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Michael sets his laptop down on the table and turns to face me more directly. He studies me. “I’m worried about you. Your face is all flushed and your shoulders are up to your ears.”
He tries to rub my shoulders and I realize he’s right. They’re locked.
“I just…”
I don’t finish the sentence because I’m not sure what I even want to say. I feel like I can’t breathe.
“Crew,” Michael calls out. “Can you find a rest stop or an exit to pull over?”
“Bathroom break already?” Crew asks. “Can’t you hold it? I worked really hard on letting all the speed demons pass and not allowing myself to get boxed in by semi trucks. I found a sweet spot, and I’m making good time in this bad boy right now.”
“It can’t wait,” Michael says firmly. “Dani’s upset.”
“What’s wrong?” Nathan asks, his head whipping around.
I shake my head, my throat tight. “I don’t think visiting my parents is a good idea. They didn’t react well to our relationship at all. We probably should get a hotel tonight.”
“Why would we get a hotel when we have this awesome RV to sleep in,” Crew jokes, glancing at me in the rearview mirror. His eyes display concern his casual tone doesn’t convey. He’s already exiting the highway.
Nathan is up and out of his seat, striding to the bench and taking the seat beside me opposite of Michael. “Danielle, why didn’t you tell us you were worried? I don’t like that you’ve been bottling all this up.” He takes my hand. “You can tell us anything, sweetheart.”
Taking a deep breath, I try to relax my shoulders while I try to find the words to convey how I’m feeling. “I know that. I do. But I’m hurt and embarrassed, and I didn’t want any of you to feel bad about that. But avoiding the problem makes me feel like I just set you all up accidentally to be in the most awkward Christmas Eve dinner ever.” I groan, closing my eyes briefly.
“Literally fifty percent of my Christmas Eve dinners have been awkward,” Nathan says. “Maybe sixty. Don’t worry about me. I can handle angry parents. I’m a pretentious asshole, remember?” He gives me a smile and brushes my lips with a kiss.
The RV turns into a parking lot of a fast-food restaurant and Crew puts it in park.
“You’re not an asshole,” I tell him. “Quite the opposite. And my parents weren’t angry. They were just… silent. Like they didn’t say anything at all. They acted like I never told them.”
“So, they’ll be polite but disapproving,” Michael guesses.
“Exactly.”
“No mother disapproves of me,” Crew says as he unbuckles his seat belt and strolls down the aisle. “I told you. Moms dig me.”
I want to believe him. “You are pretty charming,” I tell him. “Especially when you’re trying to get what you want.”
He leans on the table in front of us and reaches out to tuck my hair behind my ear. “Which is you. That’s what I want for Christmas, and I don’t mind if your parents don’t welcome us with open arms. I’m good at filling the silence.”
“You definitely are,” Nathan says wryly.
That makes me chuckle softly in spite of my nerves.
They’re already making me feel better. My throat doesn’t feel like it’s being squeezed by a boa constrictor.
“I deal with people in awkward situations all the time,” Michael says. “Players who don’t want to hear they’re on the bench, social media, team owners who think they have a medical degree and know when a player should be on the ice.” He side-eyes Nathan.
Nathan ignores that. “Exactly. I’ve kissed ass with charitable donors, I’ve negotiated with hostile coaches, and I’ve had to explain about my grandfather’s prognosis over and fucking over. Silence can be dealt with.”
“I promise there won’t be any silence,” Crew says with a wink.
“They didn’t forbid us to visit, so maybe they just need to see us all together to wrap their heads around our relationship,” Michael suggests. “We’ll make the best of it, Cookie.”
God, these guys. They take such good care of me. In their very different ways. Michael is calm and soothing, Crew always makes me laugh, and Nathan’s confidence reassures me every single time.
“I love you so much,” I say, glancing between all three as tears well up in my eyes. “I’m the luckiest girl ever.”
They all chime in with a chorus of “I love yous” and each man gives me a kiss.
