Page 38 of Perfect Enough
When Lenard walked away, I leaned in and asked, “What wasthatall about?”
Josh winked. “I’ll tell you later.” He smiled at my mother and said, “If you’ll excuse us, I’d love to dance with my beautiful date.”
And just like that, he swept me onto the dance floor set up outside on the patio.
“Wow, your cousin is…I don’t even have the words right now.”
I glanced into the ballroom to see Karen flirting with a guy I didn’t know. “I’m trying not to say anything mean about her.” My attention was pulled back to Josh. “My mother is always trying to defend me, and I appreciate it, but sometimes I think she forgets I’m an adult now.”
“I’m sorry she blamed you for your ex treating you like he did.”
I nodded. “I’m a bit surprised by that myself. She never seemed to like it when I had a boyfriend and she didn’t, so I’m sure seeing me with you just kicked her usual meanness up a notch. But for her to just come out and say that in front of you was…well, it was downright cruel. Though, I can’t say I’m too surprised.”
Josh pulled me closer, and I didn’t want to admit how good it felt to be in his arms.
He gave me a brilliant, lopsided, boyish grin, and I felt my knees go weak and my stomach flip. “Some first date this has been, huh?”
My eyes went wide, and I tripped over…well, I wasn’t sure what I tripped over. Josh caught me, and when I looked up into those grayish-blue eyes, all I could think about was how desperately I wanted him to kiss me at that moment.
“Oh, shit.”
Josh raised a brow at my whispered words. “Oh, shit good…or oh, shit bad?”
Chapter Nine
JOSH
The evening so far had been kind of crazy. Everything about Sophia was amazing, but her cousin rubbed me the wrong way and pissed me off with how she tried to make Sophia look bad in front of me, her date. And it was clear Sophia’s mother was deeply into her daughter’s life…and I had to wonder if she had a dang tracker on her phone. Otherwise, I wasn’t sure how she knew we’d arrived at the club when we did. Of course, it was probably because she had been waiting since everyone else had been.
Drawing her closer, purely because I loved the feeling of her in my arms, I said, “Some first date this has been, huh?”
Sophia tripped over what I thought was her foot, and nearly fell. I grabbed her firmly, about to ask if she was okay, when her eyes met mine…and something inside of me tightened, and I realized I wanted to kiss her.
As if reading my mind, Sophia softly whispered, “Oh, shit.”
I tried not to laugh as I said, “Oh, shit good…or oh, shit bad?”
She righted herself, looked around, then back at me. “Why is everyone staring at us?”
I looked into the ballroom, and it did seem like a number of people were watching us.
“Why do I get the feeling people in your family are way more invested in your life than they should be?”
Groaning, she dropped her head to my chest. “My mother told everyone about Drake. No, that’s not true. She toldAunt Lynn, who told everyone what happened. And now I’m here with you, and you’releaguesabove Drake, and I feel like everyone thinks you’re too handsome to be with me. Like, if I couldn’t hang on to Drake, I’m totally kidding myself with you.”
“What?” I said, as I focused back on her. “Sophia, don’t think like that.”
She glanced up at me, and my breath caught in my throat. “You are so sweet to do this for me.”
She chewed on her lower lip, and I reached up, pulling it free of her teeth. “What’s wrong?”
Closing her eyes, she said, “Nothing. It’s nothing.”
I knew she was lying, and a part of me thought she was thinking about the fallout she’d face when she told everyone we’d broken up…essentially proving them right. It was so strange for me to see such a different family dynamic than my own. I couldn’t at all imagine one of my cousins trying to embarrass me, or my family ever thinking a woman was too good for me.
Suddenly, I spotted Karen—and she looked to be heading our way.
“Josh! There you are. I would love to introduce you to some of the family. I’m not sure why Sophia is hiding you out here.”