She wrinkled her nose and shook her head. "They're young for their age. They're not ready for anything serious. But you—you're ready."
With that, she shoved me into the dining room.
"Hi," I said to him, drawing the word out into eight syllables as I planned my next move. I'd greeted the guy at least forty times now but what else was I supposed to do here? I exchanged a glance with Ash and Linden as I sat down beside Troy. They offered little more than innocent shrugs and shit-eating smirks in response. "How's it going?"
My date shifted toward me, smiling, and made a reasonable attempt at giving me a once-over without leering. Ten points to Gryffindor.
"Great, great," he breathed. "Sorry about the confusion. I thought—I guess, I didn't know—"
I held up both hands. "It's fine. Not your fault. Not at all.Youhave no reason to apologize." I pinned my mother with a harsh glare. "She knows what she did."
"Hush, you," my mother chided. "If nothing else, Trevor—"
"Troy," we chorused.
"—will get a home-cooked supper tonight. Young people don't get enough stick-to-your-ribs meals anymore. Not with all the delivery food and celery juice and chia seeds."
"Okay. Yeah. That's great," Troy said. "Great."
"Everything is great," Ash added from across the table. If the evening continued at this pace, I was going to strain my eyes with all this glaring. "Really great. The greatest."
I shot him a stare before turning back to Troy. "So, Troy," I started, "thank you for joining us today. I hope your family doesn't mind that we've stolen you from them for the evening."
"No worries," he said, laughing. "My parents live in Montana."
"That must make the Sunday dinner commute a lot longer," Linden said.
"Assuming you're beholden to a Sunday dinner routine," Ash added. "Clearly, we are, but we realize this might not be your way of life."
"What with the twenty-five-hundred-mile commute and all," Linden said.
Troy nodded as he considered this. "Yeah, we've never maintained that kind of tradition. I guess—"
"Because ranch life didn't allow it?" Ash asked.
Troy let out a startled laugh. "Oh, that's funny. No, I didn't grow up on a ranch. I'm actually from one of the biggest cities in Montana."
"Is that so?" Linden asked.
"No ranching, then?" Ash asked.
"The man said no ranching," Linden replied.
God help me.There was a reason first dates didn't take place at the family table.
"Common misunderstanding," Ash said. "Not all Montanans are ranchers. Some are city dwellers."
"Very common," Linden agreed.
"Perhaps the most common," Ash said.
"It happens," Troy said, laughing. Somehow, he was grinning. He hadn't bristled under a single moment of this ambush and I had to hand it to him. Putting up with this set of circumstances and smiling through it took a mile-wide sense of humor. He pointed at my brothers. "Excuse me for asking but—"
"No. We're not twins," Ash said.
"We're triplets," Linden announced. He patted his chest then pointed to me and Ash. "The three of us."
"Oh, great," Troy said. "That's so great."
