Catching Feelings

Chapter 36

The three of them had lunch at an Italian restaurant in Calabasas. True to her word, Raven kept her smile and nice demeanor while in Sandi's presence, which wasn't hard at all. The two women found that they had a few things in common such as movies and cooking. As they ate, the conversation bounced back and forth between Sandi and Raven, or Sandi and Aubrey, the dialogue between the couple was scarce, something that didn't go unnoticed by his mother. She eyed the pair closely picking up on a few things, like how Raven's hand would slide away ever so subtlety whenever Aubrey would try to place his on top of hers. She caught the pleading glances from her son, and the narrowed eyes Raven would respond with when they thought she wasn't looking and came to the conclusion that something was wrong, and from the looks of it her son was the cause.

Being the loving mother that she is, she attempted to get them talking to each other. "So Aubrey tells me that he met your family some months ago, I'm jealous, why did I have to wait so long?"

"It wasn't planned; we weren't even dating at the time." Drake spoke in their defense.

"Yeah, he stalked me, popped up at my house and conned my mother into letting him stay for dinner." Raven replied thinking back to his impromptu visit that led to the both of them being grilled by her family.

"I didn't con her, she just liked me." A sly smirk played on his lips and Raven poked him in the side.

Sandi smiled watching their playful banter. "Your mother's a doctor right?"

Raven nodded her head setting her focus back on Sandi. "Yes, she's an OB/GYN and runs her own practice back in New York."

Sandi was impressed, and turned to her son. "Nice girl, comes from a good family, and she doesn't even care about your yutzi tattoos, I think she's a keeper. Don't mess this up."

After lunch Drake wanted to treat his mom and Raven to a day on the town. His Bentley cruised along Rodeo where all the beautiful people carelessly walked up and down the sidewalks with their designer shopping bags in each hand. Raven opted to sit in the back, leaving the passenger seat open for Sandi. During the ride Drake couldn't stop peering at Raven through the rearview mirror, she would catch him here and there and motion for him to watch the road. He knew he had some major making up to do to get back on her good side. He missed having her smile directed at him, he missed hearing her laugh and the feel of her gentle touch. Raven told him that she wanted to deal with this problem between them after his mom left, but he didn't know if he could put up with her cold shoulder for that long.

They stopped at a spa right off of Robertson where Hush was waiting in another car for them. He was filling in as his bodyguard since Spoons was taking off to spend time with his daughters. Once the car was parked Hush went over to open the passenger side door and help Sandi out. Drake got out in time to close Raven's door for her, he clasped his hand with hers. She looked up at him with a curious expression confused as to why he would think she was in the mood to be chummy with him. She tried to pull away and her face twisted when she fixed her lips to say something to him but halted and put on smile when Mama Graham turned to face them.

"You two ready to go." She asked looking at the seemingly happy couple.

"I'm ready, you ready Raven?" Drake asked with the biggest mischievous smile that made his cheeks scrunch up. He knew he was playing with fire, but the withering look on Raven's face made it all worth it.

"Umm hmm." Raven replied through tight lips.

"Well lets go, I could use a massage." Sandi waved them on and walked through the door as Hush held it open for her.

They moved towards the door, but once Sandi was out of sight Raven stopped moving, forcing Drake to stop as well since he was holding her hand. "You think you're so slick, don't you?"