Page 45 of Pucking Tangled

FORTY-FOUR

Mia

Somehow she got Waylon into the shower, alone.

Now she was scrubbing the kitchen island for the third time.

The quartz sparkled, but she couldn’t stop.

Maybe she should have taken Waylon up on his offer for an orgasm. Probably would have calmed the nerves that seemed to get worse with every second that the clock ticked down.

It wasn’t like they lived in filth. The house was virtually spotless a good chunk of the time.

Behind her, Owen was clanking around in the fridge again now that he restocked it with things from the grocery store.

“I swear to God,” she muttered, “if you rearrange the condiments one more time.”

“Just trying to make space,” he grunted, holding up a bottle of sriracha like it was the enemy. “What kind of house has three open bottles of this stuff? ”

Casey walked over and took the bottle from his hand. “It’s the kind of house that has five adults buying groceries at any given time. Now, back away from the sriracha.”

“We may be of age, but adults? More like chaos,” Luca chuckled from where he was folding towels fresh from the dryer into perfect thirds.

Mia exhaled, planting her hands on her hips. “My parents are going to walk in here and think I’m running a commune.”

“Aren’t communes trending right now?” Waylon walked in, shirt in his hand and his hair still wet from the shower.

“Put. the. shirt. on,” Mia groaned, covering her face with her hands. “They’ll be here any minute.”

“Leave the shirt off. Might distract the moms and win us some bonus points,” Owen joked.

“I’m a little young for them, don’t you think, Old Man?”

Owen playfully lunged at Waylon and knocked over a stack of neatly folded wash clothes.

“Hey, assholes,” Luca huffed, hurrying to fix what they’d just messed up.

“Oh my God! STOP!” Mia finally yelled.

All four guys looked at her.

“Pull it together, please. I’m begging you.”

Casey wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed her cheek. “Mia, my mom is used to a houseful of boys. She expects chaos, burps and fart noises.”

Her eyes went wide and she pointed at all of them. “You better not burp or make fart noises.”

“No promises,” Waylon winked.

“It’s going to be fine. They love you, Mia. Mine. Yours. They’re just processing.”

“I’m not worried about them loving me. I’m worried about them loving this. ” She motioned around the kitchen—at all of them.

At everything they were.

“I think,” Owen said, joining in with a hug from her other side, “they’ll see what we do.”

“What’s that?” she dared to ask.

“That Casey has never been more himself than when he’s with me and you.”

“Yeah, they won’t even notice us.” Waylon rested both his hands on Luca’s shoulders.

“That wasn’t what I meant.” Owen rolled his eyes. “They won’t be able to deny the love we’re all building here.”

A knock on the front door interrupted their discussion.

Mia jumped and yelped. “Shit. They’re here.”

Waylon pulled up the doorbell camera on his phone. “They’re all smiling, and no one brought a pitchfork. That’s a start.”

She smoothed her hands over her shirt and pulled her hair out of the messy bun to run her fingers through it while she headed for the front door.

With a deep breath and a silent prayer, Mia turned the knob. The door opened with a tiny creak then there they were. Standing on the front porch looking like they’d just swung by for a regular visit.

Her mom’s eyes found hers first, soft and searching. Gentle acceptance and understanding.

Her dad looked uncertain.

Casey’s mom, of course, shoved right past everyone and pulled Mia into the biggest, tightest hug she could manage. “I knew something was going on! Laney and I have been saying for years you two would end up together.”

“Gee, thanks, Mom,” Owen teased with a smirk .

“Oh, you hush.” She let Mia go and turned to hug him. “Look at the both of you…the three of you. You look so in love.”

“Well…” Mia began.

“I meant, with all of them,” Mrs. Novak winked at Luca and Waylon who were standing back out of the way. “Don’t you worry, I read enough romance novels to know exactly how this works.”

Waylon snorted. “Sounds like we should have invited her to the last house meeting.”

Mia sent him a death glare while Casey and Owen laughed.

“Why don’t you come on in?” Casey motioned for everyone else to step inside.

Casey’s dad gave his son a long, quiet hug, then turned to Mia with a warm, steady look. “Hey, sweetheart. You holding up okay?”

She nodded, suddenly blinking back tears. “Trying.”

He nodded, as if that was the best answer he could hope for. “That’s all anyone can do.”

Her parents finally stepped forward. Her mom wrapped her in a warm embrace and whispered in her ear, “are you really okay, baby?”

“I’m good, Mom,” she sniffled, trying to hold back her emotions. She felt like she’d already done enough crying for a lifetime. “Really good.”

Because it was the truth. All the negative press aside, Mia felt better than she ever had before.

Her dad glared at Waylon and Luca still standing behind her, hovering protectively just out of reach.

Ed Abbott crossed his arms over his chest and raised a brow. “And are these the other two infamous hockey players? ”

Casey cleared his throat. “Just infamous recently.”

“That’s me. Resident bad influence.” Waylon gave her dad a two-finger salute.

Poor Luca looked like he wanted to just disappear into the drywall like the guy from The Simpsons gif, who disappeared into the bushes.

“Dad, the one who thinks he’s the resident bad influence is Waylon. And this is Luca.” Mia stepped back and looped an arm around Luca’s.

Luca held out his free hand for her dad to shake. “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Abbott.”

Her dad shook Luca’s hand and gave him a good once over. “You’re the rookie who doesn’t do complicated. Right?”

Luca swallowed hard. “Yes. Yes, sir.”

“And you think that loving my daughter is simple?”

“I do, Sir. Loving her isn’t the complicated part, not by a long shot.”

“No, I imagine it’s trying to figure out…” Casey’s mom started, until Mia’s mom, Laney, covered Hannah’s mouth.

“That’s enough of that,” Laney laughed.

“You sound like a smart kid, Luca,” her dad replied. “Do me a favor though. Quit calling me Sir.”

Mia felt Luca relax and he smiled. “I can do that.”

“Now, you.” Ed turned his attention to Waylon, grabbing him by the back of the neck. “I think we need to have a little chat about this bad influence thing.”

“Daddy!” Mia gasped.

“It’s all good, Mia. He’s just looking out for his little girl,” Waylon said with a brave face.

This could end badly if her badass wasn’t careful.

“When’s the last time you cut off someone’s wifi, son?” her father asked, referencing the guys’ public statements for the second time.

Sounded like her parents had already caught up on some things.

Waylon tossed his head back and laughed. “Mr. Abbott, why don’t I grab you a beer and I can tell you all about it.”

“Make it three. I’ll have a beer myself,” Casey’s dad said, trailing right behind them.

Everyone made their way past the living room and into the kitchen.

Casey’s mom looked around, taking it all in. “Well, this place is a lot cleaner than I expected.”

“Gee, thanks, Mom. We know how to clean,” Casey scoffed.

Hannah patted his cheek. “I know you do, sweetie. I’m real proud of you.”

Mia’s mom had already made herself comfortable at the kitchen island and was peppering Luca and Waylon with questions like: How tall are you? Luca, you’re the one who bakes sourdough? Are you all this handsome or is it a team requirement?

Mia wrapped her arms around her mom’s shoulders. “You have to forgive her. The only thing she knows about hockey is that Owen and Casey play,” she teased, before going to grab a bottle of wine from the wine fridge in the pantry.

“That is not true. I know Luca and Waylon play hockey, too!” her mom shouted back, playfully.

Waylon slipped behind Mia and whispered near her ear, “I kind of love your mom already. Your dad ain’t too bad either.”

She smiled, her chest tight with relief and something warm she hadn’t dared hope for— acceptance.