Page 99 of Mr. Red

“Oh no you don’t. I want to meet him. Bring him to dinner.”

Yep, knew this was coming.

“Oh-kay. Let me make sure he has no plans.” I bite my lip.

“Good. Looking forward to seeing you. Text me if you need a different day.”

There’s not much I can say to fix the situation. I could lie and say we aren’t serious, but we are. I could say there’s no need to meet him, but if I go on one date with a guy, my dad is ready to do a background check and call his parents for character analysis. His way of staying involved in my life.

“Okay, dad. Love you, bye!”

“Love you. Bye, Letti.”

Alright, now to ask Matt. He’s already awake and doing whatever early risers do in the morning. I’m an hour ahead of our normal schedule, so I guess I’ll get some new insight into what his routine is. It smells like toast and something sweet.

First things first: coffee needs to be drunk.

I walk out to the kitchen where my friends are dispersed around the living room...awake. There’s eggs, toast, and pancakes on their plates. They usually sleep like the dead until the afternoon after drinking, but Matt’s cooking probably woke them up.

All the drinks from last night have been picked up. I’m guessing Matt helped clean before breakfast.

“Hey, guys!”

“Scarlett, you weren’t kidding about this man’s cooking. The smell woke me up, luckily. He’s definitely a keeper.” Jason waves his fork at me.

The girls grin like cats with a bird stuffed in their mouth.

“Hey, Scar!” Paige greets with her mouth half full.

“Look at you guys, getting up early.” I wait for my coffee to brew.

“Sure, sure. You know...” Paige looks down at her wrist like a watch is there—there isn’t. “We’d better be going. Lots to do. All of us!” Paige nudges the others. They go and clean their plates off at the sink.

“Thanks for breakfast, Matt!” Lana tells him.

“Matt, if you ever feel the need to wake up and cook at my house, you’re always welcome!” Jason invites. We giggle, but I don’t think Jason is joking.

“Yes, thank you Matt, but we really must be going!” Paige rallies all of them out the door. “Bye, Scar! See you later!”

“Bye, guys! See you soon!”

Matt is working on his laptop at the breakfast bar. I go over to him and kiss him on the cheek. “Good morning. It was nice of you to make breakfast for everyone. You didn’t have to do that. I could’ve cooked you know.”

He smiles without revealing any teeth. “Yes, Iremember. The cardboard and fake meat,” his voice dripping in sarcasm. “Sounds appetizing, but I made somerealfood.”

I shove him in a playful manner. “Hey! My breakfast is spectacular.”

He laughs and shakes his head.

I sit on the couch with my coffee and turn on the fireplace Matt got me. Matt leaves me alone until I’ve had a complete cup; it’s more for his safety than anything.

After I’m done with my cup, I go to brew another one and turn to him. “I got a call this morning that woke me up. It turned out to be my dad.”

“Ah. That’s why you’re up so early.”

“He wants to have dinner with you.” My leg bounces while I wait to grab my second cup of coffee. “You see, I have dinner with him once a week. On Thursdays, usually. You know the meeting I told you I have? It’s with my dad. It’s when we see each other. I mentioned you this morning, and now he can’t wait to see who his only daughter is dating.”

I brace for some resistance. Maybe he’ll give some excuse for not wanting to meet my family. Instead, he looks relaxed.