Kade's Game by C. M. Owens Page B

I learn how to deal with all this, alcohol and I are going to get very well acquainted.
     
    I'm not sure which part of the evening has been the most boring—hanging around everyone who has a stick shoved up their ass, or dancing to music that puts babies to sleep in front of women who are cursing my firstborn in whispers.  If one more person gives Raya a condescending look, I'm going to haul her out of here over my shoulder.
    And my mother's parents aren't any better.  It's sad when I actually appreciate my father.  Considering he and my cousins have been incredibly welcoming to the girl who wasn't born on silk sheets, I have a new appreciation for all of them.
    The only time she isn't getting the snooty snorts of distaste is when she's getting ogled by the bored husbands looking for a new side dish.  Then of course, there are a few hormonal idiots who are undressing her with their eyes—that doesn't include me.  That pisses me off even more.
    Fortunately, she seems to be oblivious to everyone's reaction to her.  She has taken the backhanded compliments without so much as flinching.  But Raya doesn't know how to look for the sharks disguised as Nemo.  I've never been more grateful for her naivety than I am right now.
    Wren comes over, offering me a discreet wink, and sidles up next to my girl.  I'm surprised Erica let him come tonight without her.  She cheated on him, yet she's the one who gets crazy jealous.
    "We're about to go to the den," Wren says, motioning toward the uppity crowd who are slowly diminishing.
    "Sounds good.  Will you hang out with Raya for me for just a second?  I need to go find Mom.  I forgot to tell her something."
    Wren nods and smiles knowingly, and I kiss Raya's forehead without thinking about it.  That wasn't me staking my claim.  Okay... Maybe a little bit.
    She shivers and that gives me a smile.  I love her body's reactions.  I know I have her body's approval, now I just need to make sure the rest of her is on board.  She's skittish, meaning she's been hurt.  She doesn't date —ever.  She's had one serious boyfriend, and the bastard cheated on her.  Kid gloves.  I'll have to ease her into the idea so it doesn't overwhelm her and end after ten seconds.  Not that I'm looking to dive into a serious thing.
    Focus, Kade.  Mom .  I have to find her and make sure she behaves.
    After grinding my teeth all night when someone said something insulting to Raya while veiling it as something kind, I won't have a tooth left if my mother decides to play bitch.  She never likes any girl around me.
    "Oh a scholarship?" Mary Perkins—one of the biggest socialite bitches—had asked Raya. "I'm sure a scholarship is very helpful to a girl in your condition." Yeah.  Her condition.  Poor is apparently a condition.  She made it sound like an incurable disease.
    That one word was laced with utter disgust — scholarship.   Raya works twice as hard as her screw-up son who only got into college after Mary made a call.
    Raya had just smiled and nodded, not noticing the underlying insult.  If she did, she didn't let me know.
    That is the least of the shit that was said, and I'm determined to make sure my mother doesn't make me blow a fuse.  Maybe Dad will help me for a change, seeing as he seems to really have a lot of adoration for Raya.
    When I find her, Mom is talking to Johanna Wright, one of the many bitchy women who spoke poorly to my girl.  Fortunately, Johanna is so good at giving insults as compliments, that Raya actually thanked her.  It broke my heart.  She doesn't deserve this shit.  She's too sweet to notice how cruel they all are.
    "Mom," I say, my eyes on Johanna in warning.
    She doesn't miss my menacing gaze, and the bitch in black turns away from my mother to show me the challenge in her eyes.
    "Kade," Mom says, but I don't move my stare.
    "Johanna," I say, not calling her Mrs. Wright the way she prefers.
    She's forty but looks thirty, thanks to heavy plastic