I blink at her, frowning hard. “Your whole family?”
“Uh huh.”
My blood is pumping like crazy. That was the last thing I thought she’d say. If her grandparents are there. Then that means parents, too.
I shrug, “Is the food good?”
Lexi grins, dimple deep. “Nope. It’s terrible.” Throwing her head back, she cries out, “I forgot! No lying!” and locks eyes with me, hers bright.
“I’m in.”
“Good.”
“What time?”
Reaching for where she left her copper phone on my nightstand, she taps at the screen. “It started ten minutes ago.”
“Uh…”
“Shower?”
I frown and roll off of her. “That’d be a fucking yes right there.”
On all fours Lexi crawls across the huge bed with me watching and wondering if I’ll ever fully understand her. “Guess what?”
“What, Cherry?”
Standing, she swats my naked hip, and heads out, half-singing, “I brought a change of clothes and everything.”
I stare after her.
Jaw ticking.
And you just now invited me?
Chapter Twenty-Five
GAGE
T here’s not one parking spot left near her grandparents’ house so I parked my Bronco on another street, and we’re walking up now, past some of her cousin’s homes. “That’s Hannah’s place. And that one’s Emma’s.” Lexi smiles with pride. “You think that’s big, hold on!” She points and leans as we walk. “Behind this hedge is….wait for it…there! That’s my cousin Ethan’s crazy fucking mansion. Look at that thing!”
My eyes narrow because it’s enormous and very cool. Also, knowing Lexi isn’t impressed by my job, it’s intimidating. And I’m not easily swayed. But that place is beyond my means.
I’d expect one that huge for her rockstar cousin, Gabriel, or the star quarterback, Eric Cocker.
“Ethan?” I ask.
She briefly touches my arm, “Don’t worry, it’s hard to remember them all until you meet them,” before pointing to his home, “He’s the computer genius. He bought this with his patent money. Ethan invented some amazing things and I’m sure that’s not the end of it. You should see his bedroom. There’s an aquarium in it that takes up one entire wall. He has a manta ray!”
Fucking hell.
For the rest of the walk I tune out her light-hearted chatter to get ahold of myself.
Come on, Gage.
You may not be a computer wizard, but you’re a good guy who does the right thing, cares for his people, and has a solid savings and reliable future.
Don’t forget your worth.
Don’t get intimidated.
Fuck that.
You’ve never had a problem with people of status before. Why now? Why defensive? Off balance?
Worried.
Lexi takes my hand, “This is it up here!” and I look at her, watching her explain that this is the place where her father and his brothers grew up.
She’s so beautiful it hurts to look at her. Never hurt before.
But now…
Why now?
Because she doesn’t take me seriously, that’s why.
I barely received this invitation.
Probably was going to get dressed in her car since she drove last night to my place.
Now that I think about it, she insisted on driving.
She’d planned her escape.
I got in under the wire.
Why am I even here?
She caved because of sex?
That’s not my game.
I’ve been enjoying her.
Great company.
Fire to spare.
Adventures often.
It feels good to be around Cherry. Days fly by. I laugh more than I ever have. Time apart feels like shit.
Was I lying?
To myself?
Lexi guiltily laughs, “We’re so late,” smoothing her straightened hair. “And don’t you dare bring up that you told me to leave it curly. It wouldn’t have saved time.”
I get a side-stare as I mutter, “Wasn’t going to.”
“Hey!” She faces me, tilts her head. “Are you nervous? You don’t have to be. My family is really nice. You’ll see.”
“From the ones I met, I’m sure they are.” But you didn’t want to bring me here. Admit it. “Just hungry.”
“Me too!” Lexi relaxes. “We worked up an appetite. Come on!”
Walking up a cleanly landscaped path of a beautiful old home that looks far more welcoming than Ethan’s castle did, I take commitment’s deep breath.
I accepted this invitation.
Starting an argument or being a dick in any way is not acceptable. I’m a guest in someone’s home.
Not that being a dick is ever acceptable.
But ego is an enemy to every man.
“Nice place. Spend your Christmases here?”
As we walk inside, an inviting living room to our left, she explains, “Christmas Eve we’d spend at Grandma and Grandpa’s. Still do, especially since Grams comes over from her senior living house. Plus my dad and his twin…” she pauses to see if I remember his name.
I nod, “Justin,”
“That’s right. Uncle Justin. You’ll recognize them because they’re got super light blonde hair—”
“—And there will be two of them.”
Lexi laughs, and continues, “They’re very close, and we could’ve just combined families, but it was more fun to have everyone — all of us here!”
She points to the staircase we’re passing that’s lined with family photos as deep as the eye can see, from a sepia-toned 1940’s era wedding photo to one recently taken of all the cousins, because I spot Lexi immediately, looking as she does now. Fucking gorgeous.
“Christmas Eve must’ve been one hell of a party.”
She squeezes my hand. “No different than what you’re about to see. Our Family BBQs are epic. Just because it’s December 24th doesn’t make it any different than these, except maybe that we drink cider then over Grandma’s fresh ginger-ale, and there are way more desserts.”
“And candy canes.”
She scrunches her nose. “Actually I don’t like those.”
We walk into a sunlit kitchen empty of people, chili spices in the air and splashes of burnished red on the floor where it spilled during transport.
Lexi releases my hand, runs over to dampen paper-towels, pointing to the gauze-draped window over her grandparents’ sink.
She didn’t need to bring the crowded party to my heightened attention because I’m stopped near the cream-trimmed backdoor, counting heads conversing outside. Blinking away as I reach fifty and give up, I cock an eyebrow to where Lexi is wiping the tile of spilled chili.
“Where’s the trash, Cherry?”
“Under their sink.”
I walk over, open a
