“He’s a friendofmine…”
“Oh, from work?” she interrupted, excitedly. “Are you adoctor?”
“No he’s not a doctor. We met at aparty.”
“You go to parties?” Keith asked, looking confused. He’d lifted his head off the table to ask the question. It was clear he was nursing a massivehangover.
“Not the kind you go to. But I don’t hang out at home allthetime.”
“Really?” Now he looked even more confused. “I was under the impressionyoudid.”
Emma focused her death stareathim.
A young guy entered the room. Kyle, I assumed. His brothers clapped for him and he tookabow.
“What took you so long in there?” Jake asked. “Were youmasturbating?”
“Well, I wouldn’t call myself amasterjustyet.”
His delivery was genius, and the room erupted. Even Michelle joined inthefun.
Kyle’s eyes landed on me, and he did a double take. “Is everyone aware that there’s a strange guy at Dad’s birthdaybreakfast?”
“He’s not strange. This is Finn, Emma’s friend.” Michelle emphasized ‘friend’ each time she said the word, and her daughter turned to me and rolled her eyes, mouthingSorry.
I stood up to shake the finalbrother’shand.
“I’m Kyle. And you say you’re Emma’s friend?” His eyebrow was cocked at an exaggeratedangle.
“They met at a party,” Jake affirmed,nodding.
“A real one,” Keithadded.
“A party, you say?” Kyle replied,incredulously.
The brothers seemed overly surprised by the whole party admission, and I was quickly understanding that Emma wasn’t a girl who went out much, and her bringing guys to meet the family was probably a rare occurrenceindeed.
They continued to razz her about the party until Emma snapped, “Ugghh. Would you prefer if I met him on the side oftheroad?”
“It would be more believable, that’s for sure,” Kyle said,nodding.
Emma smacked him in the arm good-naturedly. They did a little bitch-slap routine before he took his seat beside his girlfriend. I smiled at her playfulness. Emma interacting with her family brought out even another side to her… kind, funny, and self-depreciating. I caught her eye, and we exchanged a glance. She was asking if I was okay; I was assuring herIwas.
“What do you do for a living, Finn?” Kenzieasked.
“I’m astuntman.”
“Shut the front door!” Kyle exclaimed. “That’s the coolestprofessionever!”
“I don’t know, I think someone else in this room has a cooler jobthanme.”
“Yes, being a mailman truly is awesome. The long walks, the snappy dogs, the stylish shorts,” Scott said, before scanning the room at all the amused faces and raising his eyebrows dramatically. “Oh, wait – did youmeanJake?”
We all laughed, and Scott lapped up the attention. I loved him already. If I could have handpicked a father, I would have chosen someone like him: fun-loving anddevoted.
“Government jobs, man. It’s the way to go,” Keith said. “They even give him a week off for hisbirthday.”
“No, theydon’tgiveit to him,” Michelle explained. “Your father takes it off. See, he thinks one day isn’t enough to celebrate hisbirthday.”
