Page 84 of One Night

"Does she know how long we've been dating?"

"No. I ended the call before she could ask. But she'll ask on Thursday so be prepared with an answer." I take a bite of my pizza.

"ME? You should be the one answering questions, not me."

"I just told you she can tell when I'm lying, so if we decide to tell them we've been dating for months, and I'm the one who tells them, my mom will know it's not true. She doesn't know you so you've got a better chance of selling the lie."

"Is that what we're telling them? That we've been dating for months?"

"It's up to you. Tell them whatever you want. I don't care." I take another drink of my pop, then turn to her. "You do realize that you just agreed to go on Thursday."

"No I didn't."

"This whole time, you've been talking as if you're going. I'm taking that to mean you're going." I get my phone out and text my mom, then show Amber the text, which reads, Amber's coming on Thursday.

Her jaw drops, then snaps shut. "Dylan! Why did you do that?"

"Because you want to come. And I want you there."

She sighs. "I never agreed to it."

"You really want to sit at home all alone when you could be eating a delicious homemade turkey dinner and be entertained by my family? I told you about my brother making fart noises at the table, right?"

I laugh. "Yes."

"My grandpa does it too, except his aren't just noise. They're real, so you better hope you're not seated next to him."

She laughs again. "I can't wait to meet him."

I kiss her. "And I can't wait for them to meet you. They're gonna love you."

It's the first and only time I've ever wanted my family to meet a girl I'm dating. I'm actually excited about it. I want to show her off. Show everyone how great she is.

***

The next day, Austin stops over to hear the new song I wrote.

"Holy shit, that's awesome," he says.

"You really like it or are you just saying that?"

"You know I always tell you the truth. I think it's great, and you know I normally don't like ballads, so that's saying a lot. Did Van hear it yet?"

"Yeah. He liked it. Thinks we should add it to our set list."

"Definitely. Girls are gonna go crazy over this."

"The thing is, I'm not sure if I want to perform it."

"Why not? It's a follow up to One Night. A conclusion to the story. This song's gonna be huge."

"I don't know if I want people hearing it. It's personal. I wrote it for Amber."

"Has she heard it?"

"Not yet. I wanted to see if you or Van thought it needed any changes before I played it for her."

"It doesn't need any changes. It's perfect. And nobody has to know it's about you and Amber. Unless..."

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