Meanwhile, I felt like I was preparing for a final exam I hadn't studied for.
"Nothing."
He snorted. "That's a lie."
"It wasn't a lie."
His eyebrow lifted. "It was a terrible lie."
I hated that he had a point.
A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "Come on."
I stared out the windshield for another few seconds before giving up. "What if they hate me?"
For a moment, the only sound inside the SUV was the hum of the engine and music.
Then Thane shook his head. "Kieran. They're not going to hate you."
The certainty in his voice should have helped. It didn't. "You don't know that."
A faint smile touched his mouth, but there was no teasing in it. "Actually, I do."
I folded my arms across my chest. "That's a lot of confidence for someone who hasn't even introduced us yet."
"Maybe." His gaze flicked toward me before returning to the road. "But I know my parents."
"What if they think I'm too young?" The question sounded ridiculous the second it left my mouth, but at that point, I was committed. "What if they think I'm after your money? What if they wonder why their son brought home some random college student he met less than a week ago?"
Thane's expression softened. The teasing disappeared completely. "Is that really what you're worried about?"
I looked away. That probably answered the question.
"Kieran."
I glanced back at him.
"My parents spent thirty years raising me." There was affection in his voice when he said it. The kind that appeared whenever he talked about them. "They know exactly what I look like when I don't care about someone."
My stomach dipped. I wasn't entirely sure I liked that reaction. "That's not an answer."
"It is."
His gaze met mine briefly. "They'll care about whether you're kind. They'll care about whether you treat people well. They'll probably care whether you've eaten enough today because my mother thinks feeding people solves most problems."
Despite myself, I smiled. That sounded a lot more believable than being judged. I shook my head and settled deeper into the seat. Beside me, Thane continued driving with the calm confidence of a man heading toward a completely ordinary afternoon.
Maybe that was part of what made me nervous.
For him, this was normal.
For him, these were simply his parents.
For me, it felt like stepping into a world I'd spent most of my life watching other people have. And no matter how many times I reminded myself that this was happening because Thane wanted me there, a small part of me still couldn't quite believe it.
The senior care facility sat on the edge of the city, tucked between tall evergreens and a small park dusted with the last remnants of an earlier snowfall.
As Thane pulled into the parking lot, I noticed his eyes flick briefly toward the rearview mirror one last time. The movement was small. I must have been staring because he caught me watching.
