You’re invited to come over to my folks’ place tomorrow to help us decorate for Christmas.
He added a Christmas tree emoji.
Really?
That sounded sweet.
Are you okay with that?
Why would I ask you if I wasn’t? Did you hit your head or something? Get beaned in the brain with (emoji basketball)?
Tired of texting, she called him. “You want me to meet your parents?”
“They want to meet you. Hey, I met your parents. Even got grilled by your whole family. My parents are crumpled, feeble old people.” Someone yelled in the background. “If you decide to run, they can’t tackle you to keep you there. Plus, none of them can throw you in jail.”
“What? Jail?” a deep voice boomed on the phone that didn’t belong to Damon.
“Christ,” Damon grumbled.
She couldn’t help laughing. “Sure, I’d love to meet your parents tomorrow. What time?”
“Hold on. What time, Mom?” After a pause, he said, “How does noon sound, Marlie? That’ll give the old people time to get up and get dressed.”
She heard more muffled words.
“I’m kidding. They’re always up at the crack of dawn. Like crepuscular predators, they do their best work between daylight and daybreak.”
“Didn’t we hear that last night during the movie when the scientist was talking about blood-sucking elves?”
“Well, yeah. But it also applies to my parents. Oof. Gotta go. See you soon, snookums.” He hung up.
She went home with a smile, feeling like a victor on two fronts. On the court and off.
The next afternoon, Damon drove them to his parents. Marlie couldn’t help feeling nervous. She wanted them to like her more than she should. What did it really matter though?
He parked, and they got out. The house was lovely, a rustic home on some land, located on the outskirts of town.
“I bet when it snows it looks like a postcard.” The large pines and junipers around the property gave it privacy while also planting them in what felt like the middle of a Hallmark movie set.
“Yeah. It’s also a bitch to shovel the drive. My dad has a mini plow.”
They walked together toward the front door, the wind whipping their hair around.
“You look nervous.” Damon took her hand in his. “You should be.”
“Shut up.”
He chuckled. “I mean, you need to be good enough to marry Demon Sinclair, league MVP.”
“Marry? A little ahead of ourselves, aren’t we?” Her heart raced.
He’d been doing that lately, joking about them having a future. She didn’t call him on it exactly, because in a weird way, she liked the thought of him sticking around.
Marlie liked Damon as a person. A lot. The sex notwithstanding—and holy crap, was he amazing in bed—the guy made her laugh. She enjoyed spending time with him. And yes, they barely knew each other.
Except she felt like she knew him well. She could tell when he liked something just by the way his eyes crinkled, or the way his lips curled in that half-smirk. Or when he grew annoyed, he’d go silent.
They’d had their first real argument last night. A mini fight because she didn’t like him spending so much money on her. He kept buying their food, which had to cost a bundle because he kept getting it from the places she loved. The ones she went out to on special occasions, not all the time because they cost a ton.
