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CHAPTER7
Crew
I should have brushedmy teeth.
That’s the thought that pops into my head as we stand on the doorstep to the Larkin’s tidy house.
I can still taste Dani’s sweet tangy arousal on my tongue.
How the hell am I going to hug her mother with pussy breath?
Then I realize there probably won’t be any hug offered given what Dani said earlier about their reaction to our relationship. And the fact that the four of us are standing here freezing our asses off on the stoop waiting to be let in. Why the hell does Dani need to wait for the door to be answered to the house she grew up in?
Impulsively, and because I’m freezing in my suit with no overcoat, I try the door. It’s locked. My family would never lock the front door on a holiday. It also would never occur to me to do anything other than just walk right in, and my whole extended family is the same way. Open door policy. But maybe my family is unusual.
I look over at Hughes. He gives me a “what the fuck?” look so clearly, he agrees with me. Nathan doesn’t look like he thinks anything of it, but he wasn’t raised in the middle-class suburbs like me and Doc. He probably had a butler as a kid and a high-tech security system with cameras. Locked doors would be normal when you have expensive possessions.
The Larkins could be hiding anything behind the door of the tiny bungalow, but I doubt it's bags of cash.
Dani rings the bell again.
“What are your parents' names again?” I ask for the third time because fuck it, I’m nervous, and when I’m nervous information goes in my ear and out the other.
I hate being rattled. I’m not good at it. It’s out of character for me so that when tension does sneak in, I don’t know what to do with my energy. I’m tapping my palms on my thighs and bouncing on the balls of my feet, wishing I hadn’t changed. Per Dani’s request we had all put on suits in the RV prior to arrival, but my tie feels like it’s strangling me. I also have the sudden concern that I should have gotten a haircut. Or paid more attention shaving.
Or not eaten out their daughter half an hour ago.
“Nate, check my breath,” I murmur to him when Dani doesn’t even answer my question. She’s texting on her phone.
Nathan gives me a withering stare. “Crew, go fuck yourself.”
“Now that’s the holiday spirit,” I tell him. I do a breath check in my palm. “Dani, their names?”
“Kevin and Mary,” Dani finally says, obviously distracted as she leans back to peer through the picture window. “But don’t call them that unless they give you permission. They’re very traditional, I’ve told you that. It’s Mr. and Mrs. Larkin.”
Now my tie is really too tight. I tug at it. She sounds annoyed with me. I know she’s not. She’s just stressed about seeing her parents, but I still feel a little called out. My own tension escalates. I’m both freezing my balls off and sweating bullets all at once. I reach out and brush my hand over the snow dusting the hedges to the right of the stoop. I slap my damp palm on the back of my neck to cool my skin.
“Why is the house so quiet?” Nathan asks. “What time is it? Didn’t you say dinner is at six, and we should arrive by five?”
She nods. “Yes. I don’t know why there aren’t cars in the driveway either. There should be ten people here.”
“It’s five-fifteen,” Michael says, frowning.
What unnerves me further is that Doc sounds unnerved. I don’t like that. He’s no alarmist.
“Should we—
Whatever he’s about to say gets cut off by the door finally opening.
“Oh, hello!” A woman around sixty gives us a startled look as she takes the four of us in before focusing on her daughter. “Danielle, I wasn’t expecting you.”
What the hell?
As she envelopes Dani in a hug, I exchange looks with the guys.
Dani sounds flustered and upset. “What do you mean you’re not expecting me? I told you multiple times I would be here on Christmas Eve!”
“Didn’t you get my email this morning?” Mary asks, her green eyes, so much like Dani’s, widening. “Your aunt has the flu, so we canceled our usual family dinner. I assumed that meant you wouldn’t be coming.” Mary Larkin looks over her daughter’s shoulder. “Or thattheywouldn’t be coming.”
