The Stars Around Us

Chapter 30 ×ETHAN×

I was so happy at that moment. I could finally call Emmorie mine! I've had girlfriends before, of course, but I'd never cared for them as much as I did for Emmorie. 

       Her dad was… frankly, a little scary. He was even taller than me, which was intimidating, and his muscles flexed so hard when he shook my hand that I thought the shirt would rip. The tattoos on his biceps were trailing from under his sleeves and the stud in his ear did not go unnoticed. He looked like he could be in a biker gang. He was bald with a trimmed black goatee and I'm guessing that Emmorie gets her hair coloring from him.

       He seemed cool enough with us dating, though. I just hoped the rest of her family accepted it as well as he did. I'm sure Chloe would be fine with it, if not a little jealous, I wasn't sure about her mom or Asher, though I didn't think Asher liked me all that much. I hadn't really met her uncle Stephen, but he seemed like a pretty cool guy.

       I knew Mom would be fine with Emmorie and I. She absolutely adored Emmorie and always asked if she'd come over anytime soon. I'm sure she'll be ecstatic at the news of us together. 

       After about thirty minutes, I heard Mom pull into the garage. I got up and walked downstairs to greet her and tell her about Emmorie and I. She was in the living room, on the couch and I walked over to kiss her on the forehead and sat beside her. I was a little nervous for some reason. "Um, I have something to tell you, Mom." Her content smile faded a little and a crease appeared in her forehead. "What is it," she asked with a tone that was mixed between tired, skeptical, and worried.

       "Me and Emmorie are kind of dating now," I said quietly. As I thought, a smile instantly lit up her face and she clapped like a little girl getting ice cream. She unexpectedly threw her arms around my neck and hugged me. I laughed and hugged her back. "Ugh, I knew it! I could tell by the way you talk about her and look at her that it wouldn't take very long." She was smiling from ear to ear, which was oddly contagious.

        After talking about it for a few minutes, she went to make dinner. After preparing our plates, she was wrapping up the leftovers from dinner while I waited for her to sit down and eat with me, like every night. As soon as she sat down, though, there was a knock at the door. Mom furrowed her brows and got up to walk to the door. After a few seconds hesitation, I got up to follow her. 

       She opened the door, and the person standing there was the last guy I would ever expect to see at my door. I felt the blood draining from my face. Was he here to threaten me? Was the nice guy act from earlier just a hoax? Did he want to beat me up and throw me in a dumpster? Why was he here?

       Mom looked up in surprise at the huge, intimidating looking man standing in front of her. Mom's hand flew to her heart which I thought was weird. "Joshua Black? Is that you?" Emmorie's dad smiled down at her, his expression held slight surprise. "In the flesh," he answered in his deep voice. "You haven't changed a bit, Carol. What's been going on these days?" Mom giggled. What the hell? 

        "You know me, same old same old. Except there's a kid now," she said, tucking her hair behind her ear. He gave a hearty laugh, which for some reason made me think of how Santa Claus would sound like, without the ho ho ho's.

        "Is Ethan here?" I froze at his question. Shit. He's going to beat me up, I knew it. Mom turned to look at me, her brows furrowed. "Ethan? You know Joshie?" I wanted to throw a retort at her, but that would be disrespectful. Joshie? Seriously?

       I stepped forward, hesitantly. "Hey, man," he said, holding out his hand for me to shake. I took it and let his massive hand envelop mine for the second time that day. "Um. Hi. How'd dinner with Emmorie go," I asked, surprised that I was able to keep my voice level. He smiled. "It was great. She talked about you a lot, though." She did? My thoughts swam at that moment, filling up with her and wondering what she said about me.