what I want to in that pretty mouth.”
With a snicker, she playfully slapped my chest. “Food, dummy. Not your dick.”
“Charming.” My mother’s snide voice made Nevaeh jump.
Taking hold of her left hand, I lifted it to my lips for a slow kiss before finally turning my gaze on the woman who’d given birth to me. “Mother, nice of you to join us.” Forcing myself to stand, I ignored the pain in my leg as I turned to face my parents. “Father,” I gritted out.
“Good to see you again, son,” Miles Collins said in his monotone voice that grated down my spine. Then his gaze fell on Nevaeh, who was still seated at the table, her face blood red from my mother embarrassing her. I shifted, blocking her from his view. I didn’t like him in the same room as my kitten, let alone close enough to touch her.
He wasn’t good enough to breathe the same air as Nevaeh.
“Nevi,” Lana said softly. “Don’t be shy. These people are going to be part of your family soon.”
With a heavy sigh, she stood and forced herself to meet my mother’s eyes. “Hello, Mrs. Collins. It’s a pleasure to meet you and your husband.”
“We can’t say the same,” the other woman commented.
The air around us changed in a heartbeat. I put my arm around Nevaeh’s waist, protectively tucking her close as her parents came up on either side of my mother.
“We invited you here to get to know one another a little better,” Lana said in a cool tone. “But I’ll have the waiter show you out if you speak to my daughter like that again.”
“Your daughter is nothing but a home-wrecking little whore.” Mom’s gaze traveled up and down Lana’s slender body. With her hair free from gray and only a few lines on her face, she didn’t look like she should have an eighteen-year-old daughter. Hell, she looked more like Nevaeh’s older sister than her mom, but Lana had been in her twenties when they’d had their first of five children. “And I’m sure the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”
“Ah, fuck,” Nevaeh whispered. “Things are about to get crazy.”
