Page 28 of Heart of a Savage
She excused herself from the table as my mom looked down at me. I shrugged while we watched Paige wrap her arms around his neck, and he wrapped his around her waist, then kissed her deeply.
“Well, now! This is a first,” my mom declared.
“Okay, Auntie! Paige done found her a fine, tall glass of chocolate milk.” Lena hyped while we watched them walk over to the table.
“Family. This is Harvey... my fiancé.”
“Say what?” my mom asked, surprised.
Paige blushed—literally fucking blushed.
“Yes… my fiancé. Harvey, this is my bonus mom, Sabrina, my Aunt Eva, my cousin Lena, and this…” she said, looking at me. “This is my sister, Arie. AP for short.”
“Ladies. It’s a pleasure to meet you all. Paige has told me a lot about y’all.”
“Yet she told us nothing about you,” I pointed out.
“Arie,” Paige reprimanded.
I lifted my hands in mock surrender.
My mom cleared her throat. “Well, Harvey… it’s a pleasure to meet you. We’re about to have brunch. Why don’t you stay and join us?”
“As much as I’d love that, I have to meet up with a friend in a few. I just stopped by to give you your gifts and meet the woman she can’t stop talking about.” He smiled with those white-ass teeth in his yapper, kissed Sabrina’s hand, and handed her the flowers and gifts.
“You know, it’s tradition to bring every mother flowers on Mother’s Day.” Aunt Eva sassed with a smile.
“My apologies. I promise the next time I see you, I got you.” He turned to Paige, pecking her lips, looking lovingly into her eyes while she stared back at him, looking the same. “I’ma see you later, a’ight?”
“Okay.”
“You ladies enjoy your day. Arie, I look forward to seeing you again.” He kissed Paige again and left.
I frowned, not bothering to even say bye to the nigga. I looked up at her as she smiled, looking guilty.
“What the hell did he mean by that?” I asked her.
“I kind of told him we’ll hang out with him and his friends this coming Friday when he returns. He wants me to meet them since I didn’t get a chance to last night.”
“Paige, what the fuck?”
“It’s just for a little while, Arie. If you love me, you’ll do this for me.”
“Don’t try to guilt-trip me, bitch.”
“Paige, Arie… let me see you two in the house for a moment,” my mom announced.
I cut my eyes at Paige as we stood to follow my mom. Paige knew I didn’t fuck with anybody. I kept a low profile because of my extra-curricular activities. Although we moved like ghosts, I was still skeptical about hanging out with niggas I didn’t know. She knew that shit, but I didn’t have a choice since she was about to get married. She would have my support even though I didn’t like the shit.
We walked through the patio doors into the den. Sabrina closed the door, motioning for us to sit.
“What’s up, Mama ’Brina?” Paige asked.
“First, that’s one hell of a surprise you sprung on me.”
“I know. It wasn’t intentional. I just wanted to get to know him before I introduced him to the special people in my life. He’s already been screened, and he checks out.”
“Hmph. Well, I want to see him again, and soon because that little in-and-out thing he just did isn’t going to cut it.”
