“So, Graham, do tell. No one can understand how you and Dani could possibly be a couple.”
My mom grips her wineglass. Her smile is strained.
Graham expertly uses his fish knife to flake a bit of flesh off the fillet. “I don’t understand what you mean.” He takes a bite.
“Well—” Colette’s mom is flustered for a moment. This is the closest someone’s been to calling out her shit in twenty years. “I just mean… Well, you’re you, and Dani… Well, she’s not Colette, is she?”
“I work in tech, Mrs. Belmont. The vast majority of the people I interact with are men. It’s nice to come home to a woman. A real one.”
“Hear, hear! Dani definitely never needed breast implants,” Gran says and scoops more asparagus onto her plate.
“How did you two meet?” My dad interjects before Vivienne can go ice queen on us. My dad’s well-heeled. Normally that would be a safe topic, right? How did you two meet?
Did Graham and I ever really agree on a story? My mind spins.
Graham’s not panicking though.
“I saw her walking down the street one evening,” he says calmly, “and asked her out. She didn’t want to at first—thought I was weird—then she realized there were some perks to dating me.”
I stuff potatoes in my mouth so I don’t have to answer, just nod.
Colette’s not buying it.
“So you just… saw Dani on the street and thought she was hot, then you asked her out? What was she wearing, her fancy Crocs?”
“I don’t wear Crocs to the office.”
Piper makes a face.
“Okay, once, one time, because the train door closed on my foot.”
“I like your Crocs.” Graham smirks at me. “Besides, you’re not running for the subway in four-inch heels, are you?”
“Lulu likes the subway, and walking is good exercise.”
“I’m going to start sending a car for you, darling.”
“Dani’s a real New Yorker. You’d have to kidnap her and drive away in your car for her to stop taking the subway.” Jeremy laughs at his joke.
Piper chokes on her fish. “Kidnap—”
“Water?” I shoot daggers at Piper and mouth,Get it together.
Graham’s face goes blank as he waits a beat too long before responding. “Yes, I suppose I might.”
My dad, ever the romantic at heart, swoons. “What did you notice about her? What drew you to her?”
“Dad.”
“What! When I saw your mother across the quad, I thought she was the coolest girl I’d ever seen. She had on a black sweater and these big sunglasses, and she was holding a sign protesting the English department not letting people handwritetheir assignments—they wanted all computers or typewriters.” He stares dreamily at my mother.
“And Hank had his tie undone. I thought he was such a rebel.” My mom pats my dad’s collar.
Graham is quiet. Too quiet.
When I finally bring myself to look at him, he’s already looking at me.
It’s too intense—those green eyes, steady and unguarded.
