furious.
It’s kind of sexy.
“He will not punch you. No one will,” I reassure my boyfriend, rising up on tiptoe so I can press a quick kiss to his cheek. “You’re going to be fine. I promise.”
He smiles down at me, but it’s strained. I hate that he’s so tense.
I’m tense too.
We slow our pace as we approach them, and Mom notices us first, putting on her polite smile as she comes to greet us. “Ava. So glad you’re finally here.” I let go of Eli’s hand when she pulls me into a hug, murmuring close to my ear, “You’re late. We were about to give up on waiting for you and eat.”
“Sorry,” I say as we pull away from each other. I grab Eli’s hand once more, dragging him over to my mother. “Mom, this is Eli. My boyfriend.”
“Hi Eli,” Mom says with a smile.
“Nice to meet you, Mrs. Callahan,” Eli says, a shocked expression on his face when she yanks him into her arms and gives him a quick hug.
“I’m a hugger, sorry,” she says, her face relaxing when she releases him. Which tells me Eli’s not giving off bad ju-ju vibes, thank God. Mom has this thing about people’s aura. Claims she can tell when someone’s a terrible person within three seconds of meeting them.
Whatever.
“Well, let’s eat. We’re all starving, and your father’s butt chicken is ready,” Mom says with a smile as she heads for the table where the spread is. We all like making fun of the beer butt chicken. It drives Dad crazy, which is why we do it.
We follow after her, me taking Eli’s hand once more, trying to present us as a united front. Jake is watching us with a blatant sneer on his face. Hannah catches my gaze, her eyes full of sympathy and I smile at her.
I don’t blame her for Jake’s bad behavior. That’s one hundred percent on him.
Autumn appears in front of us, seemingly out of nowhere, wearing a giant smile and her attention solely on Eli. “Who’s your friend, Ava?”
“Eli, this is my sister, Autumn,” I say, shocked when my sister pulls him into a quick hug too.
Eli has to bend over to hug her, considering how short she is. Pretty much like our mom. “It’s so great to meet you,” Autumn says.
“You too.” He looks shellshocked. Like he came fully prepared for war and confronted peace instead.
Well. From the female Callahans at least. He hasn’t talked to my dad yet. I’m sure Jake won’t even look at him.
“This is my brother, Beck.” I point at Beck who’s sitting in a chair, concentrating on his phone. He lifts his head when he hears his name mentioned, offering a wave to Eli. “Hey.” He pauses, his gaze narrowing. “I remember you.”
“You do?” Eli asks, ambling over to him. “From when?”
“Over the summer. At the camp. You’re the one with the big mouth.”
Everyone laughs. Even Jake. Even Eli. “You’re not wrong,” Eli tells him. “I’ve heard of you too. You’re the one who’s an excellent defensive lineman.”
Beck’s eyes go wide. “You’ve heard of me?”
“Hell yeah. Everyone knows who Beck Callahan is.” Eli glances in my direction to find me watching him, and he winks.
I always thought winking was kind of cheesy. But when Eli does it, I can’t help but feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
Or maybe that’s from him being so kind to my little brother.
Mom gets us all lined up, so we can start serving ourselves food. There’s red potato salad with rosemary and dill. A green salad. Chips and salsa are both still set out, though most of it is gone. Probably thanks to me and Eli being a little later than usual.
Dad still hasn’t talked to Eli, still too busy working on his chicken, but he’s at the end of the table serving everyone their portion. I’m in front of Eli, so I’m the one who talks to Dad first.
“You made it.” He smiles at me as he sets a slab of chicken on my plate.
“Sorry we were late.”
“Yes, sorry, sir,” Eli adds.
Oh, he sounds so nervous. I almost want to reach out and set my hand on his arm in the hopes I could calm him.
But I’m guessing no one will calm him. Not even me. Not when he has to face my father for the first time, knowing what we just did in my parents’ house.
My cheeks go warm just at the thought.
“I’m just glad you both made it.” Dad glances over at Eli,