“I can’t wait to finally meet the girl Henry’s been drooling over for weeks! I also can’t wait to tell her about the crisis you had in our kitchen. Even the most perfect men can have meltdowns,” Jo laughs.

“You’re not allowed to share that with her. It’s off limits. A moment of weakness!”

My phone buzzes and I jump.

Nothing’s changed.

VRG: I just parked! I’ll be inside in a minute.

HD: Can’t wait to see you. I’m starting to think my friends don’t believe you’re actually real.

HD: Even Noah is pretending like he doesn’t know you.

VRG: Maybe I won’t come inside.

VRG: Maybe I’ll make you squirm for a couple minutes. An hour, maybe.

I chuckle as I stand from the booth, ignoring the comments from my friends, and walk to the door so I can greet her privately. The gang can be intimidating at times, and I don’t want her to think she’s jumping into a pile of lava with their jokes and sarcasm. I’m more worked up about her meeting them than my family.

The door to the restaurant opens and she’s there, looking as beautiful, if not more, as she did when I left her two hours ago at the office. She’s traded her skirt for jeans and her hair is down, framing her smiling face. I grin at the sight of her.

“Hey,” I say excitedly, kissing her right on the mouth. She giggles against my lips, hugging me in a welcoming embrace.

“Hi, back. You know, I’m not typically a fan of PDA. But I could get used to this kind of greeting,” she murmurs, and I nip her bottom lip.

“It’s Friday. Your place or mine tonight?”

“Needy, are you?” she jokes, poking my stomach. “Mine.”

“Perfect. C’mon. Let me introduce you to the misfits. Remember, whatever they say about me is a lie.”

“I’m going to get them to share all the embarrassing stories about you!”

I grasp her hand, leading her over to the crowded corner table. “Everyone, this is Emma. Emma, you know Noah. That’s Neil and his fiancé, Rebecca. Jack and Jo. And Patrick and Lola.”

“Hi! It’s nice to meet everyone!” she says enthusiastically.

“I’m so glad you’re here. I can’t wait to spill all of Henry’s deepest, darkest secrets,” Neil jokes.

“How about the time he didn’t realize it was daylight savings time and got to work an hour early?”

“Or when he forgot it months later and got there an hour late?”

“Oh! How he washed his reds with whites and ruined his new dress shirt!”

“My favorite is the time he climbed into the fountain and acted like a drunk duck.”

“See. Don’t believe anything,” I whisper in Emma’s ear. “They’re all full of shit.”