The looks on their faces is literally everything.
Truth is, my dad’s friends are hot. And not that old. But it’s too easy to rile them up.
The women all smother laughs while the guys look completely offended.
“I’ll give you old, kid,” Titch starts, batting Danni’s hand out of the way before she can stop him, “and I’ll raise you this.” He lifts his shirt, flashing us a shot of his six-pack.
“Ugh, put it away,” Zach complains. “Emmie isn’t going to be impressed with your beer gut. This, on the other hand…”
“Okay, okay,” I say, holding up my hands. “This wasn’t meant to turn into a dick-measuring contest. I was just—”
“It should,” Spike adds, joining in for the first time. “We all know that I’d win hands down.”
“I think I might go back to bed.” I know it’s my fault, I poked the beasts, but ugh. I can’t cope with the surge of testosterone.
“Would you like some breakfast?” Piper asks me, ignoring the guys as they start bickering like little kids.
It’s not all that different from the way Theo and his friends are together. It makes me realise that really, they never grow up.
“I can make my own. You should be enjoying yourself.”
She doesn’t hear a word of it and sets about making a second round of breakfast just for me.
* * *
We had a great day. Probably the best Christmas I’ve ever had, to be honest.
I’ve spent most Christmases of the past with Mum, but even the few I’ve had with Dad haven’t been like this.
It wasn’t until Piper returned to his life that I really appreciate just how sad and lonely he was. There was always something missing, a darkness in his eyes that I never knew anything about.
But the second he saw her again, it was like he came back to life.
He’s an entirely different man now. The only thing that oozes from him is happiness and contentment. I love seeing it. Even if it does make me feel lonely.
I don’t resent Piper at all. I love her as a stepmum; she’s everything I could ever ask for. But when I moved in with Dad, I thought it was going to be the two of us. That we’d get to make up for some lost time. But he’s got a new life now, and sometimes, like now, when they’re all joking with their friends, I can’t help but feel like I’m in the way.
I love all these guys like family, but I can’t help feeling like they’re not totally themselves when I’m around, thanks to Dad chastising them for their language and behaviour, which is completely unnecessary. If they had any idea of the things I’ve seen and experienced, they’d probably be horrified.
“You okay?” Kas asks, dropping down on the sofa beside me.
Kas is only a few years older than me. She’s also had a less than conventional upbringing, from what I understand. The first time we met, I knew she got me in a way that most other people don’t.
“Yeah, I’m good. Tired.”
“I’m sorry we kept you up last night.” Her smirk and slightly pink cheeks tell me that most of the noise I had to endure was from her and Spike. I bet her big brother was thrilled, assuming he wasn’t too busy himself.
“It’s fine. At least some people are getting action.”
She stares at me for a beat. “Really no boys on the go then, huh?”
Titch was ribbing me earlier about school and boys, but like hell was I going to confess to what was really happening in my life.
“No. And I don’t need one.”
“Girl, we never need a guy,” she says with a wink. “I’m sure you could make use of one, though.”
I laugh at her, but I can’t deny that she’s right.