Chapter Six

Raleigh

Nerves have completely taken over as I try not to think about tonight or what meeting the parents so soon could mean.
*DO. NOT. read too much into this, Raleigh.*
*It's probably nothing.*
*We just met last night and now, today, he wants me to come over for* family *night? Is that supposed to be code for something?*
As I get ready, I decide on putting some waves into my shoulder-length blonde hair. Once I'm done, I line my emerald green eyes with some kohl liner but make sure to keep my makeup light for the most part.
Slipping on my black Vans, I stop in front of my full-length mirror and take myself in from head to toe, looking for anything that screams that I'm trying too hard to impress Lincoln or his family.
I'm wearing a pair of comfy boyfriend jeans, a plain white tee, and a lightweight olive green jacket to finish off the look.
Deciding that doing anything more would constitute as trying too hard, I grab my keys and phone off of my nightstand and make my way down the stairs, glancing into the kitchen, and then the living room when I get to the bottom looking for my brothers to let them know that I'm leaving.
I find Ryler stuffing his face with handful after handful of popcorn as he watches a football game on the TV.
To be honest, I'm surprised that Ryker and Rowan aren't in here watching it with them.
“Where are Ryker and Rowan?” I ask, glancing about the room once more to see if I see any evidence that either of them is here, and just stepped away for a moment, but I find nothing.
"Ryker was going to meet up with some chick and Rowan is at the gym, as usual."
"Right." I mutter, "Well, I'm going to hang out with some friends at their house. I may be out late, so don't wait up for me."
"Call me if you need anything," Ryler says, distractedly. Or, I think he is, but when he reaches out to grasp ahold of my hand as I turn to leave, I realize that I have his attention after all. "I mean it, call me if you need anything."
"I will. Thank you." Stepping back to him, I bend over and wrap my arms around him, giving him a hug.
"I love you, Little Sister. *Please*, be careful." His voice takes on a serious note as he says this, and I know that he's thinking about our parent's accident.
"I will. And, I love you too."
I step back after knocking on the door and begin fidgeting with my jacket, feeling like maybe I should have made more of an effort after all.
The door opens up, and before me is the cute brunette from last night that I saw kissing the guy that I thought was Lincoln.
"Raleigh?" She asks with an ear-to-ear smile on her face as she takes me in.
"Aspen, right?" I reply, still fidgeting with the zipper on my jacket.
"Yes, sorry Lincoln asked if I would come to get you," She chuckles as she says this and then steps back so that I can come in, "I think he's a bit nervous and needed to calm down."
"He's nervous?" I ask, my voice coming out much too high. I feel my cheeks instantly heat, and it's all that I can do not to cover my face in embarrassment.
"Yes," She says, with another giggle, then wraps her arm around my shoulders like we're best friends. As we begin making our way back down the steps that lead to the game room, she turns to me, her eyes full of understanding as she says, "I think he may *really* like you. I've not ever seen him get nervous before."
"Really?" I'm genuinely surprised at hearing this. I kind of got the impression that he didn't get rattled easily.
"Yeah, he's a good guy. But if he hurts you, let me know and I'll have Boston kick his ass for you." She tells me with a wink, then she turns and opens a door, gesturing for me to go first.
"Are we ready to get down and party?" She asks as soon as we enter the room, announcing our presence, and the sight before me causes me to cover my mouth as I try to hold in the giggles that are trying to escape as I watch four big, burly guys busting each other in the heads with pillows.
"Guys!" Aspen yells, trying to get their attention as we enter the room. When that seems to have failed, she brings her fingers to her mouth, and holy shit, my ears, I think as I quickly bring my hands up to cover them at the piercing sound that leaves her. Although it feels like my ears are now bleeding, it definitely gets the guys' attention considering that they immediately stop, turning to both of us with slightly embarrassed and very guilty looks on their faces.
"Shit!" Lincoln says, throwing his pillow onto the floor and scrambling around the couch, making his way over to me. Butterflies take flight in my stomach as he closes the distance between us, a grin on his face when he stops in front of me and mutters, "Hey."
"Hi," I say, the single words coming out nearly breathless. Clearing my throat, I survey the destruction in the room, and with a sweeping motion of my hand, I say, "Looks like you guys were having fun."
"Yeah," He says, scratching the back of his head as he glances around taking in the mess. Then muttering, "Sorry about that."
"We were trying to distract him." One of the other three says, looking from Aspen, over to me and then back to her as he shrugs his shoulds and then with a smirk continues, "It may have gotten a tiny bit out of control. But, only just a bit."
"Only," Aspen says with a snort as she makes her way further into the room, towards who I think is the boyfriend that I’d met last night, Boston, I think.
As she wraps her arms around his waist, he pulls her against his tall frame and leans down, muttering, "I missed you," before pecking her on the lips.
"Oh, knock it off you two." The same brother as before says, throwing a pillow at their heads. "You were away from each other for less than five minutes."
"And in that short amount of time," Boston says, not once taking his focus from Aspen, the look on his face one of pure love. "I missed her," he finishes.
A knock sounds at the door and I watch Boston and Aspen jump away from one another as everyone's attention turns toward the door. Confusion fills me at their reaction, but is quickly forgotten when a woman who looks a lot like Aspen pokes her head into the room, glances around at all of us, and then says, "Pizza just arrived, you ready for our first family night?"
I glance back over to Aspen and Boston, and how suddenly, they look more like strangers than the loving couple from just moments ago, then back over to the woman, then to Lincoln and each of his brothers. When I realize that no one else seems to think much about how their acting, I turn back towards the woman still at the door, still very much confused. Assuming that it’s all in my head, I smile at the woman as I slip my arm around Lincoln’s waist and say, "Did you say pizza?"
My question seems to break the awkwardness in the room and gets everyone moving as we all begin to follow the woman out of the room and up the stairs.
“Thank you for coming,” Lincoln says as he leans down and plants a kiss against the side of my head.
“Thank you for inviting me,” I say, digging my top teeth into my bottom lip nervously as we enter what is clearly the dining room.
Standing next to a table with pizza boxes piled high is a man that I end up having to take a double take at because he looks exactly like an older version of Lincoln and his brothers.
Confusion fills me once more as I cast a quick glance at Aspen and Boston, and then back to the man and woman now standing at the table.
"So, kids," the man says, as we all make our way toward the table. When his eyes land on me standing next to Lincoln, he finishes wiping his hands off and then sticks his right hand out for me to shake. "Oh, um...Hi. I'm Collin, the boy’s dad and please don't hold that against me," he says, chuckling.
"Nice to meet you, Sir," I say, quickly shaking his hand in return. Then, feeling cheeky, I groan and then say, "and, dang it! Where's the fun in that? I was totally going to blame you for Lincoln being such a—"
"How about we have a seat and enjoy this *amazing* pizza, huh? I'm absolutely famished," Lincoln says, interrupting me mid-sentence as he pulls out a chair, motioning for me to have a seat.
Turning my attention from Collin to his son, I paste a smile on my face, and with a wink, I say, "I was going to say nice guy, but maybe I should rethink that assessment."
"It's lovely to have you, Raleigh," The woman who looks like Aspen says, as she begins passing out paper plates. "I'm Ashlynn."
As I try to quickly chew the bite I had just taken, I cover my mouth with my hand and then say, "It's nice to meet you, Ashlynn.” When I’ve finally got my mouth clear, I continue, “So, what game are we playing?"
After a rather lengthy argument between the brothers over what we should play and whether *Cards Against Humanity* or *SmartAss* is a better game, Aspen finally shouts, "Boys, boys! I'm solving this argument right now,” Then she lifts a game from next to her seat that hadn’t even been on the table and says, “We're playing *Twister*. That is unless you guys are too chicken. Anyone too scared that they aren't as *limber* as they once were?" Then takes the box and bolts away from the table, running into another room as who I now know is Jackson, chases after her, yelling something about how he's going to show her who's more limber.