“It didn’t work?” Bax asked.
Knox shook his head. “Clearly.”
“Maybe it’s what you cooked for her,” Linx added.
“Then what should I cook for her?”
Bax shrugged. “It’s not really about the food. Have her sit on the countertop while you’re heating shit up and then see if she’ll let you go down on her while it’s in the oven.”
“That is the stupidest idea I’ve ever heard.”
“And yet here you are marrying a chick with her foot out the door while we sit here married to chicks who are entirely out of our league.” Bax shrugged. “But what the fuck do we know?”
“The key is that you’ve got to show her how great it could be with you,” Linx said. “She’s not gonna see that all on her own. You need to nudge it along.”
Knox had always figured relationships were hard, always figured they weren’t worth the time. But watching Bax and Courtney, Linx and Becca, and the way he’d developed a case of feelings toward his future wife…well, he’d realized that relationships didn’t have to suck. Not like his parents had.
Hell, if he could convince himself to give it a shot, getting Irina on board would be a cakewalk.
That’s when the door blew open—figuratively—and Irina waltzed in with her parents. He’d met her mom, but not her dad.
Irina had gone with a flowing yellow gown and pinned a matching flower in her now blonde hair. Sunshine and summertime was the vibe she exuded. He enjoyed both of those things, so he was all into the mood she brought with her.
Knox stood, glad he’d only had two vodka sandwiches since they hit him like a truck.
“You don’t have to say a word.” The man with Irina walked across the room straight to Bax. Bax, who still sat on the couch.
“I’m Sparrow,” Irina’s dad’s eyes danced just like his daughter’s. “It’s nice to finally meet my future son-in-law.” He held out his hand to Bax.
Bax finished chewing his latest sandwich and shook the man’s hand. “Nice to meet—”
“Dad.” Irina hurried to them. “That’s not Knox.” Irina looped her arm with his. “Thisis Knox.”
Irina pulled him against her side.
“You met my mom, Janis.” Irina started the introductions. “This is my dad, Eugene. Bu-u-ut everyone calls him Sparrow.”
They’d been engaged for a decent number of days, known each other even longer, and honest as all hell he did not know they called her dad Sparrow.
“Nice to meet you… Sparrow.” He didn’t mean to pause, or internally seize at the thought of birds, it just happened. “And Janis, always a pleasure.”
Janis seemed to be a future version of Irina with a similar flower in her hair, though she wore what he could only describe as an orange floral-printed flowing jumpsuit. Her flower was orange.
Sparrow wore a pastel-blue seventies-style suit. The vintage style that’d made a comeback recently, so it didn’t look out of place. Mostly, it seemed trendy. If Knox were into that stuff, which he wasn’t. Not until all the wedding planning made him start paying attention to shit.
Knox dropped a kiss to the top of Irina’s head, because he could.
“Sorry about that, son,” Sparrow held his hand to Knox. “I’d know you anywhere.”
“Dad, stop,” Irina said, between her teeth.
“You have no idea how happy we are that Irina found a nice musician for her first husband,” Irina’s dad said as her mom looped an arm with Knox’s other side.
“We worried she’d end up with an accountant or some nonsense like that,” her mom added.
“That’s not me.” Knox wasn’t entirely sure what to do with himself since the two women had sandwiched him in between them. “I do have an accountant though.”
“We won’t hold that against you,” Sparrow put his hands on his hips.
