Page 48 of Blitzing Emily

“I don’t get it.” Emily put her feet up on the coffee table.

“How was dinner?”

“It was awkward. My parents kept hounding me about our engagement.” She hauled a breath into her lungs. “Did you have anything to eat?”

“Yeah. The guys stopped at the Wingdome. I think they’re still there. It was getting pretty crazy, so I left,” he said. The Wingdome was located on the main drag in Kirkland, a haven for singles on Lake Washington’s waterfront. Even in wintertime, the restaurant was busy. “A couple of the Shark Babes decided to pay a visit.” His dimple flashed. “Damian and Zach were having a back flipping contest outside. Tom stopped by. There was wagering involved.”

“Damian, Zach, and Tom? Oncement?” Every time Emily talked to him, she learned something new. Today must have been the “testosterone poisoning” lesson.

“You’ve met Damian before. He’s the one that called you ‘pretty lady.’ Zach owes you an apology, and you’ll be getting that the next time he sees you.”

“He’s apologizing for what?”

Brandon’s eyes narrowed a bit. “He was rude to you. He will be treating you like the lady you are from now on. Tom’s our quarterback. He lives up the street from Damian, Zach, and me.”

“They were doing back flips outside on the sidewalk,” she repeated, mystified. She turned to him in alarm. “Is this a football player thing? What if they get hurt?”

“They won’t.” He grinned. “It’s a defense thing. I once heard someone say that the coach could leave the offensive players in a room with the door shut. He’d come back, and there’d be nothing out of place. Defensive players? Furniture would be flying out of the windows.”

“So, you’re juvenile delinquents.”

“No. We’re more physical.” He thought for a moment. “What did your parents have to say?”

Emily couldn’t imagine why he wanted to know. She knew her parents would not be happy about a fake engagement. Hopefully, they would keep this little fact to themselves. Then again, after her father’s reaction, she didn’t think he’d be discussing it around the water cooler at the office anytime soon. Brandon’s voice sounded like it came from a distance.

“Hey, sugar. I think I lost you.” A big, warm hand patted her thigh. “What’s on your mind?”

She shrugged her shoulders. “Nothing.”

“Maybe you should tell me about it.”

Emily wanted to tell him about it like she wanted a sexually transmitted disease. His mom and dad obviously never had a fight, while her parents made an episode of any daytime TV talk show look tame. Actually, she couldn’t say that. Her parents were more into the quiet and lethal arguments, the kind of stuff that left her so shaken she still cringed whenever she thought about it. One would think her former ballerina mom would be serene and unflappable. Hardly. Emily’s mom was passionate, excitable, wildly affectionate, and there was never a dull moment when she was around. Her father was an engineer. He would have been more comfortable drawing a diagram of his feelings than talking about them.

Emily shifted away from Brandon. “Do I have to?”

“That’s up to you.” His eyebrow shot up. “It’s not a good memory, is it?”

“Maybe you should tell me what you’re talking about.”

“There are tears in your eyes,” he continued. “I’ll bet you think my parents were straight out of a romance novel.”

“They were happy.” Emily pictured two little boys with unruly blond curls, and the two loving parents that couldn’t wait to spend any time at all with their sons.

“It took them a long time. Like I said, my dad traveled a lot, and my mom worried he wasn’t being faithful.” Brandon leaned toward her. “Let’s just say I overheard one too many conversations between my mom and my aunt Pattie.”

She turned to face him. “Did he cheat?”

“If there was one thing my dad would never do, it was cheat. There were other women around. Dylan and I went to his games when we were kids, and we saw them. There was always someone who set her cap for my dad.”

“He wasn’t taking them up on it?” She twisted her hands in her lap.

“There’s nobody else for my dad but my mama.”

They sat silently for a while. Emily’s stomach churned. She really didn’t want to talk about this anymore.

“I wish I could say the same,” she said.

She got up and walked into the kitchen. There had to be something to eat in there. She pulled the refrigerator door open and was reaching for an apple when she heard Brandon’s voice behind her.

---