Page 184 of The Love of Priest

She brushed past him, heading back to the locker room where she usually waited for Taylor to wrap up. As she sauntered through the club, she could feel Cameron's eyes searing into her as he watched her every move.

And just like that, Jazzy had Cameron hooked.

ChapterForty-Six

Priest leanedback on the loveseat in his bedroom, watching as Britain stepped into her heels. As always, she was looking gorgeous. The days had rolled by, and Seven's birthday had come quicker than Britain could even blink.

Britain believed there couldn’t have been a better time to introduce Priest to her family. It was perfect to piggyback off her mother's birthday dinner so there wouldn't be too much attention on Priest, who her family called her boy toy. Britain was a bit nervous since this was the first person she had introduced to her family since the puppy love relationship she shared with a boy during her junior year of high school. Cameron never allowed Britain to introduce him to family, but she was sure he had left a long-lasting impression.

She envied how relaxed Priest was and his ability to just take everything with a grain of salt. He had no nerves, nor did he have any expectations. Whether they loved him or not was all on them.

"Priest, are you even listening to me?" Britain pursed her lips as she now stood before him with her arms folded across her chest.

Priest snapped out of his distant thoughts as he licked his lips. "Sorry," he apologized for zoning out. Reaching out for her, he pulled her down onto his lap so she could join him on the loveseat. "What were you saying?" he asked her.

Britain let out a sigh. "I was requesting that you not mention Remy at the dinner. It just wouldn't sit right with my pops," she reiterated for Priest.

Priest nodded. "What's his beef with Rem? He does know that your moms broke up with Rem far before they even got together, right?"

Priest knew it would bring some awkwardness to the celebration if he mentioned Britain's biological father. Britain had expressed to him on multiple occasions how odd she felt mentioning her stepfather to her biological dad and vice versa. It was evident that Henderson was holding much more of a grudge than Remy, though. Priest just didn't understand why since he was the one with the woman, but to each his own.

Britain sighed heavily. "I think he's more bothered by the fact that my dad is causing chaos in his life that used to be so peaceful without even introducing himself. He now has to share me, the stepdaughter he's taken in like his own, and not to mention, he just found out my mom and dad had a phone call not too long ago," she explained.

Priest chuckled lightly as he placed a subtle kiss on Britain's neck. "Sounds to me like your stepdad needs get the fuck over it and stop letting everyone see his insecurities."

Britain's shoulders were tight in nervousness, but the affection Priest was giving her made them relax. "P, I think you're being biased because you know and love Remy."

Priest scoffed lightly. "I'm not being biased. It's just my opinion as a man.”

Britain smiled lightly, finding it amusing how defensive he got on Remy's behalf. Leaning in, she pressed her lips against his. "As much as I appreciate your opinion, just take my pops's feelings into consideration," she suggested. "How would you feel if you were him in this situation? My mom is using coparenting me, a 28-year-old woman, as an excuse to keep talking to her baby daddy.” As Britain put it into perspective for Priest, she couldn’t help but find her parents’ situation comical.

Priest joined in on her laughter with a shake of his head. "I hate when you're right.”

"So, basically always?” she heckled him.

"Don't get too ahead of yourself," he warned her jokingly before kissing her lips once more.

She was so appreciative of him at the moment. He just knew how to put her at ease with little to no effort. Britain was sure she would have paced a hole in Priest's floor from all her worrying had she kept obsessing over the minor details of the night.

Figuring it was time to leave so they would get to the venue of Seven's dinner on time, the two got up from their seat and began gathering what was needed to go.

Seven, who was big on birthdays, decided to bring in the anniversary of her life with a rooftop dinner and party that she had been planning with her girlfriends for months. The all-white soirée would be filled with family and longtime friends, along with a few of Seven's and Henderson's colleagues. Britain was used to being in the family that hosted every event, holiday, or party, so she knew what to expect. However, Priest wasn't. He had his fair share of hosting events, but they were nothing like Seven's.

Britain was just a mixture of different emotions that were shaken up in a bottle which could burst at any given moment. Her excitement stemmed from being able to hang out with her family since they never really got to see each other often, while her nerves were mostly from the fact that everyone was about to pass judgement on her relationship with Priest. Then, she also felt a bit hesitant and dreadful at the thought of how much shade she would be getting thrown her way for not pursuing a career in medicine, despite having the number one ranking orthopedic surgeon in New York as her stepfather and a general surgeon attending as her mother.

As always, Britain was the sore thumb out of the group, picking journalism as her niche while her youngest sister, Brea, was off at John Hopkins Medical School and her little brother, Brixton, was studying to get into anesthesiology. The Jewel family was just a family full of doctors or soon-to-be doctors who lived for medicine. Unfortunately, Britain's last name was Demings, so she didn't necessarily make the cut for medicine.

Priest led the way out of his bedroom, Britain following close behind with her mini bag in hand. As they exited Priest's bedroom, Jazzy was exiting hers.

"You look cute, Britain," Jazzy complimented her with an infectious smile.

"Thank you, and so do you." Britain smiled back at her as she smoothed her hand down the front of her dress before reciprocating the compliment.

"Where you headed, kid?" Priest cut straight to the chase as he noticed Jazzy dressed in full attire with her hair and makeup done.

Jazzy shrugged slightly as she made her way down the hall of the penthouse alongside Priest and Britain. "Just out with a friend," she responded to him vaguely. "Where you two headed?"

Priest smirked as his eyes peered down at Britain in amusement. "Gotta go meet the Huxtables," he joked, causing Britain to swat at his chest lightly while chortling.

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