“She probably assumes I explained the existence of monsters to my parents the same way I did for her.” She fans her face. “Shit. You just aged me, like, fifteen years.”
“Maybe this will make up for it.” I pull my gift for her out of my coat’s inside pocket.
It’s nothing special. I didn’t even wrap it. But that doesn’t seem to matter, based on the little excited hop she does.
“Peanut butter cups? You got me peanut butter cups?”
I nod. “For when you miss me.”
She lets out a loud, unhinged cackle, ending in the most adorable snort I’ve ever heard. “This is perfect. Thank you.”
I’m awarded with a heated kiss that makes my knees wobble.
She puts the candy on her nightstand and gestures toward the door. “Come on, let’s go have scones.”
We join Lindsay’s parents and Jules in the living room and nibble on scones while her father flips the TV channels between two different hockey games.
“So, Dominic, how long have you owned your bar?” Matteo asks.
“About six years now.”
“Have you always worked in the restaurant industry?” Annabelle asks.
“Not always.” I tread carefully here. Not all of my work experience is technically legal. “I worked as a server on andoff after high school. Then a bartender for a couple years in Memphis. I enjoyed it, especially once I got good at it.”
“Oh yeah? Did you learn how to flip bottles in the air and pour cocktails behind your back?” Matteo asks.
I chuckle at the image. “No, sir. None of that, but I can mix a mean martini.”
We go around sharing our signature drinks, and I tell them the hardest cocktails to make. They seem genuinely interested. Perhaps that’s why I thoughtlessly utter, “After I was turned, I really wanted to be my own boss, you know? And since bartending was something I knew how to do, it felt like the perfect fit.”
“After you were…turned?” Annabelle asks with raised eyebrows.
Fuck!I’m not used to interacting with normies. My filter came down way too easily.
“Uh, he meant––” Lindsay begins, looking panicked.
“After I, uh…” I’m urging my brain to come with something.Anything. “Turned against my community,” is what spills out.
Lindsay and I exchange awhat the fucklook before she adds, “Yeah, he was in a cult. A bad one. Very oppressive environment.” She keeps nodding, almost manically. “He’s lucky to be alive.”
I suppose it works, if I were to think of that first dark year before my recovery as cult-like. There wasn’t a leader, although I guess the leader here would be the virus? It’s too late to walk it back anyway, so I play along. “Yes. Lucky.”
Once we’re past that minor hiccup, the conversation flows smoothly. Matteo and Annabelle are both kind and don’t seem overly judgmental, but I find I’m unable to relax until I’m back in the truck and driving toward the highway.
A memory floats upward, of the time Gemma introduced me to her brother. We were having dinner at a fancy restaurant,and I struggled to follow their conversation. I couldn’t tell if the references they were making were too inside, or I was too dumb to follow along. The way Gemma kept rolling her eyes and laughing whenever I spoke made me think it was the latter.
That was the only time I’d ever met a girlfriend’s family, and she wasn’t even my girlfriend at the time. Maybe she was testing me, seeing if I was worthy of the title, and I failed. Since then, I’ve had trouble gauging how people perceive me. Specifically, if I’m in on the joke or part of the punchline.
Recalling the details of the day, I think I made a decent impression on Lindsay’s parents, but it’s impossible to know for sure. Based on the way Linds has spoken of them, I get the feeling she wouldn’t need their approval to date me, or anything more serious, but that doesn’t mean I’m comfortable with them thinking I’m some uneducated loser who can’t provide for and protect their daughter. I’m capable of both.
What I’m starting to realize, a realization so strong I can no longer push it aside––is that Iwantto provide both. I want to spend the rest of my days with Lindsay and Jules. If the only thing I’m good for is making their lives easier and putting smiles on their beautiful faces, I’d be honored to fill that role.
There’s just one problem.
Would Lindsay let me?
Chapter 14
