I try not to blush. I try real hard, but I feel the heat creep up my neck. Zeke coughs into his hand before answering, “Yeah, Ma. We’re looking out for her.”
“Good. I know Sonya was worried, but I assured her you two boys would watch over Livvie.”
I nudge my twin. Now’s the time to bring it up.
He glares at me for a second, but he clears his throat again, a clear sign he’s got something to say and doesn’t know how to say it.
Ma recognizes Zeke’s tell immediately and tilts her head. “What is it, dear?”
“So, about Olivia.”
Ma’s eyes narrow. “What about her? Did she get hurt?”
“No, Ma. She’s not hurt. She’s fine.”
She’s comatose from coming so hard when we double dicked her an hour ago.
Can you not send those images into my head while we’re talking to our mother? Zeke scowls.
Sorry. And I am, but I couldn’t help it.
“Then what is it about her?” Ma’s getting impatient.
“We want to marry her,” I blurt out.
“Levi!” my twin shouts.
“What?” yells Ma.
I scrub the top of my ear. “We both love her. You know that. And so we want to ask her to marry us.”
“Marry you?” Her voice is ascending to a pitch I didn’t realize could go that high.
“I thought we were going to ease her into this,” grumbles Zeke.
“You were taking too long,” I argue. “Plus, we’ve got another phone call to make.”
“No, you don’t,” Ma says faintly. The background on the screen blurs, and when Ma stops moving it lands on the shocked face of Sonya Moore.
Zeke covers his face and slides off his chair to the ground. My jaw drops down. I push it closed and then wave. “Hey, Ms. Moore.”
Ms. Moore looks distressed. Like she ate an entire cat distressed. “You promised you would wait,” she whimpers.
“We did,” I hustle to say. “We waited until her birthday. I swear we never broke our promise. And she was ready. She wanted us—”
A large hand slaps my mouth shut. Zeke has reappeared. “Ms. Moore, what Levi is trying to say is that we did hold off until Olivia told us she was ready.”
“She’s just a baby. She doesn’t know if she’s ready,” Ms. Moore snaps.
This is not going how we planned. How do we explain to Ms. Moore that Olivia was ready without going into the shit that has gone down on campus? Or how Olivia has basically bossed us around since the moment she’s gotten here? Or how if we hadn’t given in on her birthday, she would’ve raked us across the coals?
I look at Zeke, who is supposed to be the smart one, but he’s at a loss for words.
“I am ready,” says a clear, high voice from behind us.
Zeke and I turn at the same time to see Olivia dressed in a beautiful white satin robe we bought her sweep across the bedroom floor and push her way between us.
“Hey, Mom.” She smiles.
Chapter Thirteen
Olivia
My smile is tight as I try to cool the simmering anger inside of me. Mom and I have always been close. I don’t know why I bother with the fake smile when she reads my eyes easily. It has always been her and me. Until the twins, that is.
“Livvie Bell.” Her tone is soft. I can tell she’s not sure how to handle me. To be honest, I’m not sure how to handle this either. Being mad at my mom isn’t something I’m used to. I never went through those rebellious teen years like everyone else. I saw how hard she worked to keep a roof over our heads and I made sure I did was I was supposed to. I went to school, made good grades and kept myself out of trouble.
I’ve always done what was expected of me. I never wanted to make anything hard because my mom was a great mom and I wasn’t going to make life difficult, even when I didn’t agree with something she said. Life was tricky enough without added complications. I learned that since leaving home.
I look at her face, so much like my own. “I’m not going to fight you, too, Mom.” I watch as her eyes widen for a moment. “We’ll have enough of our own battles in life. You’re my mom. My team Wonder Women,” I remind her. It’s a silly thing we used to call ourselves. We’d grown up as just that, a team. I want us to always be like that, but I’m no longer willing to sacrifice my happiness for it. Gosh, it’s been a few years since we called ourselves that silly but significant name. My eyes flick over to my men and my heart squeezes. I’m now a part of another team with my men, but I still want the Wonder Women. My mom brought me up to be who I am today and I need her support now more than ever.