Page 114 of The Forever Rule

Aston’s lips finally twitched into a semblance of a smile, as my dad licked his lips.

“Don’t forget the Greek potatoes. And salad. Okay I’m starving. Let’s go.”

We walked into the kitchen and pulled everything off the warmers and took the salad out of the fridge. Ofcourse, my father decided to tell a few more embarrassing stories, and I did my best to ignore it. Mostly because this is what you did with parents. At least that’s what I had heard. Because my father was right, I hadn’t brought anyone over before. But I had with Aston.

This was a big step, something I didn’t realize was so monumental until we were in the middle of it.

I wasn’t quite sure if I would ever get an invitation to a full Aston family dinner, not with his mother. But I wanted to get to know his brothers more. And yet, sometimes it felt like we were moving so fast that it was hard to keep up.

“The olives don’t have pits, so you’re safe with your salad, Blakely,” Mom said, and I winced.

“Is there a story there,” Aston asked, as my dad laughed.

“One time when we had this, I didn’t realize it had pits, and decided to almost break my tooth, and choke at the same time. And then I did it again later. But it was really good salad.”

“And I don’t mean to laugh,” my dad said, clearly still laughing.

“I was fine though, not really hurt. But now we buy the pitted olives.”

“I don’t blame you, I love Kalamata olives, but they can crack a tooth.”

There was something different in his tone, but I wasn’t sure what it was. Maybe he was just nervous that he was meeting my parents.

“So, I know your half-siblings quite well,” Mom said,apparently jumping over the ledge into a difficult conversation.

Aston cleared his throat, nodding.

“I assumed you would have. They’ve been in your life quite a long time.”

“They have. They’re like family,” my dad said, and there wasn’t any pointedness in his tone. Just honesty.

“So you have six full siblings?” Mom asked, and I held my breath, wondering if this was an okay conversation.

“I do. Flynn and Hudson are the twins, then it goes Dorian, James, Theo, and Ford.”

“I don’t know how any of your parents were able to handle so many of you. Blakely was enough.”

I snorted at my mom’s words and shook my head. “Thank you for that.”

“It’s the truth. Then again, our jobs took us out of the house often enough, that any more of you would mean you’d probably end up taking over the world,” Dad said, not unkindly.

“That is true. And then when Isabella and I found each other, we did contemplate taking over the world.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if Isabella could do that,” Aston murmured.

“And I can’t?” I asked, brow raised.

“Touché. I’m pretty sure you could.”

“Thank you,” I said primly.

“So, Blakely, have you met all of the brothers?” Mom asked, and my stomach tightened just a bit. And I had no idea why.

“In passing, but not all at once.”

“We have a Cage family dinner in a couple of days, you should join us,” Aston suggested, and I blinked at the suddenness of his words. Because I hadn’t known they were having a dinner at all. Or maybe once again I was thinking too hard.

“Oh, that would be awesome. A little daunting though. There are so many of you.”

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