I shiver slightly from the ice-cold breeze wisping past me. She smiles brightly and turns to look for her, but Lizzy is already standing beside her, shooting me a confused look.
She looks as stunning as ever, wearing a black dress that hugs her body and stops right above her knees.
“I got this, Mom,” she says, shooing her mother away from the door. “What are you doing here?” Lizzy’s confused features quickly turn happy as she stares at me with those piercing blue eyes. She is wearing the necklace I gifted her, and it shines against the Christmas decorations outside.
“Hey, thank Dani.”
Coming here was the right thing to do as I see how happy it’s made her…How happy and warm I now feel.
23
ELIZABETH
Is Jon really here, standing on my parents’ doorstep?
While I’m shocked to see him, it’s such a nice surprise. When he told me he had plans, I took that at face value. But he’s here and I don’t have to suffer my family alone.
Although I didn’t think this far ahead. What will I say when I have to introduce him?Hey guys, this is Jon, my boss/the man buying your company/my boyfriend.
My father and brother would have a field day lighting into him.
“Thank Dani?” I ask curiously. “Oh no. What did she do?” I know my best friend well, and she would be one to go above and beyond to make me happy, but getting there is always reckless.
Laughing, he explains further. “I met with Chase at the bar, and she was already there, getting comfortable with him. Apparently, they’ve been sneaking around for a few weeks now.”
I shake my head and laugh. That is such a Dani move to get Jon to come see me. “So she talked you into coming?”
“I didn’t need too much convincing,” he replies. “I missed you and immediately wished I had accepted your invite the moment I got to the bar.”
Smiling, I realize I’ve been keeping him outside in the cold and invite him inside. “Just a warning,” I whisper to him as he stands beside me. “My family can be a little much sometimes.”
“What family isn’t?” He takes his coat and scarf off, and I take them, putting them on the coat rack by the front door.
He stays awkwardly looking around the house, and the commotion from the living room catches his attention. Like clockwork, my father and brother are sitting on the couch, screaming at the television as they watch the football game.
Jon smiles at me before walking closer and standing in the doorway, watching along with them.
“Oh, come on!” Dad yells and points to the TV. “Karl, did you see that. What a bullshit call.”
“That was a fumble,” Jon comments out loud. “The refs never make the right calls on the Christmas game.”
Both Karl and my dad stop and turn their heads to look at Jon, and my heart stops. I’m praying that they are at least polite with Jon, but I have only brought one other boy home in my life, and it was my senior year of high school.
That didn’t go well when they found out that his parents were these rich people who were the reason that their favorite deli was sold. What will they do when they find out that Jon’s company is buying their jobs out from under them?
I can feel the sweat beading on my forehead as they stare. “Who the hell is this?” Dad asks in the typical protective father’s voice.
“Dad, this is Jonathan. He’s…my date for this evening.”
The room then falls silent, with their judgmental eyes sizing him up as he stands tall beside me. “Well, you’re right about that, Jonathan,” Dad continues. “I think the refs are paid off to make bad calls.”
My body instantly relaxes as Dad tosses Jon a beer and invites him to watch the game with them. Maybe since I’m grown, his view on my dating life has changed. I think he will always keep a little bit of that protective side, which I’m okay with.
“He’s cute,” my mom whispers as she walks up with her arms folded, watching the men be men.
“I know, right. Oh, Mom, he honestly couldn’t be a better person for me. He’s perfect.”
My mother and I continue talking about Jon as the men scream at the game, and it’s odd to see this side of him. The fact that he immediately fits in with my crazy family only makes my heart swell more for him.
