“I promise to kick you if there are any mentions of fur balls or groin muscles. Relax. There is nothing you can do to ruin anything. They will love you. I promise. You just need to take a deep breath, rein in the freak-out, and show them the woman I get to see.”

Corin nodded. “And don’t let me tell your mother about how much I love it when you squeeze my boobs. That would definitely not be appropriate.”

I groaned low in the back of my throat and kissed her again, a little harder this time. “Can we not talk about how much I love squeezing your boobs in my parents’ house please? It makes things a little…uncomfortable, if you know what I mean.” Both of our eyes trailed down to my crotch.

“Oh. Okay,” Corin smirked.

I led her into the living room where my dad was drinking an iced tea and watching the football game at full volume. I had suspicions he was becoming hard of hearing, though he’d never admit that.

There was a touchdown, which led to my father yelling and pumping his fist in the air.

Corin and I exchanged a look and I grabbed the remote control, turning down the volume.

“Hey, don’t touch a man’s TV remote,” he warned.

“Yeah, well, we’d like to keep our eardrums intact, Dad.”

Dad grumbled but got to his feet. He hugged me hard and tight. He had never insisted on absurd male stereotypes that involved handshakes and no physical affection. There was lots of hugging all the time. In front of friends, dropping me off for school, after track meets. Growing up, it had been an ongoing source of mortification.

“Dad, this is Corin.” I looked at Corin and saw a sad, wistful smile on her face. “Corin, this is my dad, Stanley Kingsley.”

Corin held her hand out as she had done with my mother, but my dad wasn’t having it.

I probably should have warned her.

“Don’t come in here expecting a handshake. We’re a hugging bunch.” He engulfed my girlfriend in a bear hug that all but smothered her. She patted him on the back and looked a little pained but didn’t pull away.

She widened her eyes over his shoulder, and I had to cover my mouth so I wouldn’t laugh.

“Beck’s been talking about you for a while now. It’s nice to put the very pretty face with the name.” My father’s gregarious nature didn’t leave much room for discomfort and Corin relaxed instantly.

“Have a seat.” My dad pointed to the loveseat and I sat down, pulling Corin down beside me.

My dad resumed his place on the recliner. “Beck tells me you own and operate the pottery studio in town. I must say that’s a mighty impressive achievement for a woman so young. You can’t be older than twenty-three, twenty-four.”

“I’m twenty-five, actually. I opened Razzle Dazzle just after I turned nineteen. My friend Adam helps me run it, so I don’t do everything on my own.”

My dad nodded. “I always like to hear about local businesses. I think it’s important to support our own.”

My mom came in just then and handed Corin and me our glasses of water. “Dinner should be ready in twenty minutes. Beck told me that you’re a meat and potatoes eater, so I made a pot roast. I hope that’s okay.”

Corin’s smile was a little pained but sincere. “That sounds great,” she said softly. “I haven’t had a pot roast in a long time.”

There was something there. Something I should ask about. But before I could say anything to Corin, my very loud, very energetic sister entered the room.

“No one told me Beck was here with the new meat!”

“Zoe!” my mother admonished.

“What? It’s true. He’s ditched the bitch and got himself a shiny new piece of tail.” Zoe grinned, enjoying the effect her words had on our mother.

“Corin, I’m so sorry about my daughter. Her mouth seems to have gotten worse since she’s gone to college,” Mom apologized.

Zoe sat down on the chair beside Corin. “I’m sure she’s heard worse if she’s dating Beck.”

“Be cool, Zoe,” I growled under my breath, worried about her saying something that would either piss off Corin or humiliate me.

I was glad to see Corin grinning at my sister. “I’m Corin,” she said, holding out her hand.

Zoe rolled her eyes. “What are we? Fifty? I’m not going to shake your hand. But it is nice to meet you. I’m Zoe. I’m sure Beck has told you all about how obnoxious I am.” She leaned in close to Corin. “But his judge of character is questionable given the chick he just spent the last couple of years shacking up with.”

Fucking hell. Was she going to make snotty comments about Sierra all evening? I didn’t want to talk about my ex with my new girlfriend right there. It was a little too talk show for me.

Mom had gone back to the kitchen and Dad was once again watching the game, leaving me to handle Zoe on my own.

“Was she that bad?” Corin asked, looking amused.

“Do we have to talk about her? Seriously? It’s not really appropriate—”

“God, she was the worst. No taste at all. She used to show up in these tiny shorts and you could totally see her butt. Can you believe that? Wearing that sort of thing to your boyfriend’s parents’ house! So trashy! But her lack of taste wasn’t surprising. She did date my brother. No offense.”

“None taken,” Corin laughed. “I don’t own any booty shorts. But I do have a pair of jeans with a picture of a cat on the ass.”

I chuckled. “She really does. She even wore them on our first date. It was pretty hot,” I added.

Zoe gave us both a look. “Isn’t that cute? I love listening to inside jokes.” She made a face.

Corin leaned down to ogle Zoe’s feet. “Those are seriously the most awesome shoes I have ever seen.” She pointed to the knee-high purple and black Doc Martens my sister was wearing.

My sister literally glowed. “These are my favorites!” she shrieked. Zoe turned to me, beaming. “You finally chose a good one, bro. Took you long enough.”

And just like that, my prickly, churlish sister was won over by my equally snappish girlfriend. Who knew an ugly pair of shoes could be such a bridge builder?

Zoe talked Corin’s head off for the next ten minutes. She was excited to hear about the pottery studio and promised to bring her sorority in to make Little Sis gifts in the spring.

“Dinner’s ready,” my mom called from the kitchen. Dad turned off the TV and we all filed into the dining room. Mom had gone all out, laying out the best china and even using the cloth napkins.

“Wow, Mom. Is Corin royalty and I didn’t know it?” Zoe asked, taking her spot at the table.

“I just wanted it to be nice. There’s nothing wrong with that, is there?” Mom asked with a smile.

“It looks lovely, Mrs. Kingsley,” Corin said, sitting down in a chair beside me.

Corin’s compliment immediately thawed my mother’s icy exterior. She gave Corin a full-lipped smile. “Thank you, Corin. But please, call me Meryl.”

Corin nodded and unfolded her napkin onto her lap.

Dad didn’t stand on ceremony. He immediately started loading his plate with beef and vegetables.

“Stan, our guest should be served first,” my mom scolded.

“That’s okay. I don’t mind waiting,” Corin insisted.

“Nonsense. Stan should know better. I do hope Beck has better manners than his father,” Mom muttered, rolling her eyes heavenward.

Corin chuckled. “I have to remind him to eat with his mouth closed and to not eat food from the floor. But other than that, he’s fine.”

My mother looked horrified. I poked Corin in the side.

“She’s teasing, Mom. I don’t do any of that stuff. I promise,” I placated.

Corin tried to hide her smile. “I’m sorry, I was just joking, Meryl. I didn’t mean it.”

Mom relaxed. “Oh good. You scared me there for a minute, Corin.”

“At least I didn’t mention the boob grabbing,” Corin said under her breath.

I reached over and squeezed her thigh, letting my hand linger. “I warned you about mentioning that,” I said in a low growl.