Page 102 of Grumpy Sunshine

“Pops,” Chevy grumbled.“Please, for the love of all that’s holy, act like you have some manners.”

“My manners went out the window after having to raise you four fuckfaces.”Pops rolled his eyes.“Having birthing hips is a good thing.”

My lips quirked up at the corner, and I had to suppress a laugh because this man would be Chevy in a few years.They were both crotchety, but at least Pops was open about his crotchetiness.

Chevy just waited for whomever was annoying him to leave before talking shit about him.

“What’s the holdup?”Cutter grumbled as he came outside.“I’m fucking starving.I skipped my lunch since we had to eat so goddamn early to accommodate this old geezer’s dinnertime.”

“Keep your pants on,” Pops said.“I was getting to know the new girl’s birthing hips.”

Cutter rolled his eyes and said, “I’m ordering appetizers.Then I’m ordering my food when the apps get here.If you’re not inside when the pickles hit the table, you’re fuck out of luck.”

This family.

“You know, Marv,” the older lady with Pops said.“You really only have yourself to blame.I can see you in both of those boys.”

Chevy got the door, and everyone went inside.

He smoothed a palm over my ass as I passed him, and I looked up at him with a grin.

“Sorry, just checking out those birthing hips,” he teased.

I rolled my eyes and followed the older couple in front of me to the table that was in the back of the room nearest the fire exit.

Cutter and his wife, as well as Keely and her husband were already there.

Copper came up at our backs, surprising both me and the older people in front of me when he said, “Geez, Pops.When did you get so fuckin’ slow?”

“Fuck you,” Pops grumbled without turning around.“It’s all the fuckin’ stress from having to deal with your ass being in prison for fifteen years.”

I bit my lip, fully expecting Copper to lose his shit at that, but he surprised me by laughing.

Crisis diverted, we finally got to the table and took a seat.

And they did, in fact, have appetizers already ordered.

Though, I’d learned something new that day.

You could order appetizers at a buffet.

Who knew?

The way the seating was set up, the family members that I’d already met were on one end of the long table, and I was on the other with all of the new ones.

Pops took the head of the table, leaving his girlfriend to take the seat to his right.

I sat down next to Pops, and Chevy took the seat to my left, while Copper took the seat across the table from me.

His eyes immediately landed on me, and he said, “I agree with the birthing hips.”

The way he said it, though, with such a look of complete lack of emotion on his face, left me wondering how to respond.

Chevy sighed.“Y’all are fuckin’ awful.”

“There’s a lot of fucks being spread around this table right now,” the elderly woman said.“Is this normal?”

“Who even are you?”Copper asked.“You must’ve not known Pops long, or you would’ve known better than to comment on the amount of fucks going on.”

---