On our way home, Fox called his parents back. “How’s Friday?” Fox turned to me in the passenger seat.
“Friday works.”
He nodded, “We’ll be there, Mom. Can you check with Viola and Sutton to see if they can make it?” His mom said something on the other line, “Yes I’m sure,” he rolled his eyes, “we’ll see you guys Friday. Love you too.” He looked over at me once he disconnected, “I’m sure you heard that.”
I smiled but shook my head, “I mostly tuned it out. I don’t have to hear everything if I want to give someone privacy.”
He laughed, “The problem is you don’t want to give anyone privacy.”
I chuckled, “True, but this time I thought it would be rude to listen in.”
“As if that’s stopped you before,” he said, causing me to giggle. “Where are we staying tonight?”
“I need to pick up some paperwork from work, but I figured we could stay at your apartment tonight; if that works for you?”
“Sounds good.”
Once we got to his place, we showered and settled into bed. I got to work on researching as Fox drifted off to sleep. “Don’t stay up too late babe,” he murmured quietly.
I leaned over and kissed his forehead, “I’ll do my best.”
His eyes opened quickly, “Please don’t research my family.”
I smirked, “I promise I won’t.”
He made a sleepy sound before responding, “Thanks.”
I heard his heart rate slow as he fell asleep. I looked down at him, smiling as I ran my hand through his hair. He made a sleepy sound before smiling and sighing contentedly. I got back to work, smiling when Fox threw an arm around my midsection. I worked until my eyes felt heavy with sleep. I put away my laptop and curled up next to Fox.
Fox and I were standing outside of his parents’ house. He gave my hand a squeeze, “They’re going to love you.” I let out the breath I was holding and nodded. He gave me a quick peck on the temple before opening the door to his parents house. The smell of home overwhelmed my senses which made me smile. His mom was on us almost instantly. She wrapped Fox in a tight hug, “Mom, this is my girlfriend, Amaya.”
She pulled back from Fox and looked me over, “Ms. Grey, it’s nice to meet you.”
“Please Amaya call me Audrina,” she smiled warmly at me before pulling me in for a tight hug. “Your dad is out back grilling. I’m working on finishing up dessert.”
“Do you need any help?” I offered.
She chuckled, “No, thank you. You two go out back and make sure Fletcher isn’t eating all of the food as it comes off the grill.”
We chuckled, walking out back we saw Fletcher working the grill. “Hey Dad!” Fox said over the music.
Fletcher looked over at us, his face lighting up, “Hey!” He finished up on the grill for the moment and walked over to us. He wrapped Fox in a tight hug, “This your girl? The one I’ve heard so much about?”
My cheeks flared as their attention turned to me. Fox gave me a grin, “Yeah. This is Amaya.”
“Mr. Grey, it’s nice to meet you,” he looked me over, like his wife did before pulling me in for a tight hug.
“Please call me Fletcher, Amaya.” When we pulled apart I nodded, “Good. Nicholas, your brother and sister will be here soon.”
“Sutton’s actually stateside?” Fox asked in a surprised tone causing me to squeeze his hand.
Fletcher nodded, “How all three of you have managed to be stateside and in the same state at the same time is a fucking miracle, but it’s happened. Now let’s just hope nothing explodes,” he added with a smirk.
Fox sighed, “We aren’t that bad, Dad.”
“Like hell you aren’t. Do I have to remind you of what happened last time you three got together?”
He smiled slightly but hung his head, “No, you don’t.”
“What happened last time?” I asked, not really sure I wanted to know the answer.
“You don’t want to know,” Fox said before his dad could say anything.
Fletcher chuckled, “Now I kind of want to know,” I said.
“No you don’t. Trust me, babe, you don’t.”
“I’ll tell you later or get Sutton to tell you,” Fletcher told me with a wink, still chuckling.
“Get Sutton to tell her what?” The question came from a woman behind us.
We turned to her and I saw a taller version of Audrina, “Nothing,” Fox responded quickly causing Fletcher to laugh louder and me to chuckle.
His sister raised an eyebrow but dropped the subject, stepping forward with a hand out, “I’m Viola.”
I grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze, “Amaya. It’s nice to meet you. Fox’s told me a lot about you.”
Her eyes narrowed, “Don’t believe a word he tells you.”
I laughed, “Oh come on Vi, have a little faith,” Fox replied.
She gave him a look before turning back to me, “I’ll tell you all you need to know later, right now I need to make sure Mom isn’t giving Jack all of the sugar in the house.”
We all laughed, “You know she is, Sis. It’s what she does best.”
She groaned loudly and walked back into the house. “So what is it you do Amaya?” Fletcher asked.
“I work in the private sector.”
“How did you get into that?”
“My dad. He started the company.”
“Oh, so you work in the office?”
“No, Dad, she works in the field. She’s actually well renowned in the military. We’ve given her a cool nickname and everything,” Fox said defensively.
“What’s the nickname?” Fletcher persisted.
Fox looked at me and I shrugged, “The Ghost.”
“Holy fuck. Nicky, you’re dating The Ghost?” We heard a male voice from behind us.
Fox let out a sigh, “Yeah Suds I am.”
Sutton walked over and grabbed my hand, shaking it, “It’s an honor to meet you Ghost. You and your team saved our asses a year or so ago and for that I’ll be eternally grateful.”
“Please call me Amaya and as for the other thing, we were just doing our job.”
“She saved your asses?” Fletcher questioned.
“Yeah. Our intel was wrong, so we were severely outnumbered; then out of nowhere comes Amaya and her team. They saved us, I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for them.”
Fox pulled me to his side and gave me a kiss on the temple, “You didn’t tell me about that,” his voice rang in my head.
“It’s just what we do. We have people who double check intel given to you guys so we can minimize lives lost on our side,” I said aloud with a shrug.
Fletcher looked at me with gratitude, “Thank you for saving my son. Sorry for the inquisition, but you’re the first girl Nicholas’s brought home in years.”
“It’s no problem. You don’t know what my dad put him through. This is a cakewalk compared to that,” I replied with a laugh.
Fox flinched, “Yeah, Daniel didn’t take it easy on me.”
I chuckled, “But you made it through just fine.”
“Barely,” he whispered into my temple as he gave me another kiss.
I let out another breathy chuckle, before anyone could question our exchange, we heard a small voice, “Uncle Nicky! Uncle Suds!”
Viola’s son launched himself at Fox, “Hey little man. Did Grandma give you a lot of sugar?”
“Yeah,” he releases Fox and wraps his arms around Sutton, “Who is that with Uncle Nicky?” He whispered to Sutton.
“That’s his girlfriend, Amaya. You should go introduce yourself,” he hid his face in Sutton’s chest, “Come on Jack. She’s really nice. You don’t think your Uncle Nicky would have a girlfriend that was mean, do you?”
He shook his head and walked over to me, “Hi my name is Jack.”
I squatted down and offered him a hand, “Hi Jack, my name is Amaya. It’s nice to meet you. Your uncle has told me a lot about you.”
He grabbed my hand as firmly as a five year old can and shook it, “He did?”
I nodded, “Yep. How else would I know you’re ticklish right here?” I started tickling him, he giggled loudly and tried to wrestle out of my grip. He squealed and finally wiggled out of my grasp.
“Save me Uncle Suds,” he said, running back into Sutton’s arms. Sutton grabbed him and started tickling him again. Jack squealed, “Nooo!” He started giggling again.
“What are you guys doing to my poor son out here?” Viola asked.
“Mom! Save me!” Jack yelled between giggles.
“Suds come on. Let him go,” she said but clearly didn’t mean it.
Sutton didn’t let up, causing Jack to squeal again, “Mom! Please!”
“Okay, okay. Suds let him go,” she said a little more seriously. Sutton let him go and he ran behind her, “Dad how’s everything out here? Are you about done?”
“Yep, just a few more minutes,” Fletcher responded, flipping over what meat was left on the grill.
“Great. Amaya, Mom wanted to talk to you,” she gave Fox a pointed look, “Alone.”
“It’ll be fine,” I mind linked him.
“Yeah sure. You don’t know my mom,” he linked back.
Author: Kailan Counahan 