“The last time I had her for Halloween, I went as Pascal, and Olivia went as Rapunzel from Tangled.”
“Oh my God, please tell me you have pictures.” She giggles.
“I’ll show them to you tonight.” I kiss her swiftly, then haul her out of bed and straight into the shower.
________________
Standing in my mom’s kitchen I pull my cell out of my pocket when it rings, and smile when I see Aria is calling.
“Hey, babe,” I answer, ignoring my mom when she smirks at me from across the room.
“Hey,” she says softly. “I talked to Gia about everything, and she thinks we should go to my parents’ party; that way I can say I tried, and if anything goes wrong, we can leave early and go get dinner.” She drops her voice. “Really, I think she just wants a reason to wear the dress she found.”
“I do not!” Gia shouts in the background, making me laugh.
“Are you sure you’re okay with going?” she asks me, sounding unsure.
“Like I told you, baby, I’m good with whatever you want to do.”
“Thank you.” She sounds relieved. “Will I see you at my house in a couple of hours?”
“Yeah, and I’ll pick up dinner on my way just let me know what you’re in the mood for.”
“Why don’t you two have dinner here tonight?” Mom asks, proving that she’s eavesdropping, and I raise a brow. “Don’t look at me like that. I want to finally meet her.”
“Did your mom just say she wants me to come for dinner?” Aria asks, sounding nervous, which is surprising, since she’s spoken to my mom more than once on the phone and the two of them tend to chat about everything under the sun.
“She did.”
“Okay, so I’ll meet you at your parents’.”
“Baby, you don’t gotta do that,” I say, and my mom glares at me from across the room.
“I want to. I’ll meet you at your parents’ house in a couple of hours.”
Sighing, I shake my head. “I’ll meet you at your place, and then we’ll come here together.”
“Are you sure? You’re already there?”
“I’m not driving home separate from you after dinner.”
“Right.” I hear the smile in her voice. “In that case I’ll see you in a bit.”
“Later, babe.”
“Bye.” She hangs up, and I tuck my cell into my back pocket.
“You love her, don’t you?”
I frown, focusing on my mom when she asks that question.
“What?” I start to shake my head.
“You get the same look on your face whenever you’re talking to Olivia,” she cuts me off, holding up her hand with her face softening. “It’s sweet.” She picks up one of the totes that we brought down from the attic. “Anyway,” she starts, carrying it toward the front of the house and yelling over her shoulder, “grab the box with the bats. There’s lots to do before you need to leave to pick up Aria.”
With a shake of my head, I scan the boxes, searching for the one she wants, with my mind replaying her statement over and over. I try to tell myself she’s wrong, that I care about Aria, and enjoy every minute I spend with her, but I don’t love her. But the more I think about it, the more I know she’s right. Somehow, without even knowing it was happening, I fell in love with her. Then again, I think I started falling in love with her the moment she opened the door, looking adorably disheveled, and since then, the way I feel for her has just grown deeper.
Now I just need to figure out what to do with this realization.
Chapter 13
Aria
“OH MY GOD, I need a copy of this picture.” I laugh, pointing out a photo of Tide in the bathtub when he was about three, sporting a shampoo Mohawk and a bubble beard.
“I’ll have a couple of them printed for you,” Tide’s mom Jolene says, ignoring the look Tide gives her.
“So are we going to eat anytime tonight?” Tide’s dad Hunter asks, and I press my lips together to suppress a smile. He and his son not only look a lot alike, but their personalities seem very similar. Hunter and Tide are both a little rough around the edges, which makes their sweet qualities that much more endearing.
“You act like I didn’t catch you eating the leftover spaghetti when you got home a couple of hours ago.” Jolene glares at her husband, and he shrugs.
“I’ve been smelling your roast since I got home and have been looking forward to it since then. It’s not my fault you’re such a good cook.”
“Whatever,” she replies without heat, proving the compliment did its job. “Are you two ready to eat?” She looks between Tide and me.
“Sure.” I hand her back the photo album I was looking at, and she slides it in its place on the bookshelf. “Do you want me to help you with anything?”
“There isn’t much to help with. We normally just make plates in the kitchen and take them to the dining room.”
“And we don’t normally eat in the dining room,” Hunter says. “Normally, we eat in front of the TV in here.”
“We can eat in here if you like,” I say as Tide takes my hand and pulls me up to stand.
“We are not eating dinner in here, Hunter.” Jolene gives her husband a look that he ignores. “And you’re not going to expire from missing one of your TV shows, especially since you got everything set up to record and can watch it later.”
“Calm down, woman. We’re eating in the dining room.” He pushes out of his recliner. “Lord knows we need to, since you paid an arm and a leg for that God-awful wallpaper hanging in there now.”
“It’s beautiful.” She spins around, planting her hands on her hips. “You said so yourself.”
“No, I said that if you like it, then you should get it, and I said you did a good job,” he returns, and I choke on laughter and end up coughing to hide the sound when I can’t hold it back any longer.
“Sorry.” I wave a hand out as Tide pats my back, his own lips twitching.
“Let’s get you some water.” Jolene grabs my hand and tows me with her to the kitchen, where she pulls down a glass, filling it with water before handing it to me.
“Thanks.” I take a sip, and she nods at me before going to the double oven and lifting a roasting pan out of the top one, setting it on the island. She then opens the bottom oven and takes out a tray of biscuits that look like something out of a magazine, along with a pan of roasted vegetables. My mouth waters and my stomach growls as she grabs a stack of plates, setting them on the counter.
“What do you want to drink, babe?” Tide rests his hand against my lower back, and I meet his gaze over my shoulder.
“This water is fine.”
“Are you sure?” Jolene asks. “I was going to open a bottle of wine for us girls, since the guys will likely have beer.”
“I’ll have a glass of wine with you,” I say, and she looks at Tide.
“Will you grab a bottle of red and open it for us?”
“Sure.” He kisses the side of my head before walking away.
When he comes back a minute later, I watch him open it, then join everyone in filling a plate with food and carrying it to the dining room that is through an open doorway off the kitchen. The wallpaper is bold and bright with lots of different flowers and birds, but it still somehow fits the antique-looking table with wingback upholstered chairs. As we take our seats, Hunter says a quick prayer before we dig into our food and there is something about that I really like because it seems they always do it, and it’s not something just for show like my parents have done at dinner parties in the past.