“Oh, shit,” I say. “Good point.” I twist my mouth. “Shoot. I guess that means I’d better tell them before the wedding.” I grimace. “Which means I gotta tell them this week.” My stomach flips over at the thought.
“Yeah, but just don’t do it tonight, okay?” Josh says. “And let’s not tell them you’ve moved in with me, either. After they get to know me a bit, that’s when we’ll hit them with all our fantastic news. No sense making them hate me the first time they meet me.”
“They’re not gonna hate you when they find out we’re shacking up—and they’re not gonna hate you when they find out you knocked me up, either. They’ll handle all of it with grace.”
Intellectually, I know I’m telling Josh the truth and not just placating him—my parents will most certainly deal with whatever Ithrow at them, like they always do. But that doesn’t mean my stomach’s not clenched tightly right now, imagining myself telling them I’m pregnant. The truth is, no matter how much my family has always treated me like one of the guys in some ways, I’m still my parents’ baby girl and my brothers’ Kum Shot—and there’s no doubt me becoming an unintentional mother isn’t the future my family members envisioned for me.
I look out the window of the Lamborghini for a moment, gazing at my parents’ house, lost in my thoughts.
“Hey,” Josh says softly, touching my arm. “You want me to be there when you tell your parents about the baby this week?”
“Nope. It should be just me and them.” I let out a slow exhale, suddenly wracked with anxiety. “It’ll be fine.”
Josh takes a deep breath and mimics my slow and anxious exhale.
“Wow, the two of us are really not living up to our nicknames right now,” I say. “Come on. Let’s pull ourselves together, Playboy—time to get this party started.”
Josh lets out a loud puff of air. “Maybe I should have driven the Beemer instead of the Lamborghini? You know, gone for something a little less ostentatious?”
“Babe, first of all, your Beemer’s not exactly a low-key car. I didn’t even know they made Beemers that fancy. Second, Ryan would havekilledme if he found out you drive a Lamborghini and he didn’t get to see it.”
“Oh yeah? Well, Ryan can do more than see it—he can test drive it tonight if he wants. Shit, I’ll let him borrow the damned thing for a week.”
I grimace. “Josh. Pull yourself together.”
Josh makes a face. “Too much? Douchey?”
“Not douchey, honey—sweet. But a tad bitdesperate. Next thing you know, you’ll be standing with a boom box over your head on my parents’ front lawn.” I snort, but Josh grimaces. “What?” I ask.
Josh shakes his head. “Nothing.”
“I was just kidding, babe. I know you’d never do something that ‘desperate.’” I wink.
“So, okay,” Josh says, rolling his eyes. “I shouldn’t hand my Lamborghini keys over to Ryan. Any other tips for tonight?”
“Yes. Madame Professor says: ‘The best way to bag a family is to be your awesome self—and the rest will take care of itself.’”
“Excellent advice. Thank you, Madame Professor.”
“You’re so cute,” I say. “I’ve never seen you nervous like this.”
“I’ve never tried to bag a family before. Babes, I can bag by the dozens in my sleep—families not so much.”
“Haven’t you ever met a girl’s family before?”
Josh shakes his head. “Not really. I’ve met parents before—lots of times—but only incidentally. That tends to happen in the circles I move in—lots of black-tie galas and bumping into people on the slopes or at birthday parties—or maybe I was fucking some girl at her parents’ vacation house in wherever and her parents unexpectedly dropped by to say hi.” He laughs. “But I’ve never been invited for ‘next level’ spaghetti with a girl’s parents and brothers on a quiet suburban street in Seattle. And I’ve certainly never broughtpie.” He motions to the pie box sitting on his lap. “I feel like I’m in a movie.”
“Babe, you’ve got it backwards. Going to black-tie galas or staying at Gabrielle LeMonde’s vacation home in Aspen is the thing that’s like a movie. Pie is real life.”
“Not to me. This is amazing. I don’t wanna fuck it up.” He looks down at his black button-down shirt and jeans. “I’m so damned glad I dressed like Jonas tonight. Thanks for the heads up about that.”
“You look great.”
Josh nods decisively. “Okay. Let’s do this, Party Girl.” He grabs the bouquet of flowers off my lap and the pie off his. “Can you hand me the wine and Scotch?”
I grab the booze bottles down by my feet. “You can’t carry everything plus the pie,” I say. “Let me carry something.”
“Okay. You take the Scotch,” Josh says. “I can handle everything else.” He reaches for his door handle. “Stay put, babe. I’ll let you out.”
