Gravity Happens (Forcing Gravity) (26 page)

She laughed a short, almost mocking laugh.
“Ethan, I don’t know whether to kiss you or yell at you.”

I looked at her skeptically as I backed out of the parking space.
“I’d much prefer you to kiss me if there’s a choice.”

She rolled her eyes. “You want me to meet your parents?”

“Sure,” I said, shrugging. My mom was going to love her, and my dad would think she was hot.

“Ethan, that is a huge deal! Why didn’t you tell me?”

It was a huge deal?

It was just brunch. Then again I’d never brought a girl home to meet my family before, so, yeah, maybe this was a bigger deal than I’d thought. Is that why my mom had been so excited? Damn, I was a moron.

“I don’t know,” I said, because I really didn’t. “You’re my first girlfriend. I wasn’t sure how this was supposed to work, so I thought I’d surprise you? Was that wrong?”

She groaned. “I swear, if you weren’t so adorable and clueless, I’d pummel you.”

I grinned at her, a wide, cheesy grin. “You think I’m adorable.” Then I blew her a kiss.

“Ugh,” she groaned. “You’re exhausting. That’s what you are.”

“I’m adorable,” I echoed.

“Am I dressed okay?” she asked, suddenly self-conscious as she smoothed her dress over her thighs. “I’m ju
st wearing sandals. Is that alright?”

“Yeah, it’s fine. I’m wearing flip flops. My family’s really laid back, and they’re going to love you. Garrett already likes you, and Kelly will think you’re cool.”

Her eyes got wide. “Kelly’s going to be there?!”

I’d told her all about my family, and she’d seen pictures, but she’d never met my older sister.

“Yeah, it’s the whole reason we’re doing brunch. She and Devin, her fiancé, are in town for the weekend.”

“Okay then,” she said,
almost as if she was steeling herself.

I reached over and took her hand in mind
, hoping it would relax her. “They’ll love you. You’re sweet and incredible and perfect. Just be yourself.”

She offered me a weak smil
e. “Yeah, it’s just that simple,” she said sarcastically.

“Yeah, it is,” I said casually.

My family was totally cool. I loved hanging out with them.

“Fine,” she challenged
. “But next weekend, we’re having dinner with
my
parents, and I’m going to invite Tara and Mia.”

I looked over at her and smiled. “Ooh, your sisters. I’m
so
scared. Dude, chicks love me.”

S
he raised an eyebrow at me. “Did you just call me dude?”

I shrugged. “Yeah,” I said, aiming for adorable
again.

“I’m not sure I’m okay with that,” she said, shaking her head. “Or with the fact that you think my sisters w
ill like you because you’re hot, which they actually might.” I grinned at her, and she shot me a look that said ‘not so fast’. “However, keep in mind that my dad will also be there.”

“Oh, okay. What’s he like?”

“He’s very protective of his daughters.”

Shit.

I squeezed her hand tighter. Just by the way she said that, I suddenly was freaked out as hell to meet her dad, but I wasn’t going to tell her that.

“
Well then I say, bring it on. I’ll just tell him how wonderful and perfect his daughter is, and he’ll think I’m the greatest thing ever.”

She laughed. “Keep in mind that I’m the baby of the family, and he’s met many guys over the years that my sisters
and I have dated. He can see through bullshit at first sight.”

I shrugged. “Good thing I’m not
bullshitting. It’s how I feel.”

I looked over to see her smile as her cheeks flushed.

“Well, in that case, maybe he will like you.”

We pulled up to my parents’ house ten minutes later. Garrett’s
Jeep was out front, so it seemed we were the last to arrive, but that was because Nora made me stop so she could buy flowers. She said she wasn’t meeting my parents without a hostess gift, whatever that was, so I stopped. Then I realized that I’d probably have to get something to bring when I met her parents the following weekend and made a mental note to ask my brother about that since he’d met parents before.

And I was calling Logan as soon as I got home. She’d met the Brady’s, so she could tell me all about Nora’s scary dad.

I held Nora’s hand as we walked around the side of the house and up the stairs to the large wooden deck that overlooked the backyard. If she thought it was odd that I didn’t use the front door, she didn’t say anything. I was just used to heading right to the deck since that was usually where my mom spent her time, writing the romance novels she was famous for and drinking gallons of iced tea.

“Ethan!” my sister called out as soon
as our heads cleared the deck. She was up and out of her chair, engulfing me in a hug within seconds. She was so tiny. I’d been bigger than her for years, even though I was seven years younger. “It’s so good to see you, little bro.”

I
’d seen her at Christmas, but that had been a few months ago. Devin stood behind her, so I gave him a handshake/hug combo. He was a cool guy, and they’d been together for years, so it was like he was already part of the family.

“You got new ink,” I said, as I took in the
decorative cross on the inside of his forearm.

He nodded. “Yeah, Harper hooked me up last week. I’
d been wanting to fill this space for a while, and when she suggested this, I jumped on it.”

Devin was all tatted up, and he had a few piercings which was a complete contrast to my sister who would never think
of getting inked.

“It’s badass, dude,” I said, and as I did, I remembered Nora standing next to me
, her hand in mine. “Oh, uh, Kelly, Devin, this is my . . . girlfriend, Nora.”

Kelly laughed as she rea
ched out to hug Nora. “Could you have been more uncomfortable using that word, E?” she teased. “It’s nice to meet you, Nora. You’ve accomplished something many girls tried and failed to achieve.”

Nora just laughed and smiled at me. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. He practically fell at my feet.”

“Respect,” Devin said, as he reached out to give her a hug. “It’s nice to meet the first girl to ever tame this player.”

He’d
said it jokingly, but he was right. And so was Nora. I wasn’t sure what it was about her, but I’d fallen hard.

Nora laughed. “Yeah, I take pride in that fact.”

“You guys and your jokes. You’ll all freakin’ hilarious,” I grumbled.

“Aww, E, we only joke because we love you,” Kelly said, putting her arm around me and squeezing my waist. “And because you’re so cute.” She’d said that last part in a baby voice.

“Bite me,” I told her, and Devin dead-armed me.

I looked up in surprise.

“Don’t talk to my woman that way,” he said, defending her honor.

“What’d you do now, you idiot?” Garrett asked, sidling up to us with Ellie, who hugged Nora. They’d gotten to be close friends since they were both at our house most nights.

“Fuck you, douchebag,” I responded playfully.

Garrett
just smiled.

“Where are Mom and Dad?” I asked, looking around the deck.
My parents were nowhere in sight.

“They’re inside gett
ing the food. Mom made pancakes,” Kelly told me.

I smiled. I loved my mom’s pancakes.

“Should we go help?” Nora asked, and Garrett, Kelly, Devin and I just looked at her because none of us had even thought to suggest that.

We were so used to our mom doing everything for us, that the thought didn’t cross our minds.
We were bad kids.

“Yeah, let’s do that,” I said, as I tugged Nora behind me into the house. “Hey Mom.”

My mom turned around and smiled widely when she heard me, so I walked Nora into the kitchen.

“Ethan!
Hi baby,” my mom said, as she wiped her hands on a dishtowel and pulled me into a hug. “Tom, can you finish up with that bacon?”

“Hey Dad,” I called out as my dad stepped in front of the stove and started flipping the bacon around
like he was a chef at a Japanese restaurant.

“How are you son and girl I haven’t met yet?” he called over his shoulder.

“Hi, I’m Nora, Ethan’s girlfriend,” Nora said, and my mother smiled at her. Then Nora handed my mother the flowers she’d purchased. “These are for you. Thank you so much for having me over.”

“Ethan’s girlfrie
nd,” my mother gushed, her cheeks flushing in excitement. “I really like the sound of that. And these are beautiful.” She inhaled the scent of the flowers. “Thank you. I’m Carol.”

She looked downright giddy as she dug a vase out from under the sink and started to fill it with water. But I guess that was to be expected.
My mother had almost fainted when I’d told her I had a girlfriend a few weeks earlier. She’d started pestering me immediately to meet Nora, but I wanted to wait until it felt right, and now it did.

“Hello, Nora. I’m Tom,” my dad said. “I’d shake your hand, but I’m a little busy at the moment. These former pigs are meeting my wrath.”

He made a sound like a karate chop and landed the spatula in the middle of the frying pan with a whack.

“Dad,” I groaned, rolling my eyes.

He was the worst with bad jokes, but Nora had laughed, so he’d elicited the response he wanted from her, and I knew that made him proud.

“Can we help at all?” Nora asked.

“Oh no, we’re fine in here. Tom’s finishing up the bacon, but other than that everything’s done. E, there’s orange juice outside and coffee, so help yourself to whatever you want and whatever Nora wants.”

“No Bloody Mary’s?” I asked, and my mother shot me a look. She knew I drank, but she didn’t like it, and she didn’t condone it.

“No,” she said crisply.

“I’d love some coffee,” Nora said to me then.

“Okay, we’ll be outside getting non-alcoholic beverages,” I said to my mom, and she shot me a look.

“Lovely. While you’re out there, can you tell your brother I need to talk to him, so if he could
come in here, I’d appreciate it,” she said coolly.

“Ooh, what did he do?”

“Nothing you need to be concerned about. Mind your own business unless you have something to confess,” she said, talking to me like she had when I was little.

It was her tone that had always made me tell her things I wanted to keep secret, like the time I’d broken a vase in the living room or the time I’d dropped a few dozen army men into the toilet in the spare bathroom that no one ever used because I was having them parachute into the ocean and ended up clogging the toilet.
I’d confessed and gotten grounded. Her tone always got to me, but I’d learned my lesson over the years.

“Nope, nothing to confess. I’m an angel.”

“Yeah, I don’t buy that for a second,” my mother said. “You were always my devil child. You’re lucky Nora puts up with you.”

“She thinks I’m angelic,” I told my mom
, and I put my arm around Nora.

They both laughed.

“That’s what I thought,” my mother said, as I started to lead Nora back outside.

“Your parents are nice,” she whispered to me.

“I told you.”

“My dad won’t be that nice,” she cautioned, and I swallowed the lump that had suddenly
formed in my throat.

“Great. Hey, Gare!”

Garrett looked up from where he was talking to Devin at the table. “Yeah?”

“Mom wants you.”

“Ooh, what did you do?” Kelly asked, taking a seat on Devin’s lap. We all knew too well what it meant when our mom called us inside.

Garrett sighed. “I might have knocked over her Ohio State garden gnome when I parked this morning. And she might have just found out.”

I laughed out loud. “You knocked over Buckeye? Did you hurt him?”

We all knew how much our mother loved all things Ohio State since she’d gone to school there, and her garden gnome, nicknamed Buckeye by all of us, had been around for years. She was going to kill Garrett
if anything happened to him.

Garrett sighed. “I decapitated him,” he said, and we all laughed. We couldn’t help it. It was a fucking lawn ornament, and my mom was attached to it. “I already ordered
her another one online, and I’ve got a guy who’s going to fix Buckeye just in case she doesn’t like the new one.”

“Smart man,” Devin commented, as Garrett headed inside
to grovel.

I reached across the table and poured coffee into two cups. I added sugar and cream to mine and just cream to Nora’s, handing it to her.

“He knows how you take your coffee,” Kelly commented as Nora took a sip from the cup I’d handed to her. “Impressive. How long have you two been dating?”