I loved my girl now, more than life, but sometimes life was a whole lot simpler when she was tiny and had no clue what kind of terrors there were in the world.
“Gonna kick your ass the moment she sees you,” I offered.
Chevy was about to say something else but Eedie came out of the house at the same time that her best friend showed up.
“She still not dating that boy?” Chevy asked.
Hai and Eedie had been best friends since before I could remember.
They’d withstood a lot over the years, remaining best friends despite both of their mothers disapproving of their best friend relationship.
Hai’s mother, a Japanese immigrant, wanted her son to be the best of the best. To accomplish great things, and become a world dominator. That meant not hanging out with a motorcycle club president’s daughter.
Meanwhile, Elizabeth had hated Hai because Hai had gobbled up all of Eedie’s attention.
Eedie and Hai were meant for each other, but their personal relationship wouldn’t be going any further if it was left up to the two of them.
And all of a sudden, I just couldn’t keep it to myself. I had to say something.
Life was too short, as I’d discovered last night.
“Hai,” I said when he got to the front porch. “What do you want out of life?”
I immediately saw him flick his eyes to Eedie, as if he knew exactly what he wanted out of life, just couldn’t have it.
“What do you mean, sir?” he asked, hesitating.
I raised a brow at him. “I mean, you need to make a move.”
“Dad, what are you talking about?” Eedie asked.
I looked from Hai to Eedie and back and then said, “You can’t make decisions based on what your mothers think.”
Both teens stayed stubbornly silent.
“I hesitated, and the woman that I love was nearly killed last night.”
Both teens looked at me like I’d just stunned them.
“Your parents aren’t going to live forever,” I said. “Your parents won’t give you kids. Your parents won’t be able to make your life worth living. You have to find someone you love, that you want to spend the rest of your life with. Y’all’ve been together, best friends, for the last fifteen years. It’s time that you admit to yourselves that what you have is worth taking a risk on. I’m not saying that you’ll make it all the way. There’s no guarantee in life. But you’ll regret it for the rest of your life if you don’t at least try.”
Hai cleared his throat. “You…we…”
“Dad.” She looked at Hai, then at me, then back to Hai. “We made that decision about a year ago. We’ve been dating seriously for a while.”
My lips twitched. “Keep doing what you’re doing then.”
Her cheeks flushed. “You’re not going to get mad at us for lying?”
I shrugged. “Y’all did what you thought you had to do. But just know now that you’re living with me, Eedie, you don’t have to hide it. I’m more than okay with you dating…”
Hai’s swift inhale had me looking at him.
Seeing his eyes locked behind me, I turned to find Silver standing there in my t-shirt and nothing else.
“Piers?” she said, unaware of the audience.
“Yeah, baby?” I asked, moving toward her.
