Ransom nudged me with his shoulder. “We still have some time.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I said back, even though I obviously did.
“They’re going to love you. And who cares if they don’t?”
I pushed up and glared at him.
“But they will,” he said. “They’re my parents. Trust me. You’d have to be me to disappoint them.”
With a light punch to the rib, he groaned.
“I’m not a people person,” I said. “My own parents don’t like me.”
“I’m sure that’s not true, but even if it is, I like you enough for all of them.” He paused and gave me a squeeze before continuing. “But if you really don’t want to go, you don’t have to. You can just hang out with Indie or whatever.”
“That would be weird,” I said as I sat up and rested my back against where a headboard would’ve been if we’d been in a regular bed. “Right? You told them I’m coming, so I have to go.”
He slid up beside me. “It would be weird, but who gives a fuck?”
“I guess I do,” I said with a sigh. “I’m going to get ready.”
I could feel Ransom’s eyes on me as I climbed out of bed and went to the bathroom to clean up. Which I did in record time so that he could have a chance. In that tiny room there was no chance we could share. So while he went in there, I dressed in the bedroom. I’d packed pretty light for the tour, but still I had a nice flowy skirt and cute top that would look good but also appropriate for meeting the boyfriend’s parents. Ransom came out in jeans and a T-shirt, which seemed to be his uniform.
“Let’s go,” he said. “I called a car already. We’re going to have brunch at their hotel.”
“Brunch?” I raised an eyebrow.
“Yeah, I don’t get it, either, but you can get pancakes and meat along with some sort of alcohol, so it’s hard to go wrong.”
“Alcohol?”
“Mimosas. Bloody Marys. That kind of thing.”
“Sounds legit,” I said back with a smile. “Well, let’s go.”
We climbed into the back of the car. Ransom told the driver the name of the hotel and I got to sit back and relax on the ride. Unfortunately, it didn’t take too long.
“They’re already in there,” Ransom said after he’d paid the driver.
“Awesome,” I said back with the best smile I could. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to meet his parents, but the idea made me nervous. Like meeting the parents meant extra attachment and attachment had been the thing I’d fought against for months. At first it had been Chris’ attachment to me, then it had become the idea of mine to Ransom.
Ransom walked into any room, any building, as if he’d been there a thousand times. For all I knew, he was familiar with this hotel, but his parents lived outside of Chicago and he’d told me they were at the Atlanta show because it worked with everyone’s schedules. His mom was a teacher, so she was off for the summer, as were both of his brothers. But his dad had to time it just right along with everyone else’s vacations at his company, he said. Something in tech. Ransom had told me, but I honestly couldn’t remember.
I would’ve been able to pick Ransom’s family out of the crowd without having met them. His brothers looked just like him and they were all younger versions of their dad. Not so much that I’d worry they were cloned, but enough that they had to be closely related. Only his poor mother was the standout with her blonder hair.
“Hey, guys,” Ransom said with smile as we approached the table. His family erupted and jumped up to hug him. He never let go of my hand, though. Once the crowd dispersed, he added, “This is Bellamy Harper. Bellamy, this is my family.” He did give me a quick rundown as to who was who though he’d already told me about them. It was still nice to put faces to the names.
I waved. “Hello.”
“So this is the girl you’re going to marry?” his youngest brother, Brecken, asked.
I snorted, but Ransom just said, “Yup.”
“You know, not being able to embarrass you is really irritating?” Brecken said.
Ransom snorted. “Yup.”
I laughed because his brother had said exactly what I’d thought a hundred times.
“About all that,” his mother interjected with a pointed look.
“Later, Mom.” Ransom looked over at her, but there was nothing playful about it. “You can give me the condom lecture twenty times before the show. I might not get embarrassed easily, but Bellamy does.”
“Fine,” she agreed.
In this situation where normally I would’ve been awkward and standoffish since I’d never had an intact family to experience family gatherings, I felt none of those things. If anything, I was more comfortable with them than I had been with any other group of people that hadn’t included Indie and Maggie.
When I returned to school, I might’ve had more of Chris to deal with, who knew. Maybe by the end of summer he’d have come to his senses. If not, I knew I wouldn’t have to face any of it alone.
Ransom just wasn’t my boyfriend. He was my home.
Thank you for taking the time to read Ransom! Please consider leaving a review here.
Also by Heather Young-Nichols
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Cross
Ransom
Harbor Point
Love by the Slice
Love by the Mile
Love by the Rules
Harbor Point Boxed Set
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Up for Forever
Up for Everything
Up for Grabs: The Boxed Set
Written with Amelia J. Matthews
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Acknowledgments
Amy McNulty, once again, you rock. Thank you for helping take this story and make it something readable even if you had to type the word ‘awkward’ more times than any human should.
Nancy Colbert Hardy, you make all the best covers. I say this every single time so you might be getting tired of hearing how awesome you are.
I always thank my family because most people don’t understand how time-consuming writing a book is and how hard it is to make sure there is balance. I suck at balance sometimes but I’m constantly working on that. But I love that you’re here either way.
Anyone reading this... I appreciate you! You’re taking the time and energy to read this thing that started out in my head and I can’t tell you how awesome that makes me feel. Even if you hated it, that’s cool, but still, you took the time to read it. Not so long ago I couldn’t imagine anyone would want to read my stuff so this is amazing!
About the Author
Heather Young-Nichols is a multi-published YA and contemporary romance author and a native of the great and often very cold state of Michigan. She is better known at home and to her friends as the Snarker-in-Chief, a job she excels at beyond anything she could have imagined. She loves many things, but especially cold coffee, hot books, and baseball. But not necessarily in that order.
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Ransom (Courting Chaos Book 2) Page 17
