Page 57 of A Hard Fit

“Just us and them.”

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“Your parents live in a mansion?” was the first thing Finn said when the house at the end of the drive came into view. He shouldn’t have been so surprised—he knew Rory’s parents lived near the harbor and they owned a huge, successful manufacturing plant—but good God.

“I wouldn’t call it amansion,” Rory said, parking at the top of the circular driveway.

“I just fucking did.”

“Right, I forgot to mention…” Rory turned off the car and faced Finn. “Could you maybe…try not to…swear in front of them as much? Or, like…at all? My mom is not a fan.”

Finn wiped his sweaty palms off on his itchy pants.Why did I wear these pants?“Fuck, I’ll try.” He grinned at Rory’s grimace. “That was a joke. I got it. No swearing.”

The morning’s snowfall, the first of the year, now sat in slushy piles along the side of the walk. Finn watched his feet, careful to avoid the mess, but when he got to the step, he paused and stared up at the house. It was modern and imposing—sleek, gray, lots of glass and square angles—basically the complete opposite of his yellow bungalow.

“Hey.” Rory took Finn’s hand and smiled. “It’s going to be fine. My parents already love you.”

“They’d fucking better.”

Rory opened their mouth but Finn cut them off. “Just getting the last one out. I’m good now.”

Finn half expected a butler to open the door as they approached, but it was Rory’s mom and dad, smiling and dressed in the kind of clothing wealthy people wore—muted colors and rich fabrics with a simplicity that screamedmoney. They hugged and patted Rory, then turned their attention to Finn.

“This is my dad, Jonathan,” Rory said, “and my mom, Lainey. Mom, Dad, this is Finn.”

“Finn!” Lainey took his hand and went in for what Finn thought was going to be a hug, but instead she air-kissed his cheeks. “It is so, so nice to finally meet you.”

“You too,” Finn said, fully aware that he had fucked up—er, messed up—the air kisses.

“Finn.” Jonathan shook his hand with a sure, strong grip. “Such a pleasure.”

“Likewise.”

Both of them were close to Rory’s size, significantly shorter than Finn, but Rory took after their mom more, with delicate features and those deep, dark brown eyes.

“Rory has told us so much about you,” Lainey said, taking Finn’s coat.

“Hasn’t shut up about you, really,” Jonathan added.

“Dad.” Rory grimaced. “We talked about this.”

“Oh, please.” Lainey waved a hand in the air. “We’re allowed to embarrass you a little. Besides, I’m sure Finn would be happy to know that you’ve told us all about him.” Both parents turned to stare at Finn expectantly.

“Uh—” Finn stammered. Which was the correct side to take here?

Rory patted Finn’s hand. “You don’t have to answer that.”

Lainey turned with a dramatic sigh and led them past the massive, curving staircase and out of the white marble foyer. “We thought we’d have drinks on the deck,” she said as they passed some sort of study or library, then a formal dining room, and into a living room whose entire back wall was glass and faced the harbor, now only a gray smudge in the fading light.

The deck?Finn wondered. An odd choice, given that it was December and it had snowed. Then again, they probably had heat lamps and a fancy marble fire pit to keep them warm.

Then he saw the deck. He was right about the fancy marble fire pit, but wrong about the heat lamps. Those were not needed, because the ‘deck’ was essentially a second living room that was slightly less indoors than the first. There was a layer of glass storm doors shut against the night, leading to another actual uncovered deck. Ah, yes, there were the heat lamps.

In the second living room, two curved dark gray couches sat on either side of the round marble firepit, where a flame danced over the shining black stones. A barbecue bigger than Finn’s first car sat on one side, gleaming in the firelight. A soothing classical piece played from invisible speakers.

“This is…really nice,” Finn said.‘Nice.’ Wow, impressive vocabulary, Finn.

“Thank you.” Lainey smoothed her bob. “We had the outer deck added when we did the extension a few years ago and converted this to a transition space.”

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