Chapter 50
Katie
“There you are.” I wandered out onto the deck at the back of our parent’s place only to find Mandie was sitting there, a frothy drink in front of her. With one eyebrow cocked, she was one step away from becoming a Bond villain, complete with a white Persian cat. “What happened to you last night? The guys break down in the hills and you were forced to walk home? Got so drunk you all passed out in the gutter?”
“Hello, darling!”
Before I could answer, Mum appeared with a tray of nibbles. By the look of it, she’d found a new dip recipe on the internet again and had paired it with some crudité to ‘make it healthy.’
“That looks amazing, Mum,” I said, and I wasn’t lying. Thank god I didn’t actually call in sick. We were short staffed at work anyway, and I’d been forced to work through my lunch hour. “I am starving.”
“Well, eat up, but don’t ruin your appetite,” she replied, turning to go back into the house. “Your father is cooking steak again, and you know how particular he is about his meat.”
“Dad’s meat…”
Mandie sniggered that out as Mum bustled back inside, and when we both burst out laughing, I thought I’d earned myself a reprieve.
I was wrong.
Her eyes narrowed after we stopped cackling, and then she leaned forward, taking me in.
“The dress was a big hit and the guys barely restrained themselves from tearing it off you, thanks to me.” Her hand came to rest on her chest. “Then you spent the night fucking those guys, despite the fact I told you to take it slow.”
“After telling me to take it fast.” I crunched on a carrot covered with dip, looking at it more closely when an explosion of spices hit my palate. It was kind of tomatoey, but also spicy, like Spanish food. “It’s hard to keep up with all your contradictory orders, so I’ve decided to ignore them altogether.” I grinned at her. “Older sister privileges.”
“Yes, but when it comes to getting guys to commit, I have valuable expertise.” She leaned forward abruptly. “I can teach you the ways to land your man… men, young padawan. As much as I want you to follow my fuckgirl ways, you seem distressingly determined to settle down, so sue me for being invested in your future happiness.”
“Well…” I grabbed a chunk of cucumber and dragged it through the dip. “Rhys called me his girlfriend last night.” The silence became deafening, making clear I had Mandie’s complete attention. “And as three hotties tried to chat the guys up, they all made clear they are committed to me.”
I went to take a bite of my crudité, but Mandie reached across and knocked it from my grip.
“Shut the fuck up.” She stared openly at me, suddenly too pale, but quickly enough, a smile spread across her face. “They didn’t.” Her elbows hit the table, and I was shocked Mum didn’t appear to tell her off for that. “Why the hell didn’t you lead with that story? So you had committed relationship orgies afterwards?”
“Yes.” I shifted slightly. “Which is harder on the body than you’d expect.” My eyes rolled her way. “Got a training schedule for sex marathons, because I think I pulled a hammy last night.”
Mandie sat back, a smug smile on her face.
“Katie’s got a boyfriend. Katie’s got a boyfriend.” Of course, as she started to chant that in a singsong voice, Mum walked in. I frantically gestured for my sister to shut the hell up, but when did Mandie ever listen to me? “Katie’s got three boyfriends!”
“She what?” Mum looked from one to the other of us. “Well, it sounds like one of you has news to share. Bill! Your daughter has apparently got three boyfriends.”
Well, at least this wasn’t awkward.
The table was uncharacteristically quiet. Dad kept poking his steak that was a little more than well done, obviously traumatised by the fact his favourite dinner got burned. That and the fact I was getting the good dick from three guys.
“So what do they do again?” he asked, daring to meet my eyes.
Dad seemed to be taking it the worst.
“Rhys is the business owner. He runs the gym Mandie shoots content in,” I explained.
“And he’s a good man?” Mum asked my sister that, not me, as if my judgement wasn’t to be trusted.
“Seems like it.” Mandie winked at me. “He’s got good taste in women and he’s looking after Katie’s soul dog.”
“Well, he likes animals. That’s a plus.”
Mum’s tone was too bright, as if she was one step away from a nervous breakdown.
“And the others?” Dad sighed and pushed his plate away, facing down the table with his arms crossed. “What do they do? Do they like dogs as well?”
He didn’t sound like he wanted to know the answer to that, but I forged on.
“Garrett is a nurse.”
“A male nurse? That’s a good solid job, isn’t it, Bill?” Mum was trying so damn hard, nudging Dad in the ribs, but he didn’t move an inch.
“He’s the one that adopted Bronson,” I said.
“And he what? Decided to adopt you and share you with his friends?” Dad raked a hand through his hair. “Sweetheart, you know I love you?—”
“Now, Bill, kids today, they do things a bit different. There were plenty of swingers when we were growing up,” Mum said.
“I don’t want my daughter being passed around like a set of car keys, Janey.” He fixed me with a steady gaze. “I wanted better for you.”
“Better than three guys that treat me like a princess?” Who was telling my parents off? Oh, that was me. I remembered each one of the guys’ declarations then, and that had me forging on. “That make sure to take me out on real dates, who tell other women to piss off because they belong to me and only me.” I stared at each person at the table, mutely pleading for them to understand. “It may have taken me way too long to find a guy that treats me right. The fact it’s actually three isn’t a big deal for me, and if it doesn’t worry me, I’m not sure why it would you.”
“I don’t care what consenting adults do in their own homes,” Mum said in a placating voice. “But it’s different when it’s your own daughter. You’ll understand if you ever have kids.”
“What about kids?” Dad said, patently grabbing at straws. “How will your children deal with having three dads?”
“We’ve gone straight to theoretical children.” Mandie took a long drink from her glass. “Glad to see we’re dealing with this logically, not emotionally.”
“Kids are cruel.” Dad was using the same ‘see sense’ tone he used when I wanted to pierce my nose and dye my hair green. I still wish I’d gone through with the dye job. “You’d remember that better than anyone, love.” Ouch. I flopped back against my chair, because that felt like a body blow. “Can you really say you’d want to bring a child into the world with the odds stacked against them?”
“I don’t want kids.” Mum gasped at that, but hell, was that really that much of a surprise? “I’ve never wanted to have them. When Mandie…” Now it was my sister’s chance to wave her hands frantically, trying to stop this conversation dead. “Decides to have them, I will happily be the best damn auntie I can be, but…” I stared each parent in the eyes, making clear how serious I was. “I’m not having kids myself, so if there’s any other objections…?”
Silence, blessed silence, returned to the table, but right as I picked up my knife and fork to try and redirect our attention back to our meals, Dad had the final word.
“I want to meet them.”
Mandie snorted noisily, trying to cover that with a nervous laugh, but I spoke up before she could.
“What?”
“If these fellas reckon they want to get serious with my daughter, then… I want to meet them.” Dad nodded decisively. “Have a beer with a man and you find out who he really is.”
There were so, so many things wrong with that statement, but when Dad dug his heels in, nothing moved him.
“Bring them around to meet my parents one day after we decided to be in a relationship?” I said, waiting for someone to start talking sense.
“Not one day.” Mum looked at the calendar on her phone. “How does in a week sound?”