Xavier and the Wolf (Legends of Pinewood 1)

20. You will get peak tension at the dinner table

Having dinner together with my parents and me was clearly Boris' idea.

When Aquila and Boris arrived on my doorstep at six 'o'clock sharp and I opened the door for them, Aquila looked like Boris had dragged him the entire way to my house. Not literally, of course. In fact, Aquila's clothes were clean and surprisingly neat (also Boris' doing, I presumed). Even his hair, which was usually tousled, saying it kindly, was neatly brushed back.

"Wow, you look... different," I blurted, taking in Aquila's chinos and shirt.

"Not by choice," Aquila grumbled as he walked past me into our hallway.

Boris followed his nephew with a chuckle. "He loves to joke," he told me with a wink. "Aquila here insisted on 'looking like a neat human would' for your parents, and I simply helped him a little."

"Great," I said, unable to stop myself from glancing at Aquila's ass in those pants. The neat, almost preppy look didn't fit him as a person at all, but it sure fit his body. I shook myself out of it. "Uh, you succeeded."

Aquila let out a soft growl.

"Hey, that's no way you respond to a compliment now, is it?" Boris chastised him.

Aquila growled louder, making Boris shake his head with an amused smile. "Anyway, we also brought you a gift." Boris handed me the packed slab of meat he'd been holding in his hands. It was really heavy, and I had to carry it with two arms.

"It's deer," Boris said. "Aquila hunted it himself for you..." He left a meaningful silence. "And your parents, of course."

I let out an awkward laugh. "Well, thanks. Both of you. I'll go put it in the freezer in the garage. You guys head inside. Dad said dinner's ready."

I was grateful to get one last moment of respite in the garage before sitting at the dinner table with Boris and Aquila.

Things with Aquila were weird. They usually kind of were, but it was worse now.

I'd been thinking about what Boris was planning the whole afternoon, and I wasn't completely daft. I caught Boris' hints loud and clear. He was playing matchmaker, and now Aquila had actually attempted to dress nicely tonight to meet my parents. Hell, he'd shown up for a dinner with humans. It wasn't only that, either. Aquila had wasted no time insulting James after learning we used to be involved. But then again, he insulted every human. He came to my house looking his best. But that was likely orchestrated by Boris too. 

Maybe I shouldn't be looking into it so deeply. It wasn't like Boris never came to our house to have dinner. Besides, I had other things to worry about right now. Like if it was really okay to have Aquila at the dinner table with my parents. Sure, I stopped believing he was dangerous after like the second day of knowing him, and he had literally saved my life. The thought of having everyone in the same room made nervous butterflies flit in my stomach, however. What if he was rude? Aquila had some major bonus points with my parents for plucking me out of the river, but those didn't last forever if he was too rude.

With a sigh, I dropped the chunk of meat in our large freezer and closed it. I didn't care what he said to me, but Aquila better not snarl at my parents. My dad had busted his ass cooking us a nice dinner tonight, and my mom was the one who'd told me to give Aquila a fair chance.

"Here goes nothing," I murmured to myself. Then I walked to the kitchen and took a seat on the only free chair that was left, next to my mom and opposite Boris and Aquila. Dad sat at the head of the table, as it was the honorary spot for the chef of the day in our house. A cute tradition my parents had invented to stimulate me to learn how to cook when I was little. Sitting at the head used to make me feel important.