by Aja Cole
If she won…I had to cut my hair and trim my beard.
It drove her crazy that I’d grown my hair out. She said I looked like someone’s caveman, and not hers.
Honestly…I hoped she won because the only reason I’d grown it out was because of another bet I’d lost against Manuel.
Clearly, I needed to stop gambling.
“Evie says hello, ya’ll!”
Everyone stopped their talking to chorus hello back to the little girl so she could hear, and she giggled happily.
“Katherine, Benjamin is sort of right. He would know these things,” mi madre pointed out with a teasing twinkle in her eye as she held Mateo’s hand.
She’d been dating Mateo for a year now, and I was fond of him. He seemed to treat her well and make her happy, and that’s what mattered to me.
“There are a lot of things that Benjamin doesn’t know, though,” Mrs. James threw out, looking over the rim of her margarita glass.
“Oh yeah, like what?” Mr. James challenged, and everyone seemed to scoot their chairs closer, sensing this was going to be good.
“Remember that time that you guys’ downstairs flooded?” Blair asked, not missing a beat as she lightly slapped Manuel’s hand when it crept towards her thigh. Cassie smirked and I narrowed my eyes.
Thea swore she thought the three of them had something going on, but I couldn’t see it.
Manuel didn’t like to share, not even with a hot supermodel. I’d narrowly avoided another bet about that.
The only reason Thea always threw out “Bet me,” was because she had a better winning average than I did. I knew my limits. Sometimes.
“Yeah, it was because of the old washing machine. It broke.” Mr. James answered with conviction. Greyson snorted, and we exchanged a look. We both knew that most likely, a different reason was about to be revealed.
“Actually, it was because Mom left the water tap running and she just told you it was the washing machine because she wanted that fancy new front-loading washer. So it wasn’t broken at all.” Thea answered, coughing.
Mr. James looked so shocked that all of us burst into laughter. “Is that it?”
“Remember when you wouldn’t let Thea get a cat?” Vivi asked, a mischievous look in her eye.
“Yes, but then I found that poor kitten outside my office and I couldn’t just let it stay there in the rain.”
Thea, Blair, Vivi, and Mrs. James all looked at each other. “You tell him, Mrs. James.”
“I really don’t know why we’re bringing up these old situations,” she hedged, picking a thread on her linen pants.
“Go ahead, Ma. It was your idea.” Thea prodded, leaning back against me.
“Well,” Mrs. James glanced at her husband, who had crossed his arms. “You were so against getting that cat, and we just made the decision a little easier for you. We bought it, dirtied it up a little, and put it outside your office right when we know you’d be leaving.”
“Oh my god,” Mr. James whispered, bringing a dramatic hand to his chest. “Don’t tell me anymore. My life has been a lie! I’m divorcing you, woman.”
“It’s not really a threat if we already did that and you came back to me,” she sipped the last of her drink serenely, patting his shoulder as she got up. “Another beer, darling?”
He sat sullenly for a moment, but grumbled a yes and we all laughed again.
Those two were always interesting. And undoubtedly in love even if it took them time apart to figure it out.
“Well, buenos noches everyone, I’m going to bed.” Manny got up.
“It’s only 10.” Gerard pointed out.
“Long day, I’ll see you all tomorrow.” He went around kissing cheeks and giving hugs and the rest of us stayed for another thirty minutes or so.
“I’m going to head up, too,” Blair obviously fake yawned and Daya gave her a disbelieving look.
“Okay, I’m going to ask because we all know the answer,” she started, laughing as Greyson tried to cover her mouth. “What the hell do you, Manuel, and Cassie have going on?”
Cassie coughed hard, choking on her drink as Gerard clapped her on the back a few times. “That’s an absurd question!”
“So then you wouldn’t mind answering it,” Mi madre leaned forward, rapt with attention.
“Blair?” Thea poked her in the side multiple times as Blair swatted her hand away.
“Okay, okay, we’re…seeing what happens.” Blair confessed, and Gerard whooped as Greyson and Mrs. James groaned.
“Everybody pay up right now!” Greyson grumbled as he took out his wallet, and Mrs. James grabbed her purse.
“Wait, all of you had bets about us?” Cassie growled, standing with her hands on her hips. My mother, Mateo, Daya, and Mr. James were all holding out their hands to Vivi, Mrs. James and Greyson as they exchanged cash.
“Well, at least Luc and I didn’t bet money,” Thea grinned big, winking at her. “Now if we can settle one more thing, Luc can get rid of this awful mess of hair.”
“I’m really going to miss it, baby,” I hid my grin in her neck as I winked at Gerard.
“Well, now is a good time to tell everyone that I have finally agreed to give Vivi the time of day,” Gerard threw out, and I mouthed thank you.
“I swear, I’ve never had to work so hard to convince a guy to date me,” Vivi frowned, whacking Gerard lightly. He smacked a kiss to her cheek, and entertained their hands. I knew that he was hesitant to date when he had a little girl. He thought he had a bit too much baggage, but Vivi loved Jasmine.
Kimmy had signed away her parental rights and signed divorce papers after a little pressing, so she wasn’t our issue anymore.
Everyone laughing, enjoying themselves, and surrounded by love…family was everything.
I had everything.
My woman, my game, and a whacky family unit.
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In addition to the people in her life that indulge her crazy - Aja Cole loves men that smell phenomenal, food that tastes amazing, and something that college makes it hard to do called sleep.
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