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“Through friends.” Everly looked over at me. “They met with Max about signing with your company.”
Squishing the bag, he stopped abruptly. “The escorts?”
She nodded. “They’re my roommates.”
He nodded and placed the bag on the counter. The next thing he did was put rice into a cooker. “And what do you do, Everly?”
Was this his diplomatic way of finding out if she was an escort, too? Smooth, Dad.
“I’m studying to become a lawyer.”
My father was usually harmless, but I hadn’t really given him much opportunity to interrogate a girlfriend. Hadn’t brought a girl home since high school. I was a little worried that he’d take the liberty of commenting on my love life—sex life—though. Everly didn’t need to hear that, even if I knew deep down she didn’t fit into the same category as every other woman I’d ever been with.
“Knowing a lawyer always comes in handy.”
“Dad, really. It’s illegal for Everly to give any advice, and that’s not the reason…” I rubbed the back of my neck. She was probably asked for legal advice all the time, but that didn’t mean I wanted to contribute to that.
I looked over and she looked at me with the smallest grin. Her eyes fixated on mine. It was at that moment I realized I was nervous. I wanted to make a good impression, and although I knew my dad could be charming as hell and was, for real, a good man, that didn’t mean I wasn’t scared she wouldn’t like him. I wanted her to like everything about me. My family. My job. My…everything.
“You know this is the first time he’s brought home a girl since he was in high school?” He shook his hands in the sink after giving them a good wash. “You must be special.”
Fucking hell. Who was this man?
My hand fisted on the granite counter. Embarrassment. It was a strange feeling, only because I hadn’t felt it in so long. Not since I’d learned to let other peop
le’s comments roll off my shoulders. But it was back. In full force. And my father was getting his jollies at my expense.
“Max, why don’t you open some wine?” He gestured to the dining room, where he kept a good selection of bottles. “Start the grill for me, too.”
I had just wanted a quiet space to check off another item. I hadn’t been expecting a family dinner and casual conversation about my life. There were certain things I wanted to keep private. Like everything but running. But I found myself unraveling just a little every day that I spent with her. Now my father was going to unroll the entire spool and leave me vulnerable and open to her scrutiny. Which wasn’t what I needed or wanted, at this point.
When my father was satisfied with his culinary masterpiece, he plated everything on the kitchen island and we helped ourselves. I was impressed with the selection of blackened chicken and cilantro-lime rice. I’d opened the perfect bottle of pinot grigio to go with the meal, but I had grabbed a bottle of beer from the fridge for myself.
At the dinner table, my father gave Everly the history of White Lace. How he and my mother moved from Silicon Valley back to Canada, where they were both born, to start their own production company.
After years of hard work, White Lace became the largest producer of porn in the country. Since Canada was severely lacking in homegrown content, he banked on that. It sparked the idea for our Canadian, Eh! serial, which featured spoofs of stereotypical Canadianisms. Like the poutine food truck owner who bangs one of his hot regular customers. Or the maple syrup manufacturer who uses his product to tempt women into his bed. I had a great time coming up with ideas for the line. It was one of my favorites.
“So tell me about Max when he was young.”
My knife made a clanking sound when it hit my plate. Nothing good could come from this question.
“He was a troublemaker. Always climbing trees. One time, he climbed the side of the house and couldn’t get down. We had to call the fire department.”
She laughed. So did I. I remembered that as if it were yesterday. I wasn’t even scared. More annoyed that I was missing out on valuable videogame hours.
“He and Ben used to make movies in the backyard.” Dad hesitated and smiled. “I guess nothing’s changed except for the backyard.”
“And the money shots,” I interrupted. “Don’t forget the money shots.”
Everly choked on her food, but managed to get it down. I reached out and patted her back as she cleared her throat.
“I’ll bet he was popular with girls.”
“Oh, you have no idea.”
Although I’d never talked about my high school years, or how I lost my virginity, I was sure she wasn’t surprised by the answer.
My father laughed. “I used to pick up the phone, only to hear giggling on the other end.”
