Page 122 of The Need to Know

“Double scoop vanilla on you,” she said as she nodded off to the parlor behind us.

“Done.” I burst into a joyous laughter and soon, so did Ali. It felt good to be so silly and carefree with my sister.

At exactly five p.m. Ezekiel and I sat in his Acura in my parents’ driveway. I was staring up at the familiar colonial house, contemplating getting out and going through with this. Things with Alannah were in a better place, but the same couldn’t be said for my parents and me.

Ezekiel’s hand was on my knee, and just having him beside me was enough to keep me from bolting.

“If the energy is bad, we can leave,” Ezekiel said. “We’re not letting anyone make you feel small, okay?”

“Okay,” I said.

“We’re here for your sister. No drama. Nothing else,” he said.

Gallant was playing on the radio. Hearing his calming melody infused with Ezekiel’s support was enough to get me to unbuckle my seat belt.

I did so just in time. In my peripheral vision, I caught a vehicle pulling up to the curb to park. A rental Ford Fusion. It was Alannah and Oisin.

We got out of Ezekiel’s Acura at the same time as they got out of their car. It had been a little over a month, but I had only mentioned Ezekiel’s existence to Alannah this morning. By the deer-in-the-headlights look on her face, I could tell I had really dropped the ball in not bringing him up earlier.

“Hey,” I said as I greeted the duo coming our way on the front walk with a wave. “Alannah, this is my boyfriend, Ezekiel. Ezekiel, this is my younger sister, Alannah.”

My words had gone in one ear and out the other as Alannah paid no attention to me. She gaped up at Ezekiel with her mouth open. Having no shame, she looked him up and down—twice. “Wow. Hi.” She studied his entire person and looked at me before going back to stare some more. “Oh wow. Hi.”

Ezekiel grinned as he gave my sister a hug. “Hey, nice to meet you.”

“Wow,” Alannah said again as she stood back next to Oisin. “This is my boyfriend, Oisin.”

Oisin stepped forward and shook hands with me and when he came to Ezekiel he smirked just a little. “We’re off to a bad start already.”

Oisin’s comment eased any tension as we all managed to laugh and loosen up.

He was handsome with his square jaw, five-o’clock shadow, dark eyes, and fade. He had a face that said he would only age like wine with how good-looking he was with his brown complexion. He was only an inch or so shorter than Ezekiel, but he held the same confident posture and stance. I just hoped he wouldn’t cave under my father’s questioning.

Oisin held his hand out and shook with Ezekiel. “Oisin, nice to meet you, man.”

“Likewise,” Ezekiel responded.

I looked to my sister and her boyfriend, feeling a wave of butterflies in my gut. “You ready?”

Alannah opened her mouth, but her words never came out as the echo of the front door opening behind us caught all of our attention.

Standing on the front porch was my mother, and her eyes were glued down at us. She looked between Alannah and me before focusing on Ezekiel and Oisin.

“What is this?” she asked as she came to my sister for an explanation.

Nervously, Alannah went forward up the path and we all followed. “I brought my boyfriend down with me, and Nas brought hers over, too.”

My mother looked between Alannah and Oisin and Ezekiel and me once more. Startled, she stepped back, issuing out a smile. “When you said you had a surprise, I didn’t think you meant a whole person.”

My mother had always been a stickler for making sure our house was together before having company. I knew the house was spotless regardless, but that never stopped her from fussing before.

“Momma, relax,” I insisted as she let us all pass her by into the house.

My father was just entering the foyer as we filed in and my stomach settled uneasily as I laid eyes on him.

“Well, who’s all this?” my father asked, paying attention to Alannah and Oisin solely.

Alannah shrank a little. She stepped closer to Oisin and gestured toward him. “This is my boyfriend, Oisin. This is my surprise.” When neither of our parents broke out into cheer, she gave a timid smile. “Surprise.”