Payne
"So, how do I look?" I go down the stairs, asking for opinions from Ryan and Mason.
"Beautiful."
"Naked."
The guys say at the same time. Ryan said beautiful and Mason said naked. They shared a look.
"Naked."
"Beautiful."
They exchanged words. Wow, just wow.
I roll my eyes and look down at myself. I was wearing a dark red dress loose on top and tight down and a pair of grey high heeled boots.
I think I look good. I look good actually.
And I'm more dressed than fucking usual! The guys should get used with me wearing this kind of stuff. I rolled my eyes at them and ran down the stairs.
"Wait, are you wearing heels?" Ryan asks, "You know it's just a family dinner, right? It's not a ball, you don't have to wear heels." He explains himself.
"Yeah, but tonight I'm meeting new people and I wanna dress to impress. Plus, I think I learned how to use this things. And I thought they look hot." I smile brightly making a cute position.
Ryan admired my legs, "I think your legs are more beautiful uncovered."
A blush crept on my cheeks as he said that, and Mason sighed, "Let's go before I throw up."
I gasp, "You're such a jerk!" And slap him arm. He shrugs, "You'll get used to it, sisy!"
Oh, yeah, that summed things up a bit. I rolled my eyes and looked at Ryan, who was looking wow, just wow… mrrr, daddy!
He was wearing a dark, almost black blue shirt with rolled sleeves and a pair of black suit pants with a pair of brown elegant shoes. My mind can't make up many adjectives at the moment, but all I could say was that he looked yummy!
Mason looked too, just that he was wearing a white shirt and black suit pants with black shoes. His sleeves weren't filled and his first shirt buttons weren't open.
I could only assume he liked to look professional. Honestly, whoever saw him now, would've thought he had a meeting. Ryan pretty much has the freer style, I guess.
We went into the garage and got in Ryan's Ferrari. He loved this car so damn much, he never let me drive it while we were apart. He has no fucking clue I drove it five times while he was gone, just as a revenge for leaving me for a week. I mean that.
In less than twenty minutes we find ourselves in front of the Kings' house. A beautiful, huge, modern house. Mason looked impressed at first, but didn't mention it.
We walked in front of the front door, as Ryan's gaze was fixed on one of the cars, probably which belonged to someone invited. I press on the doorbell and hear it make a birdie cute noice. I shift from one leg to another, excited to meet the rest of Ryan's family.
Alex opened the door and smiled brightly seeing us, "Hi! Come in!"
We walk inside and hug her tightly, "Hi, Alex!"
"Hi, sweetie! How are you?" She asks softly in my ear. I pull back and share a look with Ryan who was grinning from ear to ear. I turned back at Alex and rose my hand with the sapphire on it, showing it to her.
She looks at the ring, a little dumbfounded at first, but then she gasps and looks between Ryan and I, "You proposed?" She asks shocked.
Ryan nods and I just couldn't stop smiling. She smiled brightly as what seemed like tears filled her eyes. She hugged me tighter than she ever did, and I was almost breathless, catching short breaths here and there. It felt warm in her embrace and I never felt this warm with a person, except Ryan, mom, the friends I now have. My point? She reminds me of my mom.
She pulls back and pulls Ryan's ear down, "Why in the hell didn't you tell me? Was it that hard to tell your mom you want to propose to your girlfriend?"
Ryan groaned as she let go and scowled I'm his direction, "I'm sorry, ma…"
She rolls her eyes and looks on my other side at Mason. She raises a brow, "And who may you be, honey?" The smile rose on her cheeks like a second skin.
I swear I love this woman.
"I'm Mason. Payne's twin brother." He introduces spreading his hand for a shake. Alex's brows inch up, "Twin brother? You said you had no family…"
I nodded, "Yeah, that's what I thought. It's a lot of history." I sigh and she nods sharing my reason.
She takes his hand and shakes it strongly, "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, son. I hope you will fit in here." She turns at us, "I heard the boys came to you this morning."
Ryan nods, "Yeah, they witnessed me proposing princesa. Luke fainted." He replies proudly.
Alex shakes her head slowly and smiles as she turns around, "Everyone's in the living room. Dinner isn't ready yet."
We follow her to the living room, and see people two adults sitting on the couch, a woman with blonde hair and green emerald eyes, and a man with blackish white hair and brown eyes, both in their late thirties, maybe early forties. They were both holding champagne glasses, laughing and smiling. The twins were sitting each at the large table and looked utterly bored. In the head of the table wasn't Bryan as he usually sat. Tonight, it was a man in his early sixties I suppose, with white hair, not another color and brown wrinkled eyes. Ryan's eyes. He looked muscled and strong for his age, also bored. Bryan was talking to the two people sitting on the couch, and one guy next to them. He didn't seem too much into it, he actually looked cringed by most of the things and utterly forced, but he was totally dealing with it. I didn't recognize him either.
He looked young, around Ryan's age, with a tanned skin and brown eyes, with brown hair, shaved chin. Come to think of it, he looked a little like Ryan, but not the same. His hair wasn't as short, his nose was a little crooked, his lips seemed smallest and his jaw wasn't as stubborn shaped.
"Un-fucking-believable…" Ryan growled behind me, making me turn at him with a rose brow. He was glaring at the guy on the couch like it was his mission. I was still wondering why.
"Agh,my favorite nephew!" The man at the head of the table got up and walked in front of us, pulling Ryan in a hug, "Thank God you're here! I was getting bored." He whispered in his ear.
I smiled seeing the warmth of the man pointed towards Ryan. Ryan gave him a tap on his back and smiled tightly before he looked behind him, his smile fading.
The man pulled away and smiled, looking at Mason and I. He looked confused at us, "Who are you?"
I shrugged, "I'm Payne. And this is my brother Mason. I'm Ryan's girl-" I cut myself off smiling, "Fiance." I replied proudly.
He looked me up and down and turned at Ryan, "I expected more from you." He sighed. I frowned at that, "My favorite nephew and he doesn't even tell me he has a girlfriend. And now he has a fiance? I feel lonely again." He sighs shaking his head slowly.
"Oh, don't be so sad about it, Gramps. You didn't found out anything yet." Ryan replies pressing his hand on his shoulder. The man looks at him curiously, but doesn't mention it. He takes my spread hand and smiles brightly at me, "I'm Gerald King, but mostly call me Gramps. Nice to meet you, sweet cheeks."
I smiled at that, "Nice to meet you as well, sir."
She scoffs, "Don't "sir" me. It makes me feel old and even if I am, I like to think I'm still young. Call me Gramps."
I nod and his hand spreads to Mason, "Nice to meet you too, Mas." He hums as Mason holds his hand tight for a second, "Both of you are strong characters. It's nice to see some of those around."
Ryan's hand raises on my waist, "It is…" His gaze returns to the guy on the couch, who smirks at Ryan.
Bruh…
I take his hand off and glare at him, "Okay, you gotta start talking before I get angry and slap you harder than how I slapped the guys this morning." I state slightly glaring at him.
His brows arched and she took in a deep breath, "I'll explain everything later, but what I can say…" His gaze returns to the guy, "I hate my cousin."
I look at the guy's smirk and think of it, "Okay." I state taking it in. He has another cousin I did not know about. That's just nice, you know?
"Anyways…" Gramps trails off looking away. He was ready to find something to take us from this damn subject, but a pair of arms wrapped around me, taking me by total surprise, "You're here! Finally! You saved us from this torture of boredom!" Liam shouted in my ear, making me frown.
What the fuck?
"Get the fuck off, you pillock!" I push him off and growl at him. He smiles brightly, "You know I love you…"
"I love you not. And don't hug me again."
He pouts, "But you look like a hugger…"
"Well, I'm not. Don't ever hug me again, creep."
Ryan snickers, "Now, that's not true."
I glare up at him, "It is! I'm not a hugger."
Mason scoffs, "As if anyone believes you."
I gasp at him, "Wow! Not even my brother." I roll my eyes, "What a disappointment." I step on his foot with my knee and on Ryan's, making them both groan at the feeling.
I smiled. Just smiled and looked up at the guys. I sighed and looked at Bryan, who seemed to acknowledge the crowd already gathering around. He stepped up and said something to the three people on the couch who also got up.
They walked in front of us, and Bryan gave me a tight loving hug I returned, "Here is my daughter in law…" He whispered in my ear, making me gasp softly. He pulled away and I look shocked at him as he shakes Ryan's hand.
He looked at Mason and looked him up and down, "So you're the brother, huh?"
I was dumbstruck. Like, how in the hell did he knew Mason's my brother? And he knew I was his future daughter in law? What? But Ryan-
I looked at Ryan who was glaring at the guy. My gaze narrowed on the guy and I took Ryan's hand in mine, getting his attention. He kissed my hand and pulled his hand away, curling it around my waist.
"That's me, sir." Mason replies spreading his hand, "Mason Willis."
Bryan nods, "I know who you are. Ryan said what he planned to do." He looked at me, and that look said everything. Absolutely everything, "I'm Bryan King. Ryan's father." He shakes his hand.
Many hand shakes.
"Anyways, Linda, Mickey, Andre this is Payne, Ryan's fiance, and Mason, Payne's brother." Bryan introduces, "And Payne, Mason, these are Linda, Alex's step sister and Ryan's aunt, Mickey, her husband and Andre, my nephew. I assume you know the twins. They are the sons of Lind and Mickey." He explains.
I nod and more hand shakes follow, until I see two people are missing, "Where are Alex and Poppy?" I ask.
"In the kitchen preparing dinner with Kiera." Bryan says and I frown again, "Who's Kiera?"
"My girlfriend." Andre said in a husky deep tone. Why did he sounded like he was trying to be seductive? Yikes!
He looked at Ryan and smirked, but didn't continue, as if he was meaning something. Ryan's hand tightened around my waist, and it didn't bother me. But I could see he was more than bothered after the looks they shared.
"Yeah, I'm gonna go to the girls." He looks at me as if shocked and I raise a brow. He understood why and nodded, "Okay."
I smiled and kissed him lips. Even if I had fucking heels, I still had to pull his chin down to me. It was unbelievable.
Then, I pulled from the men gathering and walked to the kitchen. Opening the door, I heard nothing but a ticking clock and the oven. I looked at Alex cutting tomatoes and Poppy cutting the cucumber. A girl at the counter was sitting and looking at her nails.
"Hi, Poppy!" I smile giggly and close the door behind me. Poppy cleans her hands of any cucumber and comes and hugs, "Thank God you came." She whispers in my ear.
I frown and hug her back, "What happened?"
She pulled away and turned at the girl who now had her phone in her witch shaped nails, with pink. Fucking pink!
Yuck!
"That happened." She whispers I'm my ear. I nod and she returns at cutting the cucumber. I smile walking at the counter, "Alex, do you need help?" I ask.
She looks around for a second, and nods, "If you prepare the salad and I deal with the fries?" She asks sheepishly.
I nod and take her place. Minutes pass in the silence of the kitchen and I instantly get bored. My eyes travel to the girl sitting and doing nothing, with the phone in her hand. She had black straight long hair and black eyes with a tanned skin tone. Her dress was a light red and it was way too tight. And as I said, her nails were long, sharp and pink.
Again, yuck!
I need to find a subject to talk about. I'm gonna cut my fingers if I don't.
"So, I was wondering, what's the deal between Andre and Ryan?" I ask, out of subject.
Alex sighs along with Poppy, and Kiera raises her gaze for a second, before she returns it to her phone.
"They've been having a somewhat rivalry since they were kids." Alex explains, "And when they got older, things went a little worst."
"A little?" Poppy snorts, "Ryan doesn't even touch or say anything to the jerk and he's all about taking whatever Ryan touches. It's pathetic." She says shamelessly.
I look at her and she nods, "But it's true. And Ryan will always hate Andre and Andre will always take whatever Ryan had."
"Poppy, that's not true! You know what happened to Andre!" Alex says like she doesn't actually mean it. Poppy looks at her dumbfounded, "Meaning that his parents died in a crash and all that doesn't give him any right to do that. And yeah, he may have been supposed to take over the gang, but after what his dad did, he wasn't a King anymore. And what he's putting up now it's stupid childish revenge." Poppy states angrily.
Okay, shit got really deep.
"That may be true, but…" Alex says, and I assume she didn't know how to reply to that, "We forgave his father and we moved past it. He's apart of this family regardless of what his father did. And even if him and Ryan still have fights, they're just boys. They'll move on at some point." Alex shrugs.
From there I start giving other discussion themes and listen or talk in my opinion. And we have quite the entertaining talks until dinner is ready. As soon as it was done, we headed in the living room with the food and the mere scent made my stomach growl.
Yeah, I have eaten today, twice, but I will always be hungry. And from now on, I will be even more hungrier.
When we sat at the table we had really more pleasurable topics to discuss and I felt like I really fit in. Yeah, Mason did too.
There was something about Ryan's parents, they always found ways to make you feel apart of it.
And I don't think anyone did felt out of it. Not even Andre and his silent girlfriend.
I kept seeing looks shared between Poppy and Mason, and I saw Poppy blush and Mason grin. Oh, we also talked in the kitchen of how much Poppy dislikes Mason. And I knew that she meant none of it. Just how I "hated" everything at Ryan at the beginning. Well… kinda. He was a jerk. I had the right to.
And now, they were both smiley and shit. I think Poppy doesn't dislike him as much as she pretends.
"I think your brother has something for my sister…" Ryan whispers in my ear, making me nod, "He does. And she probably does too." Ryan hums, "It would be wise if I played the protective brother role, but I think your brother might kick my ass if so."
I chuckle and poke him with my elbow, "Not if he gets her pregnant…"
His eyes widen in an instant and he looks away, "Yeah, that's true. I would kill him."
I laugh, "If he didn't kill you, you shouldn't kill him either."
"Pffft, then I wouldn't do my big brothers job at all."
"Well, how about you take it easy with that job? I'm sure Poppy can handle herself."
"That's not what-" I cut him off straight knowing what he was thinking, "If you even dare to get there, I will stab you with this fork. You should know that Poppy handled it very well. She didn't cry herself for days and she didn't cut off the world entirely. She was smart and strong and she pushed it aside quickly. I am proud of her, because of that."
He looks at me and sighs, "Find, you're right. But what kind of brother am I if I'm not protecting her from guys?"
"You're being smart and you're according them a chance. Protecting her doesn't mean that you have to hurt or scare the guys away. It means you're giving them a chance. If they loose that chance you're free to kill them." I state.
His lips purse as he chews on the food, thinking about it. He was actually considering what I said and I'm proud that he did. Lately I'm proud of a whole lotta things.
The dinner goes on as everyone eats and enjoys their food and talk. Everyone seemed caught when I got up and muffled an apology. I really needed to go to the bathroom.
Ryan nodded at me and smiled as I walked away.
I went to the bathroom and did my thing. A few seconds later I went in front of the sink and washed my hands. Suddenly, in the pit of my stomach I felt something go up and down and in a matter of seconds I had to throw up. I leaned on the toilet seat and threw up what I just ate. And the taste was disgusting!
I think this was because I didn't throw up this morning, or because I ate too much. Probably the second since it's true. I leaned on the toilet seat for what felt like years until a knock on the door got me out, "Just a minute!" I shouted and got up lazily, looking at myself in the mirror for a moment. I wasn't dirty and I didn't look like I just throw up. That's good. Really good.
It knocked again, and I shouted again. I washed my hands in a hurry and when I was hurrying to the door, the knock started again. I opened it frustrated and looked up at the person.
It was Andre. Smirking. I frowned and rolled my eyes, "You didn't had to knock three times, I'm done." I said trying to walk past him.
His hand cut off my path, slamming on the doorframe. I looked up at him, my gaze narrowing, "What's it with you?"
His eyes weren't filled with good things, that I could say, and it didn't make me feel any warmth towards him.
"What's wrong, princess? Can't take a real man?" He asks, his voice thick and stone cold. I roll my eyes, "As if you're any close by."
He steps closer, and I step back into the bathroom, "You have a big mouth, don't you?"
"Thanks for pointing that out, Captain Obvious." I rolled my eyes again.
He stepped closer and this time I stood my ground, "You know, that pretty mouth of yours can get you in a lot of trouble." He grins, leaning closer.
I rose my brows, my expression stoic. We stood like that for a few moments, until I decided I got bored.
"Oh, is that so?" I finally replied to his question, letting out a ragged breath. He smirked as if he was ready to kiss me. And he was.
He was leaning in and closing his eyes, when I pulled my head back, hit him in the nuts, got on the side and hit him in the back with my elbow. In two second I had him on the floor.
He didn't even had time for other reactions than groans.
I hit him in the ribs with my foot, and I hit fucking hard, "You fuckin' cunt! Who you think you playing with? Yo momma? Well, get something straight, I'm your cousin's fiance, motherfucker!" I hit him again, and he groaned, turning on his back, "You hit hard for a little one…"
I smile and press my hands on my knees as I lean to look at him carefully, "This is how it goes in England, hun. And even if so, this is the least I can do." I scoff and straighten my posture, walking away shamelessly.
I bump into Ryan on the hallway, who caught me when I was about to fall. He held my waist tight and smiled, "Found you." He says.
I smile at him and curl my fingers through his hair, "You didn't had to look too much."
"What took you so long?" He questions.
"I had to pee. Then I hand to throw up. And then I slammed Andre on the floor. He seemed amazed."
He frowns, "What do you mean?"
"He kept knocking at the door and when I was done and opened the door, he looked like he wanted to kiss me. I slammed him on the floor." I explain myself.
He hugs me tightly after that, as if afraid to let go of me and I returned his hug. It made me feel warm and safe. I knew he got my back and I knew he would always protect me. That's one of the things I love about him.
"I never took you for the sentimental type, cus." Andre says from behind me, making Ryan's embrace loosen.
I looked up at him and saw him glare the kind of glare everyone is afraid of. And even I am afraid of this one. Let me explain to you. Ryan has three types of glares. The glare who doesn't mean anything, and is mostly when he's annoyed. The glare he gives when someone does something stupid, and he is actually angry. That's the most often one, and it was usually pointed at me. And last but not least, the glare he does only when he is more than angry. When he is far beyond furios. It's the rarest glare to see on his face, and this one gives me the creeps.
I sigh and place my hand on his cheek, making him look down at me. He didn't give up easily, but he looked at me, and those whiskey intense eyes said that he was ready to kill him and smile.
I love how his eyes turn from chocolate when he's calm and sweet and all lovey-dovey to whiskey when he's angry or… in the mood.
And he was still beyond furious, but his expression held a softness when he looked at me, it made my heart fill with warmth.
I smiled at him softly, "Let's go…" And that was all I needed to say to explain that there was no need for a fight.
Even if I would've liked to see him fight for me, I wouldn't want him to start a fight at the dinner and make his mom angry. Plus, he's smarter than this. He's smarter than allowing his cousin to manipulate him into a fight. I know he is.
He sighed his gaze raising to his cousin. He glared a little and rolled his eyes. He kissed my head and held me tight, to show his cousin I belong to him. I liked that. It seemed as if he was was markings his territory.
"Okay…" Was his final reply.