“Zander invited my parents to Mordnik and told them we’d all have dinner together so we could tell them about the three of us,” Emmy said flatly. “Without asking me first.”
Spence looked between them, his expression thoughtful. “That sucks.”
Emmy blinked. “Thank you.”
Spence smiled. “You’re welcome, but still … I get why he did it.”
She was opening her mouth to argue when he said, “Hang on, please. Hear me out.” He leaned forward a little. “You’re not ashamed of what’s happening between us, are you?”
“No, of course not.”
“Neither am I. And neither is Zander.” Spence glanced at the vampire, then back to her. “So if we’re not ashamed, and we’re not trying to hide it, then telling your parents isn’t about convincing them it’s a good idea or asking permission. It’s just letting them know what’s happening in your life.”
“It’s not that simple. I haven’t spoken to either of them in months, andthisis going to be the first time I see them?”
“I know it isn’t simple. I also know everything is kind of new with us, and it’s awkward, but…” He sat up and ran his hand through his hair. “We don’t have to tell them it’s some big done deal. You aren’t blood bonding in to permanently join us, though I’d love it if…” He blew out a breath. “Sorry. Back on point. If we act like we’re trying to hide it, that tells them we think there’s something wrong with it. And I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it.”
Emmy felt all of her arguments evaporate. She hated that he was making sense. “I still don’t want them staying in the silo.” Her voice sounded grumpy even to her own ears.
“Then they won’t,” Zander said. “I was going to put them in the Krvi’s old room, but I can arrange lodging at the B&B, and we’ll meet them for dinner in the town’s diner. You won’t run into them unless it’s planned.”
She looked between the two of them, these men who’d somehow become the center of her world. Spence with his steady reasonableness, Zander with his infuriating logic.
“Fine,” she said finally. “But I still don’t like it.”
“I know,” Zander said.
“And if my father tries to kill you, it’s your own damned fault, so you’ll have to defend yourself.”
“That’s fair.”
Spence snorted. “She’ll absolutely step in to help stop him.”
Emmy shot him a look, but couldn’t quite suppress the twitch of her lips. “Maybe.”
“Definitely,” Spence said, grinning at her.
She shook her head, still not entirely ready to forgive Zander for his presumption, but grudgingly understanding why he’d done it. “When are they coming?”
“Three days,” Zander said. “The hunt is scheduled to start within about an hour after their arrival. I’ll need to help oversee the hunt, and then we’ll have dinner with them that first night.”
Three days. She had three days to figure out how to tell her parents she was in a relationship with a vampire older than most countries — and his gorgeous, submissive boyfriend.
This was going to be a disaster.
The following days passed in a blur, mostly working on her thesis with the occasional breaks to eat, work out, fuck, and sleep.
Zander and Spence were both kept busy a large portion of the day, but that was fine with Emmy, since she needed to focus on her project.
But the big day finally arrived, and she stared at her clothes, trying to figure out what to wear. There wasn’t a whole lot to choose from, since she’d been limited on what to bring, and Rhea had told her to just bring comfortable clothing for the silo, with a few warmer items for when they went up to the Aurora Ballroom for exercise or just to hang out in the sunshine.
And god, she missed the sun.
She blew out a breath and grabbed some dark jeans and a soft merino sweater. She wasn’t going to overthink this.
But she’d need a layer under the sweater since they’d be outside, so she grabbed a flesh-colored, thick thermal shirt.
Three minutes later, Emmy stood in front of the mirror, fiddling with the loose turtleneck, and re-draping thesweater over the thermal shirt for the third time. The deep forest green brought out her eyes, but she wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not. Did she want to look good for this disaster of a dinner?
