Page 49 of Anyone But Me
“And I go by Bobby,” her father added.
I nodded at both of them. “Thank you so much for having me this weekend, Joy and Bobby.”
Joy watched me with adoration. “All of you Miller-Cooper kids are so polite. Your mothers must have raised you right.”
Jax turned to look at me. “They met Ronan once when he was visiting Olivia and they were visiting me.”
“Great guy just like the rest of your family,” Bobby said firmly.
“Oh wow. We have officially met all of you now, haven’t we?” Joy said with a laugh. “How lucky.”
Lucky for them. I didn’t feel quite so lucky. As if I wasn’t nervous enough about this weekend, now I had to deal with the fact that they would most likely be comparing me to the rest of my family, whether they meant to or not.
Bobby’s eyes dropped to the ground, where Speck was standing in between me and Jax. “And this must be the infamous Speck, huh?”
I patted Speck’s head. “It sure is.”
As Bobby and Joy got down on Speck’s level and showered him with attention, Jax and I both smiled over at each other at the exact same time. With how intense the spark of electricity was that passed between us, there was no way I was the only one who felt it. How could I be? It felt like I had been shocked, and the sensation ran throughout my whole body.
“Oh, sweetie, you must be starving,” Joy said as she stood to her feet, ripping my attention away from Jax and putting an abrupt end to our moment. “Come into the kitchen. Dinner is all ready. I hope you don’t mind Thanksgiving food again. We had so many leftovers from having family over yesterday, it felt like such a waste to make something else.”
“Thanksgiving food sounds perfect.”
It alsosmelledperfect as I walked into the kitchen. Sitting on the counter were serving bowls filled with turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese, green bean casserole, and corn. If they had all of this foodleft over, I couldn’t even begin to imagine how much they had for Thanksgiving dinner.
I piled my plate with a little of each item, then took a seat next to Jax at their small kitchen table. There was a dining room attached to the kitchen that had a very large table with at least ten seats surrounding it, but Jax told me they only ate there on holidays. When it was just the three of them (or just one or two guests) they preferred the intimate setting the kitchen provided.
It turned out, Jax’s parents were two of the most down to earth older adults I ever met. It made sense why Jax was the way she was. Her parents were easy to talk to, and they seemed genuinely interested in the answers to all of the questions they asked me.
After dinner, her dad showed me his favorite room of the house, which was a home theater, complete with a projector and large screen, as well as an old-fashioned popcorn maker. Instead of movie theater style chairs, there was a very large sectional couch and two recliners.
“I know the perfect thing for us to watch,” Jax’s dad said with a grin that told me he was up to no good.
Jax must have noticed too, because she groaned loudly. “Seriously, Dad? Don’t even think about it.”
As if he didn’t hear her, Bobby continued his walk back to the computer that was currently attached to the projector. “It’s a rite of passage for parents to embarrass their children,” he said as he scrolled through the computer, clearly on a mission to find something specific. “Someday when you have your own children, you’ll be able to do the same to them.”
Jax groaned again. “Please just don’t do the potty dance video.”
A wide smile spread across my face when I realized what was going on. “Oh, no, I insist.Pleasedo the potty dance video.”
Bobby pointed at me. “She’s the guest. I have to respect her wishes.”
Jax attempted to glare at me, but she quickly cracked a smile. “I hate you.” She pointed at her upturned lips. “Don’t let this fool you. I really do.”
I looked at her lips and had to stop myself from licking my own. I forced my eyes away and smirked at Jax. “No you don’t.”
“You’re right.” Jax pointed a finger at me. “But tread lightly.”
“Everyone, please be seated,” Jax’s dad said from the back of the room.
Jax’s mom took a seat on the recliner and Jax motioned for me to follow her to the sectional. I sat farther away from her than I normally would. Even though the way we normally watched movies was completely innocent, it still somehow felt disrespectful to cuddle Bobby and Joy’s daughter right in front of them.
Jax’s dad started the video, which started out with just a shot of a door. He slipped into the other recliner as little, but loud screams tore from the speakers. The bathroom door in the video flew open and a tiny Jax proudly strolled out. Her eyes were closed, and her head was held high. Her bleach blonde hairwas sticking out all over the place as if it had never once seen a hairbrush.
Jax’s eyes suddenly popped wide open, looking like saucers on her tiny face. “I pooped!” She brought her hands in the hair and started waving them around while she kicked her feet and spun in circles, which appeared to be the potty dance they were talking about since she kept chanting, “I pooped! I pooped! I pooped!”
A younger, less gray Bobby joined Jax on camera and spun her around in circles, chanting with her about pooping while dipping her. When he lifted her back up, he began to tickle her and Jax let out the cutest giggle as she tried to escape from him. I didn’t even realize what I was doing until my body was smushed up against Jax’s.
