Inked Obsession (Montgomery Ink Fort Collins #2) - Carrie Ann Ryan Page 0,65

the same way about them.”

“Does that mean I can do the same when your girlfriend shows up?” Benjamin asked softly, and I froze. “She’s not my girlfriend.”

“So, what is she?” Lee asked, leaning forward.

“I swear to God, you guys need lives. Stop butting into mine.”

“But it’s more fun to butt into yours.”

“Ah, here they are. This is going to be interesting,” Lee said as I turned to see my sisters, Brenna, and Eliza walk through the front door.

My parents greeted them and hugged them all tightly, and my mother fluttered around. My dad was a little gruff as usual since he wasn’t great at showing emotion. He also wasn’t very good at human contact, and it was a bit awkward. But he was getting better.

I guess having your family yell and threaten to walk away because of how you acted changed things.

“Ah, see, they already like Eliza. This is good,” Lee muttered.

“I will hurt you.”

“Threaten to castrate him,” Archer said, and I froze before we all turned slowly towards him.

“Excuse me?” I asked.

Archer had the grace to blush, and Marc closed his eyes, muttering something under his breath.

“It’s what the girls always used to joke about and threatened to do to us. Did I go too far?”

Marc sighed. “Please stop talking about castration.”

“What is it with this family and castration?” Annabelle asked as she walked forward, Jacob right behind her.

“Well, that’s something that will never leave my mind,” Jacob muttered. “What is with this family?”

“That should be our motto,” Paige said as she leaned into Colton’s side.

“No, I like our mottos,” Mom said as she walked over with my father.

“What mottos?” Dad asked gruffly. “And why do we keep talking about lopping off someone’s balls? That’s violent. And kind of rude.”

“Only kind of?” Paige asked as she kissed Dad’s cheek. “I love you.”

“I love you, too. Now, no more talking about that. It’s your mother’s birthday. We are here to celebrate.”

“And this is only one celebration of two,” Mom said, grinning. “We’ll have the bigger Montgomery birthday party next weekend.”

“It should be fun,” my dad said. And considering that it was a meal with Mom’s siblings and some of the Montgomerys from around the state and country, he didn’t sound like he was faking it. He was trying. Getting over whatever illusions he’d had about being not quite as successful and popular as the other Montgomery family.

I had never seen it that way. We all worked hard and did our best in our respective lanes, but my dad had always been competitive. And because of that, it put a strain on the family. But we were dealing with it. Getting better.

But that tension, coupled with the attack, had changed things for me, and I had pushed everything deep inside to the point that I had hurt myself. But things were getting better. At least, I hoped so.

“Okay, now, let’s get started on hors d’oeuvres, and then I’m going to work towards everything else,” Mom said, clapping her hands together. “I’m so glad all my babies are here. And they brought all of their babies.”

Mom kept talking, going around and hugging each of my siblings again, but I only had eyes for one person.

Tension slid through me, but I ignored it. Eliza was here. Standing right next to Annabelle, her gaze on mine.

She was here.

Why was everything so awkward?

My mother hugged Eliza again, breaking our eye contact, and I moved out of the way, ignoring Lee’s glance and others’ as we filed into the dining room. Eliza came to my side, and I looked down at her, not saying anything. Then again, she didn’t say anything to me, either. Instead, I reached out my pinky and gently brushed hers. She blinked, looked down at our hands where they barely touched, and I heard the sharp intake of her breath. “Hi,” I whispered.

She looked up at me again. “Hi.”

“Will you sit next to me at dinner?” I asked softly.

Her eyes warmed, even as she bit her plump lower lip. “Does everybody know?”

“Most. Not Mom and Dad yet.”

“No secrets?”

“No. No secrets. But let’s not take over Mom’s birthday.”

Relief filled her gaze. “Thank God. Okay, I’d love to sit with you at dinner.”

“Okay, then.”

I had no idea what I was doing. This felt like it had happened out of the blue, but had it? She had always been there, had always been on my mind. There were always those little moments. Especially in the past year. Times when I had wanted to touch her,