Broken Bad Boy

HAILEY

Percie's parents visit turned into a small party. His grandparents, my family, friends, and even Remy came over. It was just a click on Percie's phone everyone we cared about came over.

Mrs. Matthews had been great to me. She squeezed me into a hug when she saw me wearing her son's engagement ring. She held my hand and looked closely at the ring on my finger. "This is so beautiful." She smiled. "Beautiful for a beautiful young woman. Please, don't break my son's heart."

"Thank you, and I have no intention to." I did a quick glance at my man chatting with Remy and his father at the corner of the living room."

"Now, I can rest. Percie has just been through a lot to have another heartbreak, but I know he's in good hands. Thank you, dear." She kissed me on my cheek. Percie saw us, and he was smiling at me. When his mom left me in the kitchen, I tried my best not to roll my eyes when Victoria, Lexie, and Megan joined me.

"You're fucking engaged."

I tried to mask my happy face to a frown to Lexie. "We're not engaged." I hid my hand behind my back.

"Do you think you can fool me? Show me your fucking ring, and let me judge if Percie did not cut his budget." She offered her hand, and I just looked at it. "That won't be necessary, Lexie."

"We'll see that one way or another. Now show it to us, or I will shout from here that you're freaking engaged. You choose," Megan warned me, her brow arching. Victoria waited patiently. Her arms crossed over her chest.

"I'm gonna count from one to five, Hailey."

"Fine, but this is a promise ring. And we're not engaged," I insisted.

"Oh, my freaking God!" Victoria gushed as soon as I showed my hand to them.

"Is everything okay in there, girls?" It was Remy, checking on us.

"We're freaking great!" Victoria yelled back. "Oh, my. Oh, my. Lucky bitch." She examined the flawless stone on my finger.

"That costs a fortune."

"He's fucking rich, Megan," Lexie replied. "You're engaged, huh?" she pursed her lips in amusement.

"I said "

"I heard you the first time, Hailey. Percie is just trying not to scare you, silly."

I frowned and thought again. I guessed no matter how I tried to deny the fact, I was really engaged to Percie now.

Wait. Why am I even bothered? I loved him with all my heart and soul. I didn't think I could breathe without him in life. Percie was the air I breathed. My entire world.

Oh, my God! I was such an idiot, sometimes.

"What?" I asked when they kept staring at me.

"You're grinning like an idiot," Megan answered.

"Oh." I smiled at them. "I realized why would love even scare me? He loves me, and I love him. What's there to scare? Thank you for making me realize how lucky I am to have someone like Percie in my life." "Then it settled. Just don't break his heart because I'm gonna break yours."

"Jeez, Lexie. Calm your horses." Megan rolled her eyes.

"And you, babe. I'm lucky to have you in my life as well." She pecked Megan on her lips.

I blinked as I looked away. I was still not used to the fact that they were dating. "I'm gonna go and join them, guys. Coming?"

I joined my parents chatting with Percie's parents. Mr. Matthews mentioned something about Cuba.

"Honey, we were just talking about Adrian. Remy told us that someone identified Adrian in Cuba last week," Mrs. Matthews filled me in.

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"His father cut out his funds. I'm not so sure. I already called the guy who gave me information about Adrian to contact me if he's able to get in touch with him. Nothing's gonna do any good for him there. I'll take care of his expenses back and send him to an exclusive school," Mr. Matthews explained.

"Thank you. I hope your man there will give us some good news. It would be a relief. Is Percie aware of this?"

"He does. He's the one who asked me if I could pull something strings for Adrian."

"Glad to hear." Hope-filled my chest. My heart swelled. After what Adrian did to me, Percie still wanted to make sure Adrian was safe.

"Honey, when are you gonna tell us about your engagement?"

I gasped in shock.

My hand flew to my mouth, and that hand with the ring on. My mom was still waiting. Happiness and excitement in those pairs of eyes made me weepy.

"Hey." A hand squeezing on my shoulder almost startled me. I didn't have to look up to confirm it was Percie's. I was quite familiar with his touch-a touch that made my heart skip a beat, made my skin tingle, and a touch of comfort as well. "Honey?"

"Yeah. We're engaged." I beamed. My facial muscles ached.

"Oh, my God! Congratulations!" Mom just lost control and pulled me into a hug. "I'm so happy for you. I know there's only one man who can make you happy and make you step out of your comfort zone."

"Congratulations to both of you." Mr. Matthews smiled at me. His eyes gleamed with unshed tears. I lost my girl, but I couldn't wait to welcome you into my family, Hailey."

I gripped his hand. "I'm not replacing Emma because she was just a wonderful woman, and she's irreplaceable. But thank you. It means a lot that you're happy for us."

"I'm happy for both of you and Percie, honey. I guess my baby just grew up so fast."

"Please, Dad. We're not getting married until we finish college. That's a promise I'm keeping for you."

"Whatever you two have decided," Dad agreed.

Mrs. Matthews smiled at me, wiping her tears on her cheeks. "I'm speechless."

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"So do I," Percie said, kissing the top of my head. "She still made me speechless most of the time."

"Silly." I pressed my lips to his hand on my shoulder.

"Can I also congratulate Hailey?"

I looked up at Remy, smiling down at me. I stood up, wrapping my arms around him. "Thank you." I breathed deeply when my eyes swam with tears. "You're the closest to a brother to me, and you've been there for me when I needed someone to hear me babble my issues."

"Congratulations, Hailey. You made my best friend the happiest. What else I could ask for more?"

I pulled away and kissed him on his cheek. "Thank you."

***

When everyone left, I helped Percie clean up in the kitchen. He was done vacuuming the floor, wiping the table in the living room. He was placing the dishes in the dishwasher, and I was done wiping the island.

I slid to the stool and watched him finish the remaining work we had. I was still finding it hard to wrap my head around the fact that this man loved me, and I was engaged to him.

I was just daydreaming months ago when I first met him in the kitchen in my home. Truly, God moved in mysterious ways. I would have never imagined my dream come true. He was out of my league. He was too perfect, too mysterious, too scary, too attractive to even give me a second look.

Every time I saw him, every time I heard his voice, every time he looked at me and got closed to me, he made me speechless. Even until now.

Love is truly blind.

Love is intense.

And when you met the right person who could make your heart beat again, you should hold him tight and never let him go. There's only one the right one for you. And mine is Percival Edmund Matthews. "Sweetheart?"

I blinked. "Percie?"

"You've been staring at me for a whole minute."

"Just the whole minute?"

His face broke into a huge smile. "I love you."