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“Crazy, I know.”
“Well, let's get this show on the road.” Gabe holds out his elbow, and I loop my arm through his. On the ride over, Gabe tells me about work and how he and his partner are working well together. He's in the middle of a sentence when we pull up to a house, the driveway and curb full of parked cars, when I interrupt him.
“You are not allowed to leave me alone with anyone other than Gramps or Owen, okay?”
He smiles. “I don't plan on leaving your side, Ryan. It'll be great and fun.”
I nod because that is the plan. We get out of his car and head inside. The men are gathered in the living room, and I can hear the bustling of the women in the kitchen. Gramps seems to be the only one missing from the men.
“Hey y'all,” Gabe says as we walk further into the house. Heads swivel to look at us and voices all tell us hello. There is only one guy I haven't met. “I'm sure y'all remember Ryan.”
“With an aim like that, how could we forget her?” Gabe's cousin, Frank Jr., smiles.
“It's nice to see you guys again,” I tell them honestly, noticing that Gabe's father actually smiles at me. What changed his mind about me?
Gabe leads me over to the guy I haven't met yet, and he stands. “Keith, this is Ryan Kavanaugh. Ryan, this is my older brother, Keith.”
Keith shakes my hand with a friendly smile. He definitely fits my image of an FBI agent with the exception of his casual clothes. “Nice to meet you, Ryan.”
“It's about time you got here, darlin',” I hear behind me before I can respond to Keith. I turn at the sou
nd of Gramps' voice. He comes over and gives me a bear hug. “We're thrilled that you could join us.”
I can't help but smile. “Thanks for having me.”
“You can come sit with me,” Owen says from the couch.
I turn to Gabe, and he smiles in reassurance. “I'm going to say hey to the girls and then I'll be back, if you want to stay in here.”
I nod, moving over to sit with Owen. It's better to be in here than with the women. On one side is Owen, and Gramps takes the spot on the other side of me. Gabe's father, Larry, starts talking with Keith about football and then all the men are talking about it. I listen, paying attention to what they say, in case I can learn something new about the sport. Gabe returns to the room, but I have no idea where he's going to sit. He walks in front of Gramps and motions with his hand for me to stand.
Oh, no. Please tell me he isn't going to have me sit in his lap. He's trying to get his parents to hate me even more! Sure enough, Gabe takes my seat before tugging me down, joining in the conversation as if I'm not in his lap. Larry doesn't seem fazed by it, so that's good. But I feel awkward sitting here in a room full of men. Gabe grabs my hips and squeezes lightly as he talks.
“Keith, are you staying for the weekend? Are we still going shooting?” he asks, redirecting his question to everyone else. They all nod and murmur confirmation.
“Darlin', are you going to join us?” Gramps asks me.
“Oh, I already intruded on y'alls men's day once. I-”
“Nonsense. You have to come. Keith needs to see what you can do,” he interrupts.
“Yeah,” Keith chirps. “All I've heard about is how you showed up Dad after only shooting for an hour.”
Great. I glance at Larry, and I'm shocked when he grins at me. “I'll admit that I wasn't so sure about you that day, but you earned my respect regardless. I could easily see why Gabe would give you a ticket after you asked for it. How exactly did that happen?”
I turn to look at Gabe, but he doesn't say anything. His father did ask me, so I should answer him. “I was having a bad morning. So much so that it irked me when he called me ma'am. I said a few things and then told him to give me my ticket already. He said okay and did just that. Can't blame him either because I deserved it, especially for some of the things I said.”
The guys laugh, and Keith speaks up. “How in the world did that turn into you two dating?”
“Ryan is trouble, plain and simple,” Gabe says, his thumbs moving up and down over my lower back while keeping his hands on my hips. “And it's very hard to say no when she catches you off guard.”
“Hey,” I start defensively, turning a bit in his lap to look at him. “Have I had to use my card yet? No, so I'm not that much trouble.”
He laughs. “Good point.”
“Let's eat,” his mother calls from the dining room, halting the conversation.
Everyone stands simultaneously and heads into the other room. This time, Gabe is on one side and Keith is on the other as we take a seat at the large table. I stay quiet as we all hold hands, and Larry says prayer. Once food gets distributed to everyone, his mother, Camilla, decides to start talking to me. Or should I say, interrogate me.
