UNBROKEN (Friends, Lovers, or Nothing Book 5) Read online

  I smiled into the mirror. Hearing my friend’s excited plea made me happy. I was so worried about what my parents are going to say that I forgot how my closest friends are going to react. Erica and Daniela helped me plan my wedding with Xavier. These are women who know how badly I’ve wanted to get married and who knew how deep my feelings for Aiden were before I even realized it.

  “Of course I’m having a big wedding. You do realize who I’m marrying, right?”

  “You are correct, Mrs. Tyler,” Daniela chuckled. “He did announce your relationship to the whole world on national TV. Aiden does it big or he doesn’t do it at all.”

  “Exactly.”

  I heard the apartment door open so I figured that Aiden was back from dropping Summer off with Kat. I ended my conversation with Daniela, stuck my phone in my clutch, and met Aiden in the living room. I spent the better part of the morning at the mall getting clothes for him to make sure my client was impeccably dressed for the biggest dinner of his life, and it was certainly worth it.

  The black Tom Ford slacks fit his waist perfectly without a belt. The black button up shirt was unbuttoned just enough to be tasteful and sexy at the same time. I was envisioning Damon Salvatore when I picked this look but I’ll never tell him that. My fiancé would rather dress like Jax Teller any day of the week.

  Aiden was standing at the kitchen counter pouring Tanqueray into a tumbler full of ice. He looked good from head to toe but his eyes and the fact that he was drinking straight gin gave away his nerves. Good. He needed to be nervous.

  “You are going to give every man in that restaurant a fuckin’ heart attack,” he grumbled.

  I ran my hands over the black Rachel Roy dress and smiled. He didn’t have to tell me that I looked good in this dress. I know I do. The way that his eyes flooded with lust let me know he appreciates how the dress is hugging my hips and, as Jordan said, my Georgia peach booty.

  “I figured I’d get one more wear out of this dress since I won’t be able to fit it in a few months. Erica or Delilah will probably steal it and I’ll never see it again.”

  Aiden downed his drink and came around the counter. He placed his hands on my hips and pulled me into him like he was about to kiss me. He pressed his forehead against mine. I heard each time he inhaled. When he put his arms around me, I felt his fingers trembling. He was more than just nervous.

  “Are you okay?” I whispered.

  “Umm-hmm.”

  “Come on. Talk to me. What’s going on?”

  “Jordan told me that Peaches doesn’t think that I’m husband material. I know how much your parents’ opinion means to you. What are you going to do if your mom and dad don’t think we should get married? Are you gonna still marry me?”

  I wanted to strangle Jordan. She shouldn’t have said anything to him, especially what my mother said last night. That wasn’t her business to tell. Now I had to deal with Aiden’s fear that mirrored my own.

  “You gotta make them see that you’re serious, Aiden. That’s all I can say.”

  “That’s not all you can say,” he muttered. “Say that you’re still going to marry me even if your parents don’t think it’s a good idea.”

  I took a deep breath and did the most heartbreaking thing I could ever do to him without him even knowing.

  “Yes,” I lied. “Even if my parents don’t want me to, I will still marry you.”

  A slow smile made its way across Aiden’s face as he dipped his head and held my face in the palm of his large hands. With his face so close to mind, I noticed a little trickle of sweat run down his temple, residual effect of being out in the sun all day with Summer probably. The tiny scar at the corner of his eye that he got falling in the walk-in cooler at Rabbit’s was only noticeable when his face was inches away from mine. It was his eyes, as usual, that drew me in. I always say that Aiden’s eyes are his most striking feature. Not his rugged almost boy next door good looks, not his golden blonde hair, not his physique...his eyes, green as a Sprite bottle and almost as clear. They’re magnetic, hypnotizing. A black hole that sucks you in and never lets you go.

  “Don’t worry,” he said softly. “I’m not gonna mess up your make up.”

  “it’s just lip gloss.”

  “I love you, Sunny,” he whispered against my lips. “It took me this long to be ready to be the man for you. I’m not going to ever hurt you.”

  Aiden pressed against me and kissed me with such perfection that I thought I was about to cry. Aiden had never kissed me like that before, so deeply, so thoroughly that the only thought that ran through my head was ‘he’s mine.’ In that kiss, I knew that what my parents think doesn’t matter. I’m going to spend my life with Aiden Tyler.

  “Umm, are you sure you want to do to dinner?” I stammered breathlessly when he released me. Every nerve in my body was tingling.

  Aiden’s voice was deeper and huskier than normal when he answered no. But he’d already sent a car to pick up my parents and had his Gallardo washed and ready to go.

  “Come on, soon-to-be Mrs. Tyler,” he said as he took my hand. “Let’s go butter up your folks so I can tell them we’re getting hitched.”

  We walked into Nikolai’s Roof and it felt like every pair of eyes was on us, which usually happens whenever I walked into any public place with Aiden Tyler, the superstar.

  I picked this restaurant because I knew my mom and dad would be impressed. Aiden wanted to go to a steakhouse. Even though there are quite a few fine dining steakhouses in Atlanta, the opulence of Nikolai’s was breathtaking and was exactly what we needed tonight. Hell, he pulled out the Lambo to impress my dad. We were pulling out all the stops tonight.

  The maître d’ led us to the best table in the house. I recognized a few familiar faces. Dre from Power Records nodded at us. Paul Wesley was there with one of his The Vampire Diaries co-stars. The place was packed with Atlanta’s rich and famous. Good. Maybe Jermaine and Peaches would be too star struck to exhibit any bad behavior.

  Both of my parents stood when we approached the table. My mom was definitely camera ready in case the paparazzi was lurking. Peaches has been rocking blonde hair longer than Mary J Blige. This month, it was cut in a razor sharp bob that framed her perfectly oval face. Her caramel brown skin was flawless. She was also wearing black like Aiden and me.

  Dad was Denzel fresh in a pair of tailored navy blue slacks and periwinkle button up that he left untucked. I always check out what people are wearing first and foremost. My parents’ fashion sense has never embarrassed me, not even when I was a teenager. I’m one of the lucky ones because I’ve seen pictures of Doug and Dina before I met them. I’m so glad Peaches never rocked a pair of Mom jeans and Dina let me revamp her wardrobe. I can’t have a frumpy mother-in-law. My family doesn’t do frumpy.

  “Babygirl, you are wearing that dress!” Mama exclaimed as she wrapped me in a tight hug like she hadn’t just left my apartment this morning. “Black and gold looks so good on you.”

  “Look at you, though. Isn’t this one if my pieces?”

  She nodded proudly. “I went to RainDrops after I left your place. Kat wanted to see the new store at Lenox even though her big ass can’t fit anything in there.”

  “Hey,” my father laughed. “Watch how you talk about my sister.”

  “What?” Mama scoffed. “I ain’t said nothin’ I haven’t said to her. Kat knows she’s big as hell.”

  “Not everyone is a six,” I commented and sat down in the chair Aiden pulled out for me. “I’m not even a six.”

  Mama sat down after giving Aiden a hug too. “What size are you wearin’ these days? You look like you’ve gained some weight.”

  “Nope,” I said quickly. “We’re not talking about that tonight. My weight and my schedule are off limits tonight.”

  After eliminating Peaches’ two favorite topics of conversation, we quickly accepted the maître d’s suggestion of letting the chef choose our menu. Aiden and my dad ordered gin and tonics, my mom had her usual pi
nk Moscato, and I stuck with water. If my parents noticed that I wasn’t drinking, they didn’t say anything.

  I hoped that Aiden would wait until dessert to drop the atomic bomb we were holding but that was a short-lived dream. Once he and my father finished setting a date to take the new Lambo out to the speedway, Aiden cleared his throat and squeezed my knee.

  Here we go.

  “Mr. and Mrs. Russell, we wanted to have dinner together because I want to talk to you about something.”

  Mr. and Mrs. Russell? Aiden has never called my parents that before. My mother looked at me and I groaned internally. Why did he have to be so formal? They definitely knew something was up.

  “What do you need to talk to us about, son?” my father asked.

  Peaches may have been ice-grilling me, but Jermaine was looking directly at Aiden and he was not smiling.

  “Well,” Aiden gulped and took a swig of his drink. “I’m just gonna come right out and say it. I want to marry Sunny. I asked her already but she won’t give me an answer until I clear it with you.”

  “You?” Peaches snorted. “With your bad luck with marriage, you really want to try that again?”

  “Ma! Come on,” I pleaded. “That was harsh.”

  “It’s cool, babe,” Aiden replied. “But yeah, Miss Peaches. There’s a reason that those other times didn’t work out. I’m supposed to be with Sunny.”

  “The right thing would have been to marry her before you knocked her up,” Mama snapped. “What’s changed now? How do we know you aren’t going to change your mind about being with her again?”

  “Well, we’ve been together for the last six months and nobody has had any complaints,” Aiden argued. “Since she is the mother of my child, I don’t see a problem with us getting married now.”

  “It’s only been six months,” Aiden,” my father spoke up. His deep voice commanded Aiden’s and my mom’s attention. Even I looked up from my brussel sprout salad when Jermaine started speaking.

  “You and my daughter have had a break up to make up relationship since the day you met. I’m not blaming you, son. Sunny is just as fickle about being with you as you are about being with her. Who knows where this relationship will be in another six months.”

  “Oh my God,” Peaches sighed. “Sugarcoating this ain’t workin’ for me, Jermaine. I’m just gon’ say it. Nobody believes y’all are for real. After the whole thing with Tristan and Erica, we just thought you and Sunny were each other’s rebound.”

  I was offended. I don’t rebound date and my mother knows that. What happened with Aiden in New Orleans after Xavier cheated on me wasn’t a rebound. It was sex between two sexually compatible people. Besides, an adequate amount of time had passed between breaking up with Tristan and saying yes to Aiden. Months had passed, not days.

  “Wow, Mama, that’s really what you think? That we’re just fooling around? After everything I’ve told you? You’re wrong for that.”

  “I’m only speaking my truth. You don’t have to like it. I know what I see and what I see is—”

  “So,” I interrupted her. “Are you saying we shouldn’t get married?”

  Peaches eyed me for a minute. I could doubt permeating her mind and clouding her judgment. She looked at my father. “What do you think, Jermaine?”

  My father shook his head. “I honestly don’t know.”

  He didn’t elaborate because our waiter had arrived at our table with our second course.

  “This is crab terrine with a béarnaise sauce, haricot vert, and fingerling potato crisps,” he explained as he sat a plate in front of each of us. “May I refresh your beverages?”

  “Can you tell the sommelier that I’d like a bottle of your ‘96 Lafite,” Peaches answered. “Quickly, please.”

  “Damn, it’s like that, Mama? You need a $300 bottle of wine to have this conversation?”

  “Leave me alone, Sunny Rain, before I get like Etta and start hollerin’ for a bottle of gin.”

  Aiden and my dad burst out laughing but I didn’t find a damn thing funny. I’m still pissed about the rebound comment.

  “Sunny, what your mother was trying to say—” My father started to defend her like he always does but Peaches interrupted him.

  “She knows exactly what I’m saying. How many phone calls have I gotten from this child crying and carrying on over something Aiden said or did? The whole time he was married to that Ramey girl, she barely even spoke to the boy. Then she goes across the ocean to stop him from marrying Erica. Now they’re sitting here talking about marriage. This ain’t nothin’ but a joke.”

  “First,” I snapped. “I didn’t go anywhere to stop him from marrying Erica. If they wanted to get married, I wasn’t going to stop them. And you know I had good reason for not speaking to Aiden when he was with Ramey. Mama, don’t front like you don’t know how I feel about him.”

  “You don’t know how you feel about him,” Peaches countered. “It’s changes every three months. Like I said, this right here ain’t nothin’ but a joke.”

  “Cheryl,” Daddy said sternly, using my mother’s government name. “Don’t be like that. We gotta hear them out.”

  “Yeah,” Aiden dared to open his mouth. “I admit that Sunny and I haven’t had the perfect relationship. Hell, we haven’t even been the best of friends to each other at times. But this is different. I’ve done some things that hurt her in the past but she’s not exactly innocent in this situation either. She’s said and done some stuff to me that hurt just as much. We’re moving past all of that though.”

  I glared at Aiden. When did this become about me?

  “What are you talking about?” I hissed angrily. “I hurt you? When? Enlighten me, please.”

  Aiden frowned. “Sunny, don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about. Your track record ain’t much better than mine. I can remember at least three occasions before Summer was born that I told you that I wanted to be with you and you basically told me to leave you alone. And we’re not even goin’ to speak on all the times after she was born.”

  “Once, Aiden. You told me once in New Orleans,” I argued.

  “Are you serious?” he fumed. “I didn’t tell you I wanted to be with you on the beach? Or in the studio? What about in Jamaica? Or when we were in Paris?”

  “You were drunk all of those times!” I shouted. “They don’t count. You only said it once when you were sober and that was in New Orleans so it’s the only one that counts!”

  “This is what I’m talking about.” Peaches shook her head. “Y’all aren’t nearly ready to even be thinkin’ about getting married, let alone actually doing it.”

  “Personally,” Daddy interjected while Peaches and I glared at each other. “I don’t doubt that you love my daughter, Aiden.”

  “I do love her,” Aiden replied. “What y’all don’t know because I’m sure she’s never told you,”—he cut his eyes at me—”What y’all don’t know is that I have been in love with Sunny for a long time. I loved her when I was married, when I was single, when I was with Erica. I loved her and I knew I loved her. However, I also knew that Sunny didn’t want me. At first, I thought that I wasn’t good enough for her and I didn’t want to hurt her. That’s why I let her stay engaged to Xavier. It didn’t take long for me to realize how wrong I was but when I did, Sunny wasn’t having any parts of me. I didn’t know what I had to do in order for her to want me so I just settled on being her friend. I actually hoped that one day, she’d come around. I’ve made mistakes but I’m not going to make any more when it comes to her. That’s a promise.”

  Aiden stared down at this plate for a while. I felt his leg shaking underneath the table. There was something about his composure that lessened my irritation at him. I put my hand on his thigh. He looked my way.

  “I know you’ve changed,” I said. “We wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think so.”

  “Peaches…Jermaine,” he said looking directly at my parents. “Sunny is my favorite person in the world.
I know people think I’m some wild, outta control rockstar. They say I’m immature and even my mom thinks I have commitment issues. I may be, but the thing is, I want to be committed to Sunny. What I feel for your daughter is deeper than anything I’ve ever felt before. I’ve seen Sunny be hurt by guys and every time, I blamed myself. If I had just been a better friend, a better man…she wouldn’t have had to feel that kind of pain. Now that I’m in a position to make sure she never hurts again, I’m damn sure going to take advantage. You might not understand our relationship, but the last thing either of you will ever have to worry about is your daughter’s heart. I will spend every second of the rest of my life making sure that she is safe, happy, fulfilled, and loved because I’m the only man in this world that’s meant to love her like that.”

  There was complete silence at the table. My heart was about to burst wide open. All I wanted was to grab Aiden’s face and cover it with kisses. I settled for holding his hand as he used the other to wipe the tears from my eyes.

  My mother poured another glass of wine. She thought she was slick by blinking her eyes rapidly like she had an eyelash in there but she wasn’t. I was closely watching both of my parents to see which one would break first. Peaches lost.

  “Well.” My father cleared his throat. “Peaches, baby,” he said and handed his wife a linen napkin. “Looks like we’re finally getting a son.”

  “Appears so.” Peaches nodded. Then she smiled widely and reached across the table to pat Aiden’s hand. “Sunny is moody. She’s temperamental and a wee bit selfish. If you want to take this problem child off our hands, you have my blessing.”