Inject Me Sweetly / Dusk Until Dawn

:Inject Me Sweetly: Chapter Nineteen

I could tell at once my dad didn’t like Vincent. The moment he entered the house, he dodged my hug, opting to head straight for Vincent. They both sized each other up for a few minutes before my dad faked a punch. Well, I didn’t know he was going to fake it, so I’d cried out in protest, but Vincent didn’t flinch. My dad didn’t like that. Vincent folded his hands over his chest, his eyes twitching in annoyance as my dad attacked him with thousands of questions. How old he is, what bad things he’s done, what his grades are in school, what’s his family like, does he have any siblings, how he knows my aunt, and a lot more.

            Now Vincent was glaring at me, as if it was my fault my dad was acting like the Spanish Inquisition.

            “Emily?”

            I twirled on my heel, coming face-to-face with my mom coming through the front door, two bags of groceries in her hand. “Mom!”

            She smiled as I basically threw myself into her arms. “How was vacation?”

            “Ah, interesting,” I answered honestly. “I met some pretty cool people…”

            Her eyes went from my face to Vincent, who was still being barraged by questions. “This young man included? Wow, he’s handsome.”

            I smiled dryly. “Mom… Don’t inflate his ego.”

            “It’s not like he can hear me,” she retorted.

            “You never know,” I muttered, glancing back at Vincent and seeing the corners of his mouth lift up into a smirk.

            “What are you smirking at?” my dad demanded.

            Vincent dropped it. “Nothing, Mr. Brown.”

            Now it was my turn to smirk. He was speaking so formally— it was amusing.

            “Call me Jack,” my dad ordered.

            “Sure, Jack.”

            My mom sighed lightly. “Jack, ease up on the boy. You don’t want him to hate you.” She walked over, holding out her hand. “Hello, Vincent. My name’s Mary.”

            “Nice to meet you,” he responded, stiffly placing his hand in hers.

            “Would you mind helping me with the groceries?” she requested, not waiting for an answer before shoving the bags into his arms. “You look like a strong lad.”

            Vincent smiled tensely. “No problem.”

            I stared at him for a few minutes, awed by his amiable personality. He was a pretty good actor. It never occurred to me he would be this friendly. I wondered briefly if Solomon threatened him. Probably, I thought with a grin.

            Humming to myself, I followed my parents and Vincent into the kitchen. As my mom instructed Vincent how to put everything away and where it went, my dad turned toward me. For a brief second he surveyed me, raising an eyebrow. “Have you been a hermit these past few days?”

            “Er… No? Why?” I responded, furrowing my eyebrows.

            “Well since you went to California, I assumed you would get some sort of tan. To show off to your friends, you know?”

            Tanned? Crap! I didn’t think about that. “Oh, I-I just did more inside stuff this time… Usually I go to the beach and stuff but this time I preferred shopping.”