“You didn’t get enough of me last night?” She looks me over and swallows. “You had me more times than I can count.”
“It will never be enough. Being inside you is . . . Fuck, there are no words for what it’s like being inside you,” I explain, shaking my head, as she steps over the edge of the tub. “All I know is it’s my new favorite place to be.”
“Stop.” She pokes my chest, pushing me back when I unknowingly move to her again. “You’re making me dizzy, and I need to get ready. My whole family is out there, so I need to prepare myself for what’s about to happen,” she says, moving to stand in front of the sink.
“What’s about to happen?” I ask, placing myself against her back, wrapping my hands around her waist, and dropping my chin to the top of her head.
“I don’t know.” Her eyes meet mine in the mirror. “All I know is that it will probably be embarrassing.”
“I’ll be with you,” I say, then mutter a curse as my cell phone rings.
“You should get that,” she says quietly, studying me in the mirror.
“Yeah.” I kiss her shoulder and let her go. Going to the bedroom, I find my cell on the dresser and expect it to be work, but it’s my mom.
“Mom,” I answer, putting the phone to my ear.
“Happy Thanksgiving, honey.”
“Thanks, Mom. Have you been cooking all morning?” I know she probably has. Since I was little, my mom has been making a feast at Thanksgiving, getting up at six to put in a turkey and get things ready before everyone shows up.
“No, actually, I’m standing outside your apartment building . . . Surprise.” She yells the last word, and I scrub my hand down my jaw in disbelief as I look into the bathroom and watch Fawn put her hair up on top of her head. I told my mom about Fawn two weeks ago, and she couldn’t wait to meet her. I just didn’t expect that meeting to include Fawn’s entire family.
“You’re standing outside my building,” I ask, just to confirm.
“Yes. Well, we all are . . . we didn’t want you to be alone on Thanksgiving, so we figured we’d drive in and cook at your place. That way, even if you get called out, you can eat when you come back.” Fuck me, this shit is not going to go well.
“Fawn’s whole family showed up this morning with that same plan,” I say. When it goes quiet, I pull the phone away from my ear to check that the call didn’t drop. “Mom.”
“Fawn is with you? I thought she was going to be with her family today,” she says, repeating something I told her last week when she asked what Fawn would be doing on the holiday.
“She didn’t want me to be alone,” I say quietly and listen to her pull in a sharp breath.
“Oh my,” she says, and I know she understands the significance of Fawn coming to spend Thanksgiving with me instead of staying with her family.
“Mom, let me let you go. I’ll be down in a minute to let you in.”
“Sure, honey,” she agrees, and I pull the phone away, end the call, and shove it into my pocket as I walk back into the bathroom.
“Change of plans, baby.”
“You have to leave?” she asks, sounding disappointed as she pulls a shirt on over her head—this one is red and has the word Bazinga scrolled across the front in large yellow lettering.
“Nope, my family is all downstairs.”
“What?” Her face pales, and her eyes shoot past me to the door. “Your family is here?”
“Yeah, I need to go let them in.”
“Your family is all here? As in outside our building?” she repeats, sounding panicked.
“Yeah, ba—”
“But . . . but my family is all here,” she cuts me off with wide eyes.
“They are . . .”
“Oh my god. This is going to be a disaster. Your family is going to hate me because my family is going to do something crazy.”
“It’s all good, calm down.”
“Calm down,” she breathes, staring at me. “Do you not remember when my mom suggested I get knocked up to keep you . . .” She pauses, throwing out her hand and pointing at me. “In front of you?”
“Take a breath.” I grab her hand and pull her to me, then take her face between my palms. “It’s going to be fine . . . promise. I’ll be right back.”
“This is the worst day of my life,” she pouts, closing her eyes. “We should just break up, because obviously fate doesn’t want us together.”
“Christ, you’re cute.” I laugh, kissing her pouting bottom lip quickly. “I’ll be back.”
“If you don’t find me when you get back, look out the window, because I’ve jumped to my death.” Shaking my head at that, I leave her in the bathroom and head out of the room, finding a few people still in the apartment, including Mac, who’s in the kitchen making a pot of coffee. “Do me a favor—go to your sister.”
“Is she okay?” she asks, looking from me to my bedroom door.
“She’s having a panic attack because my family just showed up—they’re downstairs.”
“Seriously, your family is here?” she asks with wide eyes that look just like her sisters’.
“Seriously”—I nod, heading for the door—“I’ll be back.”
“Sure,” she agrees, turning on the coffeepot before heading for my room, looking slightly amused and a little bit worried.
Swinging the front door open, I move to the stairs and jog down, pushing out of the building as soon as I get to the door. The sight that greets me makes me smile. My mom, dad, and brothers, plus their wives and kids, are all here. As happy as I am to see my family, I know this day is going to be a long one, and it’s the first time since meeting Fawn that I’m praying to get called into work. But if I do, I’m taking her with me.
“Mom.” I smile as my mom comes forward, wrapping her arms around me.
“Look at you . . .” She shakes her head. “So handsome.” She kisses my cheek, then lets me go.
“Dad.” I grin at my old man, and he holds out his arms and I walk toward him, hugging him tightly.
He pounds my back two times, muttering, “Son,” before letting me go.
“Uncle Levi,” my niece Madeline says, bouncing at my feet and holding her arms out to me.
“How’s my girl?” I ask, picking her up and swinging her around, listening to her giggle.
“Good.” She smiles, wrapping her arms around my neck and laying her head on my shoulder.
“So Fawn and her family are here?” my brother Lucas asks as his wife, Eva, comes forward to take their daughter, Madeline, from me.
“Yep, and she’s freaking out.”
“I bet,” Allison, my brother Cooper’s wife, says shaking her head at Cooper, who is holding their sleeping ten-month-old son, Jacob, in his arms. “I would totally freak if this kind of thing happened to me.”
“You always freak out.” Allison’s sister, Ruby, snorts, taking nine-month-old Emma from her husband, my brother Cole, as she starts to cry.
“Just keep that in mind when you meet Fawn. She’s a little overwhelmed with all of this.”