Twenty
Nathan
I’m exactly three minutes late. Which, for me, is three minutes too many.
As I pull up outside Sienna’s childhood home, my phone buzzes with a text.
Sienna: You’re ghosting me, aren’t you?
I shake my head, exhaling a short laugh as I shift into park.
Me: I’m outside.
The house in front of me is nothing like the penthouses and high-rise apartments I’ve grown accustomed to. It’s warm, lived-in, the kind of house that’s seen years of laughter and chaos. Two-story, light blue siding, white trim, and a porch swing that looks well-used. The lawn is perfectly cut, not in an over-manicured way, but like someone takes pride in it. There are potted plants by the steps, a decorative wreath on the door, and a small welcome mat that reads, Come Back With Tacos.
I step out of the car, adjusting my cuffs as I take in the house, already feeling like I’m stepping into foreign territory. This is a place where people grew up, where they stayed. Something I don’t fully understand.
Before I even reach the front steps, the door swings open.
And fuck.
She’s beautiful.
Sienna stands in the doorway, a glass of wine in one hand, her weight shifted to one side, her long lashes framing those sharp blue eyes as she takes me in.
Her dress is simple—black, sleeveless, hugging her body in a way that makes my fingers twitch at my sides. Her hair is up, exposing the curve of her neck, the smooth slope of her collarbone. There’s a flush to her cheeks, and her lips are slightly parted, like she’s about to say something but hasn’t decided what yet.
Then, she sighs, holding up her wine glass. “You know, before this week, I used to have a glass of wine maybe once a month,”
she says, swirling the liquid. “I’m running on the stuff in the last forty-eight hours. My livers are screaming at me.”
I arch a brow. “Livers?”
She shrugs. “Yeah, my mother thought for years that, just like your kidneys or lungs, you had two livers. She was shocked when she found out she was wrong. Absolutely devastated.”
I blink, then huff out a short laugh.
“She also thought bears were carnivores, like lions. You should’ve seen her face when she found out they eat berries.”
I shake my head, my lips twitching. “And this is the woman I’m about to meet?”
“Oh, yeah. Buckle up.”
Sienna straightens, eyes flicking over me, head tilting slightly. “You look nice,”
she admits before her expression sobers, the humor melting into something more cautious. “Honestly, are you ready for this?”
She lifts a hand, brushing invisible lint from the shoulder of my white shirt, dusting me off like she’s prepping me for battle.
I catch her wrist before she can pull away.
“I’m good,”
I tell her, my voice steady.
Her eyes flick to mine. I feel her pulse beneath my fingers.
“Are you ready for this?”
She exhales, closing her eyes before nodding. “Yeah.”
“Good.”
I release her wrist, letting my fingers drag slightly as I drop my hand.
“They haven’t arrived yet, so I’ll introduce you to my mother first.”
Before she can turn, I hook a finger under her chin, tilting her face up. Her breath hitches, her lashes fluttering.
“If it makes you feel any better,”
I murmur, my voice dropping, “you look beautiful.”
Sienna’s lips twitch.
“That,”
she says, laughing lightly, “I already know.”
∞∞∞
Sienna’s mother was easier than expected.
Warm, talkative, and a little too invested in her daughter’s love life, but in a way that made it obvious she meant well. She pulled me into a hug the second I stepped into the kitchen, despite still holding a wooden spoon covered in sauce. A mess in progress, as Sienna had introduced her, and I got the sense she was the kind of woman who never stopped moving.
She didn’t grill me, but she did ask questions—where I was from, what I did for a living, how I met Sienna, and whether I liked lemon cake because she happened to have one cooling on the counter. At least it wasn’t upside-down pineapple cake. I think Sienna would have had a conniption.
To Sienna’s credit, she let me handle most of it.
When her father walked in, it was a little different. Not bad; just calculating. The kind of stare that measured, weighed, and assessed. I recognized it instantly. I’d seen it in boardrooms, at negotiations, in men sizing up a business deal before they shook hands. But he didn’t grill me the way I’d expected. Didn’t toss out a what are your intentions or if you hurt my daughter, I’ll bury you in the backyard speech.
He shook my hand firmly, looked me in the eye, and nodded.
Which, as far as I could tell, was about as much approval as any man could expect from him.
I came prepared for more. Hell, I was ready for a full interrogation. But instead, I’d been invited to stir the mashed potatoes while Sienna’s mother flitted around, barking orders.
It’s in the moment I hear the front door open, I feel the shift.
Sienna tenses beside me, glancing up.
Game on.
I follow her into the living room, watching as the space fills with bodies. First, a woman with dark curls and a bright, easy smile enters. She’s with a man who has the same sharp blue eyes as Sienna, just more calculating.
Her brother, Jeremy. Built like a guy who’s never lost a fight.
His gaze lands on me, not quite hostile, but assessing. He’s the type of older brother who doesn’t trust easily, no matter how good my handshake is.
And then there’s him.
Daniel.
The ex.
I know it’s him before Sienna even stiffens at my side. His hair is a little too perfect, his smile a little too practiced. The kind of face that used to get called boy-next-door but now just says asshole who fucked up.
Behind him is his fiancée, Lauren, who looks Sienna up and down like she’s about to pounce on Daniel and steal him back.
I was prepared for someone to mention him tonight. I wasn’t prepared for him to be standing in the goddamn room.
Lauren’s smile is polite but tight, her eyes darting between Sienna and me like she’s trying to read something that isn’t there.
The second they step in, Sienna’s mother beams. “Well, look at you all! Come in, come in!”
She rushes forward, hugging Grace, Jeremy, and then—to my complete fucking horror—Daniel.
Sienna’s fingers tighten around the stem of her wine glass.
I lean in slightly, lowering my voice just enough so only she can hear. “Breathe.”
A shaky inhale. A slow exhale.
Good girl.
Grace notices her first, eyes lighting up as she pulls her in for a hug. “Sienna!”
Sienna forces a smile, shifting her glass to one hand. “Hey, you.”
Jeremy claps a hand on her shoulder. “Sis.”
“Jer,”
she mutters.
Then, of course, her mother turns toward me. “Daniel, Lauren, I’m sure you remember Sienna.”
Oh, for fuck’s sake.
Lauren smiles politely. Daniel doesn’t.
I brace myself.
“And this,”
her mother continues, “is her boyfriend, Nathan.”
The second the words leave her mouth, every single pair of eyes in the room swings toward me.
Daniel’s jaw ticks.
Lauren blinks.
Jeremy lifts a brow.
And Sienna?
She steps in closer, slips a hand onto my arm, and tilts her chin up with a perfect little smirk.
I let my mouth curl at the corner, the weight of her fingers light but full of tension. Like I’m the only thing stopping her from launching a wine bottle at Daniel’s head.
Jeremy is still watching me, clearly sizing me up. Grace smiles, completely oblivious. Daniel looks like he just bit into a lemon.
I don’t even know this guy, and this whole thing is giving me far too much satisfaction.
“Nathan, this is Daniel,”
her mother starts, but I cut in smoothly.
“I know.”
I extend a hand before she can finish.
Daniel hesitates, just a flicker, but I see it. The quick calculation in his eyes. Then he shakes my hand, his grip just a little too firm.
Classic dick-measuring move.
I squeeze back enough to let him know that whatever game he’s playing, I already won.
“Daniel,”
I say evenly. “Good to meet you.”
His smile is tight. “You too.”
Beside me, Sienna drains the rest of her wine.
Her mother claps her hands together. “Well! That’s introductions done. Now, Nathan, tell us about yourself.”
Jeremy leans against the door, watching me like he’s waiting for a slip-up. “How’d you two meet?”
Sienna and I tell the ridiculous story I made up earlier. Daniel makes a noise that isn’t quite agreement. Sienna, to her credit, doesn’t acknowledge it.
I slide an arm around her waist and pull her against my side. “It was cute,”
I say smoothly, glancing down at her. “She spent the first hour trying to convince me she wasn’t staring at me.”
Sienna’s head jerks toward me, eyes wide. “Excuse me?”
I smirk. “It’s fine, baby. It happens.”
Jeremy chokes on his drink. Grace claps her hands, delighted.
Sienna narrows her eyes but pastes on a smile. “That’s funny,”
she says sweetly, reaching up to pat my cheek in the most patronizing way possible. “Because I remember you being the one who was staring at me.”
Daniel shifts, crossing his arms. The air in the room changes. Not a crack. Not a full-blown earthquake.
Just enough.
I don’t know if Sienna knows she’s doing it, but she’s giving him nothing.
Not a flicker.
Not a tell.
Just calm, smooth composure.
I’ve spent not even two days around this woman, and I already know that’s not like her.
She exhales through her nose, her voice smooth. “I’m just happy.”
A long, stretched-out silence before Sienna’s mother says, “Sienna, sweetheart, would you set the table?”
She nods, moving past Daniel without so much as a glance.
I watch her as she leaves, and I don’t like the way something tightens in my chest when I see how determined she is not to care.