Rylee’s eyes widen at the same time she tries shoving me off her. “Oh my, God,” she whisper yells. “Get off before she comes in here.”
I chuckle, enjoying the panic in her eyes. “Relax. I locked the door.”
Her eyes narrow to slits. “So? Your sister may not realize what a locked door means, but your dad will. I don’t want him thinking we were… doing stuff in here.”
“Doing stuff?”
“Yes,” she hisses, shoving my shoulder again. “Seriously, Zayden. Will you please get up?”
I decide to take it easy on her, but before I do, I lean down for one more kiss. By the time I pull back, her eyes are back to that lazy look. Using my fists, I hoist myself up. The doorknob jiggles right as I’m pulling Rylee off the bed.
“Zayden? You in there?” comes Danielle’s labored voice.
“I’ll be out in a minute!” I holler back.
Rylee is nibbling on her thumb nail when I turn back to face her. She looks nervous as she darts her eyes back and forth between the door and me.
I pull her hand down.
“I didn’t expect to meet your family today.”
“I didn’t expect you to either.”
She looks over her shoulder. “Umm… I can probably sneak out the window if you want me to.”
“Why the hell would I want you to do that?” I don’t give her time to answer before I pull her to the door. “I may not have banked on you meeting my dad and Danielle, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want you to.”
She pulls me to a stop when I grab the doorknob. “Wait. Are you sure about this? This is kind of a big deal.”
I grab the front of her shirt and pull her to me. “I’m sure.”
After a moment, she nods. “Okay.”
We follow the sound of Dad’s and Danielle’s voices into the kitchen. Danielle is being more vocal than usual, indicating she’s having a really good day.
They both stop talking when Rylee and I walk through the door. Danielle looks at Rylee curiously, while dad has a slight frown on his face. When Rylee said it was a big deal for her to meet dad and Danielle, she didn’t know how true that was. I never bring girls here. Rylee is the first.
“Dad, Danielle, this is my girlfriend, Rylee.” Rylee’s fingers twitch in my hand at the word girlfriend.
Dad steps forward, extending his hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Rylee. I must say, I’m surprised to see you here.”
Rylee laughs nervously and shakes his hand. “It’s nice to meet you, too, Mr. Michaels. Zayden was just showing me around. I’ll be out of your hair shortly.”
Dad smiles, the look making the wrinkles around his eyes stand out. “No need to rush home. I just meant Zayden never brings girls around. I was starting to think he was embarrassed of us,” he jokes.
“Oh.” She glances at me for a brief moment before turning to Danielle, who’s sitting sideways in one of the kitchen chairs with her oxygen tank tucked under the table. “It’s nice to meet you, Daniel
le. I absolutely love your hair.”
Danielle fingers the end of the long thick braid. Dad mentioned cutting it once and she about flipped, claiming she was never cutting her hair. She said she wanted to grow it down to her knees. It’s already over halfway down her back.
“Thank you,” Danielle says shyly.
“I saw some of the pictures you drew on the fridge. You’re really good.”
“You really think so?”
Rylee nods, offering a smile. “I do. I love nature. Maybe you could draw me something sometime?”