Page 125 of Learning Curve

Never.

Wednesday April 2nd

Scottie

“Just so you know,” Finn says as he stops right outside a pretty brownstone that makes my knees shake even harder than they already were.

Meeting the family is a huge milestone in any relationship, but meeting the family your boyfriend just found out he had in a house bigger than Pretty Woman’s Blue Banana is on a whole other level.

“My family has now tripled in size.”

“Tripled?” I question incredulously, doing the quick math in my head. “How has it tripled? There were five of you before and five more now, that stands to reason that it would have doubled. The math isn’t mathing.”

He smiles. “You know what, you’re right.” I sigh a deep breath of relief, but he cuts it off to continue, “There are five new siblings, but they’re all married, and they all have kids. So, it’s not really tripled. More like quintupled.”

“Finn Hayes, you are not helping!” I whisper-yell.

He winks and takes my hand to lead us up the stairs. “Relax, babe. It’s going to be all good.”

He seems confident, but that doesn’t mean I believe him.

The door swings open before Finn even has a chance to knock, and a young teenage boy with bright-blue eyes and a stylish mohawk answers. “Yo, Finn. You’re late.” His eyes move over to me, and immediately, a small smile etches on his mouth. “And you’ve brought a friend,” he states and says friend as if there’s a far bigger meaning to the word.

Finn just claps him on the shoulder. “I did bring a friend. My girlfriend, Scottie.”

“Hi, Scottie,” the teenager says and holds out his hand. “It is my greatest pleasure to meet you.” He makes a show of taking my hand in his and kissing the top of it.

Finn shoves him away from me with a laugh. “Okay, Hawk, that’s enough flirting with my girl.”

His name strikes me as completely odd, but somehow, it also fits the handsome teen like a glove.

Finn takes my hand again and walks us into the house, and he doesn’t stop until we’re in the dining room that’s overflowing with people and bursting at the seams with chatter and laughter. Holy hell, he wasn’t lying. It’s a miracle everyone is able to fit in here.

“Finn’s here, Grandma!” a teenage girl with brown hair shouts, and a woman with silver-gray hair, and who looks to be in her seventies, peeks in from the kitchen to smile at us.

“Hi, Finn!” she greets.

“Hi, Aunt Wendy.”

“Would you like to introduce us to your friend?” she asks and steps into the dining room as she’s wiping her hands on her apron.

“Yeah, Finn, why don’t you introduce us to your friend?” a handsome man questions with a wry grin. Hawk is now standing beside him, and their resemblance is so uncanny I would gamble a million dollars that they’re father and son.

My eyes scan the room, and a sense of relief settles in my chest when I spot Jack, Travis, and Willow. Finn’s sister immediately comes over and wraps me up in a big hug.

“I’m so happy you’re here,” she says, and I don’t have to pretend that I feel the same.

“Me too.”

“Everyone,” Finn announces loud enough to draw the attention of every pair of eyes in the room. “This is my girlfriend, Scottie. Scottie, this is…everyone.”

It’s dumb that my heart still zings whenever I hear him say girlfriend, but I can’t help it. I’m proud to be Finn Hayes’s girlfriend. Happy. Elated. Grateful. Sometimes I feel like we’ve been to hell and back and it’s a miracle we managed to find our way back to each other. And sometimes I think it’s no miracle at all because we’re meant to be.

Everyone in the room starts to head our way to formally introduce themselves. I meet Finn’s mom Helen, and she wraps me up in the kind of warm hug that only a mother can give, and Wendy Winslow’s hug is just as warm.

I meet Remy Winslow and his wife Maria and their daughters Carmen and Izzy.

I meet Flynn Winslow and his wife Daisy and their twin sons Roman and Ryder.

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