Page 62 of The Marriage Auction 2: Part 2

I nodded to both men. “Mornin’,” I said with a smile.

Both men looked at me as though I was a horsefly that had disturbed their breakfast and shit on their plates. Not exactly welcoming.

“Do you always attend breakfast half-clothed?” Abraham responded while his eyes traced my form from top to bottom, taking in my bare chest and loose athletic shorts. Sand still clung to my feet, and I wiped them unhelpfully on the rug.

“No, but I didn’t know it was time for breakfast, and I just finished my morning run. The beach is awesome. Have you been out yet today?” I asked gamely.

Abraham frowned while Malik smirked.

I pointed to the hallway. “Perhaps I should go shower, change, and wake Naomi. When I left, she was still sleeping, but I’m sure she’d love to have breakfast with you.”

Malik huffed and lifted his coffee cup. “Naomi doesn’t eat breakfast. Isn’t that something that her fiancé should know about her?”

“Sit down, Mr. Taylor,” Abraham pointed to the chair in front of me.

“I think I’d rather shower…”

“I said,sit down,” Abraham commanded with the authority befitting the man of the house.

Since my parents taught me to mind my manners, especially in someone else’s home, I did as he requested and took the seat.

“What are your intentions with my daughter?” Came the question every father probably asked of the new man in his daughter’s life. Immediately, I relaxed and rested against the back of the chair.

“That’s an easy one, sir. My intention is to make your daughter happy. Support her in the things she finds important, make her laugh as much as possible, learn new things, and experience as much of life together as we can.”

Abraham released a long-suffering sigh from low in his throat. “And how do you expect to make her happy and provide for her when you don’t have a job.”

I swallowed around the sudden cotton clogging my esophagus. “As you well know, Naomi can provide for herself. However, I have recently come into quite a large sum of money. Ten million dollars as a matter of fact. And I was planning to use that money as a buffer while Naomi and I got settled into our lives together. After that, I was going to take my last semester of school, finish my bachelor’s degree, then find a position that puts my extensive knowledge of football to good use.”

“Football knowledge,” Malik snorted. “What could you possibly use that knowledge for? It’s a foolish game, and one that doesn’t require any real intellectual prowess. All that’s needed is physical brute force in order to win.”

“I would beg to differ,friend,” I enunciated the last with a hiss between my teeth. “Football requires strategy, grit, critical thinking, research, an incredible amount of physicality, and adaptability. For every play that’s called, there are endless possibilities and pathways to consider. Not to mention, being aware of each player and their role and potential moves onboth sidesof the field. I liken it to chess. There are an endless number of ways to checkmate an opponent, but only the most intelligent and savviest of players will be victorious. Just as only the best team, who is capable of analyzing on the fly and moving together as one, can take the ball all the way to the goal. If even one person loses their focus, the other team can swoop in and change everything.”

Malik snarled at my response but shut his pretty boy mouth.

“So you plan to drag my daughter to Georgia while you finish your degree and then what?” Abraham asked.

I shrugged. “Honestly, I can take my last semester online, which I plan to do, so that Naomi’s work schedule isn’t affected. The rest we’ll discuss together, as partners. Obviously, her company, and being close to her headquarters is important. My family, however, is in Georgia, which is important…to me. Mygranny is old, and I want Naomi to have some time to get to know her, my parents, and my five sisters.”

Malik rolled his eyes and pursed his lips at the mention of my family being important. It saddened me that based on his response, he likely didn’t have a good enough connection with his relatives to want to be close to them.

“Look, Memphis, you seem like a nice, young man…” Abraham stated.

“Thank you, sir. Coming from you, that means a lot.”

He lifted a finger and shook it the same way a mother would have done at her toddler for being naughty. “Don’t get too excited. Just because you’re nice doesn’t mean you’re right for my daughter. Malik and Naomi have a long history together…”

“One which Naomi claims was over long before she was ever put on the spot at her and Malik’s combined graduation party where he asked to marry her in front of a thousand people. Making it impossible for her to decline without hurting all of you.”

Malik slapped the table, and the silverware rattled against the plates alarmingly. “I did not put her on the spot!” he snapped.

“But you did.” I tilted my head. “She made it clear she dumped you right after, did she not?”

Malik lifted the napkin off his lap, tossed it on the table, then stood. “This is blasphemous. I’ll not hear another word of your lies!” he spat. “Excuse me, Abraham, I’ll be in your study making some calls.”

Naomi’s father nodded and then stared at me as though I was the one that had made a scene.

“You done?” he asked cryptically.

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