By the Playbook

By the Playbook (20)

Kasey was running around in a state of chaos, trying to get the Neanderthals that lived in her house to follow instructions and stop messing things up. I had no idea what she was freaking out about or who most of the people she was shouting about were, but I watched in amusement, my head resting against Ryder's thigh and his hand playing absently with my hair, as she and Caleb shouted back and forth on why he refused to listen to her.

"You're not my mother!"

"Well, your mother is doing a crap job at teaching you table manners! I don't want you embarrassing me!"

"Why the hell are you freaking out? Dawson already knows us!"

"Maryanne and Ezra don't! I don't want them thinking we're some kind of psycho children!"

"The only psycho child in this house is you, God!"

"Mom! Oliver! Caleb's not listening to me!"

From where Oliver was sitting in the armchair with his new fiancée sitting on his lap, it didn't look like he cared that much. He and Emily were too busy murmuring and giggling and acting like a gross love-struck couple to pay too much attention to Kasey.

"Oliver!"

Oliver jerked away from where he was kissing Emily and raised an eyebrow at his little sister. "Can you not see that I'm busy?"

She huffed, frustration written all over her face. "Can you tell Caleb he's an idiot?"

"Caleb, you're an idiot. Why did I have to do that?"

Kasey rolled her eyes as I bit back laughter. "Because he's not listening to me!"

"Why should he listen to you? You should all listen to me and you don't, so..." Oliver trailed off, did a sassy little motion with his head that sent me into giggles again, then returned his attention to fawning over Emily. Kasey huffed loudly, then turned to me.

"Dude, why are you freaking out so much?" Ryder asked, shaking his head. "Dawson already knows what a shitshow this family is. I imagine he's told Ezra and Maryanne that much."

Kasey blew out a long breath, muttered what sounded like a prayer, and stalked into the kitchen. Ryder rolled his eyes and ran a hand through my hair, playing absently with the ends. "If she keeps going at this rate she'll have a heart attack by the age of twenty two."

"What's she freaking out about, anyways?" I asked, closing my eyes.

Ryder chuckled. "She's fully convinced Dawson and Mom are soul mates. She thinks that if we can impress his adoptive parents, he and mom will fall back in love and he'll save us from whatever bullshit Jonathan put us through."

"Ugh, Jonathan," Oliver said in disgust from the armchair, then rolled his eyes. "I swear, if Dawson's not better than the last one I'm finding Mom a boyfriend."

"Thanks for your faith in me," Olivia said dryly. I opened my eyes to see her standing in the doorway and whistled at her, drawing a sheepish smile from her. She was in a dark pair of jeans and flowing white blouse, setting off her tanned skin and golden hair nicely. Her makeup was flawless, her hair curled to perfection, the perfect amount of nervousness in her smile to make her look completely adorable.

"Hot mama," I called, making her laugh.

She smiled at me, then turned to Oliver. "I'm pretty sure that Dawson's better than the last one, thanks. Pretty sure I can find myself a decent guy."

"I'm just saying," Oliver said with a shrug, holding up his and Emily's intertwined fingers, her ring glinting in the light. "Apparently I'm pretty f*ckin' awesome at finding a girlfriend, so I imagine finding a boyfriend would be the same way."