“Used to. This is where I grew up. Now it’s my brother and sister-in-law’s house. Their names are Matthias and Ava, by the way. I’ll introduce you to everyone. It’s basically my family, some guy from my brother’s work, and Ava’s friend Eden. There might be a couple other people, but I don’t know them.”
“You look great, Marius,” she says with a big smile as her gaze travels down my body and then back up to my face. Reaching out, she runs her hand down my arm. “I never get to see you dressed like this. I love this black dress shirt! It looks so good on you.”
“Thanks. You look good too,” I say, stepping back from her.
“I had to borrow it from one of my roommates. Are you sure it’s okay? I hoped you’d like it.”
“Yeah. It looks great. Let’s head in.”
She continues to stare wide-eyed while we walk inside the house. I guess it’s a pretty nice place. I just don’t look at it like that since I grew up here. To me, it’s just home.
“I’m not overdressed, am I?” Sam asks nervously as I take her hand in mine.
“You look great. Remember what I told you. We want people to think we’re together tonight, so no talking about you being my assistant, okay?”
She nods and gives me a big smile. “Got it. What do I say if anyone asks me details about us being together?”
I stop a few feet outside the dining room to think about that question. “Just say you’ve known me for a while.”
That should work if Ava starts interrogating her, which I know she will. My sister-in-law is nothing if not curious.
“Maybe we should come up with a story. We can say we got together while we were in Aruba. That was a great trip, wasn’t it? You took some great pictures, and we had dinner at that really great restaurant with those giant lobsters. Remember how big they were? We can tell everyone that was the night we first got together.”
Her memory of that trip is much better than mine. All I remember is that damn model complaining about sand in her crevices for half the day I was shooting her. After that, I don’t remember a thing, but that isn’t surprising since I spent the night alone in my hotel room trying to drown my sorrows after the day I had and because I was missing Eden.
“Better to keep things vague. When you start getting into fine details, that’s when things go wrong.”
Turning to look at Sam, I give her one final once over. Her long blond hair looks perfect tonight. That red dress is a showstopper. And as always, her pretty face impresses.
Let’s see how Eden likes it when the shoe is on the other foot.
Have you ever heard someone say when they walked into a room the entire place fell silent? Like they could hear a pin drop? That usually means everyone in that room is shocked by what they’re seeing.
Well, that’s what happens when Sam and I walk into the dining room. I notice Ava looks stunned, which seems strangesince I told her I’d be bringing someone just a few minutes ago. All three of my brothers are equally as surprised, as evidenced by how their mouths drop open when they see us. (Let’s be honest. That reaction is for Sam, not me. They’ve seen me all their lives.)
The best reaction, however, comes from Eden. Even though Rob from IT is clearly talking to her, she instantly ignores him to stare wide-eyed in our direction as I direct Sam to my seat.
“Not to worry, Ava. Sam and I are fine with sharing. Sorry, we’re late, everyone. I sort of sprung us on Ava at the last minute. How is everyone doing tonight? This lovely lady is Sam. Sam, my family.”
Nobody says a word. They all just stare like Sam and I are from outer space, and they don’t know how to talk to aliens.
“Hi! It’s so nice to be here,” Sam sweetly says.
The meal doesn’t even begin before I see Eden get up from the table and storm out. I have to stop myself from running after her since that’s my kneejerk reaction, but that would look odd since supposedly the two of us mean nothing to one another.
Ronan is the brother closest to where I’m sitting, so I lean over and say with a chuckle, “Maybe Eden and Ava are fighting tonight.”
Baffled, he shrugs. “I have no idea. Who is Sam over there? You’ve never mentioned this person before, but now you think you should bring her to Matthias and Ava’s party?”
“Yeah, why not? Everyone else gets to bring a date. Why not me?”
He looks around me at Sam and then returns his attention to me. “Dude, how old is she?”
“I don’t know. Twenty? Maybe twenty-one. I’m not sure.”
He stares at me, his eyes as wide as saucers. “That’s pretty young.”
“Age is just a number, dude. What matters is what people have in common.”