A Very Merry Bromance (Bromance Book Club #5) (56)

Gretchen hopped up from the bed, ran her fingers through her hair, and cleared her throat to answer her mother. But before she could, her mom rounded the corner from the hallway just then and stopped short in the open doorway of her bedroom. “Oh. Gretchen, my goodness. What a surprise.”

Gretchen waved. “Hi, Mom.”





CHAPTER FOURTEEN


Her mom’s eyes glanced to Colton and then back to Gretchen again, seeing everything and missing nothing.

Perfect.

Of all the times for her mother to finally pay attention.

Her father appeared then and stopped the same way her mother did. His eyes darted from Gretchen to Colton to the state of her bed. Each movement of his eyes brought a new level of understanding of what had apparently been going on before they walked in, followed by confusion over why it had been happening.

“Mom. Dad,” Gretchen said. More like gulped. “Hey. This is, um—”

“I know who he is,” her father said.

Colton stepped forward, all swagger and aw-shucks smiles. He extended his hand to her father first. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Winthrop.”

Colton then turned his superstar attention to her mother and offered a handshake to her as well. “You have a gorgeous house, ma’am,” he said, laying the drawl on extra heavy and sealing it with his signature wink.

“Thank you.” Her mother preened.

“Might I also say that if Gretchen hadn’t told me you were her mother, I’d swear you two were sisters.”

Gretchen mentally gagged. Especially when her mother blushed and began to fiddle with her necklace. The surefire fastest way to her mother’s heart was to tell her that all the money spent on facials and luxury skincare was working. Her mother approached aging like a toddler fighting a nap—kicking and screaming and crying that she wasn’t ready yet.

“I understand your house is part of the Christmas home tour,” Colton said.

“Yes, I just love to decorate—”

“What are you two doing here?” her father interjected.

Her mother’s lips thinned into an annoyed line at the interruption. “This is her home, Frasier. She can come over whenever she wants.”

Gretchen cleared her throat against the acid rising from her stomach. “We were— I mean, I was showing Colton around the Homestead. Like you suggested.”

Her father’s left eyebrow rose an inch, a gesture that managed to both shame and amuse her. Shame because she was thirty-five and had just been busted by her parents. Amusement because, well, same. She’d shocked her parents a lot over the years, but never for this.

“Yeah, Gretchen has been very diligent in trying to talk me into this endorsement deal.” Colton slung an arm around Gretchen’s shoulder, and her life flashed before her eyes. She was going to punch him in the dick as soon as they were alone.

“Gretchen is nothing if not diligent.” Once again, her father’s tone said more than his words. She was a diligent pain in the family’s ass, he meant.

Gretchen shrugged Colton’s arm off her. “We really should go.”

“But we just got home,” her mother said. “Can’t you stay for a little while to chat? Evan and Blake are on their way up too.”

Oh, yeah. No. They were definitely not staying for that. “I’m sure you’re ready to settle down for the night after your, um, thing.”

“Nonsense,” her father said. “In fact, I could use a drink to settle in. Colton, get you anything?”

“Hell, yeah. Jack and Coke?”

Actual flames burst from her father’s eyes.

“Just kidding,” Colton laughed. “Coupla fingers of the CAW would hit the spot just right.”

Her father nodded crisply and walked away without even asking Gretchen if she wanted anything.

“Well, isn’t this so nice?” Her mother touched her necklace again, and the fact that they were still standing in Gretchen’s bedroom became a neon sign of awkwardness. “You know what? Let me go hang up my coat, and I’ll see if I can scrounge up some crudités for us.”

“We really can’t stay long, Mom.”

“Nonsense.” Her mother waved a dismissive hand and followed her father’s path to a quick retreat. No doubt because they knew Gretchen and Colton needed another few minutes to get themselves together.

Gretchen whipped around on Colton and slugged him in the arm.

“Ow,” Colton whined, rubbing the spot on his upper bicep. “Damn, girl. What was that for?”

“Are you kidding me? I do not want to stay and have a drink with my parents and my brothers. Especially not after . . .” She waved her hand toward the bedroom and then to his crotch.

He jerked his eyebrows suggestively. “After they almost busted us exploring?”

“Oh my God,” Gretchen moaned. “They knew, didn’t they?”

He snorted.

Gretchen groaned.

Colton closed the small distance between them and lowered his voice further. “We’re adults, Gretchen. There’s no shame.”

“On my childhood bed?!”

“Okay, that part is a bit embarrassing at our age.”

“And why did you have to flirt with my mom?”

“I was trying to defuse the situation.” He did the suggestive eyebrow thing again. “Not a woman in the world can resist the ol’ Colton charm, amirite?”