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“Daddy, I’m never going to forgive you for this. He’s meeting his family!”
Turning to give me a once-over, he said, “And he needed to relax a little. Your mother and I are fine, and we had the same amount of whiskey.”
It was at that moment when Merit hiccupped and giggled. “I haven’t drank that much in wong times.”
“This should be fun.” Bradly laughed.
Avery had said they’d told everyone she knew about the surprise party, so it had been changed to a welcome-to-the-family party. I thought that was pretty sweet of them.
The door opened and Brock stood there, a smile on his face. He scanned everyone quickly, then did a double take when he saw me. Of course, it could have been because I was leaning against Bradly for support.
“Jesus, what did you do to him, Dirk?” Brock asked, as he made his way out and guided me into the house.
“How was I supposed to know the kid can’t hold his liquor?” Dirk replied. We all followed Brock as he turned and headed somewhere away from all the talking.
“Because his father couldn’t hold his either!” he retorted, looking back at Dirk.
Dirk let out a roar of laughter. “Hell, that’s right! He couldn’t hold it for shit, could he?”
Brock guided me to a chair, and I sat down with a thud. He turned to Merit and asked, “Can you get him some black coffee?”
Merit laughed, then hiccupped again.
Avery sighed. “I’ll get it. She’s drunk too.”
Putting her hands on her hips, Merit said, “I am not drunk. I’m just buzzing.”
Pointing to Merit, I jumped up. “This! That! What she said.”
When I started to sway, Brock put a hand on my arm and told me to sit back down. Then he glared at Dirk. “He’s meeting the entire family, Dirk.”
“He’ll be fine. Give him some coffee and maybe ten minutes or so.”
I closed my eyes, and the voices of Dirk and Brock arguing grew distant. The last thing I heard was Bradly say, “Um…Beck’s asleep.”
The feeling of someone running their fingers gently through my hair caused me to blink my eyes open. The room wasn’t dark, but it wasn’t fully lit, either. When my sight adjusted, I saw sapphire-blue eyes looking down at me.
“Hi,” Avery whispered. “How are you feeling?”
“Like someone punched me in the head a dozen or so times.”
She smiled. “That would be the shots you took with my father and mother.”
Frowning, I asked, “How are they even standing?”
“Oh, my mother’s in the kitchen drinking black coffee and contemplating if she wants to divorce my father or not.”
I laughed, then groaned. “My head is pounding.”
Avery sighed. “You can thank my father for that.”
Slowly sitting up, I drew in a deep breath and tried to get the room to stop spinning. “Why are you in here, princess? You should be out there with your family.”
“I wanted to make sure you were okay.”
Something in my chest squeezed, but in the best kind of way. I reached for her hand. “Thank you, but I’m okay.”
“Uncle Brock is furious with my father.”
I grinned as I said, “Your dad…I don’t know if I’m afraid of him, or if I think he’s the greatest fucking guy in the world.”
“I say we go with the second one.”
Avery and I both turned our heads to see Dirk standing in the doorway.
“Did you come bringing more whiskey?” Avery asked.
My stomach lurched at the mention of alcohol.
Dirk chuckled. “No, I brought him some water and Tylenol.”
I stood and met Dirk halfway. “Water sounds amazing, thank you.”
With a smirk, he asked, “How’s the head?”
“Feels like someone hit me with a wrecking ball.”
Dirk slipped his hands into his pockets. “Don’t hold your booze very well, do you?”
I shook my head and instantly regretted it. “No, sir. Never have been a big drinker.”
“Neither was your father,” Brock said, stepping into the room. “He’d get drunk after three beers. And I don’t mean a buzz, but drunk.”
Knowing that about my father made me smile. It was odd how alike we were.
“You feel like meeting the family now? Everyone has already eaten, but my mother saved you and Avery a plate.”
“I’m so sorry. This doesn’t make a very good first impression.”
Brock and Dirk laughed.
“You’re already a hero,” Avery said. “Josh and Nathan think it’s cool you showed up buzzing.”
I rolled my eyes, and even that hurt.
“The good news is,” Brock said with a wide grin, “I talked Mom out of a surprise game night. You’ll need to be fully sober for that to happen.”
When I glanced at Avery, she nodded. “What is it about game night?”
Dirk hit the side of my arm. “You’ll find out soon enough, son.”
I wasn’t sure why I liked him calling me son so much, but I did. My grandfather had called me that my entire life. But it meant something different coming from Avery’s father. Even different than when one of my uncles said it.
