“Nice to meet you both,” I say, not nearly as nervous as I would have thought I was.
“I’ve heard so much about you,” she gushes, giving her brother a teasing nudge. Kam rolls his eyes and pulls me into him. I swallow my nerves, wondering what he’s told her.
“Where are you guys headed?” Kam asks, and Katie tells him they’re headed to grab some food and then to see a band perform.
“You guys should come!” she squeals, and I wonder if she’s always so enthusiastic.
“You don’t know if they have plans babe,” Blue interrupts with a laugh.
“We were just coming from a movie,” Kam says, eyeing me as if asking for permission.
“Come on, it’ll be fun!” she pleads, her eyes darting between me and Kam.
“The band’s pretty good,” Blue says, looking towards me as if reading that I’m the decision maker.
“I like good music,” I respond with a light shrug.
“It’s settled then!” Katie announces, and just like that we’re on a double date.
If I had any doubts before that Kam’s family is as perfect as one could get, Katie seals the deal. Katie’s majoring in education and wants to be a preschool teacher. Kam’s father is a lawyer and his mother a pediatrician. Katie and Kameron are best friends, which I already knew, and they’re what they call Irish twins nine months apart. Where Kameron is laid back and warm, Katie is excitable and outgoing. He jokes that when Katie’s at a table there’ll never be any uncomfortable silence.
“So Kam told us that you scored a full scholarship. It just so happens that Blue has too. I guess we know how to pick them,” she jokes. I laugh, trying to cover up my discomfort. Kam takes my hand and brings it to his mouth and kisses it.
“What’s your major?” Blue asks.
“Computer Science, what about you?”
“Business, safe and easy.”
“I dig it.” He nods, giving me an easy smile before nestling his head into Katie’s neck. She lights up like a Christmas tree, and I wonder if I look like that when Kam touches me.
“So Megan, my parents are going to be so jealous…they’re itching to know the girl who has their son wrapped around her finger,” she sings sneakily.
“Can you be any more embarrassing?” Kam groans playfully. We all laugh, but my stomach has tightened, I’ve never met anyone’s parents before, let alone parents who love and care about their children, how it seems his would be. What if they see what Kam doesn’t—that I don’t deserve him?
“The Davis’ are really cool,” Blue offers, tossing a piece of pretzel bread in his mouth.
“Of course they are, they created us right?” Katie adds, before pecking Blue on the lips. I hope one day I’ll be able to be free and affectionate with Kam like how she is with Blue. Not constantly worrying about when it’d all eventually go wrong. A waiter appears at our table. Katie orders a chicken salad, Kam and Blue get burgers, and I get wings.
“I think I want a drink,” Kam says, and Blue’s disinterested face lights up.
“We drinking?” he asks enthusiastically after clapping his hands and rubbing them together.
“Not too much,” Katie says, eying both the boys.
“Of course not sweetheart,” Blue tells her innocently.
Kam orders. “Can I get a rum and Coke?”
“I’ll take what he’s having,” Blue adds matter-of-factly.
“Fine, I’ll have a Long Island. What about you Megan?” Katie asks.
I’ve never had more than some cheap wine and that was when me and one of the other foster kids decided to try it when our foster mom of the moment passed out and left some in the bottle.
“Uhm…something sweet,” I tell the waitress, almost reluctantly.
“I’ve got just the thing.” She gives a tip-worthy smile and checks all of our IDs before disappearing. The conversation goes smoothly. Once the drinks arrive, before we can put them to our lips, Katie clears her throat.
“We’re making a toast,” she announces, lifting her glass. We all oblige her and do the same.
“To family.” She smiles widely at Kam, then looks lovingly into Blue’s eyes. “Love,” she says, and then glances at me and Kam. I can’t fight the small smile that breaks out on my face.
“And sex,” Blue interjects, biting his bottom lip, and I shake the feeling of the familiarity of that action. I’m holding my breath as Kam squeezes my thigh reassuringly and chuckles. It’s so funny how Blue started off as a little closed off and bored and how his personality has begun to show more and more. The drink the waitress picked for me is a fruit punch red. The liquid is cold, and sugary-sweet with a mild hint of something I can’t quite put my finger on.
“You like it?” Kam asks me, his eyes lingering to my lips. And I wonder if my face is turning as red as the drink.
“Want to taste it?” I ask him, our eyes flirting with one another. He nods and before I can lift the glass to him he’s taken my lips with his. He savors my lips as if they are his favorite candy. When he pulls away, I’m breathless.
“It’s good,” he tells me with a boyish grin, his blue eyes full of mischief. My heart starts to race. When I face the others, Katie’s smiling approvingly and Blue is grinning at us. I tuck my hair behind my ear and Kam pulls me closer to him. I feel warm, safe, and something else that I don’t recognize. My heart is speeding up and my skin is warm, but I feel full, not lacking anything for the first time in my life.
The rest of dinner goes well and I don’t know if it’s the aid of the drink but I feel more comfortable around Katie. She’s sweet, not overbearing or snobby like how I imagined she might be. Not that I should have because it would be strange for Kam’s sister to be so different from him.
I think Blue also made it feel a little easier being there, and also reinforced that their family doesn’t care about money or status. Kam has never flaunted his money since I’ve been around him. But the way he freely spends—easily picking up the check for dinner tonight, not having to worry about tuition, and having an apartment his parents pay for—only reinforces the fact that we grew up so differently.
We pull up to the bar where the band is playing and there’s already people hanging out in front, music pouring out from the inside of the bar. It’s a beautiful night, almost perfect. The sky’s clear, the temperature’s amazing, and I feel light.
Good, not a million thoughts attacking me at once. Maybe I’ll start drinking a little more if it drowns the voices out so easily.
“You’re up for this? If not we can go do something more low key,” Kam asks before we leave the car. I lean over and press my lips softly against his. I can feel the smile spread across his face. We head to the bar hand in hand, meeting Blue and Katie halfway.
“You guys are going to love the band, they’re totally awesome!” Blue says. I wonder what it must be like to be so excited at every moment, to have had such a good life full of pleasant memories, drunk off the remnants of the ease and joy pouring out of it. Kam has given me a glimpse of what that might be like; Katie has had an entire lifetime of it.