to my chin and drop onto my chest. “Water then,” I managed to stammer out.
I drank my bottled water quietly at the table assigned to us and tried to avoid making eye contact with anyone. God forbid I incited a conversation with someone I didn’t know. I jumped up and practically tackled Trent to the ground when I saw him.
“Happy to see me?” he asked, smiling slowly at me.
“They don’t serve alcohol here,” I whispered to him, demanding a response.
“Do you know what charity we’re sponsoring tonight?” he asked with his eyebrows arched too high, making me giggle and feel more at ease.
“Well, yeah,” I responded. “But still, no alcohol?”
Trent kissed me on my forehead before introducing me to his parents. Great, I was now the white trash raging alcoholic girlfriend. I forced what I hoped was an amicable smile before shaking their hands and practically wrapped my arms around Dave when he demanded where the alcohol was. Kindred spirits, that’s what Dave and I were. Apparently I was falling for the wrong brother.
As we made our way to our table, Trent leaned towards me and sent a shiver down my spine all the way to my toes, making them go numb, when he whispered, “You look edible, Erin.”
“Are you coming home with me then?” I asked, looking up at his face and winked. I actually winked. I’d never winked before. How lame.
“Oh yeah,” he agreed, his lips slightly parted and his eyes burning a hole through my retinas. Yeah, this is exactly the response I wanted when I bought my dress. Screw what his parents thought, I told myself. Not that I actually felt that way, I reminded myself as I glanced towards his parents, automatically feeling guilty.
I sat down with Trent on my right and his mom on my left side and waited for the inquisition to start. I forced my fingers to lie complacently on my lap, without fiddling while I gave her a quick smile.
“I’m so glad to finally meet you, Erin,” she told me.
“Me too,” I responded. “But I don’t know what to call you. When I asked Trent what you and your husband’s names were he said he just called you mom and dad,” I told her, sending Trent a quick angry glare as she laughed.
“That’s my son. A bit of a pain in the ass.” She smiled at Trent, and the affection I felt spread from one to the other was unmistakable. Sitting between them and seeing the depth of their relationship made me nervous. This was a man that could love, and felt my stomach clench at the thought. “You can call me Leah. The handsome old man sitting next to me,” she said gesturing towards her husband, “is Anthony.”
This was a family. Different in their own ways, I observed as Leah smiled as openly at her husband as Trent smiled at me. And while Anthony was more reserved than his wife and sons, he had an energetic undercurrent similar to that of his family that you could not ignore. Again, I forced my hands to sit still so I wouldn’t add twitchy basket case to Leah’s overall analysis of me.
I laughed easily throughout the night as I heard stories of Trent and Dave. I wasn’t surprised to hear that Dave was the trouble maker, but was genuinely taken aback to learn that Trent not only helped Dave clean up his mess, but had also taken the blame for things he hadn’t done so Dave could get some sort of reprieve. Stellar, top notch guy, I thought as I took hold of Trent’s hand and placed it on my lap.
“How am I gonna win Erin over if you keep tellin’ lies about me?” Dave wanted to know, and I laughed, feeling like a part of them. I tried to memorize the lightness I felt in my heart at that moment because I wasn’t sure I’d ever feel it again.
“No worries, Dave,” I winked at him. “We’ll always have the memories of your tighty-whities,” I told him, forcing him to retell the story of how he came out of his apartment wearing nothing but his underwear to his parents.
Leah shook her head at her son in mock shame as Anthony did
I drank my bottled water quietly at the table assigned to us and tried to avoid making eye contact with anyone. God forbid I incited a conversation with someone I didn’t know. I jumped up and practically tackled Trent to the ground when I saw him.
“Happy to see me?” he asked, smiling slowly at me.
“They don’t serve alcohol here,” I whispered to him, demanding a response.
“Do you know what charity we’re sponsoring tonight?” he asked with his eyebrows arched too high, making me giggle and feel more at ease.
“Well, yeah,” I responded. “But still, no alcohol?”
Trent kissed me on my forehead before introducing me to his parents. Great, I was now the white trash raging alcoholic girlfriend. I forced what I hoped was an amicable smile before shaking their hands and practically wrapped my arms around Dave when he demanded where the alcohol was. Kindred spirits, that’s what Dave and I were. Apparently I was falling for the wrong brother.
As we made our way to our table, Trent leaned towards me and sent a shiver down my spine all the way to my toes, making them go numb, when he whispered, “You look edible, Erin.”
“Are you coming home with me then?” I asked, looking up at his face and winked. I actually winked. I’d never winked before. How lame.
“Oh yeah,” he agreed, his lips slightly parted and his eyes burning a hole through my retinas. Yeah, this is exactly the response I wanted when I bought my dress. Screw what his parents thought, I told myself. Not that I actually felt that way, I reminded myself as I glanced towards his parents, automatically feeling guilty.
I sat down with Trent on my right and his mom on my left side and waited for the inquisition to start. I forced my fingers to lie complacently on my lap, without fiddling while I gave her a quick smile.
“I’m so glad to finally meet you, Erin,” she told me.
“Me too,” I responded. “But I don’t know what to call you. When I asked Trent what you and your husband’s names were he said he just called you mom and dad,” I told her, sending Trent a quick angry glare as she laughed.
“That’s my son. A bit of a pain in the ass.” She smiled at Trent, and the affection I felt spread from one to the other was unmistakable. Sitting between them and seeing the depth of their relationship made me nervous. This was a man that could love, and felt my stomach clench at the thought. “You can call me Leah. The handsome old man sitting next to me,” she said gesturing towards her husband, “is Anthony.”
This was a family. Different in their own ways, I observed as Leah smiled as openly at her husband as Trent smiled at me. And while Anthony was more reserved than his wife and sons, he had an energetic undercurrent similar to that of his family that you could not ignore. Again, I forced my hands to sit still so I wouldn’t add twitchy basket case to Leah’s overall analysis of me.
I laughed easily throughout the night as I heard stories of Trent and Dave. I wasn’t surprised to hear that Dave was the trouble maker, but was genuinely taken aback to learn that Trent not only helped Dave clean up his mess, but had also taken the blame for things he hadn’t done so Dave could get some sort of reprieve. Stellar, top notch guy, I thought as I took hold of Trent’s hand and placed it on my lap.
“How am I gonna win Erin over if you keep tellin’ lies about me?” Dave wanted to know, and I laughed, feeling like a part of them. I tried to memorize the lightness I felt in my heart at that moment because I wasn’t sure I’d ever feel it again.
“No worries, Dave,” I winked at him. “We’ll always have the memories of your tighty-whities,” I told him, forcing him to retell the story of how he came out of his apartment wearing nothing but his underwear to his parents.
Leah shook her head at her son in mock shame as Anthony did
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