Twice the Touch by Cara Dee Page B

support in my family, and she shoulders the questions like a champ.
    H aving her age confirmed is the only thing that shocks me a little; I find out she's only twenty-three. I had expected her to be in her early twenties, but I somehow leaned more toward twenty-five for some reason. She's so young. But other than that, I'm only intrigued by what she tells us. She carries herself well; she's mature for her age, and my image of her becomes clearer as the dinner goes on.
    Her love for children is evident, and I watch how her eyes light up at the mention of working with kids. Just this past spring, she graduated with a degree in Early Childhood Education. Before her four years here, she also studied art in Paris for two years, and I'm pretty sure there's more to that story. Her name sounds French, and I recall hearing her and Brayden speak French at the club.
    Anyway, since it's not the easiest to find a job in this day and age, especially not for someone fresh out of college, she takes on smaller assignments here and there. Tutoring, babysitting, a few temp gigs, and so on. And throughout that explanation, the light in her eyes doesn’t fade even a little.
    Once we're done eating, I manage to catch Tess alone for a minute, and I'm thankful she doesn’t know just how well I already know Evangeline—only that we met briefly at the club last night.
    Briefly . Sure, we'll go with that.
    Mom corners me in the kitchen, too, and asks me the question that no one answered when she was ushered out of here earlier. But I only give her a smirk and shake my head.
    "Oh, tell me." She playfully slaps me on my bicep. "From—" she lowers her voice "—from Switch? Is that how you know Evangeline? Is she a sub?"
    I can't help but chuckle. "Don’t ask questions you don’t want answers to, Mom. Let it go." My parents may be very…different…in their viewpoints on relationships and marriage, but nobody wants to hear about their child's bedroom activities, so to speak. "Now, how about that dessert, huh?" I point to the two pies on the counter.
    "Nice try at changing the topic." She huffs. "But it's not going to work. Evangeline has a boyfriend, so color me intrigued. She can't be your sub…can she?"
    Fuck that— I'm not falling into her trap. Being married to Dad doesn’t stop Mom from having fun with Ben and Hank. And Dad with Annie and Marie. So, I merely raise a brow and ask, "Are you saying I can't know a woman without sleeping with her?"
    She scrunches her nose. "Sounds good in theory." Then a shrug. "Just didn’t go so well for us."
    I snort in amusement, too aware of how that never worked out for Mom and Dad. Their attractions caused for an interesting upbringing, that’s for sure.
    Three couples with nothing but friendship between them, but things changed after a few years. I'm sure alcohol was involved when it was time to confess desires; then they were all suddenly living together in a huge house outside San Francisco. It's how I grew up—three families living as one. My brothers and I were disciplined by any adult, not only our parents. Same went for Ben and Annie's daughters, as well as Hank and Marie's son.
    Biologically, I have three brothers, but my mother would say we're seven siblings altogether.
    I agree with her.
    Greg, the oldest kid of all of us, started to resent Mom and Dad's lifestyle when a high school girlfriend dumped him because of it. And I understand him to an extent; we did put up with a lot of shit in school, but whatever. I've stood my ground from day one, and so have the rest of us— well, except for Greg, Ted, and Seth. Nowadays they only drive out to our parents' for Thanksgiving, which is coming up soon. Otherwise they'll stick to our biological family.
    "You don’t say," I finish in a deadpan voice.
    Luckily, Evangeline and Abby walk into the kitchen, sparing me from more of Mom's interrogation.
    *
    My younger brothers and Jessica have already left when Evangeline announces that it's time for her