Page 23 of F*ckin' With Me
“Ah, shit,” Daylen mumbled under his breath. “Come here.” He grabbed my waist and pulled me onto his lap. “You need a lap view for this shit.”
Lanette’s neck snapped toward the patio. “Daddy! Why would you say that?”
He ignored her question. “Now, I know that you don’t want her in your wedding, and she doesn’t want to be, so that’s fine. What you will not do is uninvite Simonette.”
My mother held her finger up. “Wait a minute, Robert. Now, let me remind you that you chose to only pay for the accommodations, which could have been better for your daughter’s wedding, and the travel. The rest of this wedding, Lanette and I paid for. With that being said, she can invite and uninvite who she wants.”
“Guys, it’s not that serious,” I interjected. “Lanette literally answered my prayers by uninviting me. I’m going to spend time with the people who actually love me.”
Daylen kissed my cheek then patted my thigh. “Hush, baby. Remember what I told you earlier.”
My mother waved me off. “Simonette, you have always been so overly dramatic. You got that shit from your dramatic father.”
“You talking big shit like I don’t fund your life, Simone,” my father snapped. He stood to his feet. “Regardless, you are correct. You and Lanette did pay for this portion of the wedding; therefore, you can do as you will. What I’m going to do is allow you to also pay for your own travel going back and this villa. I don’t support people who disrespect and are vile to anyone, much less their own blood, nor does my money.”
When I stood up, Daylen’s hands gripped my hips and pulled me back to his lap. That was fine, but it wouldn’t stop me from speaking. “Daddy, please don’t do that. It’s fine.”
When his glare turned to me, I knew I’d said something wrong. “No, Simonette, it is not fine. I’ve told you a thousand times, and this will officially be my last. They treat you like this because you allow the shit. If you want respect, sometimes, you have to demand it or tell those people to get the fuck on. That includes family.”
“Robert, you will not cancel anything. If you do, I will just rebook it with my card.” My mother’s arms waved in the air like a crazy woman. “This is outrageous. I’m starting to think both of you are trying to ruin my baby’s weekend.”
My father stepped toward my mother. “What card is that? You must have your own credit card or bank account. While I waited for Simonette to get ready, I removed all your access from my accounts. No way in hell I was going to let you and my disrespectful daughter run up a bill when y’all treat my other baby like shit.”
“Hey, what’s going on in here? We can hear y’all from the patio.” Justin walked in with a tight jaw.
My father chuckled before he crossed his arms over his chest. “What’s going on is your fiancée is extremely selfish, self-centered, and disrespectful. I take some ownership in that because, instead of being home, where I could have been more hands-on, I chose to spend most of my time focused on businessto avoid being home. If I had stayed home, I would have checked this shit long before it got out of hand.”
Lanette turned to Justin. “He said that he’s going to cancel our flights and not pay for this villa if I don’t let Simonette come to the wedding. I don’t want her there, because she’s a hater.”
It was so weird to be a spectator of all of this. It was shocking that it was playing out that weekend. A weekend to remember.
Justin’s head slanted toward his ear. There was this weird stillness in the air. “Lanette, please get your head out of your ass. What do you have for Simonette to hate on? She has degrees, a successful career, and she’s dating Daylen Verse. She knows he can take care of her, but she still provides for herself.” He turned his head in my direction. “Simonette, you are welcome at our wedding, even if you are just a guest.”
Whoa!“Um, thank you, I guess. We’ll be there. I know the rehearsal dinner?—”
“She won’t be at that. We’re going on a date tonight.” Daylen kissed my cheek. “Gotta make sure I spend some alone time with my woman.”
I had never blushed so much in my entire life. Daylen had an effect on me that I would always want to feel. Justin looked at my sister, rolled his eyes, then headed to what I assumed was their room. My sister rushed behind him with thebaby, baby.
“Simone, let’s go to our villa to have another conversation that does need to be private. I’m not sure if you left your clothes out there with the kids, but you might want to put them on,” my father said with an arched brow.
I could tell my mother was shocked by his callout. She went to get a sarong that was on the patio. My father kissed my cheek before he and my mother left.
“Well, I guess we should go get ready for the day,” I said before I lifted myself from Daylen’s lap. “Are you ready?” I yelped and rubbed my ass when he smacked it.
He chuckled. “Yeah, I’m ready. You’re talking about getting dick last night, but you are looking at me like I lost my mind because I smacked your ass.” He wrapped his arm around me. “You gotta get used to the tongue before I think about giving you the dick, sweetheart.”
If I was white, my face would’ve been red. I wasn’t used to any of those kinds of activities or talks. The only men who talked me through it were my book baes. Now I had a real-life book bae.
Just as we were about to leave, a door slammed behind us. We both looked. Lanette, whose skin tone was lighter than mine, was flushed. There were tears in her eyes as she stalked over to us. “Just because Justin said you can come to our wedding doesn’t mean that I want you there. You ruin shit without even trying, bi?—”
Daylen held his hand up. “Whoa, calm down, lil’ dummy. Now, I don’t put my hands on women, but my sister does. It would be horrible if you had to get married with a dotted face. I suggest you go back on the porch, in the room, or wherever.”
Lanette stared at him for a beat before she stomped off. The day had already been a lot. Daylen and I left to get ready for our day. I was determined to have a great time while I was there.
“Daylen is going to try to eat you alive when you walk out there. I’m so happy he told me to set this up. This is most definitely going to be y’all’s debut to the world!” Rissa hopped up and down.
She’d just finished my hair and makeup for the Santorini style flying dress photoshoot that Daylen told her to arrange. Ididn’t find out that the photoshoot was going to happen until we were there to do it. They had a makeup and hair stylist, but Rissa refused to let anyone touch my face or hair. I looked at myself in the mirror and felt like a million bucks.
