Page 101 of Caught Looking

“Both. We’re meeting the parents today and I’m not sure I can be the best version of myself if I’m constantly thinking about fucking you.”

I hummed, drawing lines between each defined rectangle that made up his abdominals. The sheet began to move and I grinned.Success!

But then Seth grabbed my hand and pulled it to his lips, kissing each finger. “I want your parents to like me. And I don’t want your dad to shoot me.”

I huffed in annoyance. “They’re going to love you because you’re amazing. And my dad won’t shoot you. He doesn’t own a gun. He won’t care if you eye-fuck me the entire time.” I hadn’t met a lot of parents. Maybe that’s why I wasn’t nervous about meeting Seth’s.

“Wait, what? What do you mean your dad won’t care?”

I shrugged. “My parents aren’t like that. They want me to be happy. You make me happy. That’s pretty much it.” I loved my parents but we didn’t have much of a relationship. Not a deep one anyway.

“So I could take you into the bathroom, fuck you senseless, and they’d what? High-five us?”

His frown of confusion was adorable. “Actually, they’d probably leave so we could have privacy.”

“I am so lost.” He slid down so we were nose to nose. “I know you said your parents were indifferent but this is…wow.”

I shrugged again. My parents were who they were. They loved each other but they didn’t make deep emotional connections with anyone. They didn’t have much emotions at all. “I always felt extreme growing up because I had so many emotions and they didn’t. I would cry and they’d stare at me like I was an animal at the zoo. I’d get angry and they’d yawn. Maybe that’s why I was so eager to pursue my soccer career. It wasn’t like I was getting a whole lot of emotional support from them.”

His hand ghosted over my arm, coming to my hip and squeezing. “You make it sound like today is about checking boxes on a form.”

“That’s because it is.” I gave him a half smile so he’d know I was okay. “They want to meet you so they can know you. Now when their friends ask how I’m doing they can say I’m doing well and I’m with a baseball player named Seth Butler. He makes her happy. End of discussion.”

“That’s cold, babe.”

“It’s who they are. They just…don’t feel a whole lot. So don’t worry about today.” I tried to pull my hand away so I could get back to touching him, but he didn’t let me go.

“I’m still going to worry, Annalise. It matters to me.” He released my hand.

I cupped his face. “Maybe that’s why you’re so perfect for me. You feel everything.”

“Isn’t that the damn truth.” He gave me one of his cocky grins. “My parents are a handful. Dad loves baseball. And football. And basketball. If it has a ball, he loves it. He’ll spend all day talking about it. Mom is a sweetheart.”

I had seen the way Seth worshiped the team moms. Both the older parental ones and the new wifey ones with babies. And now that I thought about it, I’d never seen him chatting with the dads that weren’t his teammates. “You love your mom.”

“I do.”

“But it’s complicated with your dad?”

He kissed the tip of my nose. “Bingo.”

“Maybe we shouldn’t have suggested a big family brunch.” My stomach flipped and flopped as nerves took hold. I could see the disaster coming. My parents would get bored and leave. His parents would be insulted.

And we’d be left in the aftermath.

Seth moved over me, taking my hands in his, moving them over my head. “What are you doing?” I opened my legs out of habit, letting him settle into the cradle of my hips.

“Apologizing.” He sucked kisses along my neck, moving to my collarbone.

“What are you apologizing for?” I gasped as he gently sucked at my nipple.

“In my attempt to keep my nerves from getting to me, I got yours all fired up. So I’m making things right.”

I arched under him. “I can’t think when you do that.”

“Good. Then it’s working.” He smiled against my skin.

“What if this is a disaster?”