“You think I don’t see the way you’re holding it all in?” Her brow rose.
“Felicity and Hailee invited me to New York with them for New Year’s.”
“New York, huh? Sounds fancy. Fancy and expensive. You know we don’t got spare money lying around for—”
“Actually, it’s all taken care of.”
She stopped what she was doing, fixing her suspicious gaze on me. “Let me guess, those Raider boys are picking up the tab.”
“Asher’s family has a penthouse we can stay in. It won’t cost a penny. I’ll just need some gas money and an outfit, but Felicity has already said I can borrow something.”
“Asher’s family,” she repeated, her tight expression telling me everything I needed to know.
“It’s not a big deal, Auntie,” I said, grabbing the last of the groceries and putting them away.
“The fact you’re saying it’s not a big deal, tells me it is a big deal. I thought you were going to be cautious where the Bennet boy was concerned?”
“Asher, his name is Asher, Aunt C. Besides, would it really hurt for you to be happy for me. I have friends, Auntie, good friends. And Asher is, well, he’s a good person.”
He was good and kind and he liked me.
He didn’t see Mya, the girl from the hood; he saw Mya, the girl who had left her home, her life, for something better.
“And what do his parents think about you heading off to New York with their son for New Year?”
“I... I don’t know.” The truth teetered on the tip on my tongue. “But Asher doesn’t care what they think. He’s serious about this thing between us. I am too.”
“Mya, Mya, Mya,” she made a drawn-out groaning sound, “I thought you were more sensible than this.”
“We care about each other,” I said, my voice cracked with frustration. “Isn’t that enough?”
“For now, maybe. But what about after graduation? What then? You’ll go off to different schools and he’ll what, wait for you?” she asked incredulously. “I’ve heard rumors about that family, about his father’s connections. You think he’s going to sit by and watch as his only son dates you?” Her tone was almost scathing, as if I was the villain here. Not Mr. Bennet and his bigoted ideals.
The need to defend Asher, to defend our fledgling relationship burned inside me. “Asher is—”
“Going to break your heart. I’m sorry, Mya, I know you don’t want to hear it but he’s going to go off to college; meet some rich, white girl his parents approve of; and leave you high and dry.”
“You’re wrong.” Anger slithered through me, making my body tremble and tears sting my eyes. “I know you only want to protect me, Auntie. But I know Asher and you’re wrong about him.”
Maybe this thing between us was doomed to fail. Maybe it was destined to be nothing more than a short whirlwind of stolen kisses and secret touches. But in my heart of hearts, I knew Asher would never purposefully hurt me. He didn’t have it in him.
“I love you,” I said quietly, my heart aching for the crack forming in our relationship. “But I’ve made my choice. I choose Asher.”
Aunt Ciara’s expression hardened, her lips thinning with disapproval. She didn’t say anything, she didn’t have to. I felt her disappointment. It permeated the air, making it dense and oppressive. But then my cell phone blared to life, drowning out our tension. I ignored it, trying to think of how to smooth over the crack forming between us.
“You should probably answer that.” She bit out when it blared again.
“Fine, I’ll be up in my room.” I marched out of the kitchen, desperate to hear Asher’s voice, only to be disappointed when I saw Shona’s name flashing on the screen.
“Hey, this unexpected.”
“A girl can’t call her girlfriend no more?”
“Shona, it isn’t even like that.” Closing the door behind me, I dropped down on the edge of the bed. “How’s it going?”
“How do you think it’s going? Jermaine about damn near lost his shit when he found out you’d left… again.”
“I told him—”