The Heart Wants What It Wants (Completed)

Chapter 30

Back again, FireRyzers! Here's the next chapter. Hope you guys enjoy it!

Chapter 30

Val's flight touched down in Memphis, Tennessee as scheduled. She walked to the baggage claim to gather her suitcases and then wait for Lexy to pick her up. Just as she reached the carousel, she heard her sister call her name.

"Hey, Lex. I'm so glad to see you. I need a shower like asap."

"Long flight?" Lexy asked, grabbing one of her suitcases.

"Long everything," Val quipped, shaking her head as her mind drifted back to Atlanta.

"Well, Dad's waiting on us, so let's get going."

"Dad," Val scoffed, rolling her eyes. "I hardly think Vincent deserves that title."

"Val," Lexy warned, looking over at her sister, "I know you two haven't had the best relationship, but be nice. It is the holidays."

Val deeply sighed and shook her head. "Whatever."

"Please? He's looking forward to seeing you."

"For what? I'm twenty-seven years old. It's not like he can teach me how to ride a bike or dry my tears because some asshole stood me up at homecoming, and he damn sure can't teach me how to recognize game!"

"Alright, alright," Lexy said, holding a hand up in surrender. "I didn't mean to upset you. I just want you guys to get along. Just for the holidays, OK? This is really important to me."

Val sighed again, clenching her teeth in anger. She rolled her eyes and shook her head once more, finally relenting to her sister.

"Alright. Only for you, though."

"Thank you," Lexy said, smiling at her.

When the two sisters arrived at Lexy's SUV, they loaded Val's luggage into the back seat, and then exited the airport grounds. The further they got away from the airport, the more Val got lost in her thoughts. It wasn't long before Lexy took notice of her quiet demeanor.

"What's on your mind, sis?"

"Joe. He asked me to go to Pensacola with him for Thanksgiving, and I said 'no.'"

Lexy glanced at her and gave her leg a light pat. "I know you'd rather be with him, Val, but I really do appreciate you coming to Memphis. How are you guys getting along anyway?"

Val's mood suddenly lightened when their conversation started to focus on her relationship with Joe.

"We're doing good. He really went all out on my birthday. Speaking of my birthday, how'd he know all of my sizes?" she asked, cocking a suspicious eye at Lexy.

"I don't know," Lexy said, shrugging her shoulders.

"Yeah, right. Anyway I-oh shit! I forgot to tell you. TMZ outed us."

"Are you serious?!" Lexy asked in surprise.

"Yes, bitch. They said I was 'hot' too," Val said, tugging at her sweatshirt's collar.

Lexy shook her head and replied, "And how'd Joe take it?"

"Like the champ he's about to be real soon."

"Well," Lexy started, merging onto the highway, "at least that's outta the way now. Was everything good?"

"Yeah, nothing negative, thank goodness. I did put all my social media accounts as private, though-just to be on the safe side."

"I don't blame you."

Fifteen minutes passed before Lexy pulled onto the driveway of a two-story Colonial-style home in Germantown. Val's nerves threatened to get the best of her as she watched the front door of the home swing open and an older man start to approach them. Because of his age, she assumed that he was her father, Persian Gulf War veteran Vincent Michael Cruz. He was of average height and from what she'd learned from her mother, Filipino descent.