Picture Perfect (10 page)

We ordered an insane amount of food, but Todd swore that we were going to eat everything.  “Just wait, when we stand up the plates will be empty.”

We’d all ordered margaritas, even Flynn’s grandparents.  I loved margaritas but didn’t often order them back in Philly.  My favorite part was the salted rim, and I moaned in appreciation when I took my first sip.  “This is, hands down, the best margarita I’ve ever had.  It’s perfection!”

When I looked up at Flynn, I found myself locked under the most intense look I’d ever been on the receiving end of
, more intense even than the night of the concert.  His eyes were pure panty melting lust, and I got lightheaded for a minute.  We were at a dinner with his family and he was looking at me like he was going to eat me. He shocked the hell out of me when he leaned forward, wrapped his hand around my neck and pulled me in for a quick kiss, the tiniest touch of his tongue against mine, just like he’d done in the hotel lobby. I could feel myself blushing as he pulled back.  When I looked at his family to apologize, they were beaming at us.  Thank god that crisis was averted.

I was like a kid on Christmas morning sitting next to Tessa at dinner.  I’d never brought anyone to something with my family and friends before and it felt monumental.  Hell it didn’t just feel that way; it
was
that way.

My G
ram was quite enamored of her, I could tell. Janice also had an ear-to-ear smile, and I knew that was because she liked Tessa, Ian and Devon.  Janice and Steve have always been great about Cole’s sexuality, but it has bothered her that Cole has never had a real relationship with either sex. I think it was fairly obvious to everyone in the family that he was about to try to embark on a relationship with both, and that made us all happy.

Gram and P
op stole the spotlight at the table, as usual.  The two of them were absolutely hilarious, and being with them was always made me happy.  I missed my family terribly when I was on the road, and I was glad that this coming tour would be the last time I’d be away for an extended period of time.

Leaning forward, Pop addressed Tessa.  “How long are you in town?”

Even though I already knew her answer, I hated it.

“I’m here for two more days.  I’ll be back a month after that, which is one week before the tour kicks off here.”

Fuck that was terrible.  I couldn’t imagine not seeing her for a month.  We were just at the start of whatever we were going to be, and I wanted… no, I
needed
her to be there.  I’d never needed a woman before.  It should have scared the shit out of me, but honestly, I loved it.

Pop jumped in right at that moment with
and shared some details about his courtship with my Gram.

“Sylvia and I grew up in Boston. I was a steamfitter and my job took me all over the place. I met her just nine days before I was due to leave for a t
wo month job in Arizona.”  Grabbing my Gram’s hand, Pop smiled and kissed her cheek before turning back to Tess. 

“I
hated the idea of the distance because I knew, literally the moment I laid eyes on her, that Sylvia was it for me.  I was afraid that she’d find someone else while I was gone, but it turned out to be the best thing that could have happened.  We talked on the phone once a week and wrote letters every day.  That time apart let us get to know each other differently than we would have had we been living near each other.  It was beautiful.  By the time I came home, I knew Sylvia better than anyone in the world, and she knew me the same way.  When I was leaving for those two months, I thought we’d never get through it.  Fifty-three years later, I see the error of my thinking.  We were twenty-year-old kids who didn’t know a damn thing about being in a relationship.  That time apart helped us.  Six months later we were married, and the rest is history. I love this woman more than life itself, and those three months helped me realize that.  I’m one lucky son-of-a-gun.”

Staring at my Pop I couldn’t help but smile.  My dad was right.  I
had
learned at the knee of the master.  Pop definitely knew about romance and keeping a relationship alive.  My grandparents were in there seventies, but were still frisky.  Like, seriously frisky.  They cuddled, held hands, kissed in public and had no qualms telling my dad and I not to come over if they were planning to “make whoopee.”  No joke.

Gram basically glowed while Pop spoke.  “
You really are a silver tongued devil Mason Rand.”

Oh crap.  They were going to get frisky right at the table. While
the rest of us were used to it Tessa, Ian and Devon weren’t.  I hoped they weren’t going to have an issue with it.  Mary used to tell me that my grandparents were disgusting old perverts.  It was just another thing that she and I disagreed about.  I thought my grandparents were awesome, and I found tremendous satisfaction in how in love they still were.

Instead of looking disgusted, Tessa
was teary eyed.  Turning to me, she smiled.  “That’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.” 

Reaching under the table she grabbed her little camera from her purse.  In seconds she was snapping pictures of my grandparents, and I felt myself falling for her a little bit more.  She took pictures of everyone at the table, including some family shots of me with my family and Cole with his.  I noticed that she went out of her way to get
some pictures of Cole with Devon and Ian, and that touched me as well.  Tessa was very, very thoughtful.  I liked that a lot.  A whole lot.

Gram asked Tess for her camera and then she took a few pictures of us together. I couldn’t wait to get a look at those.  Gram asked Tess to forward the photos to her and Tes
s took down her email.

“I’ll get them to you right away Sylvia,” she said with that beautiful smile of hers.

Gram couldn’t have been more thrilled.  “You’re an absolute joy Tessa.  I can’t tell you how happy I am to see my Flynny-boy with a good girl. That’s all any of us have ever wanted.”

Tessa looked like a guppy as her mouth opened and closed and she tried to think of something to say.  “Sylvia, we’re not… I don’t know if… Flynn might not want…”

Grabbing her hand, I pulled it to my mouth before pressing a kiss on her palm.  Looking her straight in the eye I told her the absolute truth, and I didn’t whisper.  Fuck it all, I wanted everyone to know that she meant something.  “I want, babe.  Don’t even question that.”

At that point Tessa just gaped at me and said nothing.  It was like she’d been struck speechless. Luckily Gram plowed on.

“I always wanted a granddaughter.  Heck, I wanted a few.  I wanted a large family, something
really
big.  Mason and I were hell bent on having a little army of our own.  Mason was a twin, but his sister passed away when they were babies and I was an only child, so we both wanted a big family.  Unfortunately, there were complications when I had Todd, and it caused me to hemorrhage.  Additional children were out of the question, but that was fine because god blessed us with the best son in the world.  Then Todd met Rachel.  They knew each other for six hours before he came home and told me that she was it for him.  They were both just nineteen years old and I know most people were stunned that they got so serious so fast, but when you meet your soul-mate, you know. We could all tell, too.  It was impossible to be with them and not see how connected they were. When they got married two months later, Mason and I finally had a beautiful daughter.  I knew that girl was going to give me a gaggle of grandchildren.  She gave us our perfect Flynn, and he’s been the light of my life since the day he was born and his chubby hand reached out and touched my finger.  We spoiled him rotten, but he was such a wonderful child. Through Flynn we got Cole, and I love him as one of my own. Todd and Rachel had been trying to have another baby, and I was so excited that my family would be growing. I just knew granddaughters were in my future. And then, our Rachel got sick.  My son lost the love of his life, my grandson lost his mother, Mason and I lost the daughter of our hearts and we all lost the chance to have a bigger family.  Todd never remarried because he never found anyone that made him feel the way Rachel did.  You can call me an old fool, but I’ve prayed every day that Flynn would bring home someone for us to love.  I just know that we were meant to be a bigger family.  I’ve always felt it. I’m counting down the days until this stubborn ass gives me some great-grandchildren to love.  Flynn’s twenty-nine years old and you’re the first girl he’s ever introduced us to.  Let me enjoy the moment, sugarplum.”

My Gram broke my heart with that explanation, completely ripped me open.  I hated the thought of the people I loved
hurting, and I knew that only having one son and one grandchild wasn’t all that she wanted because she had so much more love to give.  I felt bad though, because I knew she had to have made Tessa uncomfortable by saying all of that.

Instead of being uncomfortable, Tessa turned to my Gram and pulled her in for a hug.  “That was beautiful Sylvia.  You’re an amazing woman, and I just know that your future great-grandchildren are going to adore you.”

We were past the twenty-four hour mark of knowing each other by that point, so it was pure insanity that I spent the rest of the time at the table imagining Tessa pregnant with our child.

Our dinner lasted for almost three hours.  Everyone had a wonderful time, and we all laughed and ate entirely too much.  Tessa, Devon and Ian all fit in, and Cole looked like the cat that ate the canary.  I figured I had the same look on my face.

Hugs and kisses were exchanged as we made our way to the parking lot to leave.  Tessa told Gram that she’d email her the photos as soon as she got home and Gram reminded Tess to follow her on Twitter. Gram couldn’t seem to believe her ears when Tessa told her she wasn’t even on Twitter.

“What? My goodness Tessa
, you’re behind the times! You
must
make an account.  Everyone does the Twitter these days sugarplum.”

My father and grandfather both hugged
Tess, telling her that they wanted to see her at dinner in the week she was here before the tour started. Dad also told her that she needed to come over for breakfast to eat one of his omelets.

It was very clear to me that my family didn’t just approve of Tessa, they really liked her and they were welcoming her with open arms.

It was just after eight but the night was still young.  I didn’t want to take Tess back to her hotel and just drop her off.  I wanted… no, I needed… to spend more time with her.  A lot more time.

I was in deep shit.

Like, knee deep
, no paddle and there wasn’t any way out.

Flynn’s family was perfection.  I
liked them all, particularly his Gram.  But most of all, I adored Flynn. 

Like an absolute idiot, once his Gram
planted the idea in my head about Flynn giving her great-grandchildren, I sat thinking about how beautiful it would be to carry his babies.  Yes, I know that makes me nuts.  I barely knew him and I was wistful about the idea of a child with Flynn’s eyes holding my hand and asking me for butterfly kisses.

Getting into the car with him was like being enveloped in a sensual cocoon.  It was just the two of us and it felt like we were alone in the world.  The Foo Fighters were on the car stereo, Dave Grohl was singing Everlong
, and my heart was beating out Flynn’s name.  When he reached over and took my hand in his, I flushed from head to toe.

I kept trying to snap back into reality, repeatedly reminding myself that he was Flynn Rand, ridiculously famous love
‘em and leave ‘em singer.  The reminders didn’t work for shit. 

I needed to talk to Jess, wanted her to burst my bubble and bring me back to planet Earth.  I’d texted with her a bunch of times since I’d gotten to LA, but had never divulged what was happening with Flynn.  I planned to but I wanted to do it face to face.  That left me in la-la land with no anchor in the real world.  What was happening with Flynn couldn’t be real. 

When we got back to my hotel, Flynn came up to my room.  I expected him to kiss me, but instead he asked if I wanted to watch a movie.  It was so normal that I couldn’t refuse.  I didn’t want him to leave, even though I was scared shitless.

It was my brilliant idea to watch the movie in the bedroom.  “Don’t think I’m being forward or anything, but that daybed couch thing is too small for both of us to sit comfortably.  I’m stuffed from dinner and want to spread out.  We can hang on the bed like it’s a big couch.”

We held hands as we watched “
Horrible Bosses
” and the two of us laughed like idiots through the whole thing.  When I was with him like that, I forgot about the whole celebrity thing. 

Once the movie ended, Flynn asked if I’d mind watching another one.  I was tired but I didn’t want him to leave so I said yes.  We chose “
The King’s Speech
,” and during the movie he pulled me against him so that I could curl up under his arm. He smelled so amazing that my mouth actually watered.  Who smelled that good? A man’s smell had never gotten to me before, but with Flynn it was making me crazy.  I rested my head on his chest and before I knew it the sound of his heartbeat had lulled me to sleep.