“Hey, hold up a second.” Grady had taken a slight right and had to correct himself to catch up. “Don’t we need to go to the rental car counter?”
Max slowed down enough to be able to glance over without running into someone. “Nah. My parents drove down. They’re picking us up.”
Grady’s eyes went wide and he caught his foot on the edge of a stray carpet. He righted himself before he could fall. “They drove down fromNew Brunswick?”
“They like having a car when they’re down here. Plus my dad hates air travel.”
Grady puffed his cheeks out on an exhale. “I guess that makes sense. But you couldn’t have given me a heads-up I’m meeting your parents first thing? What’s our story?”
Max snorted. “Bit late to ask now, bud.”
Grady bumped his shoulder.
“It’s fine. I told them the truth—we’re friends who sleep together.”
If Grady disputed the termfriends, Max was going back to the departures desk to book himself a ticket to Antarctica. But he simply said, “And they’re cool with that? Even though your niece and nephew are going to be there?”
“What, you think my brother raised his kids to be homophobic?” Max asked, amused.
“I just don’t want to explain ‘friends with benefits’ to an eight-year-old.”
Okay, that was fair. Max wheeled his bag through the exterior door and grinned as the humid Miami air swamped him. “We can leave it at ‘friends’ for the ankle-biters. Tell them we’re having a sleepover.”
Grady laughed. “Are we going to stay up late and talk about our crushes?”
Max’s heart squeezed. “I was thinking more lingerie-clad pillow fights, but if gossip’s your thing—”
“Max! Over here!”
Showtime.
“Game face on,” Max said. “Here’s your last warning—my mom’s a lot.”
“What a surprise.”
That was the last thing he heard before his mom launched herself into his arms. “Merry Christmas, nerd!” She smacked a kiss on his cheek and then pulled away. “Your father’s waiting in the car. He sent me to find you.”
Before Max could react, she’d reached for his bag, leaving him holding Gru’s leash, and turned to Grady. “And this must be—”
The words cut off, and Max turned to watch the look of realization dawn on her face.
Grady let go of his suitcase and held out his hand to shake. “Hi. Um, I’m—”
“Grady Armstrong.” Max’s mom sounded like she was meeting Elvis or something. She took his hand in both of hers. “Hello. I’m Linda.”
“Nice to meet you, Linda.” Grady smiled—the real one that made Max’s breath catch. “Thanks for letting me join you.”
“Oh, any friend of Max’s,” she said with a pointed look in Max’s direction. “Come on, car’s this way.”
Grady followed after her with a bemused smile.
Max sighed and glanced down at Gru. “Buddy, are we gonna hear it later.”
Then he hurried to catch up. He didn’t want to miss his dad’s reaction.
GRADY METLinda first, and the expression she leveled at Max let him know that Max had been a little vague about who was coming for the holidays. Grady couldn’t exactly blame him, since it wasn’t like he’d been forthcoming with Jess.
They put their bags in the trunk of a white SUV with New Brunswick plates, and then Linda got in the front and Max opened the rear driver’s side door. “Hey, Dad,” he said cheerfully as Grady got in on the other side. “Merry Christmas. This is Grady.”
