my dad will automatically like you but just to be safe, we’ll sweeten the pot with that Ser’Lune brandy.”
Weird logic, I know. But my mother was hard to impress, and life could get real miserable for Dad if his wife was unhappy.
Happy wife, happy life.
My parents were oddly old-fashioned and lived by that adage.
Too soon we were ambling down the long driveway and my nerves were hitching higher and higher.
This could go so wrong. So many things I still didn’t know about Kye. One slip and this farce could fall apart.
Stay positive.
I stood at the bottom of the steps, looking up at the sprawling log and stone estate I’d called home my entire life.
“Ready?” I asked Kye.
“As long as you’re holding up your end of the deal,” he gruffly responded, eyes roving the estate, “then I’m ready.”
We climbed the stone steps, a fresh dusting of snow kicking up as I opened the front door and ushered us in. We were met with a hum of conversation and laughter and clanging of dishes.
Thankfully the house no longer smelled like gingerbread.
I hung both of our coats in the closet off the foyer. Two younglings zoomed across the hall ahead, stopping short when they saw Kye.
“AHHH!” they screamed and went running, stirring up a commotion.
“Well...” I mumbled. “That’s one way to grab everyone’s attention.”
Kye followed me through to the kitchen where the conversation slowly died as eyes swiveled toward us.
“Everyone, meet my boyfriend Kye. Kye, meet everyone.”
The word boyfriend physically jarred more than a few of my relatives.
The first to recover was my mother. She plastered on her perfect hostess smile and approached, her hand out. “Hello Kye, I’m Meredith, Holly’s mother.” With a furtive glance my way she added, “You didn’t mention you were bringing a guest for third meal, darling.”
I lifted my hands innocently. “Must’ve slipped my mind.”
Yeah, right.
If my stomach could physically lodge itself in my throat, it would’ve. I had this conflicting feeling of fear and desire for my family to like Kye.
Made zero sense.
Kye gently shook Mom’s hand, his bigger one engulfing hers. My eyes locked onto his claws, noticing they were neatly trimmed.
Had I just missed that before or was my paranoia making me hyper aware of inconsequential stuff?
“Are these for me?” Moms eyes grew in size at the flowers Kye held, artisanal wrapped in brown paper.
“They are,” Kye beamed, his jutting tusks distracting, yet I found myself finding them goofily charming. “Holly told me about your fondness of alien flowers.”
“Did she?” Mom accepted the bouquet and, after giving them a delicate sniff, smiled. “They’re lovely, Kye. Thank you. You brought her father’s favorite brandy, too. She’s just giving all our secrets away.”
“I think she just wanted her parents to like me,” he whispered in a way that wasn’t meant to be a whisper at all.
He and mom shared a cheeky grin. If I knew my mother at all, she was suspicious but had enough decency to save it for when the whole family wasn’t watching.
“Where’s Dad at, anyway?” I asked, not seeing him in the kitchen.
Mom waved a hand. “Oh, he’s around somewhere. I swear that man would be happy living in a cave. Here, I’ll save this for him, Kye. Thank you for the gifts.”
Kye dipped his chin, allowing Mom to take the bottle of brandy. Aunt Gretta nearly shoved my mother aside to shake Kye’s hand and I had to hide my grin. The ice broken, more members of my family came up to greet him, pulling him farther and farther away from me.
There was a reason I called Gretta my favorite aunt. The fact that she was Perry’s mother didn’t bother me. She and her daughter couldn’t be more opposite.
As Kye was meeting family, and conversation stirred back up, Gretta and Mom ended up on either side of me.
“Good for you, Mouse,” Gretta congratulated me while suggestively eyeballing Kye’s backside. “Could crack nuts with those cheeks.”
Mom released a withering sigh while I snickered. Aunt Gretta could be such a pervert.
I was instantly reminded how firm-looking those furry ass cheeks had been the night he’d inspected my living room in the buff. The well-fitted pants only accentuated it.
His blunt tail twitched like he could tell we were watching.
“I’m shocked,” Mom started. “I didn’t even know you were seeing anyone.”
I rushed to an excuse. “It’s relatively new.”
Mom’s left eye narrowed just slightly. I knew that squint all too well. It was her suspicious eye. It always saw past our bullshit as children.
“New? Yet you brought