Page 91 of His Heart

Sebastian

I parked outside my parents’house and glanced at Brooke. She had a coat on over her dark blue off-the-shoulder dress. It had wide sleeves and a brown leather belt, and she’d put on the knee-high boots I loved so much. Her long hair draped around her shoulders and she wore the necklace I’d bought her recently—a silver chain with a little corn cob charm. For Iowa.

She smoothed down her dress. “Are you sure this is okay?”

I smiled, my eyes moving up and down, unabashedly enjoying the sight of her. “You look beautiful.”

“Maybe I should have worn the long one,” she said. “Are you sure this isn’t too short?”

“I like this one,” I said, glancing down at her legs. I wanted to fuck her later in those boots. “It’s not too short.”

“Okay.”

I leaned over and kissed her. “You’ll be fine. My parents won’t bite.”

“Get a room,” Charlie said from the backseat.

I glanced at him in the rear-view mirror and scowled. That was rich, coming from the guy who’d spent most of the almost-two-hour drive making out with his girlfriend in the back seat. Those two were like a couple of teenagers.

My parents had asked me to come home for dinner tonight. It had been a while since I’d seen them. Charlie had invited himself along—which was normal. He usually came with me when I visited my parents. My mom was a great cook, and she always made enough food to feed an army. Charlie coming along meant Olivia too—those two were only apart when forced by things like work.

And it was the first time I was bringing Brooke home to meet my parents.

Before we’d started dating, I’d invited her to come to Waverly with me and Charlie a couple of times, but it hadn’t worked out. I knew my mom had been leery of Brooke—and, to be fair, her circumstances had been a little questionable—but now I couldn’t wait to show her off to my family. My parents knew we were together, but I hadn’t officially introduced them. This felt like a big step, but a good one.

I kissed the back of Brooke’s hand. “Ready?”

“I think so.”

We all got out of the car and I took Brooke’s hand in mine.

“Wow, you grew up here?” she asked.

“Yeah,” I said. “Why, does it look different than you imagined?”

“Very. You said small town Iowa. I was picturing an old-fashioned farmhouse, not a freaking mansion.”

I glanced up at my parents’ house. It was nice, but it wasn’t a mansion. It did have a four-car garage—my dad was really into cars—and a covered porch supported by white columns. The exterior was a combination of wood and brick, and lights glowed in most of the windows.

“It’s not that big,” I said.

Brooke just squeezed my hand.

I opened the front door—didn’t bother to knock—and ushered everyone inside. Brooke paused in the entryway and glanced around.

“Hey, Mom,” I called out. I could hear noise coming from the kitchen and the scent of food filled the air, making my stomach rumble. “Something smells great.”

I helped Brooke out of her coat as my mom came down the hallway. Except when I glanced up, it wasn’t my mom.

It was Cami.

Charlie started coughing behind me. I stared at Cami, like a deer in headlights. She looked the same as I remembered—wavy blond hair, light pink cardigan, floral skirt, heels. But what was she doing here?

“Hi, Sebastian,” she said, her voice hesitant as her eyes swept over the four of us.

Brooke looked up at me, then at Cami. Instinctively, I wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close.

“Hi.” My brow furrowed and I was relieved to see my mom come down the hall. She better have a good explanation for this.

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