Page 68 of Crazy in Love

“Ummm, I’ll give you a B minus. How about me?” He walks over to me and gives me a kiss.

“An A, always an A. B minus? What’s wrong?” He looks at himself, and I can’t hide the smile as I lean in closer to him.

“I like seeing the ink. I love you in a suit, but the ink... you can get me doing anything,” I tell him as we walk over to his parents’ house. “How is it going in there?”

“Quite. Dad is doing most of the talking. Mum hasn’t spoken to Lee or Zhi, but I think that’s all about to change. Lee might just become the favorite son.” We both start laughing as we enter the house, and I smile when I see Lee walking over to us.

“Hello.” Lee gives me a hug, and I hear the Adams laughing about something. I see Zhi walking over to us too.

“Please don’t leave me with them again. Saylor, is everything okay with your sister?”

“For tonight,” I reply with a smile. “Don’t worry, I’m here now, she will love you by the end of the night.” The four of us start laughing. Lee and Zhi head back to the living area, and I look down at my hand. Aiden gives it a squeeze and leans down to give me a kiss.

I have to laugh. Aiden is a grown man, and he’s still so scared of his mother.

We walk into the living area, and all eyes are on us, and I wait for the first insult.

“Aiden, I thought this”—his mum waves her hand towards me—“was a... I don’t even know what to call it.”

“I know, Mrs. Kane, but Aiden said if I come tonight and have sex with him in his childhood bed, he would pay me double. How could I say no?” I go to walk away to sit down, but Aiden holds me next to him, pressing his lips together and shaking his head. But I hear Lee laughing a little.

“Oh, Aiden, where do you even pick someone up like her?” his mother asks, and I roll my eyes.

“The street,” Bruce adds, and I go to say something but stop when Aiden speaks.

“Fuck you, Bruce. You ever speak about Saylor like that again, I will knock your goddamn teeth out-”

“Aiden!” his mother shouts, but he doesn’t stop.

“No, he is a piece of shit and needs to get a fucking job. His sister is doing something, and the only reason it’s working is because of me, not him. I can pull the rug out from under that at the click of a finger-”

“You wouldn’t dare,” Vic snaps in her point, and I just stand there with Aiden, really wanting to sit down.

“Watch me. David?” Aiden snaps, keeping his eyes locked on Vic.

“On it.” I hear David from the far end of the room, and I shake my head. This is going to get ugly, I can see.

“You need to teach your kids to work, and not just hope others will do the hard work for them. I had no one help me get where I am today, no one help Lee become a doctor. So why should someone help them?” This seems like a lot more than telling them he is dating me. This seems like years of build-up coming out in one go. “I never agreed to help. My mother gave me no choice, because my mother can’t be happy for her son finding a beautiful woman and moving back home. Why should I do everything she wants us to do to help her friends be happy?”

I look over at Aiden’s dad who is just sitting back listening to all this, and I get the feeling he’s wanted to say something to his wife too.

“So you’re not happy with Lee and Zhi being together, then you’re not going to like what I’m about to say. Saylor and I have been dating for a while now, and we are about to have a baby.”

“Oh my God.”

“No!”

Are you bloody crazy, so is this your plan?” Aiden’s mum gets off the chair and takes a step closer to us. “Trap my son, so you can get his hard-earned money?”

“Mother.” Aiden lets go of my hand, and before walking away, I look at his mum and smile.

“I know fifty grand was what I wanted, but he said nothing less than a hundred-”

“Saylor, I love you, but please.” I walk away from Aiden, laughing, and sit next to Lee, who is also laughing hard.

“You really don’t care, do you?” Lee asks, wrapping his arm over my shoulder.

“She hates me. I can be nice, but she will still hate me, so I might as well get some fun from it,” I tell him and turn to Zhi.

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