Fight for Love (9 page)

He said nothing.

“If my entire family said they hated you, refused to let me date you, and threaten to ostracize me if I chose to stay with you, I would still be with you. Don’t worry about it.”

“That’s still a situation I want to avoid.”

She grabbed his face and kissed him. “You’ll be fine.”

He took a deep breath. “Okay.”

She grabbed his hand. “Now let’s go.”

We walked to the front door and Janice knocked on it.

“She’s here!”

“Janice is here!”

I smiled when I heard the excitement on the other side of the door.

The door opened and we saw an older woman with blond hair and blue eyes. Clearly this was her mother. “My baby!” She grabbed Janice and hugged her tightly. “So beautiful!”

Ryan smiled as she watched them hug.

Her mother placed her hands on her cheeks. “Missed you so much, baby.”

“I missed you too, mama.”

“Come in,” her mother said.

We walked inside the parlor and her mother hugged her again.

Her dad came inside, a tall man with green eyes, and embraced Janice. “What a great surprise.” He held her for a long time.

Her mother looked at us. “I’m so sorry for being rude. I was just so excited to see Janice. I’m Erin.”

Ryan nodded. “Hello, I’m Ryan.”

“Your Janice’s boyfriend?”

“Yes,” he said with a confident voice.

“Wow,” she said as she looked him up and down. “She has good taste.”

Ryan blushed, unsure what to say. “Uh—yeah—thanks.”

Mike laughed and I elbowed him in the stomach to make him stop.

Erin looked at me. “And who are you?”

“I’m Janice’s friend. I used to work with her at R and R.”

“Uh,” she said in a disgusted voice. “I don’t want to talk about that place.”

I nodded, totally understanding her request. “And I’m Ryan’s sister.”

“Oh,” she said in surprise. “I can see the similarities.”

“Yeah, I’m just better looking,” Ryan said with a smile.

I smiled at him, glad that he was being himself.

Erin laughed and touched him on the shoulder.

“And I’m Mike,” he said as he extended his hand.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” she said with a smile.

“He’s my brother-in- law—almost,” I explained.

“That’s wonderful,” Erin said. “And where is your
fiancé?”

“Uh, he couldn’t come,” I said quickly.

Ryan gave me a sad smile.

Erin did
n’t push it. “Well, I hope you’re hungry.”

“I’m always hungry,” Ryan said.

“I would think so,” she said as she looked at him. “Being as tall as you are.”

Ryan blushed again.

Janice came back to him. “Daddy, this is Ryan, my boyfriend.” She hooked her arm through his then stared at him with love and affection in her eyes.

Ryan shook her father’s hand. “Thank you for inviting me into your home.”

“Of course,” her dad said with a smile. “Thank you for coming. I’m Scott.”

“Who’s this?” a woman said as she walked past her dad. She was tall, thin, and blond just like Janice. She looked a little younger. I assumed it was her sister. She was beautiful like Janice with crystal blue eyes.

Janice held Ryan tighter. “He’s mine,” she said with a smile.

“Ooh,” her sis
ter said. “You got any brothers?”

Ryan blushed for the third time, and their father rolled his eyes. “Don’t ever have girls,” he said as he looked at me.

“I’ll remember that,” I said.

“Since my daughter is so rude, I’ll introduce her. This is Anya.”

“Hello,” she said as she waved at all of us.

Janice introduced us individually. When she introduced Mike, Anya smiled wider.

More people came from the living room. How big was her family?

Scott introduced the middle age couple as their family friend, Emily and Fred. They smiled at us and shook our hands. A man my age came forward and smiled at Janice, his hand glancing down to her arm through Ryan’s. He had blond hair like hers with green eyes.

“Hey,” he said as he hugged Janice.

Janice returned his affection quickly and pulled away, touching Ryan again. “Adam, this is my boyfriend, Ryan.”

I saw the sudden stiffness in Ryan’s shoulders and the change in his eyes. The name obviously meant something to him. He extended his hand and shook Adam’s, grasping it tightly. “It’s nice to meet you,” he said with confidence. His eyes were glued to Adam’s, silently exerting his dominance and power. I could tell it was a standoff.

“Likewise,” Adam said in a monotone voice. He turned to us and introduced himself. I wondered if this was an ex-boyfriend or an old flame. He definitely didn’t look related to Janice.

“Let’s eat,” Scott said.

Janice wrapped her arm around Ryan, holding him close. “My mom is the best cook.”

“That’s the reason why I came over.”

She laughed and rubbed her nose against his before she pulled him to the kitchen.

“It seems to be going well,” Mike whispered in my ear.

“Yeah. Her family is really nice.”

“So, what do you know about Anya?” he asked with a smile.

“Since she’s my best friend
’s sister, nothing.”

His frown fell. “Come on.”

“She’s off limits.”

“Don’t leave your brother hanging.”

“Too bad,” I said as we walked into the kitchen.

We took our seats at the table, which was lad
en with bowls of food. There were hamburgers, pasta salad, salad, produce, and chips. It was like an indoor barbeque.

Ryan pulled out Janice’s chair and helped her sit down before he took his own seat. I sat next to Ryan to give him confidence and Mike sat next to me, which happened to be right next to Anya. I gave him the eye, silently warning him to behave. He just smiled at me, that bastard.

They passed the plates around and everyone took their share of dinner. Ryan grabbed everything for Janice, treating her the same way as he would at home. I was glad he took my advice and was being himself. Everyone loved Ryan and I had no doubt that Janice’s family would love him too.

“So, Ryan,”
Erin said. “How did you meet Janice?”

He chewed his food while he thought of a response. “Through my sister. She introduced us.”

“Awe. How sweet,” her mom said.

“I was pretty excited when she agreed to go out with me.”

“Well, why wouldn’t she?” her mom said with a smile.

Ryan cheeks turned red.

Janice patted his thigh. “I was immediately smitten.”

“So have you done modeling?” she asked.

Ryan’s face was as red as a tomato. “Uh, no.”

“He’s pretty, huh?” Janice said with a smile.

My brother averted his gaze, looking at his plate.

“And he’s not stupid or annoying,” Janice added. “The inside of the package is just as good as the outside.”

Her dad looked uncomfortable because he wasn’t making eye contact with anyone. My brother knew he was a good looking guy, that’s how he got laid so much, but he never talked about his looks or even admitted that he was attractive. He was always humble about it. If someone kept making comments about my appearance I would feel uncomfortable too.

Ryan took a bite of his burger. “This is really good.”

“Thank you,” Erin said. “I love to cook.”

“Your daughter has learned a lot of your secrets.”

“I’ve told her since she was a little girl to never let your man be hungry. Men turn into feral assholes when they’re starving.”

“Well, she’s always makes sure that I’m well fed.”

“Are you living together?” her mom asked with a raised eyebrow.

Ryan paused. I could tell he wasn’t expecting this question. I wasn’t sure what he would say.

“Yes,” Janice answered. “We live in an apartment together.”

“Oh,” her mother said in surprise.

No one else said anything for a while. It was a little awkward. I wasn’t sure if I should change the subject to break the tension but nothing came to mind.

Mike looked at Anya. “So what do you do for a living?”

“Fashion designer,” she said with a smile.

“Ooh. That sounds cool.”

I rolled my eyes. I knew he wasn’t interested at all.

Her father looked at Ryan. “What do you do for a living?”

Ryan met his gaze with confidence. “I’m a tattoo artist.”

“Oh?” he said. “I never would have expected that.”

“Do you have any tattoos?” Erin asked.

“No,” he answered. “I love to draw the artwork but there’s nothing I want on my body.”

“I just started my last year of law school,” Adam said casually.

I narrowed my eyes at him. I knew what the fucker was doing. “Ryan started his own shop when he was twenty one. He’s ran it ever since and is very successful.”

Ryan tapped my knee against his under the table, silently thanking me.

“Wow. That’s amazing,” her father said. “You run it by yourself?”

“Yep,” he said. “I love it.”

“Do you have any employees?”

“No. It’s just me.”

“You must be busy.”

“Yeah. Scarlet helps me with the books and bills sometimes. But I schedule my appointments so I don’t need another artist.”

“And he’s an amazing artist,” Janice gushed. “He’s so talented. He’s the most popular artist in the city. People wait weeks until Ryan can fit them in.”

“I took a practice exam for the bar and I passed it,” Adam slipped in.

I rolled my eyes exaggeratedly, hoping the little bitch would see it. “Ryan makes a really good living from it.”

This time Ryan kicked me. I tried to act like nothing was going on under the table.

“Law school is overrated,” Mike said.

Now I kicked him under the table.

“Ouch!” Anya said.

Mike glared at me, knowing I was the one who kicked her.

Erin raised an eyebrow as she looked at us.

Ryan carried the conversation. “I really love what I do and I’m passionate about it, but it’s not nearly as amazing as what Janice does. As an editor she can take an ordinary book and make it into something extraordinary. She works very hard every day. I’m very proud of her.”

“Awe,” Erin said.

“You’re so sweet,” Janice said as she smiled at him.

“Because I love you.”

“Awe!” Erin and Anya said together.

Adam just glared at them.

“I love you too.”

Ryan smiled at her then ate his pasta salad.

“So, I’m assuming this relationship is serious?” Erin said with a smile. “Since you are living together?”

“I’m very serious,” Ryan said as he looked at her.

“He’s so sweet,” Janice said as she leaned into him.

“I heard tattoo shops are expected to decline in the job market. They just aren’t doing well,” Adam said.

“Give it a rest!” I snapped.

Adam flinched, not expecting me to retaliate.

I felt the family stare at me until they started chuckling. Apparently they were aware of Adam’s need to be the most successful person at all times.

Ryan chuckled but kept his gaze averted. “Ignore my sister. She’s crazy.”

“Insane,” Mike added.

I rolled my eyes. I knew I was going to get picked on.

Ryan looked at Mike. “Did you know your sister likes to eat food off the ground?”

“You did not just go there,” I snapped.

“What?” Mike asked, disgusted.

Ryan nodded. “Maybe you should tell Sean to get out while he can.”

This went on for another twenty minutes. Ryan explained the whole story to Janice’s family, much to my embarrassment. By the end, they were dying with laughter.

“And this is the best part,” Ryan said as he wiped his tears away. “She refuses to share milk products because it’s gross.”

They started howling with laughter.

While I listened to it go on, I thought about Cortland. I miss
ed him and I hoped he and Monnique were doing well. I wished he was here but I knew he was needed elsewhere.

After dinner was over, we moved into the living room and had des
sert, homemade upside down pineapple cake. Ryan had three pieces because he liked it so much. Erin patted his stomach when he threw his plate away. “A man needs to eat.” He stared at her, at a loss of words.

“Stop flirting with my boyfriend,” Janice said as she grabbed his hand.