Backstage Pass: V.I.P. (7 page)

I squeezed my eyes tight and tried to quiet the tremble in my arms. Jesse was the first guy who’d ever made me question honor—both mine and his. I needed to shake this off or I was never going to be able to be free and just enjoy this weekend with his family.

“No pressure, babe. They’re going to love you.”

“Who wouldn’t?”

He laughed. “There you are.” He ran his thumbs beneath my jaw and tipped my face up. His eyes were serious and I drew it in, let it pool in my belly and wash away my worries until I felt lighter. My lips quivered and he settled his mouth against mine. He pulled away and cupped my face. “I’ve been worried about you.”

My heart swelled and everything finally fell away. I shook my shoulders and straightened, feeling like I was physically leaving all of it here. I kissed him quickly and raced through the door. “What’s with all the worrying?”

Blood rushed through my ankle and I hopped once before diving behind the wheel. Jesse got in beside me. “Your foot bugging you?”

“Nah.” I shifted into reverse and pulled out of the driveway. “It feels pretty good, but I get crazy twinges.”

He covered my hand and linked our fingers together. “You always give me crazy twinges.”

I laughed and shook my head, then turned up the radio. “Where to?”

He punched the coordinates into my phone and we got on the highway. His parents were only an hour away, so we’d be there by lunch. Apparently his entire family was descending for the weekend, so I was going to meet both his older brothers and their wives, his little sister, plus the parentals.

“Hopefully you won’t be ready to run screaming down the highway by the time lunch is over.”

I shrugged. “Your family sounds . . . interesting.”

He slapped his thigh. “I’m going to tell them you said that.”

My eyes bugged. “Don’t!”

“They’ll love it. Usually I tell them they’re all crazy.”

I didn’t know what to say to that, and honestly, had no idea what I was in for. Kerri had one brother, but they were twelve years apart, so even family events at her house were never very big. I had a feeling Jesse’s family was going to blow away every perception I had about what family was like.

And I was kind of looking forward to it.

The butterflies started as the computerized voice on my phone guided us off the highway and through a tree-lined neighborhood. Small homes dotted both sides of the street and it looked like a well-loved version of my house at school. Spring flowers sat in tended beds, and a few of the lawns were already turning green. Window shutters matched the color of front doors and there were—honest to God—white picket fences. Suburbia at her finest. Even Mom and Dad’s neighborhood wasn’t this, well . . . neighborhoody.

I slowed as directed and Jesse leaned forward in his seat, nearly vibrating with energy. His fingers tightened on mine and I parked beside the sidewalk. My foot was aching from driving and every muscle in my body was drawn tight.

A little Yorkie bounced up and down on the grass in front of a yellow single story. Daffodils waved in the afternoon sun and there wasn’t a blade of grass out of place. Before I could even get the car in park, Jesse pushed the door open and ran around to open my door. He held out his hand and grinned down at me. “Ready?”

The butterflies mellowed a bit as I settled my palm against his. Hell no I wasn’t ready, but I was forging ahead anyway.

He hugged me tight and hard, then led me toward the door. I could feel a dozen eyes on me and I took a deep breath.

We pushed through the door and a barrage of laugher and voices hit us from the moment we walked in.

Strangely, I instantly felt at home.

A body barreled into Jesse, wrestling him to the living room floor and an older woman waved from the kitchen at the far end of the open space, phone to ear, and stirring a bowl of something.

This was straight out of the Brady Bunch.

I backed up against the door as the wrestling match rolled closer to my newly healed foot.

“Dammit, Stu. Get offfff—” Jesse punched and pushed at the body flailing around on top of him.

“You must be Sasha.” I turned as a shorter, older version of Jesse came down the stairs, hand outstretched in greeting.

Shyness sealed my lips, but I managed a smile and shook his hand.

“Sorry for the chaos.” He led me around the pile of bodies and into the kitchen.

“Is this a special thing, or is it always this loud?” I glanced over my shoulder at Jesse but his face was still buried in an armpit.

“Completely normal.” A bright voice called from my left where the woman I could only assume was Jesse’s mom was pouring batter into a muffin tin.

“This is my wife, Nia. I’m Timothy. We’re Jesse’s parents.”

Jesse’s mom grinned, shoved the muffins in the oven and wiped her hands, then curled me into a huge hug, her tiny frame barely coming up to my shoulder. “We’re so glad you could make it.” She let go and gripped my elbows. “We’ve heard so much about you.”

A fiery blush must have been racing up my cheeks based on the amount of heat burning beneath my skin. I didn’t want him to have told them all about me—that seemed like a ton of pressure to live up to in one weekend. “Thanks for having me. He’s told me lots about his family and I was really looking forward to meeting you all.”

“Hey babe.” Jesse’s arm curled around my waist and he was huffing. “That was Stu. He’s a d—”

“Jesse.” His mother warned, and I stifled a laugh.

“Dope, Mother. I was going to say dope.”

“Mmm, hmm. Sure you were.” She slapped him playfully on the arm. I was seriously watching a scene from an alien planet. The closest I ever got to anything like this was when all the musicians and their nuclei of families hung out together, but even then we’d never had this kind of playful camaraderie. Even though it was crazy different, I was digging it. The noise might take some getting used to, though.

Jesse bounded to the fridge and rummaged around for a water bottle, found what he was looking for, and took a huge pull off one, rolling another toward me. I caught it and Timothy held out a stool for me at the breakfast bar. I hesitated, then wedged myself closer to the wall so I could keep an eye on all the action.

“So, Jesse tells us you’re into landscape architecture.”

I smiled. “Design mostly, but I’m set to major in that, yes.”

“We’re glad he’s pursuing business.”

“Over music?”

Jesse coughed on his water and shot a look at me. I raised my eyebrows. Was I not supposed to bring that up? The only time we’d really discussed our majors was that day at the waffle house.

“I mean, he’s super smart, but—” I cleared my throat and twisted the cap off my water bottle. Jesse glared at me over his. Crap. I hadn’t really thought about it. He’d said such great things about his family, and now I was messing it up inside of five minutes. My guts were already in knots and now they were tightening.

Timothy patted my hand. “He’s just teasing you dear. We’re very proud of his singing.”

“And we also believe in the importance of a backup plan.” His mom squeezed him and he hugged her back. “Don’t we, Jesse?”

He rolled his eyes at me. “Yes, Mom.”

She let go and crossed to the fridge. “Are you guys hungry?” Quick check at the clock. “I planned lunch in thirty minutes, but I can whip you up something now if you need it.”

“We’re fine.” I took another sip and desperately wished my dry throat would chill out so I didn’t feel like I’d been walking for a hundred miles in the desert.

“Okay, just some snacks then.”

I opened my mouth to object, but Timothy patted my hand again. His hands were so soft, and he was such a tinier version of Jesse that I couldn’t get over how sweet he was. “Better to just let her at it. She’s going to feed you, and that’s that.”

I smiled and relaxed a little bit. At least with all the chaos no one was going to notice my nerves. Jesse moved to my side and squeezed my shoulders. “You okay?”

His fingers dug into the tightness beside my neck and I leaned into the pressure. I sighed. “Good.”

His mom slid a plate loaded with cheese and bread, smoked fish and a few other things I wasn’t entirely sure about. Jesse reached over me and plucked a block of cheese and three crackers. I ate a cracker and my stomach growled loudly.

“Jesse!” A beautiful slender girl slid into the kitchen in her socks, black hair flying around her face. He dropped the bread and swung her up in his arms, twirling her around once. “Ran. He buried his face in her neck and hugged her tight.”

Something about his protectiveness shot tears straight to my eyes and I had to blink them away. How amazing to have an older brother—three older brothers—to watch over and protect her. I tipped my head to the smoked fish and made a tiny cracker sandwich and tried to be invisible while she bubbled and cooed over how long his hair was now.”

“Miranda, he’s only been gone for a month.”

I grinned. They were fun.

“Is this your girl?” Miranda’s obvious stage whisper made me laugh.

Jesse pulled me onto my feet and into his side. “Sasha, this is my little sister, Miranda.”

She grinned and pumped my hand. Though she wasn’t much taller than their mom, she exuded enough energy to be the biggest one in the room. I liked her. And that was a huge relief. I’d never met a boyfriend’s family before, and I had just assumed that sisters normally played some sort of overprotective second mother role. Glad to see how wrong I was—at least about Jesse’s family.

A comfortable ease settled over the group and I climbed back on my chair to watch. Jesse’s dad stopped patting my hand long enough to pitch in on lunch, and though I tried to help, no one would let me do anything. “No guests helping,” Jesse’s mom chided me a couple times. “Eat. That’s enough.”

They set the table and the room filled with delicious smells of well-cooked food. Sour sauces mingled with spicy mustards and Jesse’s father made a rice dish that made my stomach grumble even more. Jesse and his siblings set the table—seriously, like right out of a sitcom. I always had to set the table too, but there wasn’t nearly as much giggling and laughing and shoving when I did it.

The doorbell rang and they all hushed and bodies jerked toward the sound like alert little prairie dogs.

“Must be Mo,” Miranda whispered to Jesse.

“What’s with the door?” They were acting like it was the Germans and their last name rhymed with Scherbatsky. I wanted to laugh at how they were acting but this family still had me so off-kilter, and after the musician scene, I wasn’t sure I wanted another embarrassed moment, even if they were hazing me.

Miranda shrugged. “Probably has his hands full of laundry.”

“Hide.” This time it was his mom with the stage whisper. My eyebrows could not get further into my hairline as I watched this awesome tribute to the three stooges. Every single one of them moved like it was the Hide-and-Seek World Finals. To say I was dumbstruck wouldn’t have even covered ten percent of my wonder and amazement at this family’s antics.

As they scrambled to hide, they did a horrible job at concealing their muffled laughter. This was obviously a prank they did often, but I couldn’t grasp the complete buy-in from every member, so I sat there on the stool and watched with an entertained glee.

Jesse’s mom hid in a lower cabinet and his dad wheeled around me then ducked behind the sliding glass door curtains.

Jesse shoved Miranda over the back of the couch, grabbed me, and pulled us into the pantry.

Laughter bubbled up inside me and I pressed my lips together while Jesse’s chest heaved with his own fit of giggles.

One more doorbell ring, then a knock. “Come on guys, not funny.”

This only set off another round of muffled laughing. Tears formed at the corners of my eyes, and if I didn’t let some of this laughter out I was seriously going to pee my pants.

A thump, a curse, keys in a lock and then the front door opening. Something heavy slid across the tile entry and I strained for other clues. My chest was going to burst from holding all this in.

Unintelligible grumbling moved around in the front room, and a giggle erupted from beneath the counter on the other side of the pantry door. They might move like the Hide-and-Seek World Champs but their stealth was awful. Not being able to see anything was totally heightening my hearing, but it wasn’t easing my anxiety any. The newcomer marched into the kitchen and opened cabinet doors until he found Jesse’s mom. She laughed like a child and my heart wasn’t going to be able to take much more of this. Now I wanted to lose as badly as I wanted to win so I could get some release.

A muffled giggle further in the room and Jesse squeezed me tight against him. How in the world was I hiding in a pantry playing a child’s game with a musician? Talk about a rollercoaster. I kissed his cheek and his arms tightened.

Two more squeals—yes, his dad totally squealed—and then light flooded our hiding spot.

“Aha!” A younger version of Timothy held the door wide, legs spread, finger pointing at us. He jerked to attention when he saw me in Jesse’s embrace. “Shoot! Sorry!” Without another comment or greeting, he quickly shut the door.

Rolling laughter burst from me and I bent over, cradling my stomach. Never, never in all my life was I going to get used to this level of playfulness from a family. They were amazing.

And strangely normal—even if they did have a high quotient for silliness.

I adored them.

Jesse opened the door and let us out, then introduced me to his oldest brother, Mota—or Mo for short—visiting from his place in upstate New York. I laughed through the entire thing, tears streaming down my face. I really did try to get it under control, but I’d held it in too long, and after everything I’d had tossed at me over the last couple weeks, I just rode it out.

Their mom took the entire game in stride and was back to making lunch. “Where’s Lan?”

“She dropped me off and took the kids to run a last minute errand. I don’t think she was counting on missing a wicked game of hide and seek.” He shook his head. “Good to be home.”

I let out a deep sigh, then did a quick head count. “Wait! What about Stu?”

Jesse shrugged and shook Mo’s hand. “He always takes it to the extreme, so we quit looking for him.”

“What’s extreme?” I had a hard time believing there was such a thing where these people were concerned. My entire visit with them so far had been extreme.

Mo shrugged out of his jacket and hung it on the coat rack beside the small desk. “We’ve found him in the attic, on the roof, under a car. Seriously, he’s like a Dr. Seuss rhyme.”

“How long will he stay hidden?”

They all laughed. “If we’re lucky, another twenty minutes.”

“Ha, ha.”

We turned and Stu crawled out from under the couch cushions. I couldn’t even figure out how he’d hidden in there. Extreme didn’t even come close.

Mo slapped him on the shoulder and they hugged. “You’re just too good for me man.”

Stu puffed up. “Still the reigning champion.”