Page 92 of Not Safe For Work

“Gavin!” Liv’s dad shouts. He introduced himself as Mr. Diamond, so I still don’t know his first name. “Come, come. Grab a glass.”

He pours me a hefty glass of red wine and introduces me to more friends, some other winemakers from the area. And then he does the one thing I’ve been dreading.

“Tell us what you think about the wine.”

“It’s good,” I reply, but he just stares at me. “Great,” I offer. Still not good enough apparently. “I know it’s not the one that’s Liv’s favorite. This one’s sweeter, I think?”

They all smile at me, and I feel like I just cracked the DaVinci code. I can tell they want more but all I keep thinking isdo not say obtuse.

I take another sip and swirl the wine to mimic what I’ve seen Liv do a hundred times now. I stick my nose in the glass, hoping it looks sophisticated and not as ridiculous as I feel. But when I breathe it in through my nose I get hit with a memory.

“Alfajores.” I don’t mean to say it aloud, but I do, attracting everyone’s attention even further.

“What was that?” Mr. Diamond asks.

“Something about this reminds me of the cookies my mom used to make.”

His eyes gleam. Am I onto something? Does the wine taste like cookies?

“What kind of cookies?” Sandra urges.

“Alfajores. They’re these crumbly sandwich cookies filled with dulce de leche. It’s like a creamy caramel.”

“Ollie!” Mr. Diamond yells, his gaze traveling over my head. “You found one with a palette. He’s a keeper.”

I turn to find Liv standing behind me, freshly showered and gorgeous. She rests a hand on one of my shoulders and grabs the wine glass with her other.

She takes a slow sip.

“Mmm, is this the new Orion?” Her dad nods. “Love the caramel notes.”

The chair I’m in is oversized but not wide enough for two. Liv comes around and sits with me anyway, half her body in my lap.

No one seems to mind, especially not me.

“Why does everyone call you Ollie?” I ask. I heard Owen say it last week, but I’ve noticed everyone’s been using the name for her today.

“My fault,” Owen says, taking the chair across from us. “When we were little, I couldn’t say Olivia and started calling her Ollie. It just stuck.”

Liv shrugs. “And when I was a toddler, I called you ‘Money’ and Deacon ‘Dick.’ SomehowIwas able to grow out of it.”

“You really hate it?” I ask.

“It makes me sound like a dog.”

“I love it.”

“Oh no, are you gonna start calling me Ollie now, too?”

“Nah, they can have it.” I lean in closer to whisper in her ear. “Sparkles is just for me.”

Mr. Diamond stands up and clears his throat, grabbing everyone’s attention. “Let’s make our way to the table. Dinner should be ready soon.”

When I stand, he comes over and pats a hand on my shoulder. “Ever been to a Passover seder, Gavin?” he asks.

“No, sir. I’m excited for my first though.” First of what I hope to be many.

He tells everyone where to sit and of course I’m next to him with Olivia on my other side. I’ve never been grilled by a girlfriend’s dad before. I’ve never really had a girlfriend, or anyone I’d cared about enough to try and impress their family. It’s intimidating as hell.

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