Page 39 of Father of the Bride

Mark set his phone and glass on the side table. “Did I hear that right?”

Sunny chuckled to herself. His little princess on a first date in her son’s musty apartment? The outrage of it all.

“W-we um, no, it wasn’t—“ Brooklyn stuttered helplessly.

“Sir, I did not—I mean, what happened was—“

“Relax,” Mark said with a shake of his head. “Yall ‘bout to be married. The horse is already out the barn at this point.”

Sunny giggled at that, but the kids all looked confused.

“It’s a saying,” he explained.

Drew made a slashing gesture at his throat. “Let’s dead all the old folks talk, Pop.”

“Old?” Orion tilted his head. “We can take this outside if y’all got the nerve.”

“I second that,” Mark said. He raised his glass, signaling, and one of the butlers rushed over with a fresh one.

“Ain’t nobody say we wanted to fight,” Drew defended.

“But that’s one of them fighting words,” Orion said.

“Can we get back to Dav taking Brooklyn to the crib on the first date?” Amari laughed.

Davion sucked his teeth. “Yall some hoes.” He shot a quick look at Mark. “Sorry.”

Brooklyn rolled her eyes at her future brothers-in-law. “Nobody gets that point. We went out to eat, and then we played Call of Duty.”

“Call of Duty?” Mark scrunched his face up in confusion. “Who is this girl, and where the hell is my daughter?”

“The things we do for love,” Sunny remarked quietly. Both Orion and Mark turned their gazes on her, but only one got her attention. It was fleeting, but she let herself lock eyes with Mark just for a moment, enjoying the rush of adrenaline that coursed through her veins as something secret and intimate passed between them.

“Fine. Scratch point.” Daisy let the card drift to the floor. “Next question: Who said ‘I love you’ first?”

As the game rolled on, answers flew this way and that as they learned Dav said ‘I love you’ first, their pet names for each other were Brookie Cookie and King, their favorite show to binge watch wasSnowfall, their song was “Snooze,” and their proposal had taken place on a yacht off the coast of Miami.

Once Mark signaled for his third old fashioned, Sunny asked for a second Long Island ice tea. She was feeling nice and relaxed now, and almost having fun. The only thing that would have made the evening better was not having Orion looming over her left shoulder.

Chapter 14

“Next,we’regoingtohave your two families get to know each other a little better,” Daisy said.

“Lemme get another drink first.” Orion walked over to the bar rather than wait for the bar to come to him.

Mark took the opportunity to check in with his most important party guest. Leaning across the space between the couches, he lowered his voice and asked, “How you doin’, sweetheart?”

She smiled. “I’m good.”

His eyes roamed her body in a way that felt obscene. “Yeah, you look good.”

And Sunny didn’t mind obscene at all. “Thank you,” she purred. “I—“

“That little boy makes a mean Manhattan!” Orion announced as he walked between Mark and Sunny. “He don’t look twenty-one, though. You out here cuttin’ corners, boss?”

Mark sat back, stretching his legs out in front of him, his posture relaxed. “Nah,” he said, still fixated on Sunny. “I’m thorough in everything I do.”

Her cheeks heated as she turned her attention to the bottom of her glass.

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