Never Tied Down (The Never Duet #2)(30)

“I’d love to meet them.”

I kissed her hand again, unable to stop myself.

A minute later we were driving over the Golden Gate Bridge.

“This is so beautiful, Riot,” she said in an almost whisper.

“It is,” I agreed, but couldn’t take my eyes off her.

Forty minutes later she read the road sign alerting her to my hometown.

“You grew up in Sausalito?” Her voice was high and she sounded astonished.

“I did. Well, just outside it in Muir Beach.”

I had barely gotten Kalli out of the Rover before the front door opened and my mother’s voice rang out into the night.

“Riot Bentley, you’d better get up here and give your mother a hug. And bring your beautiful girlfriend with you.”

“You ready for this?” I asked Kalli, bringing my face just a breath away from hers.

“Ready when you are,” she replied, sounding just a little nervous.

“They already love you,” I whispered, just before I pressed a small, chaste kiss against her lips. I took her hand and walked her to the porch where my mother stood, just as breathtaking as she always had been. If Halah aged even half as beautifully as my mother, the man in her life would be the envy of all his friends.

“My baby.” My mother held my face between her hands and pressed a kiss to each cheek. “You move away from home and you never come back to visit.”

“Sorry, Ma.” I took a step back and wrapped my arm around Kalli’s waist. “Ma, this is my girlfriend, Kalli Rivers. Kal, this is my mom, Samarah Bentley.”

“It is so good to finally meet you, my sweet girl.” I watched as my mother wrapped Kalli in a tight and familiar hug. Kalli stiffened at first, but then I watched as she melted into my mother’s embrace, and nearly hugged my mother again when she winked at me over Kalli’s shoulder.

“I’m glad to meet you too,” Kal said as they pulled apart.

“Mara, are you holding those kids hostage out there?” I heard my father’s deep voice call from the house.

“Your father is anxious to see you,” Ma said, urging us into the house. I took Kal’s hand and led her into my childhood home. I’d never brought a girl home before, so even though I didn’t want to stress Kalli out with that bit of information, this was kind of a big deal for my family. Halah had brought a few guys home to meet our parents, but life was different on a cruise ship. It seemed like she fell in and out of really intense relationships quite frequently. I guess when you’re forced to live on a boat with someone, normal dating timelines go out the window.

I didn’t stop to give Kal a tour. I could still hear my dad grumbling from the kitchen, so I headed straight there.

I saw Pops sitting in his usual place at the head of the table, cards in his hands, and sitting around the table were other members of my family. Pops half-stood when I made it to him, and I dropped Kal’s hand to pat my dad on the back.

“Pops, this is Kalli, my girlfriend.”

“Nice to meet you,” Kalli said, her sweet voice a little unsure. I moved back to her, pressing my hand to the small of her back, trying to remind her physically that I was right with her, that she didn’t need to be nervous. I watched as my dad took her outstretched hand, but only used it to pull her into a hug.

“Kalli, it’s nice to meet you, too,” he said, releasing her and giving her a warm smile. “We were starting to question Riot’s character, wondering how he was treating the ladies seeing as how none of them would come home with him to visit.”

“Pops,” I said with a groan.

“You’ve never brought a girl home?” Kalli asked. I shook my head at her. Her eyes softened when she understood my answer, so I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and pressed a kiss to her temple.

“Kalli, my name’s Chad. If you call me Mr. Bentley I’ll be looking around for my own father, God rest his soul. You call me Chad, and her Mara,” he said, nodding his head toward Ma, who’d just come into the kitchen with Halah. “And that’s the birthday girl herself, Halah.”

“Oh, my gosh, hi,” Kalli opened her arms to Halah.

I watched as my baby sister hugged Kalli, and something inside me shifted, was nudged right into place. Something that had been off-kilter for so long I hadn’t even realized it. In that moment, watching Kalli hug my sister, surrounded by my whole family, I knew it was the first time of many, and that brought me peace.

“Ri-Ri told me you were pretty, but he didn’t do you justice,” my sister said as she pulled back and looked at Kalli. I agreed. There was no way to tell someone how beautiful Kalli was. I could talk about her for hours, describe every single freckle, but I’d never be able to tell anyone how devastatingly beautiful she was. It was something you had to see to understand.

“Your whole family is beautiful,” Kalli murmured on a breathy whisper. She wasn’t wrong. My mother could have played an Arabian princess in an old fifties black-and-white movie, and my sister was more attractive than I’d like to admit. It was hard to grow up with her as my baby sister, especially in her teen years, because I wanted to punch in the face of every guy who even looked her way—which was a lot.

“Hey Hala-balloo,” I said, hugging my sister, relieved to finally lay eyes on her. “I’m so glad you decided to come home for once.” She pulled back and slapped my arm.