Page 105 of Coach's Temptation

"Yep," I reply smoothly, stepping past her in the kitchen. "They should be here soon. You got, oh… about thirty minutes."

She doesn’t move. Doesn’t blink. Just stands there, hands clutched in her hair like I just personally rearranged her entire existence.

Which, to be fair… I kind of have.

"Thirty minutes?" she finally chokes out, spinning around to follow me. "Hunter, are youinsane?"

I smirk as I pull out a bottle of wine and place it on the counter.

"If you ask the boys in the locker room… yes.Certifiably insane."

Natalie groans, pacing in the open space between the kitchen and living room. "This is not happening. I’m not ready. I’m wearing leggings, Hunter! LEGGINGS!"

I glance over my shoulder, dragging my gaze down her body.

"You look good to me."

She lets out a sharp breath, pointing at me like I’m her personal villain of the day. Forget the Ferrari joyride. Forget the apartment makeover. I've become enemy number one.

"This is not funny, mister." Her hand shakes in my face. "You don’t understand."

I turn, leaning against the counter, arms crossed casually on my chest.

"Then explain it to me, Natalie."

She stops, staring at me, her eyes wide with genuine, borderline existential panic. "Did you bump your head or something? Have you forgotten everything I told you about my parents?"

I lift a brow. "Clearly."

"They're not normal!" she blurts, throwing her hands in the air. "They don’t fight because they care too much. They fight because they stopped caring twenty years ago and now it’s just… what they do!"

I frown, processing.

"They have nothing in common," she continues, breathless. "Except for three things. Passive-aggressive insults, making me question every life choice I’ve ever made, which yay, probably now includes you… and an unwavering ability to make any room they enter feel like an emotional wasteland.”

I blink. "Jeez. That bad?"

She levels me with an unimpressed look that's utterly adorable.

"Hunter, the last time I had dinner with them, they had a full-blown argument about laundry cycles.Laundry cycles!"

I can't help the laugh that vibrates in my chest.

Natalie? Not so amused.

"They hate each other, Hunter.Hateeach other. But instead of getting a divorce like normal people, they just keep pretending everything is fine and I sit there trying not to drink my way through the entire evening!"

I let out a low whistle. "Damn."

For nothing more than good measure, she throws her hands up in the air again.

"And now,youhave to meet them, which means I also have to watch my mother scan you like a barcode and my dad grunt in a way that makes me question if he even remembers how to form full sentences!"

She groans, pressing her palms to her face. "Fuck. This is a disaster."

I push off the counter, stepping toward her.

"Or…" I say, tilting my head. "It’s just dinner."

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