Page 126 of Good For Me

Jas

“You ready for this?” River asks, pulling his keys from the Jeep’s ignition.

“I don’t know,” I tell him honestly, looking up at the massive house. “It’s probably too late to back out now, huh?”

“Considering your uncle and cousin and Brie are already on their way, yeah, I think it’s probably too late.”

“This was a dumb idea,” I mumble. Why in the hell had we thought it was smart to introduce our families at Thanksgiving? That’s so much pressure.

He purses his lips, like he’s struggling not to point out that I’m the one who said it would be better to get it over with in one meeting. He’d suggested having my uncle, Chris, and Brie over to his parents’ house for dinner a month ago. But I’d kept putting it off, afraid for some reason I couldn’t really put my finger on.

Then River’s Aunt Paige invited me to their house for Thanksgiving dinner, and I’d declined, explaining that I’d be spending the holiday with my uncle and cousin. She insisted I bring them all with me and in a moment of what I can only assume was pregnancy-induced insanity, I’d agreed, figuring it would be the best way to knock out the meeting I’d been dreading.

Getting it all over with in one fell swoop was appealing, but now that we’re actually here, I feel a little sick.

“I just want them to like each other,” I mutter, and River reaches over to take my hand.

“It’s going to be fine.”

“My uncle is going to be judgmental because they have money,” I blurt out. “I know that’s like, reverse snobbism, but he doesn’t trust rich people.”

“Give him two minutes with Aunt Paige and he’ll be fine.”

It’s hard to imagine anyone not liking Paige, but Uncle Dave is a pretty gruff guy, especially with strangers. And he’s not River’s biggest fan. He sees River as some spoiled rich kid who quit at a moment’s notice then got me into trouble. The fact that River is doing everything in his power to take care of me and the baby helps, but I know Dave doesn’t really trust him yet.

“Brie might be a bitch,” I continue.

He makes a little discontented noise at that. Brie also hasn’t quite warmed up to River yet. She still thinks he’s going to flake out on me. And my cousin Chris is even worse.

Fuck. I definitely haven’t helped matters by keeping them all apart.

“We’ll get Will to talk to Brie about her tattoos and she’ll be happy.”

I look over at him. “You just have an answer for everything, don’t you??

He takes my hand. “The way I see it, we don’t really have a choice,” he says softly. “Wehaveto make this work. It’s our family, babe. They’re going to be around each other, especially once the baby comes. So whatever we need to do to make sure everyone is comfortable and gets along? That’s what we’re going to do.”

I nod and straighten my shoulders. “Okay. Let’s do this.”

“Good.” He gives me a bracing smile. “Because your uncle just pulled up.”

I groan, looking over my shoulder to see his truck down the street. I’d been hoping we could get inside first and say hello to all the masses. I guess not.

We meet Brie, Chris, and Uncle Dave on the sidewalk. Brie is gawking up at Reed and Paige’s house while Chris and Dave wear matching, stony-faced expressions. Great.

“Hey, guys,” River says, as charming and easy as ever, holding out a hand to my uncle. “I’m really glad you could make it.”

Dave gives a grunt that could possibly be construed as a greeting but he shakes River’s hand. Chris stands off to the side, glaring at my boyfriend. I step up next to him and elbow his ribs. “You said you were going to be nice,” I hiss.

“I haven’t punched the guy yet, have I?”

I roll my eyes. “When have I ever in my life needed you to do the whole alpha male, protective older brother bullshit?” I ask, watching River bend down to kiss Brie’s cheek.

“Never,” he admits reluctantly.

“Then I definitely don’t need you to start now.”

When River straightens, I nudge Chris and he sighs before stepping forward and holding out a hand.