“Hey, Mom.” I smile.

“What’s wrong?” she asks, frowning.

“What? Nothing, I just got out of the shower.”

“You have never been a good liar, honey.” She shakes her head and drops her purse onto the couch. “So what’s going on?” She crosses her arms over her chest and taps her foot.

I’m just about to cave into her Jedi mind tricks and spill about Wes, when the door opens. I watch in slow motion as Capone barks and runs past me. Lifting my head my gaze collides with Wes’. His eyes drop to my mouth and his hand wraps around my waist as he dips me backward, kissing me hard and stealing my breath. “Hi,” He says against my lips before standing me upright.

“That explains a lot,” I hear my mom say, and I pull my stare from Wes and look at her.

“Um.” I look from my mom to Wes.

“Wes Silver.” He sticks out his hand that isn’t wrapped around my waist and shakes my mom’s hand.

“November Mayson, July’s mother.” She smiles, and Wes’ head dips so he can look at me.

“I also have four sisters. June, May, December and April.” I tell him, then press my lips together when I see him smile.

He shakes his head then looks at my mom again. “Nice to meet you, ma’am.”

“Ma’am, huh?” Mom looks at me and raises an eyebrow.

“Wes is—”

“Her man,” he cuts me off, stepping fully into the house and shutting the door behind him.

“Her man,” my mom whispers, looking between the two of us.

Her mouth opens, but I cut in before she can say anything else. “Did you need anything else, Mom?”

She blinks like she’s coming out of a daze then looks at me and smiles. “I was planning on having your dad’s birthday get-together this weekend.”

Oh, crap! My dad. I love my dad. My dad loves me. But I know my dad, and there is no way he will approve of Wes. No way.

“You should bring your man.” My mom smiles looking between the two of us.

“Wes will be busy,” I explain then narrow my eyes when hers light up, I can tell she’s loving this.

“Will I?” Wes asks, and I turn to look at him. He raises an eyebrow as he searches my face.

I take a breath and look at my mom. “Can I call you later?” I ask pleading with my eyes and her face softens as she cups my cheek.

“Sure, honey.”

I really do have the best parents. “Thanks, Mom.”

“Well, Wes Silver, it was nice meeting you,” my mom says, picking up her bag.

“You too, Mrs. Mayson,” Wes replies.

My mom glances at me, and I see a look pass through her eyes that I don’t quite understand, but then she turns to look at Wes and smiles again. “Call me November,” she tells him, and when he nods, her eyes come to me and they go soft. “Call me, honey,” she says softly, and I feel my throat contract with emotion and I close the distance between us as I give her a hug. “I’m always here,” she whispers into my ear, and those words offer me a comfort I didn’t even know I needed.

I nod and step away then follow behind her as she leaves, waving at her as she pulls out of the driveway. As soon as she’s out of sight, I head inside, go to the kitchen, grab an onion out of the fridge, a knife and the cutting board, and begin chopping it up.

“You wanna talk about what’s going on up here?” Wes asks, running a hand over my head while pressing into my back, wrapping his arms around my waist.

“Nope,” I reply, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. I don’t know why this is causing me so much stress. I have never hid a relationship with anyone from my family or my father, and if I’m honest with myself, the reason I’m afraid of my father meeting Wes is I want my dad to approve of him. Well, maybe not approve. I don’t know that my dad will ever approve of any man I decide to be with.

“Your mom seems nice,” he says, placing a kiss under my ear.

“She is.”

“Were you serious about the names?” he asks, and I can hear the smile in his voice.

I turn and look over my shoulder at him, my stomach fluttering when I realize just how close he is. “My mom’s mom named her November because she didn’t want to even bother to look for a name for my mom, and it was November when she was born. My dad loves my mom and wanted to turn the memory of her name into something good, so he named all of us girls after the month we were born.”

“Your dad sounds like a good man.”

“He’s the best,” I agree then lower my eyes back to the cutting board.

“What can I help with?”

I look at him again, and Juice takes that moment to come wrap him self around my feet. “Can you feed Juice for me?”

“Sure, where’s his food?”

I point to the cabinet where I keep his cat food then turn again, only to have Wes’ hand slide along the underside of my jaw. He pulls gently until my eyes go to him. His lips wisp over mine softly, then he drops his hand and goes about feeding Juice while leaving me completely exposed.

I have watched my father with my mom since I was a little girl, watched the way he spoke to her, watched the way he watched her, and watched the way he kissed her without reason, doing so just because he wanted too I’ve never had that. I didn’t even know I craved that for myself. Not until Wes.

“Babe, the door.”

“Hmm?” I turn to look at him, his statement barely registering over the loudness of my thoughts.

“Someone’s at the door. Want me to get it?”

My eyebrows pull together as I set down the knife. My mom wouldn’t have told my dad about Wes. She would wait until I was ready, and no one had called to tell me they were coming over, so I’m at a loss as to who would be here on a Sunday.

When I make it to the door, I look through the peephole then swing it open.

“What happened?” I say shakily, pulling Kayan into the house. Her eyes fill up with tears and I help her over to the couch, scarcely registering that Wes is talking on the phone behind me. “Talk to me,” I prompt and she lowers her head.

“Wait ’til Z and a couple of the guys get here,” Wes says, getting down on his haunches next to me, handing Kayan some tissue.

“Why do we need to wait for them?” I ask, looking at my friend, who now has a black smudge under her eye and a cut on her bottom lip.

“I only want her to tell us once, and then you’re going to go clean her up,” he says, rubbing my lower back.