Page 93 of Play For Me

The guy continues to stare at me with narrowed eyes and I feel sweat break out on my forehead. Oh, God. Is he like, superprotective? Cecelia has only ever described him as a big softie—a teddy bear, she once said—but maybe that’s because she hasn’t brought many guys around and now that he’s actually meeting someone who has done many inappropriate things with his only daughter, he’s about to display a heretofore unknown level of fatherly protectiveness?—

Suddenly the glare drops from his face and he laughs. “You look like you’re about to piss your pants, kid,” he says, grabbing my hand and pumping it hard as he leans in to smack my shoulder. “I’m just fucking with you.”

“Daddy,” Cecelia groans. “Can you please not?”

“What? I’m just saying hi to the kid.”

A woman slides in next to Cash Ransome, nudging him back. “Darling,” she says in a pleasant voice. “Stop being an asshole.” Then she turns to me. “Hello, Solomon. It’s very nice to meet you. Please ignore my husband and his brothers.” She looks around the room and raises an eyebrow. “Honestly, ignore the vast majority of the people here. They’re all insane.” Then she smiles at me and for a second, my breath catches.

She looks so much like Cecelia. Same curtain of shining chocolate hair, same warm eyes—though hers are brown to Cecelia’s dark blue. Even the way she smiles looks the same. A strange feeling settles into my chest as I realize this is exactly what Cecelia will look like when she’s older. There’s something comforting about that but it also makes me feel oddly…greedy, I guess is the best word. I want to see Cecelia’s face when she’s older and settled and happy with the direction of her life.

I want to still beinher life. But that’s a dangerous way to think, so I try to push the strange feeling away.

“I’m CeCe’s mom, Samantha,” she goes on, holding out a hand for me to shake and I’m relieved when her grip is firm. Soft touches when I feel on edge are never a good thing.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?” Cecelia asks her mother through gritted teeth.

Her mom gives her a sympathetic smile. “The dads wanted to surprise you guys.” Her voice drops a little. “I didn’t realize you were bringing a friend until about ten minutes ago, or I would have definitely warned you.”

Cecelia sighs, then looks up at me with worried eyes. I squeeze her hand, wanting to reassure her that I’m okay.

I’m not sure Iamokay, but I want to reassure her all the same.

“Hey,” Violet says, popping up next to us. She sounds a little out of breath. “It’s not quite so crazy over there.” She jerks her chin toward a corner of the packed room where there aren’t as many people milling around. “I think Ash is gonna hide out there if you want to join us.”

Cecelia looks visibly relieved. “Perfect.” She turns back to her mom. “I’ll see you in a bit?”

“I barely got to talk to you!” Cash complains.

Cecelia is already pulling on my hand. “I’m sure you’ll rectify that before the night is much older,” she tells her dad as she drags me away.

“Nice to meet you both,” I call over my shoulder.

Once we’re away from the majority of the crowd, I can take a deep breath.This is fine,I tell myself.Everything is fine.

“This is a shit show,” Ash mutters when we join them. He sounds grumpy. “Who even are all these people?”

“I figured you were related to all of them,” I say, then thank him when he hands Cecelia and I both a beer.

“We’re related to a lot of them,” Violet says.

“Unfortunately,” Cecelia mutters, then takes a long slug of her beer. She looks even more stressed out than I am.

“Don’t overreact,” Vi tells her, giving her shoulder a squeeze. “You love your family.”

“I love it better when they don’t ambush me. I cannot believe all the parents are here and no one told us.”

I stare down at my beer, feeling like shit. I’m sure she wouldn’t be at all upset about her parents surprising her if it wasn’t for me.

She’s still ranting. “This was supposed to bechill. Vega said maybe a couple cousins would be here.” She gestures at the crowd. “This is basically everyone.”

“It’s not everyone,” Vi argues.

Cecelia points her beer bottle into the crowd. “Fox and June are here! Isn’t your brother supposed to be shooting a movie in Canada? And Wyatt,andWill. Don’t they all have babies at home to take care of or something?”

My stomach churns. She’s really aggravated by this and I know it’s because I’m here. I squeeze her hand and tug her a few feet from the twins, who have turned to talk to a passing girl I don’t recognize.

“Hey.” I lean down so she can hear me over the noise in the room. “Why don’t you go out and mingle? Spend some time with your parents or something.”