Max didn’t have to work Saturday morning, but he had to go to his cousins’ graduation. He wanted me to go with him, but I wasn’t sure if it was the right time to drop our relationship in his family’s lap.
After it was over, he came home, bringing Nova with him. When he’d asked if I needed things to do my hair with, I’d admitted I had no idea how to style my hair except to put it in a ponytail or to do the occasional simple braid. There had been no one to teach me about curling irons or any of the other tools.
I was happy to see Nova, and when she announced she was there to help me get ready for the wedding, I nearly cried. We spent over an hour in the bathroom while she—a thirteen-year-old—taught me how to use the curling iron she said I could have. When my hair was all curly and shiny, she gave me a quick tutorial on makeup. We kept it simple with foundation, a little eye shadow, mascara, a touch of blush, and some lip gloss.
But when it was time for the wedding, I urged Max and Nova to go without me. From what the two of them told me about their cousin River and her boyfriend Maverick, it seemed like things were already going to be dramatic enough without adding me to the mix.
Max wasn’t happy, but Nova agreed with me and convinced him to let me stay. As soon as it was over, he was back at the apartment, ready to drag me to the reception if I didn’t agree to go with him.
I was already waiting at the window, watching for him. He’d taken his motorcycle to the wedding, but when he came back for me, it was the Tahoe that he picked me up and placed me inside.
As soon as my seat belt was on, I pulled down the visor to check my reflection in the mirror. I was so nervous to meet his family that I was shaking, but he only took my hand in his much larger one and placed it on his thick thigh as he drove.
The parking lot of Hannigans’ bar was overflowing with vehicles and more motorcycles than I’d ever seen in one place in my life. My heart started racing as he got out and came around to help me out. Once my feet were on the ground, I tugged on my dress. It had seemed so perfect when I tried it on at the store the day before, but now that I was only minutes away from meeting his mother, it suddenly seemed too short.
Moms didn’t like it when their sons dated girls who dressed too sexy, right?
Dang it, I wasn’t sure.
I wanted his mom to like me. Wanted her to accept me so that Max would be happy and wouldn’t second-guess our relationship.
Before we reached the door to the bar, he turned to face me. His gaze skimmed over me, darkening with appreciation. “You look beautiful,” he told me. “Don’t worry. Everyone is going to love you.”
I bit my lip and nodded, hoping he was right. Opening the door, he guided me in with a hand on my hip. As soon as we were inside, he took my hand, holding it possessively while I glanced around at all the people. Off to one side was a table with a huge wedding cake. A buffet of food was set up along another wall. Tables were pushed together in one area where people were sitting around, eating, their mouths moving, and they were laughing.
On the dance floor, a beautiful blond girl in a wedding dress was dancing with a man in an Angel’s Halo MC cut like the one Max was wearing. There were a lot of guys in the same leather vests out there dancing, some of them looking like fathers with their daughters. Others seemed younger and danced with women I could only assume were their mothers.
Since I was taking in all the people, it took me a moment to realize that everyone’s attention was slowly being directed at me. Beside me, I could feel Max tensing up, and I noticed he was glaring at everyone.
Oh no, had I already done something wrong?
I tugged at my dress, sure that I wasn’t dressed right or that my makeup made me look silly. I tried to tug my hand free of his grip, but he only tightened his hold for a moment before he dropped it so he could speak to me. “You look beautiful,” he said again, but his smile was tight.
“Why are you mad?” I asked, glancing around again quickly.
His face softened ever so slightly. “I’m not mad, treasure. I just don’t like that all these assholes are looking at you like they want to snatch you away from me.”
I lifted my hand to touch his chest. “I’m yours,” I reminded him, and I was rewarded with his nostrils flaring in pleasure.
“Let me introduce you to Mom, and then we can eat, okay?”
I gave a small smile, nodding, but my pulse escalated. This was it. I was about to come face-to-face with his mother.
Please, please, please let her like me.
When we turned around, I swear an older version of Nova stood in front of us. With her long blond hair and intelligent green eyes, she put off an aura of…power. All she did was stand there, her eyes going from Max to me, the wheels
in her brain openly turning as she took in the way her son was holding my hand.
His thumb rubbed soothingly over the inside of my wrist before he released me so he could sign while he spoke to the beautiful woman standing before us. “Mom, this is Delaney.”
He paused, and I watched as his head shifted, his eyes turning glacial as he glared from one guy in an MC cut to another before focusing back on me. My heart gave a huge leap in my chest when the blue turned back to that metallic color I loved so much. “And she is mine,” he signed, claiming me in front of everyone who could read his words as well as hear them.
My body suddenly felt as if it were being engulfed in flames, and all I wanted to do was climb him like a tree and kiss him.
But then I realized where we were and who was in front of us, and I felt my face heat. Raven was looking at me like a bug under a microscope, her eyes assessing me as if she couldn’t understand what she was seeing.
Crap, crap, crap. Could she tell I was having naughty thoughts about her son?