Having sex with Vina helped—it always helped—and it was a good distraction, but it didn't completely take away the anxiety I was feeling about going to dinner with her and my parents. I knew they had already met and that was out of the way, but I couldn't shake my bad feelings around it.

Part of it was that I wasn't sure Vina meeting my parents had gone the way that I'd wanted it to. My parents were naturally fairly cold, which was something I'd just gotten used to and accepted. But it didn't change the fact that I could still generally read their emotions underneath the coldness. I knew when they were at least happy. And they didn't seem happy.

But I didn't know what the issue could be. I'd been out for a long time in my family and my family had never expressed any concerns about it. I'd always been very fortunate in that way and wouldn't trade that reality for anything.

The only thing I could think was that maybe they didn't like Vina. But what would the issue be? I didn't think there was anything that they could pinpoint against her in their brief interactions. She hadn't done anything wrong. If anything, she'd been very polite to them. Other than our little run-in where it was obvious what kind of flirting we'd been up to in the car, things had been fine.

I didn't know what the issue was. I felt like my mom was being unnecessarily cold and my dad was just acting... strangely. Maybe it was just the challenge of adjusting to having us around, or maybe it was that I'd overestimated how willing they would be to host us.

Whatever the issue was, it was not making me exactly thrilled to go to dinner with them.

I didn't want to make Vina uneasy, so I decided it was best to just not say anything at all. Maybe I was just reading too far into my parents. It had been a while since I'd seen them, and I knew my dad was stressed since he was preparing for playoffs. Mom was always a little tightly wound, so maybe it didn't have anything to do with Vina at all.

I just had to hope that was the case. I didn't know how to navigate any kind of inner-family beef. I'd feel horrible if something went wrong while she was out here, after I'd invited her here as an escape from New York.

I pushed the thoughts from my mind and spent the day with Vina, deciding that we could spend some time by the pool before dinner. My parents were both out and about, their usual cars gone from their usual spots, without so much as a warning to me.

Part of it still hurt, even as an adult. I was well established in life and I still cared so deeply about my parents' actions. Even though they would do the same thing when I was living with them years ago, it was hard for me to hide the hurt of them not even saying anything before they left for the day.

"Are you okay?" Vina asked. We were lounging by the pool, soaking in the sun before getting into the water. There was a nice breeze and it was still pretty early in the day, which made it almost a little chilly. I knew the chill wouldn't last lone—the forecast for the rest of the day, and for the week, looked steaming hot.

I turned to Vina, trying to relax my face and not make it obvious that I was in deep thought about something.

"What's wrong? You're being really quiet."

I felt like this wasn't the first time things had been flagged between us. I had a feeling this was just what it was going to be—a constant rotation of each of us asking the other person if they're okay.

I felt the rise of annoyance at the thought that caught me off guard. I could feel it burning in my chest—the lack of desire to be seen, to have my emotions on display like that. I wasn't used to having someone tuned into my feelings and suddenly, the thought of having to explain why I felt the way I felt was exhausting to me.

"Nothing's wrong," I said.

Vina didn't seem to believe this, but she also seemed to catch my tone and know not to ask me more about it. She went quiet and my irrational annoyance was replaced with guilt. But even so, I found it hard to find the words to explain to her what was up with me. I was embarrassed to admit that I cared what my parents thought and I was nervous about how they felt about everything.

"What are you wearing to dinner tonight?" I asked, hoping that would be enough of a shift in topic to calm me down.

-

A few hours later, after getting a nice base tan, Vina and I rinsed off the pool water and sweat from our skin.

"How's this?" Vina asked after digging around in our shared closet. She held up a beautiful, modest black dress that seemed perfect for a dinner with the parents. I knew my mom would most likely love it—she was still kind of a mystery to me, but I always knew the kinds of clothes she wished she could see me in. She'd never been shy about wishing she had a more feminine daughter.

"Perfect," I said.

We both got dressed and I fixed up my hair in the bathroom, away from Vina. When I came back out, Vina was fully done up and one look at her completely took my breath away.

"Oh, wow, Vi. You look..." I said, needing to take a moment. She was radiate. The tan was serving her well, making her practically glow. The dress fit her perfectly. If we hadn't already known each other, I would've asked for her number.

"Stopp," Vina said, blushing. "You don't look too bad yourself."

"That's it? That's all I get?" I teased, feeling lightyears away from how I'd been feeling earlier. I could still feel the nervousness and discomfort and irritation bubbling under the surface, but Vina made it all feel a little bit better. I hoped that maybe getting through the dinner would help me unclench my muscles.

Vina walked over to me, pulling me in by the front of my shirt. "You look incredible, Cay. I wish I had the time to rip all of these clothes off of you. I can't tell if you make me wetter all dressed up like this or completely stripped down."

I laughed, pulling her in. My hand brushed over the scrape of her body, the curve where her waist went to her ass. I took her ass in my hand and kissed her. "You're too kind."

Vina smirked and then took my hand. "Ready for dinner?"

I nodded, pushing away all of the feelings I'd been mulling over. "Yeah."

-

My parents, unsurprisingly, picked one of the nicest restaurants in the area. It was a seafood place that I hadn't been to yet. I took one look at the prices on the menu and then glanced up to see how Vina was doing. I was used to this, but I knew it wasn't standard for everyone. I knew that it was a privilege for us to be able to afford it.

"Order whatever you want. My parents are covering it," I murmured to Vina. We'd been sat one couple on each side, as if we were going into a job interview or a meeting rather than a date. I didn't mind throwing the custom of one person from each couple on either side, but I didn't want to throw Vina to the wolves and force her to sit next to one of my parents quite yet.

Although, I wasn't sure being stared at from across the table by both of them was a much better alternative.

Vina looked at me, her expression saying where the fuck are we? which almost made me laugh.

"Any thoughts on dinner?" Dad asked. He'd been trying to make small talk all night, the worst of it when we were all in the car together driving over.

"None yet," I said, which was a lie. But the menus were a nice break from having to start a conversation. I was hoping to minimize the time we had without an activity—a menu, drinks, dinner, dessert—in front of us.

"So how are you liking the house so far, Vina? I heard you tried out the pool today," my dad said. That was basically the most my parents had gotten out of us. Since it seemed like most of my parents' questions had been directed at me so far, I'd been carrying us through. But it looked like my dad was finally trying to rope Vina in. I appreciated it, but I was also more than a little skeptical.

Vina nodded. "I did. The house is beautiful. And it's so nice to be able to swim in the winter here. Definitely can't do that back home."

"No, definitely not," Mom said, and rather sounding agreeable, it sounded like she was talking down on Vina, almost shaming her for the observation.

"Have you explored much of it? There's a great reading nook. Cayden used to study there when she was in high school."

"It was really nice," I admitted. There was a great view of the water. It was a room we didn't use much anymore since I no longer was in school and studying at my parents' house.

"You'll have to show me sometime," Vina said and I smiled.

"She'll also have to show you some of the other rooms we have. We have this great guest room. Beautifully furnished. It's empty right now," he said. My stomach immediately sank.

"Oh," Vina said, nodding, like she was trying to play along but she didn't know what was going on.

"Dad," I said, my tone warning.

"What?" he asked.

"We just don't think it's appropriate for two unwed people to be having a sleepover like this. We wouldn't allow it if you had a boyfriend, so we don't see why we should allow it now," Mom said, her wine glass in her hand.

"What are you saying?" I asked, even though I knew exactly what they were saying.

"Vina should stay in the guest room," Dad said. "And not with you."