“You’re being incredibly dramatic right now. Way more so than usual. Should I be worried?”
He kisses my hand, but he doesn’t let it go. “Mama’s coming to New York for the Finals. She’s only going to the home games, though. She’ll stay here with Evan when I travel. She’ll be here in a few days.”
I stare into his eyes, unsure of what I’m supposed to say. I blink twice and try to pull my hand from his. “Well, it’s great that she’s coming to support you.” I shrug.
“I’m glad you feel that way.” He makes a show of exhaling and wiping his brow.
“Has anyone ever told you that you can have a career as a soap opera actor if this basketball nonsense doesn’t work out?”
“We’ll pick her up and go to dinner unless she wants to cook for us all,” he says, ignoring my dig about how dramatic he is.
I finally manage to pull my hand from his and stand. He does the same, almost as if he’s preparing himself for a fight. Evan’s in the kitchen watching us as he tries to spread peanut butter on a piece of wheat bread. He puts so much pressure on the bread that it breaks in half. I walk to him, take the spoon and spread the peanut butter for him. He hands me grape jelly and I do the same on another piece of bread.
“Be gentle next time,” I tell him while I cut the sandwich in half. He thanks me and sits at the kitchen island, watching me and his father the entire time.
“Or I can have Myra make something so that way we’ll have more time to chat,” Colt says.
“What?” I ask. I wipe the counter, making sure it’s free of crumbs.
“Queen Vee, come on.” He runs a hand over his face as if he’s exasperated with me.
Evan’s still watching us, so I grab Colt’s hand and pull him down the hall into his bedroom. “I agreed that this would happen over the summer. You can’t just blindside me. And how long have you known she’d be coming? You are so manipulative. This is just like that first basketball game when you—"
He crosses his arms and leans against the wall. “So, how would it all work?” he asks, interrupting me. “She’s at my game. You’re at my game and the two of you never talk? Come on, Victoria. We’re two adults in a relationship. This is ridiculous.”
I stare at him. He’s absolutely correct, but I’m not ready to admit defeat yet. And meeting his mother would take this relationship to a whole other level. One I’m not so sure I’m ready for.
But you already agreed to meet her. And you knew how this man was when you agreed to be with him.
He pushes himself off the wall and approaches, wrapping me in his arms.
“It’s only fair. I’ve met your mother, stepmother, father, brother, cousin, sister. Pretty much everyone in your family, and I’m only asking you to meet one person.”
“Um, excuse me, but Ethan’s the one who invited you over so he could suck up to Dad. But fine. You win. I’m being crazy,” I finally admit. “Even though I am certain you’ve deliberately kept this from me until now.”
“So, I’m right? Having you admit that is better than winning a championship.”
I swat his chest, and he takes two dramatic steps back before he falls on the bed. “Savor it then because I’m not wrong often. You know, Colton, you chased after an independent woman. One who doesn’t need the constraints of a modern relationship.”
He jumps off the bed and presses his forehead to mine. I never realized how sexy and intimate that could be until Colt. “And you agreed to be with a man who believes in tradition. Go figure.” He lifts me as if I weigh no more than a feather, and I wrap my legs around him. “Do you want to go out or have dinner here? And she gets here in two days.”
I grab his messy head of hair and pull. “I’ll leave the details up to you, but maybe we can go out. If it goes well, we can all have dinner together at my parents’ house before she leaves.” He smiles in appreciation, and I melt at the gesture.
“I don’t know if you know it, but that’s about the most traditional thing I’ve ever heard. Our parents meeting each other. What are you trying to do? Get me to propose?” I freeze at his words and look into his eyes right before he bursts into laughter. “That deer in the headlights look would scare away a lesser man, my queen, but challenge accepted. I’m taking home the championship when it comes to this relationship.”
I wrap my hands around his throat and pretend to choke him. “I have no idea what that’s supposed to mean, but that other thing you said…”
“About proposin’?” He wiggles his eyebrows.
“Don’t even think about it, Chastain.”
“Don’t tell me what to do, woman. Victoria Renee Chastain sounds nice. Much better than Victoria Taylor.”
“I would never,everchange my name,” I say. He smirks, which is not the reaction I was expecting from him. He spins us around and pins me against the wall. Dizzy from the spinning, I lean down and kiss him. “And what are you smirking at?” I pull on his hair.
“You said you’d never change your name.”
“Yeah? Why would a traditionalist caveman like yourself find that funny? I’m surprised you haven’t clubbed me over the head yet.”
