"Aubrey," she says excitedly, drawing out my name like she's loving life.
Before I can say anything, I flash my left hand in excitement with a huge, cheesy ass grin on my face. I wiggle my fingers and she squints her eyes. Her jaw slowly drops as she leans in to get a better look. Natalie's sitting against a headboard with a sheet covering her chest, her hair a wild mess, and there's black coal liner smudged under her eyes. Looks like someone had a fun night.
She pops up when she realizes what she's looking at and screams her excitement. "Ohmigod! Fucking finally, Ram Jam!"
Laughter spills from my lips. "I know, right?"
Natalie tries to get a closer look and I hold my fingers still. I can see the ring glistening on the screen, but the camera doesn't do it justice.
"Wait until you see it in person. It's stunning."
"A teardrop stone? Oh, Daddy did good," she says, staring at the rock.
"Who are you calling Zaddy?"
My brows furrow at the unexpected voice in the background and I bust out laughing, covering my mouth. "Who the hell is that? And did he just say zaddy? Does he know what that means?"
I'm dying inside. A zaddy is a hot-as-sin older man with swag and sex appeal. James to a T.
She rolls her eyes playfully and she's blushing hard. Natalie never blushes. "Yeah, that's the lemon guy. His accent fucked up that word."
"I'm the lemon guy?" I hear.
"Who's the lemon guy?" James asks, chiming in.
James leans in to view the screen and waves to Natalie the same time the lemon guy leans in too. I see the space between his eyes crease. Natalie and I watch as they both stare at each other trying to figure out who's who. It's quite comical. We're all quiet for a moment until Natalie speaks.
"Luca. He's the flavor of the week," Natalie says, her lips twitching. "Lemon."
"I hope you're using protection, Natalie," James says, his voice a little firm. Spoken like a true, concerned father. If they weren't so open with each other, I'd think this is weird, but it's not.
"Who is that?" Luca asks.
He's got a full beard and what looks like hazel eyes, which surprises me. Natalie hates beards, says they're unsanitary. She once told me she'd rather lick the subway floor than kiss a man with a beard. Guess she changed her mind.
"Hey, Dad," Natalie says.
I bite back a laugh. She's fighting the laughter herself. I can only imagine how odd this looks. I'm FaceTiming my best friend with her shirtless dad next to me. We've all clearly had sex judging by our lack of clothes and the relaxed flush on our cheeks. Natalie's got a rat’s nest on her head while my mane is just everywhere. I'm going to have to call her later when she's alone to get the details on her date and what happened.
"That's your father?" the lemon guy asks. He's blatantly perplexed.
"Yeah, and my best friend."
A pregnant pause, Luca turns to look at Natalie. He's confused as he looks at her flawless skin like he's trying to figure out what one plus one is.
"They're together?" he asks, and she nods. "Engaged?" She nods again. This time Luca has a longer pause, then says, "We don't do that sort of thing in my country."
Natalie gives him a bland stare. "You just got done telling me your inbreeder cousins got married in the hills of Italy."
"What is an inbreeder?" he asks, and I laugh. It sounds much funnier coming from him.
"Country folk who fuck their cousins," Natalie says, dead serious too. Luca almost looks insulted, but something tells me he’s actually not. This is great entertainment for us.
"We are not cousin fuckers, Natalia." I love that he calls her name in his native tongue. It sounds sexy coming from him.
"To a New Yorker, you are. Cousins who marry are inbreeders."
Luca gives her a serious look. "That's because New Yorkers are crazy. They're not normal people."