Page 32 of D.I.E.T. (Did I Eat That?)

I blanched. My grandmother was talking to my boyfriend about the age of free love? This could not be happening. Thiscould notbe happening.

“She told me, yes,” he said to my grandmother. “I’m looking forward to meeting them all. Okay, see you on Sunday then. It was good talking to you too.” Then he handed the phone back over to me. “She wants to talk to you before she hangs up.”

“All settled,” she said. “I’ve got a million things to do before the weekend now. I have to call your sisters and go grocery shopping—oh, is he allergic to any foods?”

“Grams wants to know if you’re allergic to anything?” I asked him.

“Not to anything,” he answered as he reached over to squeeze my knee.

“He saysno, Gram.”

“Good. Any foods he doesn’t like?”

“Any foods you don’t like?” I asked him next.

He shook his head.

“No to that one, too,” I answered, though I could’ve answered for him having been privy to breakfasts, lunches and dinners with the man. Going off past experiences, he never met a food he didn’t like.

“It’s still cold, so no picnic, but I could have Gareth run the grill from the patio. That might work. Then I’d have my stove for other things.”

“Grams!” I shouted into the line to break up her rambling. “You don’t have to go through all that trouble. I promise.”

“Brigeeta Diane Posch, I will go through the trouble. This is the first man you’ve brought home since that numbnut broke your heart. Never once did he get on the phone to talk to me and you were with him for two years. I don’t know why you ever dated him anyway. None of us liked him and I know it made you sad, but sweetheart, secretly we were thrilled that he dumped you because we all knew you could do much better. I can tell by the sound of his voice that Sinjin is much,muchbetter.”

They—what? Never liked him? Who waited three years to tell someone that they never liked an ex? Could I trust her to give me the truth about Sinjin now?

“Okay, Grams, do what you’ve gotta do.”

“Was going to anyway. Love you, sweetheart. Kiss to Sinjin.”

“Love you too, Grams. Bye.”

So that just happened.

“Why do you look constipated, baby?” he asked.

“Oh, well, that would be because my grandmother said she and my sisters were secretly happy when the numbnut dumped me.”

He chuffed out a small laugh. “Well, from the sounds of him, they probably figured you could do better.”

“That’s what she said. And, no pressure on you, but she said she can already tell you are.”

“Am I?” he asked, outright smiling.

“You know you are.” I shoved at his arm, causing him to grab the back of my head and pull me close enough to plant a sloppy kiss on my cheek. “Seriously, though,” I said, pushing him off to wipe vigorously at the spot. “if they get to be too much, you don’t have to take it. See—and please don’t take this as me having some sort of agenda. You were the one who wanted to meet them—but Pia was married at twenty-five and so she thinks because I’m twenty-five, I should be getting married anytime now. That was one of the reasons I tried to warn you off meeting them.”

Sinjin smiled, staring straight ahead at the traffic in front of us, he slid his hand from the steering wheel to link our fingers together. “I can handle your family, Geet. I’m not worried.”

“You will be,” I mumbled as we headed toward home—er—I meant his home.Sinjin’s home.

The next few days sped by simply to tick me off. No other explanation made sense. We talked to Grams on Thursday and in a blink, Sunday morning arrived. My day off. The day Sinjin and my grams slated him in to meet my family. I hadn’t spent one night at my own apartment in that time, either, and I wasn’t sure why I didn’t just up and go home except for the fact that he asked me to stay and I liked being in his home with him. Seriously, he must have paid a fortune for that bed. It was like sleeping on a cloud—not that he let me sleep much. Plus, Sinjin and I enjoyed the same movies. I introduced him to some new shows and he introduced me to some too. And on the nights when he had to work from home because of the merger, I read.

We attained a level of comfort that it had taken some time for me to reach with the numbnut.

I blew out my hair after my shower while Sinjin took his, throwing it up in a stylishly messy bun. I applied makeup because today there’d be pictures and Ihadto look good for the pictures. Instead of jeans, I opted for my black leggings because knowing my grams, an over-the-top spread of food awaited us at our small get together. No way she’d let me leave her house with any less than a five-month gestation food baby. I used a black belt to delineate a waist on my cuffless, off-the-shoulder, heather-gray sweatshirt and I tied up my docs.

Per my directions, Sinjin pulled on a dark gray pair of workout pants that showed off his backside in the best way possible and he pulled a fitted, medium gray sweatshirt over his head that looked so good on him, I wanted to pull it right back off in order to have my wicked way with him. He opted for his cross trainers. Although casual, he looked H.O.T—hot.

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