Page 18 of A Sublime Casualt
They scuttle off, and Theo takes up my hand again. “Sorry about that.”
“About what? I love them.” I jump a little as I say it. I’m so giddy to be here I can hardly contain myself. “So, this is your family, huh? Wow, you are rich with relatives,” I marvel, looking out at the crowd, each with a cocktail in hand, no shortage of laughter in their mouths.
“Yup. That’s Jackson’s mom.” He points across the room to a woman who looks identical to his own mother. “Aunt Di, short for Dionysia. And those girls”—he points over to a gaggle of younger women, ranging in age from middle school through what could be college, although you can never tell these days—“sitting around the fireplace are my cousins—Lucinda, Jen, Cora, Matilda—Mattie, Shawna, and Pip. Over by the kitchen are my Aunt Eleanor and Aunt Gene. My uncles are outside somewhere hiding from all the estrogen, and the boys are probably in the back room watching the ballgame.”
“I’m impressed.”
“That I have a big family?”
“No, that you’ve managed to memorize all of their names.”
He gives a light chuckle. “Come on, I’ll show you around.” He takes me by the hand, and I glom onto his entire arm as if it were a life raft. I like the way that Theo feels, sturdy, strong, that cologne of his acting as the invisible carrot that keeps me hopping along for more. Theo does something for me that no man has ever done before. He makes me feel safe. Wanted. He takes me on a tour of the downstairs, pointing out paintings and statues imported from their mother country. Gifts from his grandparents, heirlooms all of them. But my eyes flit to the bevy of gilded frames strewn about. Theo and his sisters at various ages and stages. I can’t tell Lizzy and Nikki apart in any of them, but Theo sticks out like a sore testicle. I make a face at my own cheap analogy. He was an adorable baby. A beautiful boy, still is. But there must be about a dozen pictures of him at formals and proms with Ashley. Her younger face is rounder, her hair darker, but I recognize that pinched snout of hers. I can’t help but frown as I pass by each one.
“You sure went to a lot of dances.” I couldn’t help myself. My God, isn’t prom still just relegated to the one? I really did go to the wrong school, or the right one considering I hated to dance. My hand glides over his chest briefly. “You’ll have to show me your moves sometime.”
His chest pumps with a laugh, and I can feel it strumming against me. It feels good, like a relief, and I’d do anything if I could wrap my arms around him. I feel strangely aroused by Theo in this setting—in every setting, those eyes, this glorious family, his beautiful, beautiful mouth. I want it on me. All over me.
Dinner is a feast for the ages. Theo takes each dish and explains what it is to me. This isn’t your grandmother’s Thanksgiving, or it might be if your grandmother had very strong Greek roots.
There are two small turkeys, clearly not the stars of the show. But the lamb is plentiful, clearly a crowd-pleaser. Theo helps load up our plates. There’s a chestnut, rice, and ground meat creation in place of stuffing, and it smells to die for. Of course, I would never say those words out loud, not here anyway. Not from my murderous lips. The sides are more or less traditional—mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, but there is also a massive salad dotted with Kalamata olives, imported feta cheese, which tastes tangy and divine all at the same time.
“We’ll have baklava for dessert,” Theo warns. “There might be a pumpkin pie if we’re lucky.”
I warm my back against his chest as we make our way to a table. “I’m feeling lucky already.”
The older sect sits at the main table done to the nines with elegant place settings. The rest of us straggle over to smaller tables strewn around the edges of the living room, on couches, and a few people have decided to brave the icy air and eat on the porch. We sit with his sister, Nikki, and she regales us with her dating misadventures. She seems sweet. Highly normal, and if her dating horror stories are true, the wild thing gene has completely skipped over her. Soon enough, Theo and his sister are in a deadlock about what stocks to invest in where you might see your money grow fastest. A couple of hours whip by, and before too long, relatives are saying goodnight by the droves. Nikki stretches her long arms to the ceiling and looks dangerously cheeky over at her brother.
“All the rooms at the inn are taken. I hope you and Charlie won’t mind sharing a bed tonight.”
He bites down on his lip as she shoots a look to his mother who’s busy cleaning up in the kitchen. “I swear I asked, and she assured me there was more than enough room.”
Sharing a mattress with my favorite Greek? My insides heat at the prospect. My thighs are already trembling to have him.
“Yes”—his sister chides—“in your room. Charlie, you take the bed. He’s got a sleeping bag, and he knows what to do with it. I got to help get the girls settled.” She takes off, and Theo turns to me with a panicked deer-in-the-headlights look in his beautiful eyes.
“Don’t worry.” I pull him in, taking the time to lock his gaze. “I’m more than fine with it. Besides, it’ll be fun to share a room with you. It’s just one night. It’ll be like camping.” I shake my head and laugh because it won’t be anything like camping.
“Like camping.” He bites back a smile.
“It’ll be like that night at the Falls. Only this time, I’ll try not to urinate on you.”
“You’re too kind.” He takes in the room as if he’s suddenly a man on a mission. “Let me see if I can find someplace else to crash. In no way do I want you to think that’s the reason I brought you here tonight.”
“Oh, right. Isn’t it every man’s dream to take a new conquest in the room next to his mother’s? I think Freud would have a field day with that one.”
“It’s my sister. Nikki has the room next door. Not awkward at all. Give me a sec,” he says, walking backward and nearly tripping over a chair.
“Take your time. In fact, I think I’ll help your mom in the kitchen.” I head on over to the spacious kitchen with an island so long and wide you could land a 747 on it. Calla finishes up the last pan before turning off the faucet.
“I’ll dry,” I offer, picking up a dishtowel and going for the enormous stack of dishes that threatens to touch the ceiling.
“Why, thank you, young lady. I want to apologize for being so rude. It’s not my nature to be so quiet, but the holidays—you know, they’re tough to get through.”
Lizzy appears like a ghost between us, and I couldn’t be happier to see her so soon. I thought it would touch like extracting a healthy tooth, but Lizzy is rotting right out of her mother’s skull.
“I’m so sorry. I can’t imagine. I mean, it must be tough on a regular day, let alone when you have so much family around. You’re kind of isolated within a crowd.”
“Yes!” Her emerald eyes swim with the idea. “That’s exactly how I feel. It’s amazing you knew just the right words. I’m liking you better and better by the second.” She taps her elbow into my arm as she picks up a dishtowel of her own.