Page 68 of Suddenly Dating
“It looks bad,” a man said, and looked at Harry. “Who is that?”
“He is my friend.” Lola grabbed Harry’s arm and pulled him forward. “He gave me a ride. Harry, this is my brother Ben and his wife, Tasha,” she said.
Ben, tall and handsome with curly dark hair, eyed Harry suspiciously, but offered his hand. His wife was tall and slender, too, with big doe eyes.
“And this is my other brother Ty,” she said of the blond man, slightly shorter than his brother. “Where’s Jaycee?” Lola asked.
“Home with the kids.” He extended his hand. “Hey, man.”
“Hi,” Harry said, shaking his hand. “Harry Westbrook.”
“This is my sister Casey,” Lola said, pointing to a woman who resembled Lola the most with her blonde hair and big blue eyes. “And the youngest, Kennedy, and her boyfriend, Mario.”
Kennedy was cute, with hair the color of Ben’s and expressive green eyes. “Since when is he your friend?” she asked as Mario shook Harry’s hand.
“That is so rude, Kennedy,” Casey said, chastising her. “He’s her roommate.”
“Herroommate?” Kennedy said loudly and disbelievingly. “Since when do you have a roommate, Lola?”
“Since recently. Can we discuss it later?” Lola asked, and hugged Kennedy, who refused to uncross her arms, as if Lola had somehow offended her by failing to report a roommate. “I need to see Mom right now.”
“I’ll warn you, she’s in rare form,” Casey said, and smiled sympathetically at Harry. Casey was beautiful, and Harry suspected she knew it. “You might want to leave your roommate with me for safekeeping,” she added.
“Do you mind?” Lola asked Harry. “I’ll be back in a few minutes. They never let you stay long.”
“Not at all. Do what you need to do,” Harry urged her.
“She’s right there,” Casey said, pointing to a door across from them.
Lola walked to the room and cracked open the door, sticking her head in. “Mom?”
“Where the fuck haveyoubeen?” was the wet, raspy reply.
Lola stepped inside and closed the door.
Harry glanced uneasily at the others. The rest of the Dunne clan, or whatever their names were, stared at him. He shoved his hands in his pockets. This was one of the more awkward moments he’d endured in recent memory, and he tried to think of something to say. He made the mistake of glancing at Kennedy, who took the opportunity to lead the charge.
“So are you twodating?” she asked accusingly.
“Nope. Just friends,” Harry said, and ignored the tiny tingle of guilt in his chest.
“Do not start giving him the first degree,” Casey warned Kennedy. “All of you, quit staring at him like you’ve never seen a man before. He’s going to think we’re all idiots.”
“Half of us are idiots,” Ty said, shooting a look at Kennedy. “But I want to know if they are dating, too. Lola never said anything about a roommate.”
“Maybe because she knew you and Kennedy would act like this,” Casey said, pointing at the two of them.
“How long?” Ben asked, directing the question at Harry.
“Excuse me?”
“How long have you beenroommates?” Ben asked, making invisible quotes with his fingers.
“Ben!” Casey sighed, clearly annoyed.
“Not long,” Harry said. “Close to a month.”
“And she’s bringing you to Mom’s bedside?” Ben asked. “She didn’t bring Will around until they’d been dating for like a year.”
