Elena laughed. “I gave their GI Joes a makeover. Cut some fancy suit clothes out of fabric Aunt Kat got me. They were not impressed, of course.” She turned to look at me as she let go of Sophia. “And who is this chiseled, male specimen?”
“Elena,” Sophia scolded, shoving her shoulder.
“Hey, let the girl speak her truth, Hawaii,” I said, tossing an arm around Sophia and pulling her against my side. “I’m Leo, and I’m in love with your sister.”
Sophia glared at me. “Are you going to say that to every single one of them?”
“Would you prefer I wait and abruptly declare it over breakfast tomorrow like you did?” I said, kissing her head. “I want them to know where I stand.”
Elena snickered as she and Laura fell into step ahead of us. “He’s kind of a dork like you, huh?”
“Okay, never mind what I said about letting her speak her truth. How do we make her stop talking?” I asked.
Sophia laughed and took my hand, pulling me toward the house. “Come on. Let’s go introduce you to Dave. He fell in love with my mom in less than a week, so he’ll probably take you seriously and won’t think you’re a dork.”
“I’m objectively not a dork,” I said to the pint-sized, evil sister as she held the door open for us.
“Of course not,” she said sarcastically.
“Hawaii?” I said, turning to Sophia for backup.
“You’ve never been insulted before, have you?” Sophia laughed.
“No. Why is she so mean?” I leaned closer to Sophia and pretended to whisper. “Is it because she’s small?” I smirked at the five-foot-two Elena who appeared to be unfazed by my presence.
“I blame her father,” Laura said, gesturing at the tall Hawaiian man walking briskly toward us.
He lifted Sophia off the ground in a hug. “Hey, Soph. Merry Christmas.” He set her back down. “I saved you some of everything at your dad’s. Had to beat Elena off with a stick to keep her away from themanapuaso I figured it was safer there.”
“Thanks, Dave,” Sophia said. We all moved away from the front door and stepped further into the living room, where Laura and Elenasat down together on the couch. “Leo, this is my stepdad. Dave, this is my boyfriend, Leo.”
“Boyfriend? Well, that escalated quickly,” Dave said, holding out a hand for me to shake. I took it and noticed how firm his grip was. “I’m the easiest male in Sophia’s life that you’ll meet during your stay. Welcome to the home that I built. With my bare hands.”
“Mom! I thought you said he wasn’t going to be weird?” Sophia said, her cheeks pink as she stared at them with indignation.
Laura smirked. “That wasn’t weird. I thought that was sexy.” She turned to Elena. “Was that weird?”
“Yes, Mom,” Elena said with an eyeroll. “He just wants to remind Leo that he’s strong. Soph, if you didn’t think he was going to be weird, then that’s on you.”
“I’m happy to start with you, sir,” I said, dropping his hand. “It’s nice to meet you. I’d also like to let you know that I’m in love with Sophia, and I intend to always treat her with respect.”
Unless you look too closely at the way we fuck, but she likes that.
Sophia snorted, but Dave looked impressed.
“Just ignore him,” she said to Dave, shaking her head at me. “He saidI love youto a girl for the first time two days again and now he’s clearly having some sort of brain malfunction.”
“Have a seat, Leo.” Dave gestured to the couch across from his wife and daughter. “So far, I find myself impressed.”
Score! One down, two to go.
After an hour withher family Sophia and I were both yawning frequently and she suggested that we go to her dad’s before it got any later.
“I need Soph’s help first,” Elena said, pulling her off the couch and dragging her to the kitchen.
Laura stood up. “I’m going to grab a few things for Sophia to take with her.”
“I’ll help,” Dave said, standing up.
