"I think I'm going to be sick," Lauren admitted, holding a few fingers against her glossed lips and resting her elbows on the round wooden table in her favorite Chinese restaurant.

"You're gonna be fine, honey," Everett reassured her, gently rubbing her back. "James and Heidi are really nice."

When Josh had asked her about meeting his family after giving her probably the best orgasm of her life, Lauren had agreed before she drifted off to sleep. She vaguely remembered her answer after her nap, but instead of accusing him of some sort of subterfuge, she plastered on a brave face and confirmed her orgasm-induced response had been genuine.

While Josh's parents and twin sisters watched the game at the stadium, Lauren and Everett caught snippets at the bar, serving the afternoon game crowd and agreeing to meet Josh and his family for dinner later.

Lauren was relieved when Josh mentioned he also invited Everett to dinner because his parents loved his former roommate and wanted to catch up with him. And Everett happily accepted the invitation even if it meant dodging or ignoring the flirtatious smiles and looks from the twins.

"At least everyone will be in a good mood," Everett offered, taking a sip of water from his glass. "The Ravens absolutely crushed the Cougars today."

"Mmm hmm," Lauren replied absentmindedly, desperately hoping her nerves would soon start to fade.

She never met a significant other's parents before because her ex-girlfriend, Jessica, didn't get along with her parents and none of Lauren's past flings led to anything serious.

What would happen if Josh's parents didn't like her? What if his sisters made fun of her? Would his parents pretend she wasn't there and only focus on Josh and Everett? What were teens into these days besides social media? What if his sisters mocked her sense of fashion? How would Lauren explain she dressed for comfort – jeans, leggings, T-shirts, and sweaters – and for her work at the bar?

Even though her nerves made her a little jumpy, Lauren felt moderately confident dressed in skinny jeans, a white loose V-neck shirt, and a pale pink long sleeve cardigan. Her light brown hair looked relaxed with loose natural waves. And Everett remained handsome as ever in casual jeans and a gray long sleeve Henley shirt.

"Lauren, relax," he said, draping an arm over the back of her wooden chair. "His parents are super nice, and I'm pretty sure his sisters will be obsessed with you."

She frowned at his last statement. "Obsessed? Like obsessively hating me?"

He threw his head back and laughed loudly. "Obsessed because you're cool. You're a bartender that doesn't take shit from anyone."

"I can't help it," Lauren whined, squirming in her seat. "I've never met someone's parents before."

"Trust me, Ren. His family will adore you."

"How can you be so sure? Have you met any of your girlfriends' parents?"

"Again, his parents are laid back and easygoing," Everett explained patiently. "They're not monsters or high society snobs. They're from Iowa for god's sake. And yes, I have met some parents and charmed the pants off them."

Lauren raised a brow. "Literally?"

"Have you looked at me?" he demanded mockingly, dramatically waving one hand up and down his masculine frame. "One, I'm charming as fuck. Two, of course, lonely divorced women will wanna try to hit this."

She rolled her eyes and leaned back in her chair, scrubbing any and all images of older women hitting on their daughters' sexy boyfriend.

"Hey, guys," Josh greeted, smiling widely as he approached the table with his family. "Thanks for grabbing a table. This place gets packed on the weekends."

As he quickly draped his brown jacket over the back of his chair, Lauren brightened at the sight of him and wondered if there would be a time when she didn't feel an immediate sexual attraction to him. Dressed casually in jeans white long sleeve shirt with blue stripes, Josh looked so damn sexy to her.

"You look beautiful," he said, kissing her on the cheek before sitting down in the empty seat next to her.

Josh's father, a tall handsome man with light brown hair, pulled out a chair for his wife, a tall slender woman with shoulder length blonde hair, and sat between his son and wife. Josh's sisters grabbed the remaining empty seats between their mom and Everett.

After introductions were made and appetizers of crab rangoons, potstickers, and egg rolls were ordered, Lauren felt somewhat paranoid everyone's eyes were on her.

"It's so nice to finally meet you," his mother, Heidi, gushed, tossing her naturally beach wavy hair with perfect highlights behind her shoulder. "Josh talks about you all the time."

Although his mom was stunningly gorgeous with a genuine wide smile, high cheekbones, and radiant hazel eyes, her personality exuded warmth, positivity, and honesty. Lauren believed her bullshit meter was correct most of the time, and with Josh's mom, she couldn't detect a hint of insincerity. Especially when her last statement made Josh blush furiously.

"Mom," he muttered embarrassingly.

"What are you studying, Lauren?" his dad, James, asked, taking a sip of his fresh pint of beer.

While his mom's natural beauty could be intimidating to strangers, Josh's dad looked like a normal working father and devoted husband with a tall, lean frame and simple black rimmed glasses. Even though he was dressed in jeans and Ravens pullover, he looked like the type of person who would work in business and finances.

"Business," she answered easily. "I'd like to own my tattoo shop someday."

"You're a tattoo artist?" Michelle's eyes lit up with excitement. "That's so cool!"

"Do you have any tats?" Cara asked curiously. "Can I see them?"

At first glance the stunningly fresh faced sisters didn't look like identical twins as Michelle sported long straight light brown hair and Cara kept her locks naturally dark blonde. With wide hazel eyes, oval faces, and perfect pink lips, the twins were a picture of perfection and innocence except Lauren suspected they were anything but.

Not that she believed Cara and Michelle were the ultimate bad girls or rebels, Lauren sensed they wanted to explore more without parental supervision. They just seemed restless. And curious.

"I'm not a tattoo artist yet," Lauren clarified, with a grin. "However, I drew the rose tat for Everett."

Everett pulled up the sleeve on his left arm, revealing various tattoos, including the rose. Cara grabbed his arm for closer inspection and squealed with delight.

"Lauren, the rose is beautiful!" she exclaimed, studying his ink-decorated forearm. "What else did you draw for him?"

Everett quickly pulled his arm away from Cara as she gently traced a finger up and down his arm. Lauren bit her lower lip to keep from smirking as he pushed the other sleeve up to reveal an intricate feather caught on fire, beautifully inked with a combination of orange, yellow, and black colors.

"She drew this one too," Everett replied proudly as Cara immediately captured his right arm and smiled widely.

"You're amazing," Michelle said shyly, tucking some of her brown hair behind her ear.

"Thank you," Lauren acknowledged, releasing a small breath of relief.

She wondered why the sisters' praise validated her as an artist when she already damn well knew she had talent. Why the hell did she feel so insecure around two teens?

Get a grip, Lauren reminded herself.

"Mom said we could get tattoos as soon as we turn eighteen," Cara said animatedly.

Josh raised an eyebrow questioningly at their mom.

Heidi shrugged her shoulders. "Technically, they're adults, and they can do whatever they want to their bodies. I have nothing against tattoos to be honest."

"Really?" he asked, with disbelief.

His mom shrugged her shoulder again and leaned slightly into her husband as the server set all the appetizer plates onto the wooden turntable in the middle of the table. "Haven't you ever seen mine?"

"What?" Michelle and Cara practically screamed at the same time, their eyes and mouths wide with surprise.

Josh's dad muttered something under his breath and shook his head with amusement at the twin's reactions.

"What do you have?" Michelle demanded.

"Where are they?" Cara inquired at the same time. "How come we've never seen them?"

"I'm not even sure I wanna know," Josh whispered into her, leaning into Lauren slightly.

She chuckled softly, allowing herself to relax.

When meeting a new group of people, Lauren shied away from the spotlight, preferring to hang out in the background and watch everyone else. Even though she offered a polite smile or said something charming to complete strangers, her mind quietly worked on sarcastic or acidic remarks or retorts in case of emergency.

But Josh's family weren't strangers to him or Everett, and Lauren spiraled into a "worst case scenario" about meeting them. During the few years of their friendship, Everett had never let her down once and had always been honest with her. Why didn't she trust his assurances? Why did she even have her wall up around Everett?

Lauren silently cursed herself for thinking the worst about Josh's family when Everett was absolutely right about them. His parents were "super nice," and maybe everyone that lived in Iowa were actually friendly people.

The naturally talkative and inquisitive Cara took control of the conversation as everyone else snacked on the appetizers, asking Everett for updates on his life and interrogating both Lauren and Everett about being bartenders.

"Do you dance on the bar? Is it hard being a bartender? Do guys fall in love with you all the time?"

"No, The Bitter Night isn't that type of bar that allows dancing on the counter," Everett explained, dipping half his pork dumpling into a small dish of soy sauce.

"Guys do not fall love in with me," Lauren added, with a giggle. "And it's a hard job because everyone is shouting their drink orders at the same time. Just make sure you get along with the other bartenders because they make the job fun."

"Damn right," Everett agreed, winking at her.

She smirked. "Which is why I love working with Tristan so much."

"Who's Tristan?" Cara asked curiously as Everett made a face at Lauren and pulled his phone from his jacket pocket.

He found his favorite photo of him and Tristan lightly kissing Lauren's cheeks. Stuck between the two guys and with her eyes shut tightly, Lauren had tried to look disgusted and irritated by the brotherly affection but she ended up smiling playfully.

"Shit he's hot!" Michelle exclaimed before clapping both hands over mouth in embarrassment and glancing at her mom with guilt. "Sorry."

Josh's mom shot her daughter a quick disapproving look before stealthily winking at Lauren, who suppressed a giggle.

"Why are you dating my brother when you could date him?" Cara questioned, and then she lowered her voice to a loud whisper. "Is he gay? Did you know Josh is bi?"

"Car," Josh groaned incredulously. "Seriously?"

"What? Ow!" she threw Michelle an eye evil, rubbing her side after it encountered her sister's sharp elbow.

"I'm a little offended too," Everett pretended to scowl. "I'm just as hot as Tristan, but you're not asking Lauren to ditch your brother for me."

Lauren rolled her eyes as Josh grumbled in mock protest. "Hey. Seriously?"

"You know I'm just as pretty as you are," Everett shot back, with a boyish grin and flirty wink.

"Barely."

The witty banter between the two former roommates made Cara and Michelle laugh, and Lauren marveled at Everett's ability to subtly defuse a tense situation.

"Did you know throwing ice cubes at some of the customers is probably our favorite thing to do at the bar?" he asked the sisters.

"Why would you guys do that?" Michelle asked before stuffing half a crab rangoon in her mouth.

"To stop couples from making out," Lauren explained, remembering all the times she had chucked ice at some horny students.

"Why don't you just yell at them?" Cara wondered out loud. "Wouldn't that be easier?"

"They can easily ignore yelling, but they can't ignore ice cubes being thrown at them."

"And we're lazy," Everett added, leaning toward Lauren a bit as the server collected the empty appetizers plates and started placing the entrée dishes on the wooden turntable. "We like to stay behind the bar. Throwing ice is easiest way."

"Also a good way to avoid getting punched," Josh's dad, James, chimed in as he eyed the various different orders on the table. "This looks really delicious. Josh, why haven't you mentioned this restaurant before?"

"I didn't know about it until Lauren mentioned it was one of her favorite restaurants," Josh said, shrugging as he passed a bowl of fried rice to Lauren. "We had our first date here."

Josh's mom, Cara, and Michelle collectively sighed, "Awww."

Lauren blushed slightly at the genuine reaction, but bit back a smirk, recalling how she and Josh met in the first place. Meeting through mutual friends and having their first date at her favorite restaurant was a much better and more appropriate story to tell instead of mentioning they were completely naked and horny and involved in a four-way.

She felt her chest warm with an unfamiliar feeling as everyone happily dug into the entrées. Although Lauren could easily list at least a dozen awkward, uncomfortable, or downright terrifying family dinners, she couldn't remember the last time she was part of a comfortable and pleasant evening.

Even though she couldn't figure out the warm and unfamiliar feeling, Lauren hoped it would stay for awhile.

DEDICATION: tryinghappiness because her comments make me smile and laugh. And I'm excited for her to get her first tattoo because tats are awesome!