Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 90685 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 453(@200wpm)___ 363(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90685 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 453(@200wpm)___ 363(@250wpm)___ 302(@300wpm)
“And you didn’t tell me you even knew about this case. What are you doing here?”
“It has to do with the Atlas job. You know, the strip club one? They’re laundering money for their drug side hustle. I was going to give you everything you needed when I was done.”
Courtsen steps forward. “Wait, is this guy the reason you had all of those impressive arrests on your record?”
“Trust me, he never lets me live that down.” To my boyfriend, I say, “How do you need me to play this? Are we arresting you?”
“You bet your cute ass you are. Then bail me out so we can go meet our families.”
“Or, and hear me out, I could leave you in jail, and then we’ll have to cancel.” I jump up and down. “Yay, let’s do that idea.”
“Hmm, if I’m in jail, it would explain why I can’t be there. Not you. Do you really want to face them alone?”
“Hell no.”
“Then you know what to do. Ooh, am I allowed to yell and scream as you take me out and call you names?”
“No.”
Trav pouts. “You’re no fun.”
“It’s why you love me.”
Courtsen laughs. “You guys make a weird but cute couple.”
Trav shrugs. “Been called worse, I suppose. By Dylan no less.”
I shove him. “Just for that, I might lose your paperwork. Have fun in a jail cell for an extra hour.”
“You wouldn’t do that to me.”
I cock my eyebrow at him. “Wouldn’t I?”
“I can’t believe you left me in there,” Trav grumbles on our way out from getting him out of lockup. “Now I don’t have time to go home and change, and I’m going to have to meet your parents in this.” He gestures to his tactical pants and tight black T-shirt—the thing he’s almost always wearing.
“What had you planned on wearing? Also, it wasn’t my fault. I joked about it, but apparently, the name Travis West means nothing to my new team. They insisted they have you vetted before they’d release you.”
“Is that why everyone walked by my cell at one point? To check me out? Because I got the impression that Courtsen guy told everyone I was your boo.”
Yeah, that might have happened too. “Not at all.”
Trav nudges me with his hip. “I know when you lie.”
He does. Somehow.
“My parents won’t care what you’re wearing.” I don’t think. If I’m completely honest, I’ve never brought home a guy before, so this is a new experience for me.
My mom is excited to meet Trav, but my father still has that wariness about the whole gay thing. He’s accepted it, but that doesn’t mean that he likes it. And until now, I haven’t made anyone in my family deal with it because I’ve never taken anyone home and said, “This is the man I love.”
It’s … daunting.
“Tell me the truth,” Trav says. “You’re shitting yourself, aren’t you?”
“Aren’t you?”
“Yes, but only because my family can be … intense. You’re not just meeting my parents. We have my aunts, uncles, cousin.”
I snort. “You do remember I come from a Mexican family, right? Big families aren’t scary, and we’re in the same boat here. You’re also meeting my aunts, uncles … not to mention my siblings and cousins.”
Trav takes a deep breath. “On second thought, I think I left something in my cell.”
“What?”
“My belt to hang myself with.” He turns to march back to the building where the DEA holding cells are, but I grab his arm.
“Nice try, but not gonna happen. Just think, once this is over, it’s done.”
“As in our relationship?”
I laugh. “No, the meeting the family bit. We can get through this. If we can survive all those years of me despising you, we can beat anything.”
“I’m going to remind you of that tonight when you’re asking me to supply you with so much liquor you forget today ever happened.”
“You’re on.” And as we get into my car and drive to my parents’ place in East Los Angeles, I keep telling myself I’m not going to eat my words.
Today is going to go fine. It’ll be … fine.
When I pull into the street, it’s full of cars. “What the—”
“That’s my parents’ car,” Trav says. “And Gideon’s, my cousin. We told them four, didn’t we? We’re early.”
I have to park a block away, and when we arrive, there’s a chaotic mess of people inside the tiny home I grew up in.
And the minute we step over the threshold, our mothers descend upon us.
“You’re here early.” Trav kisses Cindy’s cheek. When he said his mom was small, I didn’t realize he only meant in comparison to him. She’s my height.
She smiles at her son. “I wanted to offer to help, seeing as Dylan’s mom was nice enough to host.” Cindy sets her sights on me and gives me a warm hug. “I can’t wait to embarrass Trav with all his childhood stories for you.”