Chapter 17

Other than Boone, I'd never deliberately introduced a man—a date—to my family.

And this was why.

"Oh my gosh, look at you," my mother cried with flapping air hands and eyes suspiciously shiny. "Get in here, both of you. Oscar, introduce me to your gentleman friend. Sage told us you were bringing someone special." She whispered the last word as if it was too good to be true.

Marigold shoved herself into the conversation as usual. "Because someone didn't bother to tell us the truth of his relationship status last month."

"Someone is going to get a knuckle sandwich if she doesn't back off," I grumbled.

Birch raced over to stand next to my mother, his hand protectively on her back and his face a welcoming smile as usual. "We're Oscar's parents, Birch and Gloria, but you can call her Gladiolus if you'd like. She's used to it."

Hugh shook their hands, almost losing a few digits in the sudden crush of my mother's hug. He laughed at her exuberance as if it wasn't horrifying.

"Thanks for having me. Oscar's told me about all of you."

When my mom pulled back from the hug, she shot me a look that was half confusion, half hope. "He did? He normally?—"

"Anyway," I interrupted, shoving him past them into the large family room of their apartment. Even though they loved spending time at the Vermont house, they still spent plenty of time in the city, especially during holiday shopping season. "I promised Hugh a mimosa, didn't I? Don't want to keep the poor man parched."

Hugh let out another laugh but gamely followed me to the large counter separating the family room from the kitchen. Thankfully, a tray of ice-cold mimosas and celery-topped Bloody Marys were set out for the taking.

"Pick your poison," I said to Hugh, gesturing to the selection. "Or I can rummage up anything else you want. Their fridge is the size of my cookie closet."

"Cookie palace, you mean?"

"Mph. What do you want to drink, boyfriend?"

His cheeks flushed a little pink. "Mimosa. Thanks."

As I handed him a glass, I saw his eyes roving over the place, taking in the many faces and facets of the Flower Family.

"I can't believe this is your family," he said softly. "You always seem like an only child."

"Technically, I am an only child?—"

Jasmine overheard and rolled her eyes. "Only because he refuses to acknowledge us," she said, seemingly unperturbed by my dismissive attitude. "Like he thinks if he ignores us, we'll go away. Or maybe he just thinks he's better than us because of his big money and fancy penthouse apartment."

It was clear she was teasing. Not only did she have a Cheshire grin, but her eyes were also dancing with clear intent to embarrass me in front of Hugh.

"Yes, that's me. The evil villain in his fortress," I murmured before taking two drinks, a mimosa in one hand and Bloody Mary in the other. Who said I had to decide? Why couldn't I have both?

Hugh pretended to consider Jasmine's words. "You know… he did call himself a rich man with an evil lair last night…"

I choked on my mimosa. "Oh my god, you ass."

Hugh raised a brow at me. His innocent expression was a total lie. "Tell me I'm making it up. Tell your sister I'm a liar."

He was so handsome, so undeniably sexy, I couldn't help but lean in and kiss his teasing mouth. The crisp sweetness of the champagne doubled. "You're using my words against me," I said against his lips.

His laughter bubbled through me. When I pulled away from him, not only was Jasmine looking at us with baby bunny eyeballs, but so was my mother.

Shit.

I cleared my throat. "Hugh, this is Jasmine. One of the normal ones. Jasmine, Hugh Linzee. You've probably seen his HEA TikTok account."

She gasped as I'd silently predicted and proceeded to ask him a million questions about it. Hugh learned quickly that both Jasmine and Hyacinth were romance junkies. Jasmine called Hyacinth over, and the two of them sat Hugh down and started scrolling through their phones with him. He looked like he was in heaven. I wandered down to the far end of the large counter to pick at the finger foods that were set out on various trays. I knew from experience the sit-down meal wouldn't happen for at least another hour.

After a few moments, I realized my mom was staring at me. "Stop," I said, narrowing my eyes at her. "It's not what you think."

"It's as plain as the look on your face, Oscar," she said. "You're in love."

I hissed at her and snapped my head around to make sure no one had heard her, especially Hugh. "Not. Not in love," I assured her. "It's casual. The casual-est."

She chuckled softly. "Sure, baby. Sure, it is. You say that like I don't know my own son. Like I don't know what real love looks like."

I leaned in closer so I could speak more quietly. "I don't know what real love looks like. But I do know I don't want it, okay? So please don't get excited and turn this into something it isn't."

She gave me one of those "mother" smiles, the kind that would be condescending and smug if it didn't come from the person you were supposed to love and respect the most in the world. "Give it some time. There's no rush. As you know, I didn't marry Birch until we'd been together several years."

Marigold was standing nearby listening to us. "Because you thought we weren't ready to have a new mom." She winked affectionately. "Ha. Joke's on you, sucka. We were desperate for you to marry Dad. And we felt like we hit the family lottery when we got you and Oscar."

Hugh had wandered back over in time to catch her comment. He glanced at me with a smile, so I tried to shoot him one back. His smile faltered, but before he had a chance to say anything, Birch thanked everyone for coming and announced it was time to sit down for the meal.

I grabbed Hugh's hand and pulled him toward the dining room, explaining hurriedly that we needed to avoid the end of the table near the kids' table at all costs.

"But I like kids," he said.

"No, same. It's not that, believe me. The problem is?—"

"Uncle Oscar's here!" a small voice said before someone cannonballed into the back of my legs. I grabbed for the wall to keep from tripping onto the person in front of me and turned to extricate myself from the little pair of arms acting like manacles around my thighs. "Uncle Oscar, did you bring Frank?"

"Ren," I began.

"Othcah!" another voice cried. "Othcah, do you have cookieth?"

Lily and Mallory's daughter Meryl looked up at me with bright eyes. Thankfully, Ren had enough patience at age five to not shove her out of the way, or maybe it was only because they were after two different things. I squatted down to their level and held Meryl's little arm while I looked at Ren. "I didn't bring Frank today. He had a late night and needed to get some sleep. But I told your mom she can bring you by after school one day for a visit, okay?"

He nodded politely before letting a big smile full of tiny teeth spread across his face. "Can I give him a mealworm too?"

"Ew, groth," Meryl cried. "Nobody wikth to eat womth. I want cookieth."

Ren ran off to find a spot at the kids' table while Meryl gave me her big brown eyes. I bit back a laugh. "I don't have any cookies, baby. But Gran probably has a sweet treat for you after you eat breakfast."

Her face froze for a moment before she let out a big sigh and turned to follow Ren. Mallory found her and helped her find a seat as I stood up to find a spot for Hugh and me. Thankfully, there was still room away from the kids' table.

Once we were settled in our seats, Hugh leaned in and murmured, "They love you."

"They love hedgehogs and Thin Mints."

He leaned even closer. I could smell my shampoo on his hair, and the memory of sharing a shower this morning made me light-headed. "They think you're the best thing here."

"They're wrong," I replied, turning to meet his eyes. Time slowed for a few beats. Hugh's Adam's apple took a slow up-down as his eyes searched mine. The truth was, Hugh was the best thing here. By a cosmic margin.

"You're really lucky," he said, swallowing again. "They're all so wonderful."

"I know it can be a lot," I said. "And no one will expect you to remember names."

Once Mallory settled Meryl, she took the seat next to Lily across the table from us. To Lily's right sat Heath and Terezia. To Mallory's left sat Birch's brother, Lake, followed by Lake's husband, Will. My mom had introduced Hugh to most everyone already, but I took a moment to lean over and point them out again when he said he wanted to try to learn them.

"I'll have to know them for Hyacinth's wedding anyway," he said before taking a dish someone passed him.

It was an offhand comment that stopped me in my tracks. "H-Hyacinth's…"

Hugh's cheeks turned magenta. "I'm sorry. I didn't… it…" He glanced around before leaning in and pressing his lips against my ear. "I just assumed you'd want me to go. So when your mom said something, I went along with it. I'm sorry."

I reached over under the table to grab his hand. When I turned my head, I caught his lips with mine. "Please," I whispered into them. "If you will."

He nodded, and something in his expression softened. "Of course. What are boyfriends for?"

One of my siblings on Hugh's other side offered him another dish, so he quickly served himself, and the meal began. As usual, the chatter around the table was varied and loud, full of laughter and good-natured accusations, teasing and nosy inquiries. Hugh soaked it all up, seeming to enjoy every minute of the chaos.

When plates finally emptied and drinks were refilled, my mom stood up to thank everyone for coming. "I know how hard it is to get everyone together these days, especially around the holidays. Thank you for making a point to be here today. We're obviously missing Basil and his family in Iceland, but the fact the rest of you were all able to join us is really…" She paused when her emotions got the better of her.

Birch stood up and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "It's really wonderful, and it means a lot to us. As most of you know, we recently celebrated our fifteen-year wedding anniversary." He cleared the emotion clogging his throat. "As always, I can't celebrate what a gift this woman has been in my life—our lives—without mentioning Oscar." He turned to me, and I felt a familiar restlessness under my skin. "Without you, none of this would be possible. Not only did you lead me to this incredible life partner, my best friend and second mother to my children, but you helped me provide them with a happier and more stable future by believing in me."

Thankfully, my mom recognized that I was about ten seconds from bolting. If it hadn't been for Hugh's sudden tight grasp of my hand under the table, I would have already nudged back my chair.

"Enough about Oscar, although I wanted to make sure everyone took a moment to admire the centerpiece today since it was a gift from him for our crystal anniversary. There's something special about it you can only see when you look up close." She shot me her attempt at a wink, which was a silly double blink that made Birch lean over and kiss her on the head. "The next time we'll all be together is at Cynthia's wedding, so I wanted to be sure to wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas. And happy any other holiday you celebrate between now and when we'll all be together again. Obviously, everyone is welcome to spend Christmas in Vermont and come to our place for meals."

She finished up when everyone started talking about where they were spending the holidays. I made a mental note to ask Lesya to book me a trip anywhere but there just so I wouldn't have to?—

"I've always wanted to go to Vermont in winter," Hugh said wistfully. "Is it pretty with the snow? I've been there a ton in the fall to work weddings during leaf season, but never in the snow."

I pulled his hand up from under the table and pressed a kiss to the back of it. "You'll like it," I said roughly. "You'll get to see it in the snow because Hyacinth is getting married there at New Year's."

His eyes lit up. "Really? At your house? Roman mentioned being at your place in Stowe when he and Scotty met. Are you hosting everyone?"

I shrugged. "It's on my property, but it's more of a shared event space. The Vermont place is like a family compound. We all have houses on the property, and there's a barn-type building for big parties. That's where the wedding will be."

Hugh frowned. "Are you okay? You seem…" He stopped and looked around before pinching his mouth closed.

I leaned over and kissed the soft skin over his cheekbone, taking a moment to inhale my shampoo scent again. It smelled different on him, more intoxicating than any Bloody Mary or Mimosa. "Can we go home now?"

He nodded, thankfully agreeing with me silently without pointing out I'd said "home" instead of simply asking if we could leave. And since he hadn't corrected me, I did the asshole thing by pretending to forget to take him home again.

Still, he didn't say a word. We took the elevator to the top floor and got out in silence. Hugh turned me in the direction of the bedroom and followed me there.

Once we got into the room, Hugh pushed the buttons on the wall to close the electronic blinds and turn the lights down low until it felt like the middle of the night again.

This time, when he stripped me down and took me apart, I let him take more of me than before, more of me than was smart or safe or even sane.

I clenched my teeth together against floods of words that wanted to spill out and splash all over him before he even had time enough to take a lifesaving breath.

That morning, while I'd been sitting at a table full of family, full of people I'd known for almost twenty years, I realized there was one person there I wanted to take home with me. One person I always fit with, whose company I couldn't imagine ever getting tired of, who even helped me see my family in a new light. One person I wanted to lean into and forget all my fears and worries for the future, if only for a little while.

One person I wasn't ready to say goodbye to… at least until New Year's.

When he turned me onto my side and slid his fat dick inside of me, I gasped and reached back to grab his thigh. Hugh's body was sweat damp, his muscles tight as he curled around me in a possessive clutch. One knee bent up behind mine while the other pressed the inside of my other knee to keep my legs spread apart. The rough catch of his pubic hair against the tender skin of my ass and the scent of his sweat in my nose were driving me fucking crazy. He was everywhere around and on and inside of me… and it still wasn't enough.

Still wasn't enough. I sucked in a breath. And another.

"Set it down, you beautiful idiot," he hissed against the back of my ear. "Give it to me and fucking let go."

I came with an embarrassing grunt that sounded more like a sob. Every bit of pleasure shot through my blood with a pulsing heat. I moved my hand up to grab him by his hair, keeping his lips against the skin of my neck so he didn't dare pull away.

Meager servings of oxygen sawed in and out of my lungs as I tried to search for more.

He stayed with me just like that, fucking in and out of me still until his own release came. His entire body tightened around me as he thrust deep inside. I held on tight, squeezing my eyes closed so I could listen to every sound he made as he cried out and shuddered against me.

Let me have this, I begged the universe. I can pretend through New Year's. Please let me have this at least until then.

I already knew I was screwed anyway. At this point, the breakup would already destroy me. Because the fake relationship Hugh and I had accidentally stumbled into was deeper and more meaningful than any real relationship I'd ever had.