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She pushes the silverware to one side and props her elbows on the table as if she’s about to interview me. “To be honest, I don't know your whole story. The school speculates, but no one's really clear with what's going on, other than you and Sadie and Duncan all live together with three other adults. I mean, some people are even saying that there's a poly situation going on, which no judgment if that's your family structure.”
I can't tell if she's saying this because she wants to scare me off from talking about what's going on in her life, but while my life is messy, I'm not gonna hide anything. "So, the full story is that my mom Fischl got knocked up by my dad Cooper, but Fischl’s mom didn’t want anyone to know about her sinful nature so she sent Fischl away and was going to have Mom give me up for adoption. Mom refused, found Sebastian who took her in, and together they raised me and Sadie, who is Sebastian’s daughter. Then we moved here because of some assholes, and Coop figured out that I was his son.” It was weird how quickly he connected the dots. Everyone says we look alike, but I don’t see it. “Dunc is really Coops nephew who he adopted after his sister died. So, technically Duns is my cousin but he’s considered my brother. And now we all live together trying to be a happy family. It’s not working out perfect. Your jaw is dropped.”
Red snaps her mouth shut and picks up her menu. She frowns and then flips it over. “Why does my menu not have prices?”
I smile a little at her quick change of subject. “Food’s free here.”
“Ha ha, but in all seriousness, do I have a defective one?” She tries to pluck mine out of my hands. I angle it away from her.
“What does it matter? I’m paying.” I can see her wanting to argue with me. Pride, I guess. “Let’s not argue. It’ll hurt my fragile male ego.”
“I highly doubt that. Your ego is so healthy I could probably throw a brick at it and it would bounce off and hit me on the head.”
The server comes, and I order two prime ribeyes with a side of mashed potatoes and corn on the cob. “With a seafood starter,” I add, not caring I already ate. I want to make sure Red gets her fill.
“Who else is coming?” Red asks.
“No one. Why?”
“Because you ordered enough food for an army.”
“I’m hungry, and you’re hungry, and whatever we don’t finish, we can take home. I’m always up for some cold steak sandwich. Now spill.”
Red wrinkles her nose. “This is why I’m a reporter. I like asking the questions, not answering them.”
“Pretend you’re interviewing yourself.” I’m not letting her off the hook. She needs to know that her family situation doesn’t bother me. There’s nothing that’s happening in her life that is an embarrassment or that would drive me away. The only way I can get her to believe that is for her to tell me everything.
She falls silent, picking at the bread that the server brought for us. After she’s picked apart an entire slice and made tiny mounds of bread on her plate, she sighs. “Fine. My mom is…needy, and that need can only be met by men, I guess. I don’t get it, and it’s embarrassing, and I really just want you to pretend like I have a normal parent and a normal life.”
“It is normal.” I butter a non-mangled slice of bread for her and lay it on the edge of her plate. “Normal families are difficult and odd and dysfunctional. It’s the well-adjusted families that aren’t normal.”
“I think the well-adjusted families are the normal ones. Dysfunctional literally means not operating like the norm.”
“Dictionary definitions are boring, but let’s assume you’re right?—”
“I am.”
“What does it matter if our worlds are off-kilter? I can’t figure everything out. Dunc pisses me off almost daily. I don’t think I’ll ever feel like Coop is my real dad. Sebastian raised me. I’m not thrilled I had to move away from my old school to this new one, either. But all of that doesn’t matter because Sadie needed a new home or she wasn’t going to make it. And that’s what I think about you.”
“That I need a new home or I’m not going to make it?”
I shake my head. “Nah. I’m just saying you aren’t your mom. You don’t need to be embarrassed about anything your mom does. That’s on her. You’re only responsible for your own actions. That’s how I see it. Like, are you really looking at me and thinking, Van’s family is weird and screwed up so he’s weird and screwed up? No. You’re thinking Van’s a hot son of a bitch, and my panties are wet thinking about all the filthy things he could do to me.”
Red’s cheeks turn, well, red. Like a deep scarlet shade. I scrape my teeth along my lower lip. She’s going to look so pretty aroused. Pink, pert nipples. That deep flush spreading over her tits. I bet her pussy is just as ripe and luscious. Makes me hard thinking about it. Good thing these tables have cloths on them so that I don’t scare the wait staff approaching with our food.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Red demands.
“You do not want to know.”
“Is it along the lines of the leg thing earlier?”
“Yes, but worse.”
She rubs her forehead like I’ve given her a headache. “I hate not knowing things. Along with having to answer questions, I also don’t like being in the dark.”
“You’re not in the dark, Red. You know exactly what I’m thinking, but you don’t want to say it out loud because you’re not ready. Once you’re ready, you can tell me exactly what’s going on in my head, and then I’ll act it out for you. Eat your steak. It’s going to get cold.”
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