Page 143 of On Merit Alone
“Why are you asking instead of just showing up like you usually do?” I asked, suspicious.
“Because we wouldn’t be alone,” he said, purposely withholding information. Weird.
I was too relaxed to be as difficult as he clearly thought I was going to be though. I just snuggled in closer and sighed into him happily. “If you want me to hang out with you and your buddies for the fourth, just ask, King.”
“Fine,” he huffed and I smiled. “I want you to hang out on the holiday. With me… and my family.”
My smile fell, my hold on him tightening somewhat as I hitched a breath. “Your… family?”
“You’ve met about half of them already,” he murmured, his voice soothing.
“I met babies, Ira,” I corrected.
“Andyour idol,” he added.
I chewed my lip. “And her too, yeah.”
“All that’s left are my brothers—well, my older brother and his wife, and then my brother-in-law. And then my mom and dad,” he saidsoeasily, like this was no big deal at all. “We usually grill and hang out all day. Then we play around with fireworks in the driveway.”
My heart panged in my chest a little. As if he knew, Ira ran a soothing hand up my arm.
“Will they want me there?” I asked, voice forming into a whisper all on its own.
“Who do you think invited you?”
His parents had asked me to come meet them? What did that mean? And what were they expecting to get if I showed up? Had Ira painted me out to be some ray of sunshine that I was not? Or would they be ready forme?
Looking up at him, I bit my lip.
“What do they know?” I asked.
“The important parts,” he said, understanding my hesitation. “That you’re a good person and you make me happy.”
Worry and insecurity rushed me. I wondered if I would be enough for their son. If I’d be too quiet or too intense for their warm loving family. If I could make a good first impression. And on and on.
One thing stood out among the sharpest of my worries, stabbing at the back of my mind and not letting up. So sharp that I had to say it, if only in a whisper out into the world.
“I don’t know how to be in a family anymore. It’s been a really long time,” I admitted shamefully.
He was unfazed, just running his smooth hand down my hair as he promised, “I’ll teach you. I’m patient, and so is my family.”
Quietly, I mulled it over for another second, and then I sank into him again. Still relaxed, even as nerves settled low in my stomach. “Okay. I’ll try, for you.”
“Woah, no arguments? No freak out? Just ‘okay?’” he asked, being a smartass.
I laughed breathily, saying, “Yeah, just okay.”
“I’m curious what inspired this personality shift,” he said. “Could it be?—”
“Don’t say anything about what just happened. You’ll ruin it,” I warned. He laughed, and I smiled because I was amazed that I could make this man laugh. Settling in, I sighed. “No. I’ve just never done this before. I have nothing to argue against.”
“Done what exactly? Fooled around in a locker room or met a partner’s parents? The spectrum is wide here, Six.”
“No, smartass,” I said. “I’ve never felt like I was exactly where I’m supposed to be.”
Pulling back, he looked down at me, finding something in my expression that I didn’t know was there. Whatever it was put the softest, most tender look on his face. Pushing him to lean forward and kiss me slow and soft. His next words were so sure that I couldn’t help but shiver again as I heard them. Letting them wash over me, warm and refreshing like the shower I’d just taken.
“Youareexactly where you’re supposed to be.”
