It’s Celeste’s brother I recognize first, in the moments before his fist connects with my jaw. I saw it coming and let him have it, but fuck, that man packs a punch.
“Don’t!” Celeste shouts, trying her best to get between us. In one swift move, I pull her behind me and out of harm’s way. He might be her brother, but I don’t like the anger I see in his eyes. I don’t want him anywhere near her until I’m certain he won’t touch her.
Archer looks me in the eye, his anger making way for confusion once he realizes I have no intention of hitting him back or even defending myself at all. “What the fuck is going on here?”
“Indeed,” Celeste’s father says, his eyes running down my half-naked body. Thank fuck I managed to get my boxers on, at least. It’s obvious what went down, but this situation would be so much more embarrassing if I’d had my cock out when they walked in. “Zane Windsor?”
“Mr. Harrison,” I murmur, forcing a polite smile as I rub my jaw. That’s going to bruise, no doubt. This is not how I wanted to be formally introduced to my future in-laws.
Celeste’s mother stares at me and snickers before suppressing a smile. “I’ve been wondering why my sweet, attentive daughter suddenly seemed to be glued to her phone. It made no sense that she wanted to spend every evening all alone in her house. I suspected there might be a boy, but I didn’t think it’d be you, Zane.”
Celeste places her palm against my back and moves just slightly so she can face her family, her head peeking out behind my arm. “I can explain and I will,” she says, “but first I need you guys to give us some space.”
Her father and brother look like they’ll protest, but just as they open their mouths to object, Celeste’s mother straightens her spine, her expression hardening. “Out,” she snaps.
I tense, surprised, as both men share a look before instantly obeying her. Something about it makes my heart feel heavy — it makes me wonder if my own mother would’ve been like that if she’d still been here, gentle but imposing.
She follows them out, and Celeste turns toward me the second the door falls closed behind her. “I’m so sorry,” she says, gently reaching for my jaw. “My parents were supposed to come over for dinner, but not for another few hours. I suppose they thought they’d surprise me since Archer seems to have flown in. I never should’ve told them where to find the spare key.”
I wrap my hand around her waist and pull her closer. “It’s okay, baby,” I murmur. “But what are we going to do?”
Celeste rises to her tiptoes and presses the softest kiss to my cheek before pulling back to look at me, her gaze searching. “If it’s okay with you, I’d like to take this opportunity to introduce you to my family. They aren’t like my grandfather, Zane. I can’t promise you they’d be okay with this, but that’d be because of the years I spent complaining about you. I don’t… I don’t think they care about our grandparents’ longstanding rivalry.”
I grin at her and gently brush her hair out of her face. “You’ll introduce me as your boyfriend?” I ask, my heart pounding wildly.
She blushes and nods. “If that’s okay?”
“It’s more than okay, Celestial.”
She smiles up at me. “Then we’d better get dressed. Somehow, I think they might like you a bit better when you’re wearing clothes.”
I chuckle and grab the collar of my shirt to pull her closer. “Then you’ll have to take off my shirt first, Goddess.”
Her arms wrap around my neck again, and she kisses me softly, slowly, almost like she’s trying to reassure me. She’s so fucking precious. “It’ll be okay,” she promises me, and my heart skips a beat.
Celeste keeps shooting me worried looks as we get dressed, and it’s so fucking surreal to have her worry about me like that. This isn’t what I expected — I thought she’d be ashamed of me, but that isn’t the case at all.
“Come on,” she says, her hand wrapping around mine.
She leads me into the living room, where her brother and father are seated on some boxes filled with my stuff, all random little things that Celeste liked in my house and that I’ve brought over for her in the last couple of weeks. It’s almost like they were put in a time-out, sitting in the corner instead of next to Celeste’s mother on the sofa. Both men tense when we walk in, their eyes dropping to our joined hands.
Celeste tightens her grip on me and straightens her spine, just like her mother did earlier. “Archer, before I say anything further, you’ll apologize to my boyfriend for hitting him for no reason. You’re the one who barged in on us uninvited and unannounced. He did absolutely nothing wrong and didn’t deserve to be treated with such brutality.”
I stare at her in awe, my chest expanding with pride. She’s standing up for me? I don’t think anyone other than my siblings has ever done that for me.
“Your what?” Archer says, jumping to his feet.
“Sit down,” their mom snaps, and I watch in fascination as he slowly sinks back down onto the box he’s claimed as his chair. Is that the power of a mother? My grandmother is powerful in her own right, but it isn’t quite the same.
Celeste’s mother crosses her arms and raises one brow as she stares her son down. “Your sister is right. This is her home, and we barged in without notice. Not only did we invade her privacy, but you also assaulted her… guest. Apologize.”
Archer looks at his mother, his face filled with betrayal, and it’s surreal. He’s well on his way to becoming a multi-millionaire, having co-founded a Fintech firm that tripled in value in just the last three months. Yet you’d never guess that looking at him now, faced with his mother. It’s odd how strangely jealous I find myself. I’d give the world to have my mom chastise me over something, to witness how much she cares. “You can’t be serious, Mom.”
She just stares at him until he grits his teeth and turns toward me. “I apologize for punching you,” he says, but he looks like he’d like to add something to that sentence. Likely the words only once.
I merely nod at him. I have no desire to fuck with him, not now, and not ever. If I play my cards right, he’ll end up becoming my brother-in-law, after all.
Celeste’s father rises to his feet and extends his arm toward the garden. “Why don’t we have a chat outside,” he says, throwing his wife a reassuring look. She sighs and nods, but Celeste tenses.
“No,” she rushes to say. “You’re not taking him anywhere.”
I bite back a smile and turn to look into her eyes. I gently brush her hair out of her face and shake my head. “I’ll be right back, okay?” She parts her lips, her expression conveying her worries, but I simply cup her cheek, the two of us communicating wordlessly until she nods in resignation. I’m so tempted to kiss her forehead, but I just know that’d earn me another punch from either of the men behind me, so I smile at my girlfriend before turning to follow her brother and father into the garden.
