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I brought my books home and started panicking about having dinner with Alivia’s family. What if they didn’t like me? What if they hated my pink hair, or my loud voice, or the way I tended to babble when I met new people? I had no idea what to expect.
I guess I just assumed they were probably more formal than my family, so I selected the suit I’d worn to Linley’s engagement party and braided my hair back into a loose bun. I was still me, though, so I added my new dangly donut earrings to my ears.
I checked myself in the mirror and tried to calm down. At least I’d already met the kids and they were great. Now I just had to tackle the adults.
* * *
I sat in my car for a minute to get myself together before I walked into the inn. I waved to Callie at the front desk and headed for the dining room. It took me a moment to spot Alivia, but there she was, wearing black pants and a white button-up and…blue suspenders.
How could she do this to me? Why would she do this to me? Was she trying to torture me?
She turned around and smiled as she saw me, walking over to bring me with her to a group of people seated at the one long table in the back.
“Why are you wearing suspenders?” I hissed in her ear as she brought me over.
She just laughed and then presented me to the table. “Everyone, this is my friend Charli.”
“Hi,” I said, waving and hoping I didn’t look like a huge dork.
The kids were at one end with what I assumed were their parents. Alivia’s sister, Alice, looked so much like her, with dark hair and chiseled features, but they were rounder and softer. Her husband had glasses and dark hair as well. A perfect matched set.
“You’ve met the kids, and then that’s my sister Alice, her husband James, and then these are my parents, Anna and Brian.” I met her mother’s eyes and was taken aback, because they looked just like Alivia’s.
“It’s so nice to meet you,” Anna said, holding out her hands to take one of mine. “Alivia’s told us so much about you.” Anna’s fingers were thin, and there were dark circles under her eyes that she tried to cover with makeup, but her eyes were bright and her smile warm.
“Oh no,” I said, the words coming out before I could stop them.
Anna laughed and I saw where Alice got her rounder features from. “It was all high praise, I promise.”
“Good,” I said, turning to Brian. Ah, there was Alivia’s jawline. She resembled her father much more than her mother, and when he smiled, I saw a copy of hers.
“A pleasure,” he said, and I wondered if he was the quieter one of the couple.
Alivia pulled out my chair in the middle of the table, so I had Alivia on my left and Alice’s husband James on my right, with Alice across from me.
A server came over with menus, which seemed a little silly since Alivia probably knew everything off the top of her head, but her family didn’t.
“You look really beautiful,” Alivia said in my ear while I pretended to be looking at the menu. I was really focused on how close her leg was to mine under the table.
I couldn’t be having horny thoughts in front of her family. If only she hadn’t worn those suspenders…
“Thanks,” I said back to her. “I’m still mad about the suspenders.”
“I’ll let you punish me later,” she said back, and holy shit, I was having very inappropriate thoughts at the table.
Alivia must have noticed that I’d been affected, because she laughed softly so only I could hear.
Menu. Food. Ordering.
Alice and James were having a hard time getting their four kids to figure out what they wanted.
“Do you want noodles?” Alice asked Ellie.
“No,” she said, a determined look on her face.
“Do you want chicken?”
“No.”
