Page 49 of Double Trouble
Stopped in the parking lot of The Keg, Owen paused before opening his door.
“Don’t worry about tonight,” he said, turning to me with a tender look in his eye. “Just know that Jake and I care about you a lot.”
“A hell of a lot,” Jake agreed, squeezing my side.
And with that, Owen got out, opened the door for me, and we set off to the restaurant.
Inside, their father was an older, thinner, and more tired-looking version of the twins. He was also early, sitting at a booth already. His gaze registered surprise when it stopped on Jake.
“Jake,” he said. “I didn’t expect to see you here with Owen and his girlfriend.”
“Decided to tag along,” Jake said with a smile.
When we all sat down, his dad’s gaze plastered on me. “So, this is the mystery woman.”
“Hyacinth,” I said, holding out a hand, “But everyone calls me Cin.” He shook my hand firmly, then released it, sitting back.
“So Cin, tell me about yourself.”
“Dad,” Owen said with a frown. “I thought this was supposed to be a nice dinner, not the inquisition.”
“It’s fine,” I told him. “I’m a nurse. I met the guys when they came into the ER, and I patched Jake up.”
“Ah,” their father said, and I could see my answer pleased him.
When the waitress came, we made our orders quickly since Jake was starving.
“So why did you come along anyway?” their dad asked Jake. “Afraid I’d bully the poor girl?”
“Actually,” Jake said, my breath dying in my throat as he slid his arm around me. “The ‘poor girl’ is my girlfriend too.”
Great. This was it.
Their dad’s bushy brows raised and stay raised. Once they fell, he started laughing.
“You two. I should’ve known. You two always were the jokers.”
Owen took my hand. “We’re not joking. We’ve both fallen for Cin, Dad.”
Now the look on their dad’s face looked downright dangerous. “You’ve both fallen for her – and she’s ok with that? She’s not going to choose?”
Under the laser beam of his glare, I felt all my confidence evaporating.
But somehow, I found my voice. “We all want to be together and care about each other a lot.”
Their dad didn’t even look my way, as if I hadn’t even spoken. Instead, his incredulous glare went from Owen to Jake, back to Owen again. “You two can’t be serious.”
When no response came, he continued, “You have to be out of your minds to think that this could work – two men with one woman? Its’ sick, it’s not right and…”
“You done now?” Jake said.
Under the table, I could feel his hand tightened on mine.
His dad spluttered out laughter. “Am I done? When my sons can’t even have a real proper relationship, and so are playing make-believe with the ridiculous idea of…”
Jake and Owen rose simultaneously.
“We’ve heard enough,” Jake said, tugging me upright.
My limbs felt leaden, so it was a good thing that he pulled me along after him as he stalked away. Not fast enough, though, to avoid hearing their dad’s parting remarks, “You’re fooling yourselves if you think it’ll ever work.”
36
Owen
The car ride home was beyond awkward. I should have known better than to subject Cin to our dad. He’d done exactly as I had expected him too and now Cin was paying the price. I don’t know what in the hell had ever made me think that he would accept us and actually be happy for us. What a prick. “Growing up, he alienated a good number of friends,” I told in Cin in what I hoped was a light voice. “Don’t worry about it.”
“Yeah,” Jake agreed. “He’s an asshole.”
But Cin’s face, by the looks of it, was worrying about it – was worrying about it a lot. I couldn’t handle the way she looked right then.
“Seriously,” I told her. “This doesn’t change anything.”
But if that were the case, then why was she so silent back there?
Jake made a few attempts at conversation, but Cin wasn’t having it. All she said was, “I think it’s time for me to go home.”
I drove her home without arguing. That encounter with Dad sure had rattled me. To think what he’d said to Cin, it had made me actually want to punch him in the jaw. Who was he to judge us and our relationship, when his own had ended in an epically vicious divorce?
Once we pulled up to Cin’s building, she opened her car door immediately.
“No goodbye kiss?” Jake said.
Face a tense mask, Cin leaned in, delivering one closed-lipped peck to Jake then leaning over to do the same to me. And then, before I could think of anything else to convince her to stay, she’d left.
I couldn’t get driving after that. Part of me, stupid enough, actually thought she might double back. I thought she might come back and talk about this how we needed to.
