“That’s wonderful,” she comments, looking over her menu.
“What about hockey?” her father asks.
“That’s going great, sir. I can’t complain.”
“He’s doing really well this season,” Sunny inputs, placing a hand on my forearm.
The waitress comes to our table to take our order. I pick something at random and it’s then that things go downhill.
Her father gets the most serious look on his face, and I become slightly uneasy. “Sunny has been telling us that things have been getting serious between you two,” he states with conviction.
I look at Sunny. “Oh?” She squeezes my hand.
“Is that correct?”
God, this man is intimidating. He’s practically staring me down! “Um, yes,” I say with a clear of my throat.
“What are your intentions?” he asks calmly as the waitress sets our plates of food in front of us.
“My intentions?” Oh, no. He can’t seriously be asking me if I am going to marry his daughter. This isn’t even real! What kind of shit has Sunny gotten me into?
“Daddy! Let’s enjoy our meal, please,” Sunny begs.
“We would like to know,” her mother says with a smile in my direction as if she has an ounce of pity for the directness of her husband.
Hopefully this will put a stop to it, but I don’t think her father will approve. “Sunny and I haven’t discussed anything too far in the future. We’re just enjoying the here and now.”
“Exactly,” Sunny chirps in agreement.
Things fall silent as we eat, and I’m grateful. I’m on edge thanks to her father, and I’m ready to get out of here. Sunny begins to fill the void by talking about her schoolwork and even holds my hand that’s sitting on the table. She doesn’t have to make it look too real because after this, we’re “breaking up.” I still can’t believe that she’s dragged me into this.
“What are your plans for your birthday, Sunny?” her mother asks.
“Levi and I were thinking about going on a weekend trip,” she lies easily. “Isn’t that right, Levi?”
“Yeah,” I answer quickly. “It’s a surprise. I know how much my girl loves surprises,” I smile at her and kiss her temple. This is so ridiculous! I don’t even know when Sunny’s birthday is and I’ve known her for what? A year and a half? My eyes find a waitress as she’s walking a small group to a table. Oh, great, this day just keeps getting better. Presley is with Trevor and I’m guessing their father, based on the similarities.
Her mouth is hanging open and she probably caught that little kiss to Sunny. For Sunny’s sake, maybe she’ll just ignore that we are even here. Ha! Presley tugs hard on Trevor’s sleeve as he pulls out a chair. He turns towards her and she nods her head in my direction.
“Levi?” I glance to Sunny and she says, “My mom asked what your parents do for a living?”
My parents? I don’t want to talk about this! “My old man is retired,” I manage before McCarthy himself walks up to our table and lays a hand on my shoulder, squeezing hard.
“Carr! It’s been a while, man! How have you been?”
I want to groan. “Hey, Trev, I’m doing well. I’m kind of in the middle of something important. We’ll catch up later?”
“Oh, c’mon now, Levi,” he squeezes even harder. “We’re old pals! Surely you have time for me.” McCarthy has the nerve to grin. I glance over to where they were sitting, but I only see the man. Where’s Presley? “Where are my manners?” he exclaims fakely. Trevor holds out a hand to Sunny. “You must be one of Levi’smany girlfriends,” he says when Sunny reluctantly shakes his hand. He turns to her parents and says, “And you two are?”
“Her parents,” Sunny’s mom says in shock.
My anger builds at how McCarthy couldn’t just stay at his damn table. I’m trying to do Sunny a favor and it blows up in both of our faces.
“Going the extra mile with this one, huh, Levi? Didn’t know you were serious with anyone. And here I thought we were best friends!” He laughs. Laughs!
“You don’t know what you’re talking about, McCarthy, so take your ass back to your table, okay?” I grit and shove his hand off my shoulder.
“We’ll catch up later. No doubt about that. Nice to meet you all.” He ends with a nod to everyone. I watch as he walks proudly back to his table and I see Presley glance this way. She looks upset and I’m sure that anger is going to be her next emotion. Presley doesn’t seem the type to let something hurt her for long. She seems like the type to get pissed about it instead of wallowing in hurt.