Oral Care

Chapter 34: Keep Me Warm

*** Evelyn's POV ***

Rafael is a man on a mission as he rides my ass to leave. I have no idea what he has in mind as he pulls up to my family's hotel. He glances at me and I lift an eyebrow out of curiosity.

He chuckles and brings my hand up to his lips. "We're just headed out to dinner."

"You didn't have enough of them today at lunch? I sure as hell did." I retort.

"It's their last night. It's the right thing to do." He assures me.

"But it's not their last night. They're here all day tomorrow too." I point out.

His head snaps to me and his cocky smile fades. "Oh...well. Shit."

"What are you up to?" I question.

"Eh, fuck it. Ball is already rolling. Evening, ladies." Rafael is looking past me. I turn to see my mom and sisters approaching the car hesitantly.

Sarah slides in first, Jenny gets stuck in the middle, and my mother huffs when she realizes that I am not vacating the front seat for her comfort. She leans forward. "I'm glad you decided to reconcile after our earlier encounter. Sarah had quite the stories to share from her trip back."

"Yep. All true." Rafael doesn't seem the least bit fazed by her insinuation.

"So you've met his entire family, his parents and all thirteen of his siblings?" Jenny asks curiously.

"Well not all of them." I note somberly and squeeze Rafael's hand.

"But you said..." Sarah starts to bitch at Rafael.

"Jesus, Sarah! He didn't lie to you so calm the fuck down. I've met all his living siblings." I clarify.

"Oh no!" Jenny gasps.

"I'm so sorry." Sarah apologizes.

"Yeah." I scoff.

"Why didn't you want him to meet us?" Jenny asks in a small voice.

I hesitate for a moment. Rafael squeezes my hand to reassure me. I gesture with my free hand. "This is why. The drama. The judgment. I really like Rafael. In fact, I love him. I didn't want to scare him off."

"It would take a lot more than those three." He pulls my hand to his lips again.

"So where are we going to dinner? We don't easily settle on common cuisine." I decide to change the topic as I notice him getting on the highway to head out of town. We have a few favorites in the 'burbs, but I thought he would stay local.

"Um, someplace we've been before. You like it." Rafael evades. I narrow my eyes at his dodginess, but don't push because we need to be a united front against my family who seems fueled by antagonism.

"So did you ask her about marriage and kids, yet Raf?" Sarah asks smugly.

I fight really hard to keep my face stoic while internally I am screaming. What the literal fuck?! Now I wish that I had pressed him more about what exactly transpired when he drove her back earlier.

"Didn't have time. I was too busy f..." Rafael seems to like getting a rise from my family and while I usually don't care, we are just heading to dinner and I don't want a flare up this early.