Page 42 of Tell Me I'm Not Dreaming

“And he’s cool with how she wants this to go down?”

“Very cool. Aimee definitely matches his freak.”

Lyric laughs, then looks at him like he’s a puzzle she’s trying to solve.

“How are you Southern?”

“I was born and raised in Tupelo, Mississippi. I was raised by my mother and grandparents before the age of fifteen. Then when granny and grandaddy died, it happened to coincide with Momma Peyton’s divorce from my dad, so my mom sold my grandparents’ house and moved us to LA so we could all be under one roof.”

“Wow! The photos and articles on your family always made it seem like you all grew up together.”

“We did, just not in the conventional way. My family doesn’t do anything in a conventional way. Me and my mom would come to LA, and my dad, and eventually my siblings and their moms, would come visit in Mississippi. Hell, granddaddy always used to say he had eight grandkids instead of just me. One of the last pictures taken of him is of him holding Chance as a baby, when he was at least one,” Ranson explains.

He has a dreamy look in his eyes like he’s thinking about the memory.

“You look out for them. That’s why you were worried about your dad. You give your disinherited siblings money, don’t you?”

“Every month. And my mom, too. It wasn’t just about Momma Dola, Lee and the other businesses. And it was more than just not wanting to be under my father’s thumb anymore. I’m the big brother, and I can’t look after them if he ruins me.”

Lyric shakes her head and lets out a whistle. “Damn. Handsome, sexy, generous, protective and Southern. Ukweli wasn’t playing when she sent you to me, was she?”

Ranson looks confused. “I’m sorry, who?”

“The psychic I was telling Big Head about. Me and the girls went to New Orleans for a girls’ trip.”

“I know y’all were cutting up. Were Roc and Pete with you?”

“Yep, and Aimee fucked both of them, hence Big Head’s comment yesterday.”

Ranson leans forward and lets out a guffaw.

“Anyway, we visited Ukweli’s shop, and she told us that we would meet the men of our dreams this year. We all ended up getting the two of cups when we pulled from the deck and she shuffled them each time.”

Ranson’s eyes grow wide. “Whoa!”

“You believe in that stuff?”

“Hell yeah, I’m surprised you don’t. There are plenty of unexplainable things out there. Besides, how else can you explain my falling in love with you in two weeks?”

He pulls her in his arms and kisses her.

“Not to mention I don’t want Ukweli to put a root on me,” he adds.

Lyric’s hands are on his chest as she laughs at his silliness.

“I love you, too, Ranson.”

They kiss some more. When they break apart, he lets us a satisfied hum.

“Mmm. Now, I don’t want to be presumptuous, but I was hoping we could get somealonetime, so I booked us a hotel. Is that okay?”

“Why are we still standing here?”

He smiles and picks her up, carrying her to his car parked down the road in case they needed to get away without her family seeing.

Forty minutes later, they bust into the hotel room kissing, barely closing the door before they’re ripping off each other’s clothes.

Ranson breaks the kiss. “I’ve been tested, have you?”