Page 58 of Not All Himbos Wear Capes
My cheeks flamed as I shoved at his chest. I forgot to hold back my strength, but he still didn’t budge, which was impressive. “No, I didn’t. I was keeping it kind of basic to start. You know… vanilla gay.”
He cackled. “Baby, I don’t think you’re vanilla.” His thumb stroked my lower lip as he suddenly turned thoughtful. “And whoever made you believe that doesn’t know you at all.”
“I think you’re right,” I whispered, my heart pounding so hard I was sure he could hear it.
Xander held my gaze, and I couldn’t have looked away if I tried. He was absolutely correct. The more time I spent with this man, the more I realized that since birth, I’d been molded into someone I wasn’t. There was no one in my life who saw me for who I truly was—whowantedto see me.
Except him.
Our moment was broken when Xander slid off the bed and disappeared into the bathroom. When he returned, he silently cleaned me up with a wet cloth before sitting beside me, his expression a million miles away.
“Let me take you out for dinner tonight,” I murmured, grabbing his wrist and tracing his veins with my thumb, wanting to feel his pulse like it was my own.
He grimaced. “I can’t. I have a dinner… thing. At my parents’ house.”
“Oh, okay.” I couldn’t hide the disappointment from my tone, even though I had no right to be upset after disappearing inland on multiple occasions.
“Come with me,” he blurted out, his expression almost manic. “Meet my family.” Just as suddenly, the color drained from his face, as if he realized what this invitation meant. “No, wait, uhhh… I actually don’t think—”
IT’S HAPPENING!
“Oh, no you don’t!” I crowed triumphantly, grabbing him with both hands and pulling him down onto the mattress with me. “No take-backs! You want me to meet your family. You’reseriousabout me.”
There were a few security measures—and codes of conduct—for any supe allowing a normie into theirhome,but a house full of normies didn’t have to do anything special. Because of my job, I was especially skilled at existing among civilians, so the Marin’s would simply think I was one of them.
Butch Hawthorne—total normie.
Xander’s laugh was strained, but when he propped himself up on his elbow, I saw his smile was genuine. “Iamserious about you, Butch. That’s not the issue here. It just might not be the right time for you to meet them…”
My enthusiasm immediately fizzled out. Despite worrying about how my parents would react to him, I’d already been scheming about how to bring Xander to their estate. I knew our relationship was moving ridiculously fast, but I stubbornly wanted to experience every milestone that normal people did.
Especially with him.
Xander inviting me to meet his family meant he felt the same way about me as I did about him. Therefore, rescinding the offer almost immediately felt like a punch to the gut.
My disappointment must have been written all over my face as Xander pulled me up to sit beside him. “Oh, baby, don’t be upset. It’s not that I don’t want to show you off—it’s just…” He worriedly searched my face before sighing. “It would mean a lot to you, huh?”
I simply nodded, not trusting myself to speak.
“Okay. Okay, we can do this,” he muttered, almost to himself, before snapping his attention back to me. “I do need to warn you that my family is a little…” He scrunched his face, searching for the right word. “They’re…intense.”
“Yeah, that’s a given. Exhibit A.” I pointed at him as overwhelming joy flooded my system, causing me to laugh until tears came to my eyes. That Xander was worried about me meeting his weird family, after the unhinged, lethal supervillains I regularly faced…
This will be child’s play.
“All right!” I clapped my hands as I jumped off the bed and headed for the closet filled withmyclothes. While I assumed it wouldn’t be a formal affair like my family preferred, I’d never seen Xander in anything that didn’t look like it came from the pages of a fashion magazine, so I wanted to impress. “What should I wear?”
“Something where you can hide a variety of weapons,” he grumbled, joining me and efficiently selecting an appropriate outfit. When I cupped his face andforcedhim to look at me, he sighed. “I just don’t want them to scare you away.”
You ridiculous man.
“Xan.” I tried to emulate the sexyDaddylook he always gave me, realizing he neededmeto be the confident one at the moment. “Please, don’t worry. I can’t think of a single thing they could possibly do to scare me away from you.”
CHAPTER27
BUTCH
We pulled up to Xander’s parents’ house just as it was getting dark.
