Timing Is Everything

Chapter 9

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Holy crap, YOU FINALLY MADE IT TO THE GOOD PART! Congratulations, that's a lot of reading you just did. 

TW: there's blood and violence in this long-ass chapter. From now on, expect some more blood and violence every once in a while with a lot of swearing (fuck and shit add a little bit of spice to sentences). 

Without further ado, please enjoy this giant chapter :).

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It's Thursday night and somehow, my mother let me miss dinner so I could join Jay's family for a barbecue. I got to meet Jay's dad (Ben, he insisted I call him), Uncle Bill and sister (Candace, a bleach blonde slim-thick goddess who Jay made fly in from Kelowna) earlier this evening. 

It did start off kind of weird (they seemed surprised at first and forcibly polite until Jay left the room with his Uncle and his dad for ten minutes) but then Dallas came and broke the ice with the story of me trying an espresso shot for the time at his Starbucks. Now, we're all sitting in the living room with the fireplace going chatting about various things with various people.

My impressions of Jay's family members so far can be summed up by one word: respect. Jay's brothers goof around with him but it's obvious how much they respect each other. Candace seems like the most put-together person I've ever met and keeps her little brothers in line with just a look. Ben reminds me of my mother, stern and born to be a parent. It's easy to see that he raised his four (Alex makes five) kids based on respect and tough love.

Jay's Uncle looks like Ben's identical twin, although Ben is younger by five years. They both are the same height and slender build, have dark auburn hair that's graying and they both wear frameless glasses. Jay's Uncle has a slightly chubbier face than his brother and his eyes are bright blue instead of Ben's greyish-blue. They both have this air of authority about them (Ben more so) and not gonna lie, I'm kind of intimidated by them.

"I can't believe you were straight in high school." Jane says to Dallas after finishing her third beer.

"Why? Do I not give off straight, if not bi vibes now?" Dallas responds with his arms wide open, revealing his gay pride shirt. Jane, Jay, Shane and I all laugh with Dallas and then I get up off of the couch and straighten out my white and light blue blouse.

"I'm gonna go get some more pie. Does anybody else want any?" I ask. Literally everyone here, including Uncle Bill and Mike, asks for a slice. "Well I guess I'll be making a couple trips."

"Thank you!" They all say at the same time. Everyone laughs and I walk around the corner to the dining room where the homemade pies are (I made them. Yes, I'm a fifties housewife at heart, how did you know?). I'm surprised when I see Alex leaning against the end of the table, finishing off a blueberry pie straight from the tin.

"Hey." I say with a tight smile. (Goddammit Brooklyn! You're such an awful girlfriend for thinking he looks hot in a leather jacket! You know what, I bet Jay would look even hotter in a leather jacket so SUCK IT ALEX!)

"You are an amazing baker." He says with his mouth full. He then points his fork at me and adds "You should pursue this as a career."

"Nah, it's just a fun hobby." I say in an amused tone as I grab more paper plates.

"Well, let me know when you do this 'fun hobby' of yours again. We can get together and compare Disturbed to Five Finger Death Punch over some cupcakes." He says with a side smile right at me.

"I'd enjoy that." I say with a huge grin towards him. I continue cutting slices and putting them on plates and ask "So why are you over here when everyone else is socializing in the living room?" Alex just huffs a laugh and tucks his long dark brown hair behind his ear.