AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Well, that doesn’t sound good. “Warm up?”
“Oh yeah, they’ll be more subtle in their disapproval. She’ll just flat out hate you.”
“Well, fuck.”
His tone softens. “I did warn you. Not too late to back out, you know.”
But even though it would be easy enough to walk out those doors, I’d never do it. I …likeÉmile. I want to do this for him.
“Let’s go meet the parents.” I grin at him, and the one I get back holds a tinge of relief. He might not get embarrassed, but he’s clearly nervous and seeing the guy who’s normally so confident have this hint of uncertainty humanizes him a little.
It also somehow makes me feel like I can handle this.
Before we reach the group of people Émile is leading me toward, a tall woman with a closely-shaved head and bright eyes cuts us off.
“Christian, is it?”
I stare at her in confusion for a beat before I hold out my hand. “Ah, yeah?”
Instead of shaking it, she takes half a step back and sizes me up. “I can see why my brother took a fancy to you.”
“Your—” I turn to look at Émile.
“This is Giselle,” he explains. “My bratty sister who you’ll get used to.”
She makes a skeptical noise in her throat. “I guess that’s true since you’re on your way to becoming part of the family now. Would you sign a prenup?”
I have no idea what the fuck Émile’s told her. I get that I should probably be nice to her and get on her good side, but who the hell asks that so soon after meeting someone?
“I’ll do whatever Émile wants since he’s the one I’m here for.” I want to tack on that whatever thatisisn’t any of her business, but I’m here to play nice. This isn’t about me.
She suddenly relaxes. “You can call me Elle.”
“Okay …”
“Sorry to jump you like that, but it’s basically the first question our parents will ask you so I wanted to get it out of the way. Your answer was solid, by the way, but you might want to give your voice someoomph.”
I throw Émile a confused look and he lightly rubs his thumb over the back of my hand. “It’s okay, she knows everything.”
“She does?”
He nods. “She knows my plans and supports me, and even though she thinks this is taking things too far, she’ll support us in this as well.”
She drops her voice. “This is sheer lunacy, but I helped him pick out the ring.”
“You certainly did not,” he says, sounding offended. “It was all me.”
“Fine. I helpedin spirit.”
“What does that even mean?”
Watching them bicker is oddly calming. Normal. The sort of thing I do with my roommates and seeing this side of Émile is fun. He still hasn’t let go of my hand, even when he starts to madly gesture, so I wriggle out of his hold and wrap my arm around his waist instead.
“You’re getting loud,” I point out and he immediately cuts off. He turns to face me, his gorgeous eyes a mix of color that I want to take more time to inspect.
“Thank you.”
“It’s what I’m here for.” And because we’re supposed to be affectionate—and no other reason—I tilt my head and brush a kiss against his temple. “Now I’d really like it if we could hurry the hell up and meet your folks. I’m almost pissing myself over it.”
