RIDE OR DIE ➸ OSCAR DIAZ [1]

THIRTY ONE

I INHALE A deep breath as I stare at my reflection in the mirror. Today has got to be the worst day ever. A whole day of preparing a huge feast, and then eating pretty much all of it in the evening. There's no way I'm going to be able to go through with this.

"Mija you look beautiful." My dad's voice pulls me away from my thoughts and slightly startles me. I look over at him and force a small smile onto my face. "I haven't seen you around for a while. Are you getting too busy for your padre?"

A soft laugh passes my lips as I shake my head and self consciously wrap my arms around my body. "Just a lot of schoolwork. But I'll never be too busy for any of you." I say in a soft tone as I nervously chew on my bottom lip. I have to tell him and my mom about Oscar before they find out from someone else. But how? After what happened with Elijah I doubt they'll trust any guy ever again.

"If you say so. Come help your mom with the food before she loses her cool." He says jokingly, "You know how she can be."

I nod my head and just as he's about to leave my room I call out, "There's someone that you guys have to meet." He turns around with a confused expression which makes me sigh softly. "You'll meet this person after dinner I promise."

With a forced sounding chuckle he says, "Alright." He walks out of the room that I share with Olivia, leaving me alone for a few moments. I sit down on the edge of my bed and stare down at the tattoo on my finger. The memory brings a smile to my lips and helps ease my nerves. Everything will be okay. All this worrying is useless.

Now if I could only believe those words.

"Mija!" My mom exclaims, grabbing my attention. With a deep breath, I stand up and rush out of my room to help her with the dinner.

I PACE AROUND the dining table after dinner, anxiously waiting for Oscar. I somehow managed to get through dinner. The only thing that kept me going was the promise that I made to Oscar. The front door opens and I stop my pacing to see who it is. A grinning Cesar walks in and he greets Olivia with a kiss that makes me roll my eyes. He's so stupid. He's wasting his and Olivia's time but hey, who am I to say anything?

"Where's your brother?" I hastily ask Cesar as he sits down in the chair between Ruby and Sam. Olivia sits down on his lap and wraps her arms around his neck and I have to resist the urge to roll my eyes once again. "Please tell me he dressed properly," I add quickly as I begin pacing around the table again.

"Relax Cami." Cesar chuckles, grabbing my wrist as I walk by him. "He's outside parking his precious car. And he's actually wearing pants for once."

"Oh thank god." I sigh happily, allowing my lips to lift into a weak smile. "He needs to make a good impression," I say nervously, as I swallow past the lump that's forming in my throat. The front door opens once again and I spin around, hoping that it's him. My breath hitches in my throat at the sight before me. Cesar was right. He is wearing pants. "I didn't even know that you owned jeans!" I laugh as I pull my wrist out of Cesar's grasp and walk over to him. He smiles and holds out his arms, which I graciously fall into.

"If you didn't show up within the next five minutes she would've had a full-on breakdown." Sam snickers as Oscar kisses my cheek. I roll my eyes as I pull away from him to admire his outfit. He's wearing a navy blue t-shirt along with black jeans and his cross necklace. If this doesn't win over my parents then I don't know what will.

"You should've seen her. She's been pacing for the past fifteen minutes." Ruby chimes in, which makes me sigh as I bring my eyes to Oscar's face. He raises an eyebrow suspiciously to which I shake my head.

"I didn't, I promise," I whisper as I hug him once again. He sighs but nods his head anyway. "Ruby, can you go get mom and dad?" I say as I step away from Oscar and nervously chew on my bottom lip. I can only hope that they like him.