“Aside from not calling first today, my parents are pretty chill. In fact, my family is always worried that I’m alone too much, so meeting the beautiful woman I’ve been spending all my time with will be a huge thrill.” He lifted my hand to his lips and pressed a kiss to the top of my wrist. “I want you to meet my parents and be with me today.Allday.” The plea in his crystal blue eyes made me stumble.
He rubbed my back and kissed my forehead. “And stop worrying about how you look. You always wake up gorgeous. Another reason why you’ll be a great houseguest.” Joe’s easy grin made him impossible to refuse.
“Yes.”
“Yes, what?”
“Yes, I’ll stay with you.” I grinned, warmth flooding my chest when Joe’s entire face lit up.
“I’ll get rid of these two, and I’ll show you how happy I am that you finally agreed.” The heat in his gaze made me squirm to the point that I almost forgot the humiliation waiting for me on his couch. “I’ll meet you outside.” He planted a quick kiss to my lips before rising from the bed and shutting the door behind him.
I pulled on my dress from last night and reversed the camera on my phone to survey the damage. My mascara was smudged under my eyes, and my hair was still sticking up every which way. I wiped under my eyes with my finger, hoping to appear more smoky-eyed than raccoon before I headed for the living room.
“We are so sorry.” A beautiful woman with long dark hair rose from the couch and rushed over to me. “We’re usually not the kind of parents who barge in unannounced. I’m Samantha.” She held out her hand with a warm smile.
“Nice to meet you.” I took her hand and exhaled some of the tension. “I’m Caterina.”
“What a beautiful name!” She squeezed my hand.
“Everyone calls me Cat, except for your son.” I turned my head to where Joe was beaming on the couch next to who I guessed was his father. I did a double take as I looked between them. Joe’s father was his older identical twin.
“Spooky isn’t it,” Samantha said in a loud whisper when she noticed me staring.
“Yes, it is a little,” I agreed, my gaze still fixed in their direction.
Joe’s father grinned as he came over to where we stood.
“I’m Lucas. Nice to meet you, Caterina.” He took my hand in both of his. I could tell right away that he and Joe had the same personality, too. It made me wonder why whenever Joe brought up his father, it sounded like they had a strained relationship. “I’m sure on my son’s only day off, he has better plans for both of you than being stuck with his parents all day.” He lifted a brow before craning his head to Joe. “But maybe you both wouldn’t be against a little dinner?”
“They love this steakhouse one town over and use seeing me as an excuse to go.” Joe’s lips twisted into a smirk at his father.
“Now, Joey, that’s not true. Seeing our baby boy is always our first priority when we come here.” He ruffled Joe’s hair, and I laughed at Joe’s groan. “Yes, that’s the place. Good food, and right on the beach. I hope you’ll join us.”
“I think we can do that.” Joe’s eyes locked with mine, and I responded with a tiny nod. I didn’t think I could say no, and his parents seemed easygoing and friendly. New boyfriend’s mothers usually made me uncomfortable, but I didn’t feel like either of them were sizing me up. Joe was right, they were simply happy to see me and their son.
“We’ll let you get back to your day.” Lucas draped his arm around his wife’s shoulders. “Eight o’clock sound okay?”
I lifted a shoulder at Joe, as he was the one with all the plans for today.
“Sounds fine, Dad.” Joe breathed out with the tiniest bit of exasperation. Samantha kissed his cheek before they said goodbye to us both and made their way out of his apartment.
“I’m sorry we got suckered into that. The drive from Queens is long, and I couldn’t tell them no.” He shrugged and sat back down on the couch.
“It’s fine. Steakhouse sounds nice.” I settled next to him. “Are you sure you want me to go?”
Joe drew back on the couch and squinted at me. “Why wouldn’t I want you to go?”
“Dinner with parents is something you do when you’re a little further along than we are.” I lifted an eyebrow.
“I want you there. I’m glad you met my parents. I think boxing us into a timeline doesn’t make sense, and we need to stop doing it.” Joe slid his hand under my legs and lifted me onto his lap. “It doesn’t matter if we just met or if I’d known you for years. I feel what I feel, and that’s fucking crazy about you.”
I shook my head and cuddled into his chest. I was fucking crazy about him, too, and wished I could get rid of the stupid commonsense that kept telling me this shouldn’t be happening so fast. For us, at that moment, the timing was perfect.
“Can I ask you something?” I pushed off of Joe’s chest. “They both seem really nice, but you always talk about friction between you and your dad. Did I miss something just now?”
“No, they’re both really nice and weren’t hiding anything.” He laughed. “My father and I are the same in a lot of ways. But, like I told you, he’s this big financial executive, brilliant and successful. I’m happy with the path I chose, but I never felt he was. So…” He shifted on the couch and pulled me closer. “I lash out when I shouldn’t which makes everything that much worse.”
“Youaresmart and successful, Joe. What do you mean by lash out?”
