Love The One You're With

Chapter 14-Honestly

I felt a panic bubble inside me as I watched my dad try to make sense of the situation. The smile I had seen him give Sam was a stark contrast to the frown he now wore while assessing Jake, whose hair was still damp from our shower.

"Dad, this is Jake," I said nervously. Jake held out his hand and smiled. My dad shook his hand, but the frown remained.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, sir," Jake said as confidently as he could manage. Dad nodded in response, and I reached out to Jake, interlacing our fingers before pulling his arm around me. I was so sure Dad would like him, and it felt odd that he didn't. "Quinn says there is a steakhouse down town that you really like?" Jake attempted to fill the awkward silence.

"Yeah, it's kind of a thing for Quinn and I.." Dad replied plainly. "Sam, you should join us!" He said almost excitedly as he turned to Sam and smiled. Sam's eyes shot over to me, silently asking if that was okay.

"Oh, I don't want to intrude.." he replied softly still waiting on me to give him an answer.

"It's no intrusion! You're invited, and I'm sure Quinn wouldn't mind the company.." Dad said confidently as he turned towards me almost defiantly. Clearly he was not a Jake fan, and he was not too shy to let me know.

"I've already invited Jake, Dad," I attempted to stand up for him as he kissed my cheek gently. My dad shrugged and sat back down beside Sam to finish their movie while Jake and I finished getting ready. I dragged Jake back to my room so I could apologize.

"I'm so sorry! He's not normally like this...I was so sure he'd love you," I whined as I fussed over Jake's hair. He held me close to him by the hips and smiled.

"It's okay, love. It doesn't change how we feel about each other, so it's not a big deal. He'll eventually come around, I'm sure," Jake said confidently, but I could tell he was still nervous. I leaned in and kissed him deeply, pressing my tongue into his mouth as his grip on my hip moved to my ass. I giggled and pulled away, knowing where this would lead if I didn't stop it now. "Do you think this is okay?" He asked as he leaned back to show me his full outfit. He was wearing a pair of black skinny jeans that were cuffed at the bottom, black Chelsea boots, a gray and white tie dye shirt that had the bottom hem cut off, and the denim button up I was wearing earlier.

"I think you look cute, babe," I replied before leaning in to give him a quick peck on the lips. I called us an Uber before walking back into the living room. Sam and Dad were laughing together, and I know it was killing Jake, judging by the way his face dropped. "Are you guys ready? Our Uber should be here soon.." I said plainly.

The ride to the restaurant was fairly uneventful. My dad rode up front while I rode in the back with the boys. When we arrived, we were seated quickly at a booth. Jake and Sam on one side, with my dad and I on the other. We ordered our meals, and tried to just chat while we waited on them to arrive. I could tell Jake was feeling left out so I suggested he go get a drink from the bar.

"He's older?" Dad asked with a distasteful look.

"Yeah, I mean only a few years. He took a few years off before enrolling in college.." I explained glancing over to Sam for backup.

"We are in a band with our other brothers, and Jake was really dedicated to making it work...it's taking longer than he expected, so we all enrolled in college as a back up plan almost," Sam laughed as he explained.

"A band of brothers huh?" Dad seemed impressed as he raised his eyebrows. My dad had always been kind of nerdy, but he loved music and instruments.

"Jake plays guitar, Dad," I beamed as Jake returned with a glass of whiskey.

"Yeah?" Dad asked as Jake took his seat. "What's your guitar of choice?" I smiled as he asked because I knew Jake would love to nerd out about his guitars.