Page 17 of Run, Little Bunny

“When you have a girlfriend.” She raises her brow.

Mom’s getting impatient with my single life, I know. “If you’re lucky, I’ll host Thanksgiving.”

“If I’m lucky?” She squints at me.

“I’m working on it.”

“Good.”

“Does that mean you're dating someone?” my oldest sister, Kelly, chimes in, stepping into the kitchen.

“Early days.”

“You hear that?” Kelly looks at Mom. “He’s being vague. That means he likes her. Who is she?”

“You wouldn’t know her.”

Kelly narrows her eyes a little. “Does she not live around here?”

“She lives here … in Lake Geneva.”

“And I wouldn’t know her?”

Do I tell them about how much younger Anna is than me?

As if on cue, Heather, my youngest sister, slips into the kitchen, along with Ashley, who lives for gossip.

“Chad being quiet, now this is intriguing,” Heather says.

Being ganged up on by all these women, it’s nothing new. I have no choice now. I’ll have to tell them every painstaking detail.

“Her name is Anna Clark.”

“Megan’s sister? Isn’t she, like, super young?” Heather immediately responds.

“She’s twenty-two.”

“Hmm,” Heather hums, and I know. Anna is younger than her.

“Anna? Isn’t that the girl you’ve been crushing on for months?” Ashley pokes my stomach. “The reason you’re eating so much pasta.”

“Yes. That Anna.”

“How long have you two been dating?” Mom asks, nearly shrill. “You could have brought her here.”

“Mom, we haven’t even been out on an official date.”

“You’ve been, what? Netflix and chilling?” Kelly raises a brow.

“No! I finally got the courage to ask her out the other day, so like I said … early days.”

“When are you taking her out, then?” Mom asks, no longer focused on dinner.

“Tuesday.”

“Uncle Chad!” My nephew Oliver, Kelly’s son, runs in, hugging me.Thank God!I toss him onto my shoulders and take that as a cue to leave the kitchen. If I don’t leave now, they’re going to ask for even more information about Anna.

Beyond stuffed after dinner, I make my way to the couch, dropping down onto the opposite end from Dad. He’s got the TV on, his usual post-meal ritual, and will probably be snoring in five minutes. The smell of ham and mashed potatoes still hangs in the air.

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