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He nods, finally allowing a smile to tilt his lips then pushes up to his feet. My shoulders relax slightly, only to stiffen again when Diarmuid swaggers around the counter and drops his arm around my shoulders, giving me a cheshire grin, dagger perched in his fingertips. “Well come on then, the lounge room is this way.”
He steers me to the lounge room before nudging me onto one of the couches, then leaves me to perch on the arm of the one opposite this one. I glance around the room, making note of the TV behind him and the haphazard way the coffee table has been moved out of the way, like they shifted the couch so they had a better position to question me from. Nessa steps into the room and further confirms my suspicions when she sends a wide eyed ‘are you serious’look to Diarmuid and Morrigan when he comes in a few steps behind her. He shrugs, smiling a little as he sits on the couch beside Diarmuid. Nessa shakes her head at them before taking up a place leaning against the doorframe of the lounge room door.At least she has a clean getaway path if she decides to run.
I can’t help but notice how much healthier she looks than when she was in the infirmary. The pale pallor to her skin tone has been replaced with a healthy rosiness and she’s standing tall and steady. Her golden eyes also have their spark back. She’s beautiful and faintly amused if her slight smile is anything to go by. I’ve missed seeing her, and it took a lot of effort to not smother her after what went down with Lexi. Corin, Dylan and I spoke and settled on giving her some space, so we agreed to give her a break to spend time with her family.
I’ve missed her though, sassiness and quirks included. I’m excited to take her out today, and have fun with her. I let out a little breath then let my focus return to Nessa’s fathers.
Now that everyone is settled, it seems they’re ready to centre their attention on me, and her dads’ attention zone in on me and that’s when the real inquisition starts.
Nessa
“So what exactly are your intentions with our daughter?” Diarmuid asks point blank. I smother a groan, and rub my forehead when Oscar blanches ever so slightly.
Azure chooses that moment to enter the room and shoots Diarmuid a narrow eyed look, one that practically screamsbehave. Oscar’s lips part as though he’s going to answer, when Azure promptly sets down a glass of what appears to be orange juice in front of him before sitting beside Morrigan. How lovely now they’re all facing off with him. Dear Goddess, give me strength. No, you know what? Give Oscar strength.
“Respectfully, I believe that is something for Nessa and I to discuss,” Oscar says slowly, eyes flicking to me.
They don’t linger, taking that at face value though it does pique my interest. The way he said it implies that he has intentions with me. I roll my lips in to hide a smile, and promptly think of anything other than the pink haired troll across the room. I refuse to let my mind go nuts with fantasies involving him with my fathers in the room.
Diarmuid catches my attention when he wiggles his fingers as Oscar goes to take a sip from his juice only to abruptly jerk back from it, narrowly avoiding spilling it. His lip curls back slightly in a grimace, setting the cup down. “Is there alcohol in this?”
Diarmuid smiles, and leans forward to brace his elbow on his knee, resting his chin in his hand. “That reminds me, how much do you drink? Are you a partier, Oscar?” Diarmuid inquires, and Azure sucks in a deep breath. Morrigan remains silent, eyes practically drilling into Oscar’s forehead.
Azure waves a hand, presumably to remove the alcohol from the orange juice, before steepling his hands together in his lap. “I believe what Diarmuid means to say is, what does your idea of a fun night equate to?”
“A night out at the cinemas, or perhaps going out to try new foods at a marketplace or restaurant I haven’t been to before,” Oscar answers and it has me cocking my head to the side curiously. Both of his answers pique my interest as something I’d be interested in doing as well.
Diarmuid drums his fingers on his thigh, eyes intent. “What are you studying at the Academy and where do you see yourself in a few years time?” he asks, bluntly.
Azure’s lips tighten. “What he means to ask is, do you have a career in mind for after you’ve finished your time at the Academy?” Azure says, rephrasing Diarmuid’s questions.
Oscar tenses slightly, rubbing the palms of his hands on his thighs. “I haven’t settled on a career path yet, but I am taking almost all of the classes they offer in my year at the Academy and that keeps all of my potential options open.
Diarmuid’s eyes narrow even further at the way Oscar is managing to politely handle their questioning, and when his lips part to ask something else, I cringe already knowing it’s going to be bad. “Are you sleeping with my daughter, Oscar?”
Morrigan swings his head around to face Diarmuid in disbelief and Azure makes a strangled sound. Me, well I just internally fucking scream while outwardly scrubbing a hand over my face. “Goddess Dad, I’m pretty sure Oscar covered that line of questioning earlier when you asked him about his intentions with me. That’s our business.”
Oscar blushes scarlett at me, not outright denying that we’re having sex, and I bite the inside of my cheek at the way it makes his cheeks deepen from their natural lighter pink colour. My attention is drawn back to everyone else when my dads’ heads all swing around to me in question and I let out a disgruntled breath. Rolling my eyes to the ceiling I grumble, “Not that it is any of your information, but no, we are not sleeping together.”Yet, I add silently before pushing the thought aside for now and refocusing on the room where Diarmuid has switched onto a new line of questioning.
I barely suppress another eye roll, I can already tell that this is going to be my reality for the next hour of my life. Goddess, I hope wherever we’re going doesn’t depend on us getting there at a certain time, we might be here a while. Also, where the hell are the others?
Chapter Three
Oscar
IgrinasIlead Nessa towards the portal, gripping her hand tight in mine as I do. Goddess, I’m not going to lie, that was a stressful experience having all of her dads’ eyes on me. All the questions. I can’t believe I let the guys talk me into coming here alone to meet them. The majority of the tension in my shoulders disappeared as we said our goodbyes though, because I’m at least ninety percent sure that her family doesn’t hate me, and I made it through the first meeting without being killed, so I count that as a win.
My mind flashes back to Nessa saying goodbye to Unicorn when we left and my smile widens. They seem to have grown closer since the fiasco with Ethan, which is good. She couldn’t come tonight though, Nessa’s surprise is in a place that would be quite stressful for a creature like Unicorn, and it should be a safe outing.
She laughs when we make eye contact again and swings our joined hands between us. “Where the hell are we going, Oscar? I thought we were all meeting up here, but they haven’t?”
“You’ll see. Just be patient.”
“Can you at least tell me if you’re all in on this together? Because otherwise Corin and Dylan are going to be in for one awkward surprise when they turn up at my place and I’m not there.”
I chuckle at the slight whine in her tone. She’s adorable. “They know about this—we decided I would be the only one to be thrown to the wolves today—so you don’t need to worry.”
She lets out a huff of air, clearly hoping I’d divulge more information. My grin widens and I shake my head, knowing I’m no amateur. I press a palm to the portal, using my magic to key it up to the correct location before stepping back. “Alright Nessa, there’s going to be a step up and then we’ll be going through a portal. Don’t break contact with me and you’ll be fine.” My eyes slide to her face as I let her process my instructions, and I wait for her to jerk away from me. But she doesn’t. In fact she doesn’t appear even remotely bothered by the fact that she’s placing her well-being in my hands.
