“Momma, this is Luke.”
“Mrs. Brandt, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“Oh, call me Patty, hon.” She scanned me head to toe, her smile never faltering. “My, my. I hope you brought more than that to wear. We’re not quite so formal.”
“Momma,” Asher drawled, his accent thickening.
“I’m just messin’.” She glanced at Asher and smiled even wider. “I’ll be honest, this is a first. I’m not sure I know how to meet my eldest’s boyfriend.”
I huffed and released a truckload of tension. “For me as well.”
Asher moved to stand at my side. “Is everyone here?”
“Of course. They’ve been spying out the windows for an hour. I only saw you because of this one.” Patty shook the giggling girl by the hold she still had on her wrists. “I made them wait inside.”
“Let’s do it, then.” Asher grabbed his bag and one of mine. I’d packed enough clothes to spend this little adventure in five different ways. Surely, I had something casual with me.
With our arms full, us carrying bags, and Patty carrying May, we headed for the house. Just as she’d said, noses were pressed to the window panes, and five pairs of eyes followed our progress.
“You’re staying through Tuesday, right?” Patty asked as she passed the threshold. Without giving either of us a chance to answer, she yelled, “They’re here now, so wipe the snot off my windows.”
Asher grimaced, then laughed. “Sorry,” he whispered to me.
I shook my head, ready to tell him there was nothing to apologize for, but was surrounded by kids in matching pajamas, a broody young man wearing almost identical clothes to Asher, and an older man I assumed was Ben, Asher’s stepdad.
“Luke, so glad to meet you,” the man said. Tall and blond, he had a friendly enough smile for me, but he glanced at Asher several times.
My anxiety spiked. Was he worried I was all wrong for his son? Was I too old? Too something or not enough of something else? Fuck. This was nerve-racking. How had Asher handled meeting my family with such grace and aplomb?
Asher hugged another little girl who had wrapped her thin arms around him. “May is the cookie monster, and this little angel is Lila,” he said.
“Hello.” I nodded at the girl with brown eyes like her father.
“That’s Elias.” Asher pointed at a young boy, who cocked his head as he stared. “Stacia.” He pointed to his oldest sisterwith red hair. “And—” He cut himself off, then growled, “That’s mine.”
The remaining kid—who had to be Nathan, not because he was the last sibling to be introduced, but because he was a slightly younger version of Asher—smirked. “Finders keepers.”
Asher slapped hands to his hips, even with Lila still wrapped around him. “Youfoundthat in my closet, thief.”
“Children,” Ben drawled.
“Take it off.” Asher stepped toward his very unconcerned brother.
“Nooo, bubba,” Lila said and hugged him tighter.
Nathan laughed and stepped back. “Nope.”
“It’s my hoodie.”
“You shouldn’t have left it.”
“Children,” Ben snapped.
“Buuuubbaaaa.” Asher’s other siblings, even May with grubby fingers, converged on him, piling on while he snarled and growled, making them laugh louder and hold on tighter.
“Traitors. All of you,” he shouted.
“You don’t live here anymore.” Nathan, who had seemed the epitome of an emo teen, turned into a smiling goof like his older brother as he dodged out of Asher’s grasping hands.
