Page 28 of Unwrapped

“Why are you pouting if you think it’s such a great idea?” He bumps my shoulder with his and steals a piece of bacon from me.

“You’ll be busy on Friday and I have to work on Saturday, which means I won’t see you until Saturday night.” I pout dramatically again.

“Well, you won’t have time miss me since you’ll be there for dinner, and you’ll be spending the night.”

I stop mid chew when his words finally sink in.

“You want me to meet your mother and stepfather?”

“Why not?” He shrugs. “This isn’t a secret, Miranda. I’m ready to tell your mother now. I’m only holding off because of you, so, yes. I want you to meet my mother. I already told you she’s going to love you.”

Guilt mixed with another foreign emotion takes hold of me. I reach over and grab both of his hands and look into his deep blue eyes. “I’d love to meet your mother.” He smiles, raises my hand, and kisses it. “Are you sure she’ll like me, or be okay with us?”

“She’ll love you, and why wouldn’t she be okay with us? She was a lot younger than my father too. She’ll probably make a joke that’s the one thing I inherited from him.”

“I wasn’t even thinking about the age thing,” I say, eyes wide as I let go of his hands. “Now, that’s another thing I have to worry about. I was thinking about the elephant in the room.”

“What elephant? Your mother?”

I burst out laughing. “I’ll be sure to tell Mona Moore you referred to her as an elephant, but no, I meant the interracial thing, Nick.” I roll my eyes at him.

“My mother won’t care about that, but if she did, I’d tell her to fuck off. Is that why you won’t tell your mother about us? Will she have a problem with that?”

“That will be the least of our problems, Bain. You’re more like the bane of her existence.”

He relaxes and pulls me into his arms. “But what am I to you?”

I turn in his arms and look into his eyes. “You’re becoming my world.”

CHAPTER 19

MIRANDA

“There’s our baby girl, Nigel.” Mom pulls me into a tight hug. She holds on to me as if she hasn’t seen me in years. My father pulls her away and takes me into a bear hug.

“How’s Uncle Lee?” I feel a twinge of guilt for not thinking of him at all in the past few days.

I had every intention of coming home Sunday before my parents arrived back from Hartford, but Nick convinced me to stay another night. I felt no guilt about telling them I was spending the night at Marissa’s.

Mom talks about the weekend and my aunt and uncle while I set the table for dinner. The phone in my back pocket vibrates, and as my mother talks and my father finishes dinner, I check my phone.

Nick: I’m lonely.

Me: I’ll be there in less than twenty-four hours. Miss you too.

I send him a kiss emoji.

Nick: What are you doing?

Me: About to have dinner. I’ll call you after. Can’t wait to see you tomorrow.

Nick: Neither can I, pretty girl.

Minutes later, we’re seated at the table, and my stomach growls at the smell of chicken and white rice.

“So,” my mother begins after loading her plate, “you two won’t believe this.”

“Believe what, woman?” my father asks. “Get on with it.”

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