Chapter FIFTEEN

"What?" I was sure I hadn't heard her correctly.

Did my mom just admit that she invited Finn to our house for Christmas dinner?

"I realized after I got home that I shouldn't have taken it upon myself-"

"Mom. You didn't." I wanted her to tell me she was just kidding. There was no way she would actually do that.

"I was at the mall, picking up some new pillow cases-"

"When?"

"Yesterday..."

"You went in to my work?" I asked, still confused. She hadn't mentioned going to the mall, at all.

"I did."

I had no words for this. She had never gotten involved with my personal life before. Ever. This wasn't something I was used to. I didn't even know what my reaction to this should be.

I mostly wanted to yell and tell her she should not have interfered with my business. But instead I just sighed.

"So, Finns coming for dinner?"

"He said he would love to join us. He and his mother were celebrating last night with dinner, but he had no plans for today."

"Mom-"

"I'm really... actually, I'm not sorry." She paused. "Even if you're just friends, inviting him was the right thing to do."

Sure. Except now my dad and my brothers were going to get the wrong idea completely. Not to mention what Finn was going to think.

So, your mom invited me to dinner, Finn texted awhile later.

It was about an hour until dinner, and all I had done was change into nicer clothes - jeans and a favourite top - and video chatted with Rylee and her kitten. I also chopped some vegetables for my mom, but avoided conversation. I knew she was unsure how I was feeling about the dinner invite.

Yeah. She told me. Sorry I didn't do it myself, I sent back.

HIM: Do you want me there?

ME: Yeah, of course. I was just distracted yesterday with Rylee.

And with my mysterious ex from high school.

HIM: You're mom is so sweet.

ME: Well, she likes you a lot

HIM: You have no idea how happy that makes me.

ME: Okay, well, be here at 5pm?

HIM: I will. Can I bring anything?

ME: Um, no. My mom's got everything. Just be prepared for interrogation.

HIM: Um okay?

ME: My brothers. My dad.

HIM: Right. Ok. See you soon.

If he was still willing to come knowing there was going to be a lot of questioning, he deserved to come. And suddenly I even felt a bit happy that he was. Maybe this would be a turning point for us. Maybe I just needed to see Finn in an environment besides work, and his apartment. Giving him a chance was the right thing to do.

It was about ten minutes to 5P.M. when Finn rang the doorbell, a bottle of my favourite red wine in hand. I had hoped that my heart, not just my body, would help me out a bit - but all I felt was nervousness. Yes, I was attracted to Finn. We already knew that. He was tall and blond with amazing eyes. The way he looked at me helped, too. But I knew my body reacted to him because it knew what he could do to me. How he touched me. How he wanted me. That had nothing to do with my heart. It had nothing to do with my feelings for him.

"Hey," he began. "Merry Christmas."

I stepped back so he could come in, and realized that he had never been inside my house before. We'd been together at his apartment, and in both of our cars, but not my house. 

"Merry Christmas," I repeated, as he pulled me into a hug.

He smelled good. His scruff on his cheek rubbed my forehead and I sighed, without meaning to. He followed me into the kitchen after hanging his coat, where my mom - still in her apron - was transferring potatoes to a fancy serving dish. It smelled amazing.

"Oh, my," she gushed, looking up. "Welcome, Finn. You look so handsome."

He did. He was in a gray dress shirt and black pants. His hair was brushed to the side, and his smile was...

"Oh, ha, thanks, Mrs. Krank," he said, blushing a little. "Thanks for having me."

"Oh, it's Valerie. And, of course. It's Christmas." She was just beaming, keeping her eyes on him. "You two go relax for a few. I'll be calling for dinner soon."

"You need any help?" Finn asked, without missing a beat.

My mom smiled at me, then looked at him again. "No, no. Thank you, sweetie."

I didn't know where to go, since I'd never had Finn over like this before. Who knows what my brothers were doing in the spare rooms, with their girlfriends. Finn and I weren't awkward around each other, but we were usually already drinking or making out at this point in a "hang out". We didn't do this. We didn't get together for dinner.

I lead him to the large dining room, where my family only ate on holidays.

"Wow," he said, almost whispering. "Beautiful room."

I nodded. "Yeah, it's special to my mom. We only use it for big family dinners, since we were rarely all together for meals, growing up."

Finn walked to the back of the room and pulled out a chair. "How many brothers do you have again?"

"Three." I watched for his reaction.

"Oh, right." He looked at the table and the perfectly placed silverware.

"Only two are here, though, with their girlfriends. Michael hates Florida, since he moved away years ago," I added.

Finn looked up, meeting my eyes. "I'm an only child. It was just my mom and I, growing up."

Another thing I didn't know about him, because in the two years I'd known him, we rarely talked about our childhoods or our families.

"Well, get ready for this... it can be loud," I told him, forcing a smile.

"I'm okay with loud," he smiled back.

We chose the seats at the end of the table by the window, just minutes before mom was calling everyone for dinner. I'd never had a boyfriend over for a family dinner, not that Finn was my boyfriend. But I could tell by the looks on their faces, my brothers - and my dad - were surprised.

Dylan and Halley strolled in, her hair a mess and his shirt untucked. Her big eyes grew bigger when she saw Finn. Dylan narrowed his, looking at me. Dalton and Trinity came in next, with dad close behind. No one had been expecting me to have a guy with me, for dinner.

And soon too many sets of eyes were on Finn, and me. He kept smiling, no words spoken yet. Everyone sat, getting comfortable. Dad cut the turkey and food was piled high on plates. The room was loud and it felt so warm and real. So good.

I glanced at Finn, realizing that he was just taking it all in.

"So, Arden," Dylan finally began, and I knew what was coming. Dalton snorted. "Why haven't you introduce us to..."

I met his eyes and tried to ask him to be cool. Dylan just raised his eyebrows, waiting. He was the shit disturber.

"This is Finn, my.... we're friends, and we work together," I said carefully. "Finn, my brothers, Dylan and Dalton, and that's Halley, and Trinity, my dad -"

Finn smiled, opening his mouth to speak.

"Friends?" Dalton questioned me. I shot him a look. "Sure."

"JumpFit treats you well, Finn?" Dylan asked him, then laughed.

"Boys," my dad interrupted, as if they were kids who needed to be told to stop bothering their sister. "Mark Krank, nice to meet you, Finn."

"Oh yes, you too, sir," Finn said quickly, standing up to reach across the table for a handshake.

"Sir," Dylan repeated, biting his lip, holding back a laugh.

I rolled my eyes at him, but actually expected worse from the twins. They were behaving, somewhat. Finn was still smiling, which was good. I realized then that he could handle a bit of teasing, if it meant being with me.

My phone - which I had turned back on at some point - rang as we were finishing up our meal. Mom was in the kitchen, cutting into the apple pie for dessert. Halley was practically in Dylan's lap, at the table. Dad was looking at his phone, checking emails. On Christmas. I saw that it was Kaden calling.

"Be right back," I said to Finn, pushing away from the table.

He nodded and I noticed that Dalton was soon talking to him, as I stepped out of the room. 

"Hey, Kade, Merry Christmas," I answered, happy to hear from him.

"Yeah, you too." He paused. "Uhh."

"What?" I asked, feeling a bit uneasy suddenly.

"You're at home, right?" Kaden asked, after a beat.

"Yeah, obviously. Uh, Finn is here, my mom invited him. We just finished dinner -"

"Oh god." Kaden sounded horrified, all of a sudden. What was going on with him?

"It's not that bad, actually. And my brothers didn't even really-"

"No, Arden." He stopped, and I knew it was something bad because he rarely used my real when talking to me. "I'm sorry. I didn't really check my phone all day and..."

"What?" I could feel something caught in my throat.

His silence was deafening. "Carson texted me a few times today. He kept asking for your cell number. I didn't see the messages earlier, but like an hour ago he sent one that said 'never mind, I'll just go over there'."

"Kaden. What are you saying?" I needed to know.

"I texted him back and asked him to chill. But he didn't reply." Kaden was panicked, I could tell.

"So..." I didn't want to say the words.

"I think he's going to show up at your house."

I sucked in a breath, then shut my eyes tightly. It wasn't even that I didn't want to see Carson, but not now. Not under these circumstances. And not on Christmas Day.

"Kaden." It was all I could muster up.

"Rylee and I are coming over soon. I have to get her cleaned up -"

"Okay. Yeah. Good."

"It'll be fine, Missy," Kaden tried to calm me.

"Really?"

"Maybe he wasn't serious about-"

I took in a sharp breath, just as the doorbell rang, a moment later.