Page 8 of From Us, Forever

I could feel Jay’s fury radiating from my side. “If you don’t take your hand off my girl right this second, I’ll make sure you can never have a girlfriend for the rest of your life,” he growled in a low tone.

Raphael’s eyes rounded when they dashed to Jay in surprise. “Fuck me. J.J.?” He gaped, starstruck. “I’m your biggest fan.”

“Well, I’ll have one less fan if you don’t remove your hands from her,” Jay steeled coldly, his eyes glinting with the promise of his wrath.

Raphael chuckled, shaking out of it while his eyes switched to me. “I don’t care if you have a boyfriend. I can stop being his fan and make you my girl. Just say yes.”

Wow, this boy was going to lose his teeth if he didn’t stop, and before Jay could do just that, I squeezed Jay’s hand. “He’s just a kid, Jay,” I said in a soft tone as I gave him my doe eyes, and in an instant, his tension dissipated. I knew that would work.

“Fucking hell.” Matty’s lips thinned in annoyance as he grabbed Raphael by his collar and pulled him away. “I told youto behave. You better shut the fuck up before your mouth lands you in trouble. And you’re fucking sixteen.”

“Raphy.” Sierra gripped her brother’s hand and held him in a dead stare. “Cut your antics, and don’t fucking embarrass me,” she bit out through her teeth.

Raphael rolled his eyes, holding up a hand. “Fine, fine.”

“Matt, you have five seconds to explain to me who this little fucker is,” Jay demanded. Even though his rage faded, his tone remained feral.

“He’s the one he found busking on the streets—his debut artist. He has talent but unfortunately, a big mouth,” Katy explained.

Matty was pretty confident he found the perfect artist to debut with his label. The only problem was that he was also an arrogant little fellow. Raphael and his sister came as a package deal and were staying with him while he made the album. And from Matty’s exasperated expression, it looked like he regretted that decision.

“Little fucker,” Jay mumbled as we all took our designated seats at the table.

I laughed.

“Glad you find this funny.” Jay still had his eyes on Raphael, who was having an intense whispered conversation with his sister.

“He’s sixteen.”

“Old enough to have thoughts about you that he isn’t allowed to have.”

I shook my head as I laughed harder.

Minutes after we settled, Katy turned to her brother. “Matty, it’s almost time. Are you ready for the speech?” Katy questioned with a soft smile.

“Fuck, do I really have to?” he mumbled, fidgeting with his bow tie. He was clearly anything but excited about his speech. Matty was the quiet one and mostly kept to himself. Yet as much as he loved to stay in the background, his dreams demanded differently.

“God, I’m going to enjoy watching you squirm on stage. Just wait for the millions of memes I’ll be posting tonight,” Mikey joked, his eyes filled with mirth.

Sierra’s head snapped from her conversation with her brother, and her eyes turned to slits as she regarded Mikey. “He’ll be fine. The only meme that will be floating around will be yours,” she firmed at Mikey before turning her soft eyes to Matty. “You’re going to be amazing.”

Whoa, someone had a crush.

The table erupted with laughter at Mikey’s wounded face. But it didn’t last long, and a devious grin tugged his lips. “Ah, a feisty one, huh. I love it when they’re feisty.”

Matty’s jaw clenched in a tight line. “Shut the fuck up. She’s only eighteen.”

“Seems like someone’s being a little too defensive.” Mikey chuckled, loving the taunts he was throwing Matty’s way.

“You boys are crazy,” I said, turning my head toward Jay.

Jay looked offended while he peered at me. “What did I do?”

“Oh really, what didn’t you do?” I playfully raised my brow.

A cocky smile curved his lips. “Well, I can think of a few things that I’ll be doing to you tonight.”

My upper hand in the conversation vanished at his insinuating words. “Stop.”

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