Page 45 of Love's a Glitch
Luke sighed, his shoulders sagging as the air leaked from him “Now she’s going to insist on meeting you. My dad, too, because if she’s home, I’m sure he’s with her. I was afraid they were going to come home before you could sneak out, but then we got to kissing and I forgot all about it.”
Sneak out? “Why do I suddenly feel like a mistress who’s overstayed her welcome?”
Luke twisted toward me, the edge of the panic in his features softening slightly. “It’s not you. It’s my parents. They’re going to make a huge deal about you being here, and what it might mean for the future, and if it’s enough to keep me in San Diego. They’re not going to listen to reason, no matter how firmly I insist we’re just friends and nothing more.”
A pang went through my chest. A couple of minutes ago it felt like we were a whole lot more than friends. Not that he had to announce that to his family, but still.
“Luke?” his mom called.
“Just a minute.” He turned to me and mumbled, “As if she’s actually wondering if I’m still in here. The longer we take, the more her imagination’s going to run wild.” He took his hand in mine. “Looks like you’re going to have to meet my parents.”
“That’s okay. I’ve met people before, so I’m sure I can handle it.”
Luke raised his voice. “Give us five, and Ellie and I will meet you and Dad in the living room so I can make official introductions.” The tension radiating off him, along with the sigh he heaved as he scooted to the edge of the bed and retrieved his pants, left me second-guessing whether or not I could, in fact, handle it.
21
Ellie
It was a shame Luke didn’t have his camera on him to document the shocked expressions that spread from face to face in a wave when we stepped into the living room where his family was gathered.
Not just his mom and dad, either. A woman around my age, probably Luke’s sister-in-law as she was holding a baby, blinked at us as though we were merely an apparition she wasn’t sure she believed in. The guy seated next to her was obviously Luke’s brother. He had similar features, only his hair was slightly darker, similar to the older gentleman in the large wingback chair.
His mom, a woman with a sleek blonde bob, beamed at us. “Hello,” she said, as though I held the miracle cure to whatever ailed her, and admittedly, it accelerated the pressure pushing against my chest and deflating my lungs.
“Everyone, this is myfriend, Ellie. I had an issue transferring the photos from my memory card onto my laptop, and she came over to help. Ellie, these are my parents, Chuck and Donna. That’s my brother, Henry, and his wife, Laurel is holding Charlotte.”
“Which means somewhere around here,” Ellie said, “must be—”
“Uncle Luke!” A blond boy, with cheeks so chubby they bounced with his steps, came rushing in.
“You must be George. I recognize you from the pictures you sent from Luke’s phone,” I blurted without thinking. I glanced at Luke but couldn’t tell if he wished I’d kept that to myself or not. After all, friends sent pictures of their nieces and nephews to each other, right?
“GeorgeLucas,” he said, rushing over to meet me and bumping the fist Luke extended as though it were second nature. Their interaction turned my heart all squishy. How couldn’t it? It was freaking adorable.
The entire room muttered variations about how it was nice to meet me, and I echoed them back.
“If this is why you skipped out on going to the Rutherfords’ garden party with us, you could’ve brought Elle along,” Donna said.
“Ellie,” Luke corrected, and I opened my mouth to explain it was short for Eloise and would answer to either shortened version, but I feared throwing more options at the woman would only muddle things more.
As it was, Luke’s mom was nearly vibrating with excitement, and what seemed to be a hint of nervousness. They requested we take a seat, and Luke reached for my hand as though he were going to grab it, before abruptly dropping his arm to his side and plastering it there.
Seconds after we sat on the loveseat, George climbed onto the couch and plunked himself on Luke’s lap. Once the two of them started talking—or more accurately, George rattled off story after story while Luke nodded—Luke eventually relaxed.
I interjected during his story about seeing fishies to ask George Lucas if he could help his uncle out with a movie clue. With the audience, I almost chickened out, but it was too late to hide my weird anyway. “Luke and I were talking about sharks, and I replied with ‘shark bait ooh-hah-hah.’”
“Like Nemo,” George Lucas yelled.
“Guess I missed that one,” Luke said, and both George Lucas and I shook our heads over that.
Eventually, I got brave enough to ask to hold the baby.
I told Charlotte how pretty she was and launched into a game of peekaboo that made her giggle.
Donna and Chuck asked if I’d grown up in San Diego, and I gave them a short version about living the first half of my life in New Mexico before my family moved to Arizona. “They’re still there. I came to California for college, found friends and a job, and never looked back.”
“I’ve heard the real estate market is booming in Arizona. It surprised me, as the houses seem cheap in comparison to here.” Chuck guffawed and shifted forward in his seat. “So, what does your father do?”
