Page 31 of Max Bannon

“Is that her Jeep?” a man asked.

“Yep. And that’s her mop bucket she took a picture of and shared with me, by the porch, so unless she ran off in the night—she’s in there,” her Dad added.

My blood ran cold. I froze.

No. No, no, no.

I flung the sheet off and bolted upright. “That’s my dad,” I whispered in horror. “And my brother.”

Max blinked awake beside me. “What?”

“They’re here.Now!” I whispered, shouted as another knock came—this one firmer.

“Tessa? You home, sweetheart?”

“Yup. That’s my dad.”

We scrambled at the same time, both of us trying to get out of bed too fast. My foot got tangled in the sheets, Max tripped over the corner of the mattress, and in the chaos of limbs and panic, we smacked heads.

“Ow!” I winced, grabbing my forehead.

“Sorry—sorry—damn, you’ve got a hard skull,” Max muttered, holding his forehead.

We burst out laughing—because what else could we do?

Another knock. “Tessa? Everything okay in there?”

“Just—uh—one second!” I called, already hopping on one leg, trying to jam it into my sweats.

Max was halfway into his t-shirt, hair wild, eyes wide like a kid caught sneaking in after curfew. We both finished dressing at warp speed, gave each other a look that saidthis is going to be awful,and opened the door together.

“Hey, Dad. Hey, Jake.” I tried to smile like nothing was off.

They both stood on the porch in flannel shirts, arms crossed, looking about as comfortable as two men standing outside a cabin their daughtervery clearly did not spend the night alone in.

“Morning,” Dad said, his brows rising just slightly as he looked from me… to Max… then back to me again.

Jake coughed and looked off toward the trees.

I felt the heat flood my face like a tidal wave. My hair was still a mess, my cheeks were flaming, and I waspretty suremy shirt was inside out.

Max stepped up beside me and held out his hand, cool as ever. “Max Bannon,” he said. “Nice to meet you both.”

Dad took it slowly, shaking once. “I’m Ray Swindle. Tessa’s father.”

Jake gave a stiff nod. “I’m her older brother. Jake.”

Max didn’t blink. “I gathered.” Then he smiled. “We were just about to make breakfast. You guys hungry?”

I gave him aWhat are you doing?!look, but Dad just shrugged. “Sure. As long as it doesn’t involve me walking in on anything that’s gonna scar me for life.”

Max chuckled. “Then let’s keep the kitchen the safe zone.”

Jake still wouldn’t look me in the eye. And honestly? I didn’t blame him.

But as we stepped aside to let them in, Max leaned close to me and whispered, “Well… that was one way to meet the family.”

I elbowed him lightly. “This is not funny.”

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