She laughs and pats my arm. “I’ll meet you in the kitchen at midnight and reheat some sliders.”
“I always knew I was your favorite.” While she doesn’t say anything, because she’d never admit she likes me more than my brothers, she’s having a hard time not smiling. “Oh, Grandma said she found your Pyrex. Whatever that is.” I spent the wholeday cleaning Grandma’s house. She hurt her back and couldn’t walk her dog, so he crapped everywhere. Good times.
“I’ll swing by to get it. How’s she doing?”
“Not great. Why doesn’t Dad visit her more? Why doesn’t he get her some help?”
She sighs. “Julia is a proud woman. She only lets you do things for her because you’re so persistent.”
I explain how Grandma hurt her back and her dog made a mess. My mom frowns. “I’ll stop by to check on her this week and bring her some lunch.”
“Thanks.” I kiss her cheek.
“Honey, how’s your girlfriend doing?”
I tell her about all of the segments Roxy’s been shooting for her broadcast course. How she juggles everything while being such a great mother.
“She sounds lovely. When do I get to meet her?”
“I wanted to bring her tonight, but Dad said it was just family.”
Her face goes flat. “Hmm.”
We’re waiting for my father to finish talking to one of his golfing buddies when a familiar face rounds the corner. Samantha Schilling, a tall blonde with a bubbly personality, waves as soon as she sees me.
“Sam. Hey.” I give her a hug. She and I were friends in high school. “It’s been ages. Are you meeting your family?” Our fathers are both partners at their law firm.
“It’s so good to see you, Billy! Your dad invited me. I’m one of his interns, and he said I did a great job on a project this week, so this is my reward.”
My eyes dart to him, and he gives me a nod. He’s inviting interns, and I couldn’t bring my fucking girlfriend? It’s nice to see Sam, but I don’t understand why I had to leave Roxy at home.
When my brothers stroll in with their dates, I’m fuming. So it wasn’t about not bringing girlfriends. My father just didn’t want me to bringmygirlfriend.
We’re seated at a round table, and since I’m now with three other couples, being the odd man out, there’s an empty chair next to me, so Sam sits there.
She puts her hand on my arm. “How’s Lone Star? I watch all of your games. You’re kicking ass this season.”
Some of my anger wanes. I shouldn’t take out my temper on Sam. She’s an innocent bystander. “Thanks. Coach wants another championship, so we’ll either get there or die trying.”
As much as Santos pisses me off sometimes, I have to admit he’s a damn good coach, and I kinda love him. He’s the sort of man I wish my father was. And now that I have Marley in my life, I understand why he was so upset with me last January. I’d lose my shit too if some cocky fuck knocked up my daughter.
Sam and I catch up over dinner. It’s better than talking to my brothers, who just want to gloat about their law careers. They’re now both employed by our dad and basically get paid to kiss his ass.
I lean over to Sam. “It doesn’t annoy you to work for my father?”
She laughs and shakes her head. “He’s so good at his job. You should come by and see him in his element.”
I’d rather eat a brick, but since we’re playing happy family tonight, I make some noncommittal sound and change the subject. I’ll admit it’s hard to hate on my father since he got me a kick-ass attorney when I was arrested. But I feel like he’s setting me up on a date tonight when he knows I have a girlfriend, and that’s fucked up.
Sam tells me about school and our old friends. We laugh about the dumb things we did in high school. I forgot how coolshe is. We were good friends for a while back then but ended up going to different colleges and lost track of each other.
When dinner is over, the waiter brings out a huge cake. The look on my mom’s face is priceless. I’m shocked my father is actually doing something nice for her. We all break out our phones and take pics and video of her blowing out the candles.
Sam leans into me. “Your mom has always been such a sweetheart. I bought her a shawl. Do you think she’ll like it?”
“She’ll love anything you get her. It’s the thought that counts for her.”
The moment those words leave my mouth, it hits me hard. How I haven’t done anything special for Roxy in a long time. She had Marley, and next thing I knew, I was focused on training camp, and then school started. We’ve been in a mad dash ever since.
