my mom’s answering call.
I started that way but saw Hazel, the daughter of my sister’s boyfriend, sitting on the couch, scrolling through her phone.
“Hey, Hazel. How’s it going?”
“I’m here, so horrible,” she said without looking up.
I glanced at Xander, who looked like he wanted to burst out laughing, before turning back to Hazel. “Well, it’s good to see you.”
“I bet,” she grumbled.
As I started toward the kitchen again, Xander leaned in and whispered, “How old is she?”
“I think she just turned nine.”
“Wow. She’s beyond her years when it comes to sarcasm and snark.”
“Being around my sister will do that to a person.”
The small kitchen was bustling and chaotic, all my sisters yelling and moving around as they pretended to help my mom set up for the cookout. In reality, they were just getting in the way and stealing bits of food.
“Hi, everyone,” I yelled.
“Hi, honey,” my mom said, never looking up from the vegetables she was cutting. “Your dad’s outside.”
“Who’s your friend?” my older sister Courtney asked.
That got my mom’s attention. She quickly lifted her head and began drying her hands on her apron.
“Oh, you brought a friend,” she said. “Welcome.” She smiled widely as she approached, extending a hand.
“This is my buddy, Xander. Xander, this is my mom, Pam, and my sisters, Amber, Courtney, and Heather.”
He shook my mom’s hand awkwardly and said, “Nice to meet all of you. Sorry for crashing your party.”
“Nonsense. The more the merrier,” my mom said before she went back to her chopping.
“Drinks are outside in the cooler. Heather, go get our guest a drink.”
Heather looked at Xander with a vaguely irritated though expectant look on her face.
Xander held up a hand. “I’m good for now.”
“So no Sophia?” my mom asked.
“No, she’s with her dad today,” I replied, trying to sound casual and not at all bothered by the fact that we’d both made plans with our families without including the other. We needed to be better about meshing all the aspects of our lives.
“Oh, that’s too bad.”
“Yeah,” I said because I wasn’t sure how else to reply.
Amber cleared her throat. “So, Xander…” The way she said his name sounded like she didn’t believe it was his name. She was so freaking weird. “How do you know our Drew?”
Xander looked at me, his eyebrows raised.
We should’ve worked on a backstory. I’d never told my parents about my stint pretending to be Brody, nor had I mentioned taking college classes.
“We met at the…library,” Xander said, his lips twitching. Libraries and Xander had a special history, and I almost laughed at his choice.
“The library? What were you doing at the library?” Courtney asked me, sounding almost disgusted that I would go to such a place.
“Reading.”
“Why?”
“Jesus,” I muttered. “Where’s Ryan?” I asked Amber in an attempt to change the subject. Ryan was Hazel’s dad and the longest relationship my sister had ever been in, which wasn’t saying much, considering most of her previous ones began and ended in a truck-stop bathroom.
“Outside with Dad and Cody.”
“Okay, well, let’s go meet the man of the hour,” I said to Xander, who nodded.
“Wait, take this with you,” my mom said. She handed me a plate of burgers and two packs of hot dogs, which I dutifully carried outside.
“Hey, Dad,” I said as I approached the grill, Xander in tow. “This is my buddy, Xander.”
My dad grunted and took the burgers and hot dogs from me.
Xander cast me a questioning look, and I leaned toward him. “Dad’s not a big talker.”
His mouth formed an O, and he nodded.
“Xander, this is Ryan, and you already know Cody.”
Cody shook Xander’s hand. “Good to see you again, man.”
“You too.”
“Nice to meet you,” Ryan said, also shaking Xander’s hand.
“You too.”
Awkward silence descended. I shoved my hands into my pockets and rocked on my heels. I should’ve warned Xander more about my family. It was unfair to subject anyone to this level of dysfunction out of the blue.
“So, what’s new with you guys?” I asked no one in particular.
Ryan shrugged. “Nothing much. Hazel’s mom gave me a raft of shit about taking her today since it’s technically her weekend, but it’s Father’s Day, so she can suck a nut.”
Eloquent as always.
I wanted to point out that, for someone who evidently fought to have his daughter for the day, he didn’t seem to be making an effort to spend much time with her. But that would’ve set off a drama bomb I didn’t want to subject Xander to. It also wasn’t any of my business. Instead, I