Page 62 of Steeling Her
The more we drove, the more nervous I got. I don’t know why, but I was. I had never met Nick and Haley’s parents before. My stomach feels heavy, and the anticipation of being in their home has me on edge.I wonder what their mom is like?Nick has told me things about her; she seems like a no-nonsense type of woman, and their dad seems really laid back from what TJ told me.
Passing by car after car, house after house as we drive closer to the house, I watch as people gather outside to chat to their neighbours while they were gardening, spraying water on plants for nourishment.
Time ticked by, and I feel the car slowing down as we reach a housing estate.Oh God, this is it!
Beautiful rows of white wooden houses line the street with gorgeous green grass surrounding the area. Two story houses are dotted about with flags hanging proudly. Then I see an Ole Miss flag hanging beside one house. I know that’s theirs. The porch has three seats outside and a small sofa, black wood against the clean and crisp white sofa. Double doors made of dark mahogany wood decorated with stained glass windows of roses in the centre of each door could be seen nearby, and a small window arch is above it.
Parking in the driveway, I see the door burst open and two people run out to greet us. Two little girls in princess outfits giggle as they run towards the car.
I shove Danielle and Haley awake and they groan at me, asking for five more minutes.
“We’re here, idiots,” Nick says over his shoulder and slips off his belt before reaching for the door, opening it as the two little girls run over to him. He smiles down and picks both of them up. The two of them rest in his arms they hug him. I feel myself melting at the sight. He’s even hotter when he has kids around him. I don’t know what it is, but when a gorgeous guy is playing and messing with kids, it makes them look irresistible.
I push my door open and fall out with Danielle, who yells at me for catching her off guard. I mumble a sheepish sorry back, feeling my cheeks heat up. I hear two giggles beside me I gaze over at the two little princesses. One of them is blonde and the other is a redhead. The blonde girl is playing with Nick’s snapback and hair. Seeing him smile at me, I gulp down at the sight.Keep it together, Carter.
“Ellie, I want you to meet someone. This is Carter, she lives with Haley in college. Carter, this is my sister Ellie and her friend Abbie. Say hi, guys.” They both wave and smile at me while Danielle crawls out of the car.
“Hi there! Happy birthday to you both!” I wave shyly back at them and they laugh while burying their faces into the crook of Nick’s neck. I see Ellie whisper something to Nick and he wears his handsome smile but it’s much wider with his sister.So cute.He nods and faces me while still smiling. It squeezes the breath out of my lungs because he looks so gorgeous when he smiles like that.
“And that’s Danielle.” He gestures his head down to the creature exhausted from her antics last night as well as this morning. They both giggle at her. She looks like she’s going to fall asleep crouched down like that.
“Ugh. Danielle, get it together!” Haley groans at the sight of her. She doesn’t look any better. At least I put some makeup on and made an effort to look presentable.
My head snaps up to see a beautiful woman with blonde hair staring at me. She’s standing at the bonnet of the car, looking curiously at me. I suddenly feel like I’m under scrutiny. I swallow nothing down and look at her while she stares long and hard at me. She’s wearing jeans and a white blouse with frills around the neckline. She’s a slim woman with warmth written on every inch of her face. A nice tan is also on her face.
“You must be Carter.” Her head snaps up to my eyes and then quickly darts it over to her son cradling the two girls. I nod, agreeing that I am, indeed, Carter.
“Uh . . . Yeah, that’s me. You must be Mrs. Jackson. Nick and Haley look a lot like you.” I feel my cheeks become sore. I’m smiling so hard as I respond so timidly back to her. Nick and Haley look so much like her. Nick has the same shade of eyes as her; bright green and mesmerising.
“Oh, please, call me Lynn. It’s great to finally meet you. Nick talks so highly of you—”
“Mom!” Nick steps in to quiet her down. I snort and press my lips to stop myself from laughing at her. “She’s kidding.” He points to her with his cheeks going redder by the second. I nod, assuring him that he’s right. She winks at me and walks over to hug me. I let her and smile over at Nick, who is staring with one brow raised.Does she not do this with everyone?I think to myself.
Then she greets Danielle the same way while I stare at the ground like it’s the most interesting thing in the world.Why am I so awkward?
After a moment of hugging people and laughing, we all head towards the house and bring our stuff in. As soon as we step inside, there are kids everywhere squealing with excitement. Some were in princess costumes and others were covered in brown stuff. My guess is that they were playing in the dirt, mainly the boys. There were balloons everywhere you could look, all in a range of colors.
“Hi, honey!” A middle aged man steps around the kids playing at the door. He heads straight for Haley as she slides off her glasses. She hugs him as he kisses her head.
“Hey, dad! You got food? I’m starving!” She sidesteps around him and heads toward the kitchen. We all follow behind her after we were introduced to her dad. He’s a really nice man, really bubbly and energetic. Walking into the kitchen after putting our bags under the stairs, I’m met with loads of moms and girls at our age; stunning girls too.
What the hell? I thought this was a kids party?
“Hi, Nick!” Loads of the girls greet him curtly, but he was too busy messing with Ellie to notice how much they filled the room. His head snaps up in shock at the attention and looks around at them. He stands up to his full height and starts looking around. Meeting his mom’s smirk, he shakes his head and walks past them to go outside. TJ starts to laugh and follows him.
I’m so lost right now.
Did he get with all of them?
***
Nick
Now I know what she’s up to. She brought all the sisters of Ellie’s friends that were in my year or below in high school to see how I act around them. My mom is sly—very, very sly.
I’m so annoyed by her.
I’m out back with TJ, who keeps laughing every time one of them walks by me. They all try to greet me and start up a conversation about how much they miss me, that they haven’t seen me around, or that they watch my games on TV. I can’t help but roll my eyes once they walk away.I know for a fact they don’t watch my games.
