CHAPTER EIGHTEEN IESHA
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
IESHA
Iglanced over at Seven to see a slight smile on his face.
He was excited to meet my family. He said this made us really official.
It had been a week and a half since PJ died.
Last Sunday, we ate dinner at his parents’ house, and today, we were eating dinner at my parents’ house.
Yesterday was PJ’s funeral, and everyone seemed to handle it well.
I wasn’t sure what was discussed at their meeting over a week ago, but whatever was discussed seemed to give them a new confidence and outlook.
Everyone was moving around like business as usual.
I’d gone to the diner three days this past week: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
Friday, we hung out in Nome for a while at Maui and Mythic’s house.
The crew all came over, and we enjoyed each other’s company.
Seven’s sisters added me to their wedding party for their nuptials next month, and I was beyond excited.
Besides me, I knew Treasure, Cachet, Aaliyah, Ashanni, and Milana would be bridesmaids.
I wasn’t sure if anyone else would be in it or not.
The groomsmen would be Asad, Epic, Ferris, Kingsley, Seven, and Remy.
They had plenty of kids to choose from for flower girls and whatever else.
They’d picked Synthia, who was Marcus’s wife, and Jess to be their coordinators.
We had three weeks to get ready. I’d already been measured, and my fitting would be next weekend.
When I turned in the driveway, Seven’s smile got bigger.
It made it hard to contain my smile. As soon as the car was in park, he got out and came around to open my door.
My smile couldn’t be dimmed at this point.
It had taken us a long time to get here, but I had to accept that I was part of the problem.
The back and forth was ridiculous. However, I was just happy that we were able to finally get it together.
That was why he was just now meeting my people.
I refused to bring anyone I wasn’t sure about around them.
After he closed my door, I puckered my lips, and he leaned over and kissed me. I grabbed his hand and led him to the door to see my mama standing there with a smile on her face. She opened the door, and said, “Hey, y’all!”
“Hey, Mama. This is my boyfriend, Seven. Seven, this is my mama, Camille.”
“Girl, yo’ mama? I thought you were gonna say your sister. How you doing, Miss Camille?”
I rolled my eyes as my mama blushed. Seven ain’t never been an ass kisser, so it had to be true.
“Aww thank you. Nice to meet you, Seven. Come on in, baby.”
She winked at me as he dipped his head to walk inside, and I rolled my eyes again. When I got inside, I noticed everyone was in the front room. They never sat in the front room. Nosy asses. Seven gave them a tight smile, which I knew took effort. He wasn’t a smiler, especially amongst strangers.
I quickly grabbed his hand, and said, “Since everyone seems so anxious, let me introduce y’all. That’s my sister Ayzjohnna, and my other sister Tas’zhane. Y’all this is Seven.”
They were both blushing as they stared up at him. “Damn, you must be about seven feet tall too,” Taj said.
Seven gave her a one-sided smile. “Naw. I’m six-five.”
“Damn. Close enough.”
I slowly shook my head as he shook Ayzjohnna’s hand. “This is my dad, Kareem.”
“Nice to meet you, Mister Teorey,” Seven said as he extended his hand.
My dad nodded, and said, “Likewise,” as he shook Seven’s hand.
“You already know my brother, Kareem Junior.”
“Mm-hmm,” Seven said with a smirk on his lips as he shook his hand.
“This is my other brother, Emmanuel.”
They shook hands and nodded at one another. There was an awkward silence for a moment, until my mama said, “Well, let’s go in the back. Dinner is almost ready. Seven, I hope you like beef stew.”
Seven turned to her with a slight frown on his face. “Miss Camille, come on na. I’m a country boy. You can’t miss me when it comes to food.”
My mama chuckled as I smiled. I was so happy to see Seven being pleasant. I just hoped no one said anything to piss him off, because he surely wouldn’t hide his disdain with whatever was said.
We sat in the lounging area, and Emmanuel turned on the TV. Seven grabbed my hand and kissed it. I smiled at him, knowing I would have to really show my appreciation to him when we got back to my place for him being chill.
“So, Seven, what’s your last name and what do you do?” my dad asked.
I hadn’t really told them much of anything about Seven, except for when we got into it when Quincy was still here.
“My last name is Henderson, and I work for the family business. We own Henderson Ranch and Farms.”
“Oh okay. We buy the rice and roux. What part of the business do you work in?”
“I handle the cattle. We lease them out for rodeos and stuff, so I tend to their care and the business of leasing them out. However, I work where I’m needed as well, whether that’s mowing a hayfield or helping in accounting.”
“That’s interesting. Hmph.”
My dad was impressed. There wasn’t much that left him speechless.
Seven nodded, and I leaned more into him, prompting him to put his arm around me.
Ayzjohnna and Tas’zhane went to the kitchen to help Mama, but I was nervous about leaving Seven alone with my dad and brothers.
I felt like things would get out of hand.
My family felt like they could say what needed to be said when it came to each other.
They just didn’t know that Seven was the same way and would respond accordingly.
“Seven, did you go to college?”
“Yeah, I did. I majored in marketing and business management. I got a master’s degree too.”
“Damn. That’s cool. You and Iesha the same age?” Emmanuel asked.
“Naw. She robbed the cradle. I’m twenty-four. I like cougars though.”
My brother bit his bottom lip trying to hold in his laughter. I grabbed a throw pillow and threw it at him. “Shut up, fool!”
That caused all of them to laugh. I turned to Seven and cut my eyes playfully as he pulled me in his arms and kissed my cheek.
“Y’all look good together,” my brother Kareem said.
“Thanks, Reem,” I said.
Seven smirked at him, and it didn’t go unnoticed by my dad. He shifted in his seat a bit, and said, “I heard y’all didn’t have the greatest interactions.”
“No, sir. That was my fault though. I come from a family where we say whatever is on our minds, without caring whether anyone is offended by it. That’s something I’ve had to work on. I must be doing pretty good with that, since I’m here.”
I slightly rolled my eyes. They didn’t need to ask this nigga anymore questions, because he would surely answer them honestly.
“Iesha!” Tas’zhane yelled.
I stood from my seat and glanced back at them. They all had slight smiles on their lips, like they were waiting for me to leave. When I got to the kitchen, they were standing there with big smiles on their faces.
Taj spoke first. “Damn! This the nigga you were having problems with? What the hell wrong wit’chu? You must’ve not been giving it up. Had that man all frustrated and irritated. He fine as hell, sis.”
“Shut up, girl, but yeah, that’s him.”
They all laughed. “You look so happy,” my mama said.
“I am. I took your advice and stopped thinking so much and just went with what I felt for him. When I did, things got so much better.”
“Meaning, you finally broke that man off,” Taj said, causing everybody to laugh again.
“Y’all look so good together, sis,” Ayzjohnna said. “That man looks at you like you hung the moon and the stars.”
“We are definitely in love, and he said it first.”
My mama smiled and brought her hand to her chest. “He seems very expressive.”
I took a deep breath. For some reason my mind wanted to replay all the nasty shit he said during sex. “He is,” I said, realizing how soft it came out.
“I know this heifer ain’t standing in here with us on her way to euphoria.”
They all laughed again.
“I don’t have to stand here and take this abuse. Where’s Granny?”
“She wasn’t feeling too well today. I told her we would bring her a plate and check on her later.”
“Okay.”
I walked back into the lounging area to see them all engrossed in what was on TV.
I frowned slightly as I sat to see that an FBI agent was killed in Liberty.
I frowned slightly and glanced at Seven to see he was staring at the TV like he was pleased with it.
I took a deep breath, knowing that somehow, those Hendersons were involved in that shit.
The news said there were no witnesses, but they were begging people to come forward if they had information and to contact law enforcement.
Seven slid his arm around me and kissed the side of my head. “I love you, Iesha.”
I looked up at him and said, “I love you too.”
He kissed my lips and gently rubbed my cheek like no one was watching. I loved his affection. I could only pray that whatever was going on didn’t come back to bite them in the ass.
“I promise you don’t have shit to worry about. Watchful Eyes is handling everything. Ahh fuuuck! I love you.”
Seven was stroking me just right and saying everything I needed to hear.
He could see how bothered I was by what I saw on TV.
I knew that had to be what their meeting was about.
Had I not known about their troubles with the government trying to mess with their business, I would have never pieced it together.
“I love you toooo. Please . . . please don’t stoooop!”
He was hitting my spot like it was second nature. Besides that, dinner had gone well, and I was on a high like none other. He got along with my family, and as he said, we were official.
“You can start building . . . the house. I just . . . need an office.”
He brought his hand to my neck, slightly squeezing it how I liked it and closed his eyes. After biting his bottom lip for a moment, he said, “I already broke ground. I knew you would come around with plans eventually. An office for you is already in the blueprints.”