Page 34 of Silver
“Seriously?”
Silver nodded. “Yep. He bums rides off of the rest of us when he needs to go somewhere. And he gets his groceries delivered, so he doesn’t even have to worry about that.”
Well, I guess there was that. “I’ll wait for you,” I said as I glanced at the front of the house. “I have a feeling that although they aren’t out here, we’re being watched, and the last thing I need is for today to be the day that I fall getting out of your truck.”
Silver chuckled again. “I’ll be right there.”
Silver slid from the truck, and in seconds, he was opening the door for me. I smiled at him, reached for his shoulders, and suppressed a moan as I slid down Silver’s body. He was giving me a playful grin when my feet touched the ground. “That was mean.”
“Probably, but I’m trying to get you to relax. It’s just my brothers. My parents are here too, and they’re the only new ones you haven’t met. You already know my brothers. Dad is just an older version of us. Ma is an older version of Sam. You’re a pro at dealing with her, so don’t worry about it. And I’m going to be right here with you.”
I looked up at Silver and nodded. He leaned down and gave me a lingering kiss before he moved away and opened the backdoor of the truck. I shook my head at myself, wondering just how I was going to tell him that I’d already fallen for him. We’d been together for all of five days, and I wasn’t sure I’d call it love just yet, but I was well on my way. He was by far the most amazing man I’d ever been involved with, and it was going to be so easy to fall completely in love with him. But was it too soon?
“We’ll stay a couple hours at most. Sound good?” Silver handed me the bowl of cookies.
“We can stay as long as you want. But I will say that meeting Justin and Sam tomorrow at the restaurant was a better idea than meeting them at their place. Seriously, ‘the pregnancy’ has become such an excuse for her. It’s ridiculous.”
Silver gave me a serious look. “Now that I’ll agree to. But I’m just saying that if it’s too much, we can leave early.”
I shook my head. “I like your brothers,” I told him. The door opened, and Clay came out with a huge smile on his face.
“Hey, Charlie. It’s so good to see you again.”
“Hi, Clay,” I said in reply. “I hope we’re not too late.”
“Naw. You’re fine. I will warn you that Ma is anxious though. She’s super excited about meeting you, but Dad has told her if she doesn’t behave, he’s going to take her home.”
I looked from Clay to Silver. “That’s not necessary. I’m excited to meet her too. Nervous about it since it’s been a while since I’ve been around a mom, but you guys aren’t being fair to her.”
“She’s claiming that she’s the reason you two are mated. Not the fact that you both showed up or that you two decided to take things the direction you did.”
Silver groaned. I looked up at my mate and shook my head. “You weren’t even going to look for me if she hadn’t signed you up. I don’t blame her for saying she is responsible for us being mated. We wouldn’t even have met if not for her.”
I stepped around Silver and Clay and simply went into the house. Sure, it wasn’t mine, and I’d never been to Clay’s place before, but this was where the family get-together was today, and I wasn’t going to stand around outside and make anyone wait longer.
It wasn’t difficult to find them: it sounded as if they were all talking at the same time. Not only that, but Clay’s house was laid out much like Silver’s. There were some differences, but for the most part, the house was the same.
“Hi, Charlie,” Mica said. He was the first to notice me. That was all it took, though, because suddenly, everyone else who was with him was no longer talking, and they were all staring at me. I smiled nervously and gave a single wave while Mica took the container from me.
“Hi.”
Silver was somehow immediately behind me, his welcoming arm wrapped around the front of my chest.
“You already know my brothers, but these are our parents, Gary and Joyce.”
I smiled at them. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“Who baked the cookies?” Mica asked.
“Charlie did,” Silver told him. “He also made the macaroni salad.”
Joyce rolled her eyes. “You’ll get used to them. These five can eat like nobody I’ve ever seen.” She stepped forward and held out her hands. I took them and smiled at my new mother-in-law. “Welcome to the family, Charlie.”
“Thank you,” I told her. “It’s…” I glanced around. “A lot larger than what I’m used to, but I love it.” That was absolutely the truth. I loved that Silver had such a large family and that they were so welcoming.
“Silver, you should invite him in.”
“It’s not my house. Clay needs to invite him in.”
