Page 77 of Bleeding Hearts

“I’m sorry.” She shakes her head. “So, Demi, are you ready for your first Gray dinner party?”

“I think so.” She laughs, looking up at me nervously.

“Well good. Welcome to the family, sweetheart.” My mom reaches across the counter, squeezing Demi’s hand in hers.

I look down to see the same happy but emotional smile that was just covering my mom’s face now on Demi’s.

I don’t know much about Demi’s parents other than she doesn’t speak to them. It never even occurred to me how much this would mean to her. To have my parents welcome her with open arms into our family when hers is in shambles.

But based on the look on her face, it means a lot. And the fact that I was able to give this to her makes spending time with my crazy family completely worth it.

I’d endure thousands of these dinner parties just to make her happy. Truthfully, I don’t think there’s anything I wouldn’t do or any line I wouldn’t cross to make her happy.

I guess that should scare me.

CHAPTERTWENTY-FOUR

Demi

Apparently, the Grays’ dinner parties are infamous around the neighborhood, and the surrounding neighborhoods for that matter.

Probably over a hundred people show up. Not all at once, of course, but between everyone that stops in to say hello, even for only a few minutes, I’m shocked by the number of friends that Asher’s family has.

The night is chaotic but in my favorite way. Good music, good people, good food, all of my favorite things rolled into one. And to top it all off, I have my best friend turned boyfriend by my side the entire night.

I meet many of his parents’ friends, plus some of his extended family that show up.

I meet his aunts and uncles, as well as his three cousins.

Leo and Hudson, brothers who are nineteen and seventeen years old, respectively, and Harper, who is a year younger than me. Hudson is on the quieter side, sticking to the shadows and letting his brother do the talking, but Leo and Harper pretty much fit right into the dynamic of Asher’s family.

The two of them walked right up, welcoming me with open arms as the rest of his family has.

I didn’t realize how it would feel to be welcomed into his family this way, especially the way I was by his mom earlier.

I didn’t grow up in a home filled with love but rather one filled with hatred and fear.

I’ve never felt the love most parents have for their children, but it’s so evident in Elias and Emma in the way they treat Asher like he’s their most prized possession.

I couldn’t help the level of emotion that overcame me to have them so kindly open their arms to me when they barely knew me. It took everything in me to hold back my tears.

It also made me miss my mom. No matter how hard I try, I can’t stop longing to have a relationship with her. I can’t stop hoping that one day she’ll show up for me. That one day she’ll look at me the way that Emma looks at Asher.

The dinner party lasts for hours, and Asher and I spend most of the night hanging out with Harper. She recently moved home with her parents after finishing her master’s in education and now she plans to start teaching as soon as she can find a job.

She also tells me dozens of stories about Asher from his childhood, all of which I hang on to every word of, gathering up any and all ammunition to make fun of him in the future.

By the time the last person leaves, it’s well past ten p.m. and I spend the next half an hour helping Emma clean up inside while Elias and Asher clean up the outdoors.

By the time Asher and I are ready to go and make the late drive home, Emma absolutely will not have it.

She yells at Asher to get our things from the car and bring them upstairs for us to spend the night. With one look at each other, knowing how exhausted we both are, we agree it’s for the best.

I help him grab the bags and bring them inside, saying good night to both Elias and Emma before I follow him upstairs to his old bedroom.

“Did you have a good time tonight?” he asks, setting our bags down. He slips his shoes off next to where I left mine before coming to sit down next to me.

“Yeah, I really did. Your family is kind of amazing,” I say, leaning my head against his shoulder. “I mean, I know they have their flaws, and what they put you through when you were younger was shitty. But you’re lucky, Asher. They really love you.”

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