Enchanted to Meet You

My dad was asleep at the kitchen table, his face a few inches from being submerged in his plate of pasta.

I touched his elbow. “Dad,”

He stirred and then sat up slowly, rubbing his cleanly shaved head. “What’s wrong, baby?”

I bit my lip and checked the time. “Nothing,” I paused, waiting to see if he was awake enough to understand me. “I just got home.”

His sleepy eyes lifted just enough to see the little green numbers on the microwave. “You better go to bed.” He muttered, kicking himself out of the chair.

“Okay.” I said quickly.

He put his plate in the sink and turned on the faucet. I stood there leaning against the chair, praying that he would hurry up and go to sleep before he realized I was out until almost 1AM. Again.

There are only 24 hours in a day. I like to spend 25 of them with my favorite werewolf.

“Did Charlie get back into work today?” I attempted to get his mind onto other things besides me.

“He did.” Dad turned off the sink. “He’s doing alright.”

“That’s good.”

He grabbed the towel next to the sink to dry his hands. “Have you talked to any of the Clearwater’s lately?”

I avoided eye contact. “Uh, yeah. I think they’re okay, too.”

“His kids are so young…his son is your age, right?”

There was no physical way to hide my smile. “Yeah.”

I can’t believe he didn’t notice. I practically had a neon sign on my face that read I LOVE HIM. “I‘ll see you in the morning.” He kissed my forehead and headed towards the stairs.

. . . . . . . .

“Valerie!”

I cringed. It can’t be good when Dad says my name like that.

I left my book on my bed and hurried down the stairs. Dad was waiting at the open front door, facing outside.

“What is it?” I asked, trying to look over his shoulder.

He stepped away to allow four six-foot-plus teenage wolf boys greet me.

“Hey, Val!” Quil exclaimed.

My eyes scanned over Embry, Jared, and Quil, finally locking on Seth. “Hi, guys.”

I think my dad growled.

“We’re going cliff di…swimming.” Embry stuttered, his eyes wide like my father‘s.

“We’re going to the beach.” Jared summed up. “Are you busy?”

“Um…” I glanced briefly at Dad, his expression one that needed to disappear fast. “Dad, these are Jacob Black’s friends.” My eyes were locked again. I grabbed Seth’s arm and tugged him closer. “And this is Seth Clearwater.”

Embry’s voice was a whisper, but I heard it. “Are we witnessing the introduction to Daddy?”

Jared elbowed him in the ribs.

Seth used his charming personality to win my dad over. “It’s nice to meet you, sir.” He held out his hand respectively, offering a handshake.

My father stared at it for a second, finally taking it in his own. The only reason he did was because I told him he was Seth Clearwater.

Seth’s other hand was sneaky. It wound through mine very subtly, so subtle that Dad still didn’t notice.

“So can I go cliff…swimming?”

Dad’s eyes took turns glaring at each of them. He finished with me, his eyebrows less harsh. “Alright.”

Relief. “’Kay, see you later.” I went to jumped the two stairs and try to lead them all away, but I’d forgotten someone was attached to me.

Seth being the stronger one stayed put, as I sling-shotted back to my starting place.

My father’s eyes stared at our conjoined hands like we each had 40 fingers.

I felt the color drain from my face. “Bye, Dad.” I tugged hard on Seth’s hand to get him to follow me.

I cursed under my breath once I was safe inside Quil’s car.

“That was totally Quil’s idea.” Embry swore, turning in the passenger seat to look at me in the back. Seth slid in beside me.

I said nothing.

“I didn’t know your dad was going to answer the door.” Quil defended himself.

“It’s okay.” Seth told me. “Why are you upset?”

“I’m not.” My stomach was clumped and my voice was shaking.

“He was gonna find out anyway.” Embry said.

“Why haven’t you told him?” Quil asked, looking at me through the rear view mirror.

“I don’t know.”

“You have to admit, when you started running away -”

“Shut up.” Seth snapped. It was odd, considering I’d never seen him like that.

We got to the cliffs and watched as Embry and Quil raced each other like little boys. They both jumped with grace and inelegance at the same time, yelling all the way down. Once they jumped over the horizon, Seth turned to face me.

“God, I thought they’d never leave us alone.” He breathed. His voice was impatient, but he kissed me delicately, like a china doll. Like he wanted the moment to last forever.

“Well why did you bring them?” I asked, kissing his jaw line once and then played with the neck of his shirt. I was in a daze.

“They kind of just showed up.” He said.

“And you let them follow you?”

“I guess so.”

I dropped my fingers from his shirt to his hands. “How’s Jake?”

Seth rolled his eyes dramatically. “He’s such a baby. ‘Get me this, get me that. Fluff my pillow.’”

I laughed. “Did he really ask you to fluff his pillow?”

“Hell yes. It’s like I’m his mom.”

I ran my hand through his hair. “You’re cute.”

He seemed offended by my compliment.

“What’s your issue now?” I asked, pretending to be annoyed.

“Everybody says I’m cute.” He whined.

“And that’s bad?”

“Yeah.”

“Why?”

“Because…” He paused, searching for the right phrase.

In defeat, he pressed my back up against Quil’s car and kissed me deeply, the kind of kiss that made my brain melt with everything else. He captured my bottom lip between his own, sending chills down my spine. My hips were burning with his fingers peeking just a little under my shirt to tickle them. For lack of a better phrase and a functioning brain to form one, it was incredibly hot.

He stepped back just as quickly, his hands folded behind him. He raised his eyebrows, awaiting my response.

I blinked four times before I could speak. “Well.”

He helped me. “Was that cute?” He spat the word like it was childish.

I shook my head too many times and held out my arms, waiting for him to come back so I could wrap them around his neck and win myself another one of those hot kisses.

. . . . . . . .

I was waiting for Seth to get out of the shower in his living room when it happened.

The door bell rang twice, as I was told it would. Paul was coming to steal some of Seth’s socks, for what reason I do not know. So I got up from my comfortable position on the sofa to answer it.

It was not Paul.

She was shorter than me, but probably my age. Her hair was very light blonde and her huge eyes were grayish-blue. She smiled with anticipation. “Hi there.”

My eyebrows wrinkled for a second, but I smiled politely back. “Hi.”

She stood on her tip toes to see in the house past me. “Is Seth home?”

I instinctively stepped in her way. “He’s in the shower.” I said warily. “Um, can I ask your name?”

The anticipated smile was starting to severly irritate me. “I’m Elena.”