“I was joking!” I say, following in behind them. “Of course I did good. She’s freaking hot.”

Looking back at me, Claire sticks out her tongue playfully and I do the same, loving the laughter in her eyes. Setting her bag down, I go to catch up with them, but I’m attacked by a little monster who wraps her sweet little arms around me.

“Angie!” I say, kissing her cheeks and nuzzling her neck, which makes her laugh. She soon leads me to her dollhouse and has me playing with her before I know it. I don’t mind. Angie is my little princess, and I’ll do anything to make her happy. I’m a little worried about Claire, but then again, she can handle herself. She’s quick on her feet and can adjust to any situation, which is something I admire about her.

“Hey, bubba,” Lucy says as she comes up beside me. “Where is your lady?”

“Mom stole her,” I say, standing up to give her a side hug and kiss her cheek. “I think they’re in the kitchen.”

“I gotta go check her out, make sure she’s worthy of my brother.”

I laugh. “She is, probably better.”

Lucy sends me a grin, and I pick Angie up so we can follow. She complains a little bit, but soon she starts to inspect my nose and mouth and forgets that we aren’t playing anymore. When I reach the kitchen, I find Claire leaning on the counter that Lucy, Jace, and Jayden are sitting at as my mom talks loudly with her arms flailing in the air.

“You would have thought he broke all the bones in his body. He was screaming and crying so bad. I mean, he only fell two feet,” she says and everyone starts to laugh. I know she’s talking about the time I fell ten feet out of a tree and broke my arm. It’s one of her favorite stories. I’m not a fan of it.

Glaring, I say, “It was ten feet, and it hurt! What kind of mother makes fun of her kid breaking his arm?”

“A truthful one! You sprained it, and it was two feet. It didn’t even knock the air out of you,” she says, but I’m sure my mother must be losing her memory because that tree was a hundred feet in the air and I fell at least ten feet.

“Whatever,” I say as Angie reaches for Lucy. Handing her off, I head toward Claire, wrapping her up in my arms. “Don’t listen to her, she’s losing her memory. I’m tough and strong. I don’t ever cry.”

“He was screaming, Claire, like a freaking girl, big tears rolling down his girlish face,” Jace teases.

“How do you know? You were like five!” I counter.

“Nine,” Jace corrects me, and I’m not sure if he’s right or not, so I roll my eyes.

“Whatever,” I say, which makes everyone laugh. Claire’s body shakes my own, and I smile as I kiss her temple.

“He’s right, Claire. Jude is the biggest baby,” Jayden says, and I flip him off behind Claire’s back so that Mom can’t see me.

“I am not. Tell them, baby. Tell them I’m big and strong,” I say and she giggles.

“Strongest guy I know, hottest too,” she says, and my mother beams as Jace and Jayden roll their eyes.

“He is kinda cute, isn’t he?” Mom asks with a grin, cupping my face before turning to take the chicken out of the oven.

“I think he’s ugly,” Jayden says.

“Looks like a goblin to me,” Jace agrees.

“I was thinking an ogre,” Lucy chimes in and I let Claire go to flip them all off while my mom’s back is turned. Claire is laughing beside me, and I send her a mock glare before wrapping her up in my arms and kissing her hard against the lips.

Parting, she smiles as she says, “I think you’re hot.”

“That’s all that matters then,” I say and then smile at my mom when she turns to look at me. Her eyes are so full of love and happiness. I was so nervous about coming here, but now I feel good about it because I know Mom likes her. She has to. “So I see everyone is getting along? We like her?”

“Of course. She’s delightful,” Mom says with a grin before heading to the dining room.

“I think she’s great,” Lucy says. “Must be something amazing if she can pin you down.”

Claire grins up at me, and I return the grin before saying, “Yeah, she is.”

When my mom comes back into the room, she says, “Let’s head into the dining room. I hope you’re hungry, Claire. You are little skinny; I might need to fatten you up.”

Claire laughs as she shakes her head. “I guess I need to. My aunts said I was skinny today too.”

“I don’t think you’re too skinny,” I say as I walk with her to the dining room. “I think you look great.”

“That’s ’cause you like me.”

“Maybe,” I say before we both share an intimate grin, but as soon as we enter the dining room and I see my father, my grin disappears. “Dad.”

“Jude,” he says, and immediately I don’t like the way he’s looking at Claire. “So this is the guest of honor?”

I nod. “Claire, this is my dad, Mark Sinclair.”

My dad doesn’t move as he says, “You can call me Mr. Sinclair.”

“Of course. It’s nice to meet you,” she says and heads toward him to shake his hand. “You have a lovely home.”

“Thank you,” he says, still eyeing her, and I’m not sure if he’s disgusted or he likes what he sees. Either way, I am sure I don’t like the way he’s staring at her.

“Let’s eat,” Mom says, and I pull out a chair for Claire. She falls into it and then I sit beside her, taking her hand in mine and then taking Jayden’s. My mom blesses the food and then we dig in. “It’s so wonderful having you, Claire. I hope you enjoy the dinner.”

Claire’s grin is genuine as she says, “Everything is wonderful. Thank you for having me and making me feel at home.”

“Of course,” Mom says with a grin, but when I look at my dad, he’s still staring at Claire.

He then asks, “So you go to UB with Jude?”

Swallowing what’s in her mouth, she nods. “Yes, I’m a sophomore.”

“Scholarship or your family paying for it?”

Mom stops eating and looks at my dad. “Why does that matter?”

“’Cause only people with money go to UB.”