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“You’re full of surprises these days,” Brynn had said as she watched me, a strange smile on her face.
“Why’re you looking at me like that?” I snapped, suddenly feeling like I should call and cancel the whole thing.
Brynn shrugged, that damn smile still on her face. “I don’t know, Ceer, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you nervous for a date before—hell—I don’t think you’ve ever actually gone on one before.”
“That’s not true, she went to prom with Bobby Wexler in high school,” Aurelia pointed out, always ready to defend my honor.
It devolved into a mess of chatter after that as they began pulling clothes out of my closet and prepared me for what I was afraid was my first real official date in my entire life.
Gods, that sounded pathetic.
Even with Leith we never went outside of our rooms because I was terrified of people seeing us and thinking that there was more to us than just friends with benefits… and there most definitely was more than just that when it came to Leith and me.
I could admit that now even if I hadn’t wanted to at the time.
After watching my mam live the way she did, always making excuses for Da when he came home drunk and threw things or pushed her, I always swore I would never put myself in that position.
And yet here I was about to walk hand-in-hand with a very handsome man to see one of my favorite musicals ever.
“My cousin works for the theater,” Wiz told me as we waited in line at the box office. “He managed to get great seats since it’s a weekday.”
As he spoke, a massive blonde man came barreling our direction, swooping Wiz right off of his feet. “Jason! You made it!”
The bear of a man swung my date around in a circle and Wiz laughed the entire time until he was placed firmly back on his feet again.
Looking at the two of them… I wasn’t sure where the family resemblance was, but there was definitely affection between the two as they turned to face me.
“Ciara, this is my cousin Frank McDonald, Frankie, this is Ciara Callaghan, the girl I was telling you about.”
I held my hand out to him and the man’s paws enveloped mine as he gave it a gentle shake and I could tell that, despite his massive size, the man was the gentlest of giants.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you. When Jason called me about tickets I thought I was hearing things. He almost never takes girls out on—”
“Okay!” Wiz cut in, pulling my hand from his cousin’s. “Frankie, can we maybe get through introductions without you embarrassing me?”
Frankie shot him a sheepish grin before pulling a pair of tickets out of his checkered shirt pocket. “Sorry, enjoy the show. Jase, you should definitely bring her for family dinner. You know the aunts would lose their minds.”
“I’ll think about it. Thank you for doing this, Frankie,” Wiz said and together we waved as the giant man ducked back inside and disappeared from our view completely.
“He’s…” I began searching for the right word.
Wiz grinned. “A lot? Crazy? Large?”
I returned his grin and shrugged. “All of the above?”
Wiz led us inside, making a beeline for concessions as people milled around the lobby waiting for the doors to the theater to open.
“Why does he call you Jason?” I asked after we’d collected more food than I was sure either of us could eat. Buttered popcorn, a pretzel with cheese, nachos, two drinks, and a box of Mike & Ikes were piled onto the plastic tray that I was sure was going to collapse under the weight as I carried the drinks.
“My parents are from two different cultures. My mom is American, born and raised just outside of Seattle, and my dad is Korean but moved here to be with her,” Wiz explained as we passed through the now open doors and into the dimly lit theater to find our seats. “When I was born they wanted me to have a Korean name and an American name, so Jae-Sun and Jason are pretty interchangeable in our family.”
I chewed on the information as we settled into our seats, our shoulders brushing together. “It doesn’t bother you?”
Wiz shook his head. “It might bug some people, but I like it. My mom has a huge family. She’s the youngest of six siblings and because of that I have fifteen more cousins just like Frankie that all live in Washington.”
“Fifteen?” I couldn’t even fathom having that many cousins.
My mam had been an only child and my da never spoke with his sister, so life had been lonely without many other children to play with until I met Brynn and Aurelia.
