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“Your grandma is a very smart woman.” Brinley crinkled up her nose in a way that was ridiculously cute. “Is the rest of your family as crazy as her?”
“ No one is like my grandma, but everyone is crazy in their own way.”
“Any tricks to impressing them?”
The fact that Brinley wanted to impress them made Annalise melt. “Just be yourself and they’ll love you.”
Just like… No. Chill out, heart.
Chapter 18
Brinley
Brinley wiped her sweaty palms on her pants as she and Annalise approached Annalise’s grandma’s house. She couldn’t remember a time when she was this nervous. She prided herself in keeping her cool in any and every situation life threw at her. It was one of the reasons Dale loved having her work at the bar. Nothing threw her off. But this… Christmas spent with the family of the woman she shouldn’t be, but very much was, falling for… This had gotten the best of her.
She had already made her decision about Annalise. In a few weeks, after her MCATs were over, she would tell her how she felt. She had no idea what to expect and it scared the shit out of her. Annalise wasn’t out. She might not have any interest in an actual relationship with another woman. But Brinley wasn’t sure what scared her more—Annalise not wanting her or Annalise being interested in the two of them being more. She had spent her life watching relationship after relationship fall apart. If she got the chance to be something more with Annalise and then lost it? Shit, that could break her. What did this woman do to her? She wasn’t like this before Annalise walked into her bar. She loved it and hated it all at once.
“There you two are.”
Brinley returned from her thoughts to find Annalise’s grandma walking toward them. “I had a feeling you two would be the last ones here.” When her eyes landed on Annalise’s neck, Brinley cringed internally and prayed she didn’t notice what she thought they had covered up very well. “And now I can see why.”
Shit.
As if reading her mind, Annalise’s grandma waved a hand at her. “Don’t you worry, dear. The coverup is doing its job. None of these prudes will notice a thing.”
Normally, this would have cracked Brinley up, but she was way too nervous for that, so all she could do was let out the breath she had been holding.
“Let me introduce you to everyone,” Annalise said with a squeeze of her hand.
They made their way through aunts, uncles, and cousins, stopping to talk to each for a few minutes before moving on. They were all so nice that Brinley’s anxiety started to float away.
That was until Annalise said, “There you are. I was wondering where you all got to,” and Brinley looked ahead of them to see three people who had an uncanny resemblance to the woman standing next to her.
Seriously. If they weren’t all looking at her with warm smiles, it would be almost creepy how perfect this blue-eyed, blonde-haired family was. Brinley felt like she stuck out like a sore thumb.
The older man, whose blonde hair was a little thinner, stuck his hand out. “You must be Brinley. I can’t tell you how great it is to meet you. Every time the family gets together, my daughter sings your praises. I hear you’re going to be a doctor.”
Annalise talks about her? To her family? That was news to Brinley. She wondered what she told them. Clearly, it wasn’t about how they fucked like animals every chance they got. Her body warmed at the thought. Not now, Brinley. Brinley shrugged as she accepted the man’s handshake and offered him her most charming smile. “That’s the goal.”
“With all of the studying you girls have been doing, I don’t think you’ll have any trouble.” He winked, but Brinley could tell it was just a boomer thing and not because he actually knew what they had been doing aside from studying.
“Thank you, sir. I really appreciate it.”
Annalise’s dad scoffed. “Enough of that sir nonsense. Call me Kirk. If you haven’t figured it out by now, I’m Annalise’s old man.”
Brinley looked between the two of them and chuckled. “I can tell.”
For how much Annalise looked like her dad, she also looked just like her mom as well, except that her mom’s hair stopped above her shoulders and was a darker shade of blonde. Brinley stuck her hand out toward the woman. “And it’s nice to meet you as well, Mrs. Finch.”
“I’m not one for formalities either,” the woman said as she accepted Brinley’s handshake. “It’s Brenda.”
“And I’m Dalton.” The knowing smile on Annalise’s brother’s face told Brinley that he knew exactly who she was, even if Annalise hadn’t shared it with him. “You’ll meet my girlfriend, Shelby, tomorrow. She’s with her family tonight.” Dalton looked between Brinley and Annalise before his eyes stayed on his sister. “You’re staying at Mom and Dad’s tonight, right?”
Annalise laughed. “Why would I? My apartment is right down the street.”
Dalton crossed his arms over his chest. He was much bulkier than his petite sister. “Because I’m staying there.”
“And…?”
