Page 22 of D’Vaughn and Kris Plan a Wedding

Chuckling, I shook my head. “None taken.” Outwardly, I bit my lip and arched an eyebrow at my baby brother. Inwardly, my mind was racing. D’Vaughn knew exactly how many followers I had on social media, had seen just how often I posted, and had just said it was nothing special. She’d snorted! How was it that her nonchalance about my online presence made me like her more?

Ray snapped his fingers as if he were at a spoken word event. “It’s the maturity for me, honey.”

D’Vaughn covered her mouth as she chewed. “You’re something else,” she laughed, eyes on Ray.

He smiled widely and posed, lifting his shoulder as he pursed his lips. “Indeed I am.” Scooting back from the table, he gathered his plate and stood to his feet. “Well, I’m going to leave you two lovebirds alone so you can be sickening and make heart eyes at each other in peace. See ya!” After wiggling his fingers, we watched as he weaved through the tables until he reached the one our parents were at.

“He was nice,” commented D’Vaughn, drawing a disbelieving look from me.

“Nice? He called me an attention whore! How is that nice?”

Grinning, she shrugged. “He’s also the youngest of the family. My younger brother annoys the hell out of me sometimes by picking at me just like that. I think it’s actually a part of their DNA.”

Taking a bite, I shook my head. “You’re giving him quite a big ass benefit of a doubt.”

Leaning toward me, she lowered her voice. “In his defense, you are weaving a pretty tangled web of lies for a television show. I think you can give him a pass.”

“Man,” I drawled, pursing my lips, “ain’t nobody asked you for all of that.”

Tossing her head back, she let out a shout of laughter. “My bad for giving you unprovoked—and apparently unwanted—logic. I promise to hold on to it next time.”

Draping an arm over the back of her chair, I dropped a kiss on her cheek. “Thank you, baby.”

Her lips curved up but she suppressed the grin as she cut a sidelong glance at me. She didn’t say anything else and neither did I as we continued eating. Halfway through my second plate of fajitas, I reached for my beer, only to find that it was empty.

“Aww shit.” Pushing back from the table, I tapped D’Vaughn’s thigh with my knuckle. I waited for her to tear her eyes away from her plate before I held up my empty bottle. “I’m going to grab another drink. Do you want something?”

She nodded. “Just bring me whatever you’re having.”

“Cool. I’ll be right back.”

I started toward the ice barrels, and then had a thought that stopped me in my tracks. I spun around, slipped a finger from my free hand under D’Vaughn’s chin, and swiveled her head until she was facing me. Instead of the widened eyes that I expected, her lids were low while her bottom lip was once again trapped between her teeth. I clucked my tongue, freed the trapped piece of flesh with my thumb, and dipped my head to kiss it once, twice, a third time before covering her mouth with mine completely. I’d intended to only give her a couple of quick pecks, but had played myself. It was so easy—too damn easy—to lose myself in D’Vaughn’s kisses, and I only pulled away when a long wolf whistle pierced my misty brain.

Opening my eyes, I saw that D’Vaughn had already turned back to her plate, but hadn’t yet picked up her fork. Unable to help myself, I brushed the back of my hand against her cheek, grinning at the heated flesh. I understood that part of her apparent bashfulness was due to her past relationships, but I couldn’t help how adorable I found it. The fact that she never pulled away from me showed that her declaration to make a change hadn’t just been lip service for the camera’s sake.

Or maybe she only kept the PDAs under lockdown when around her family, and her reaction was because of me?

I wasn’t sure, but something told me that the journey to figuring it out would be a fun one. After shooting a middle finger at the cousin who’d interrupted us, I made my way through the crowd of family members who were dancing in the center of the yard. Once the sun went down and the drinks started flowing, the party was liable to go on all night, regardless of the initial occasion. Baby showers, weddings, summer barbecues, graduations. It didn’t matter.

Greeting Raul as I reached the coolers, I lifted the lid to observe the contents and make my decision. Settling on a couple of Modelos, I handed them to Raul since he was just standing there observing everyone. He’d kept a bottle opener on his key chain since we were in middle school.

“So, new girl, huh?”

I grinned. “Yup.”

He quirked an eyebrow. “Where you been hiding her?”

Before I could answer, I heard a shriek followed by Mami’s shrill voice yelling my name.

“Kristin!”

Quickly, I spun around and searched for the woman whose voice I could recognize in my sleep. She wasn’t where I’d last seen her, and I felt a thudding in my chest when I finally spotted her. Mami stood over a wide-eyed D’Vaughn, holding D’Vaughn’s left hand in the air.

Oh shit.

Even from across the yard, I could see the sun glinting off of the rock weighing D’Vaughn’s hand down. Even though Mami’s eyes were narrowed, I felt the intensity of her glare as if it were a laser beam trained on my forehead.

“Uh-oh,” murmured Raul, sounding entirely too amused for my liking. “Your ass is grass.”