“Maybe I’ll shove a plug in your ass to even things a little.”
“What was that?” my mom asks from the phone.
“Nothing!” I quickly reply, feeling my face warm up. “I’m telling Lex tonight won’t cut it.”
“Oh, please come tonight. I’ll invite Rafa for dinner. And Kate! That way, they can both meet Alexander.”
“Kate already met him.”
“Ah, right. I’m sure she won’t mind meeting him again. So, we say tonight?”
“Mamá,” I mumble, unsure how I got myselfinto this.
“For the record, I’m very willing to come tonight,” Lex explains. “Your daughter is the one who doesn’t want to—Oof!” My elbow shoved in his side effectively stops him.
“Andrea Grace Walker,” my mom sighs. “What have I done to be punished with a daughter like you…”
“Okay, for tonight,” I give in, rolling my eyes. “But it won’t be early.”
“No problem! We’ll go buy some groceries so Mamá can start cooking.”
“Nothing too spicy,” I instruct.
“Ah…” My mom doesn’t even try to hide her disappointment, and I give Lex an I-told-you-so look. “I’ll tell her, but you know how she gets.”
We briefly discuss the logistics with her, and then I hang up. “There’s a chance you’ll end up eating plain rice tonight,” I warn Lex. “But that’s on you.”
“I love plain rice,” he shrugs.
I shake my head with a giggle, and Lex moves closer, pressing his front to my back as he wraps an arm around me. “We’re really doing this. You’re meeting my family.”
“And I can’t wait. I’ll finally see where you come from, my perfect dork.”
“Well, Christmas has got to be the worst season for that. My mom turns into a controlling maniac, and my dad’s bad humor peaks. Only my abuela doesn’t change because she’s fantastic like that.”
“After a lifetime with my family, I’m sure I can handle yours.”
I nod, resting my hands on his muscular forearm. It’ll be okay, yes. My family is amazing, Lex is amazing… It’s just a bunch of amazing people meeting up. Nothing can go wrong.
When he starts dropping small and amorous kisses on my neck and shoulders, I feel compelled to tell him, “You realize this means we’re not having sex for five days, right?”
“What? Why?”
“Because we’re leaving today, and my parents are throwing a party for their thirtieth anniversary on the twenty-sixth, which you can skip if you want, but I’ll have to stay, so that’s five whole days without sex.”
“Are we sleeping in the living room or something?”
“No, of course not. But I’m not having sex in my parents’ house.”
He huffs behind me. “Why?”
“It’s weird. My abuela’s room is just next to mine. And it feels disrespectful to get railed under the roof they raised me in.”
“I’m confident the roof couldn’t give two shits about your sex life, Andrea Grace Walker.”
“You didn’t miss that, eh?”
“I miss nothing.”
