“Wow, sis. Really?” Cal turned his back to his parents, so only Sara and I could see his lips when he mouthed, “You’re supposed to leave garbage on the curb, not invite it in for dinner.”

The serving utensils clanged together as they hit the table. A second later, I was next to Sara, ready to step in front of her if the prick got too close. “Good to see you again.”

Cal was her stepbrother. That created a lot of unanswered questions I’d have to ask her about. But not right now. Sara’s look of disgust was the same as the one she’d had the first time I met him.

“It’s Cal, right?” I asked. “Hey, did you ever get your ears checked?”

“What’s wrong with your ears, honey?” Elaine asked.

“Nothing, Mom.”

Cal’s lips were too tight to form an actual smile as he stared at me. “Keep meaning to. But you know how it is—my boss won’t sign my six-figure check if I take time out of the sales day to do errands. I guess you wouldn’t know anything about that, would you?”

“Nope. Not a clue.” I stuck out my hand politely, for Sara’s sake. If it were up to me, I’d have stuck out my fist again. There was something seriously wrong with this guy. “I don’t think I could handle working a nine-to-five job. Especially if I had to leave one sales job and go to another one all night. That might be the issue with your hearing, actually—nightclubs are loud places. But I guess you spend more time outside the clubs than inside, don’t you?”

Cal glanced at his stepmom, probably to see if she’d picked up on the not-so-subtle hint I shouldn’t have made, and quickly shook off my hand.

“Actually,” Timothy said, taking his seat at the head of the table, “Cal works with me at my real estate development firm, Declan. He’s doing some damn good work there, too.”

Made sense. Cal probably considered drug dealing more of a hobby, anyway.

I’ve always thought myself a polite guy, but since this was a high-stress situation for me, and an even higher one for Sara, I decided to go the extra mile and hold her chair for her. Obviously, Cal was the type who didn’t like being outdone, so he stood there for another couple of minutes, impatiently waiting for Elaine to finish arranging the flowers and refill her glass.

After Cal pushed her chair in, he took the seat at the other end of the table.

As soon as I sat down, Sara leaned over and whispered, “I wish you hadn’t shaken his hand. Now, you need a decontamination shower before I can touch you again.”

“Or you could rub me down with disinfectant,” I whispered back.

“What are you smiling about, sis?”

Her grin went from genuine to plastic, and she sighed. “I was just remembering a time when you weren’t here. Good times, good times.”

“Stop it, you two,” my mom snapped. “Do you have siblings, Declan?”

“No, I’m an only child.”

Timothy handed the platter of chicken to me after serving himself. “So, it’s just you and your parents?”

Easily understanding the subtext, I nodded, suddenly struck by the field day my father would have with this family.

“Declan’s parents live in Los Angeles. His mom is a teacher, and his dad is a psychiatrist.”

“A psychiatrist?” Elaine perked up. “What’s his name?”

I thought she was joking, like someone asking a Brit if they know their roommate from college or something. But she didn’t laugh or give any other indication of the joke.

“My mother’s hobby is psychiatry.” Then Sara added something else under her breath: “Going to them, not being one.”

Turned out that Elaine had actually heard of my father and had read one of his articles in a trade magazine. All I could hope was that the topic hadn’t been parenting or having an ungrateful son who would never be good enough for anyone’s daughter.

Although, thankfully—because my father was well-known and the number of YouTube subscribers I hadn’t known I had—she seemed to like me.

Focusing on the food—that even Sara was impressed by—I listened to Timothy brag about his son. After a brief moment of wondering why most of the conversation centered around Cal with only an occasional mention of Sara, I decided to appreciate not having to go through the interrogation I’d expected.

“How do you and Cal know each other?” Elaine asked me as she and Sara cleared the dishes. When I got up to help, she pushed me back into my seat by the shoulder.

“We’ve only met once.” I stared at Cal while I spoke. “But I guess you could say we run in the same alleys, right, Cal?”

“Isn’t it circles?” she asked, completely misunderstanding my comment.

“You’re right, Elaine, of course. Although I never really understood the expression. Running in the same circles always makes me think of dogs chasing their tails, or even rats on a wheel. I try not to do too much of that. You, Cal?”

Sara nudged me with her foot as she took my plate from me. I wasn’t sure why I was pressing him so much. Maybe it was because of the look in her eyes that night, or the more fearful one now. I wanted to let the prick know he wasn’t going to get away with his intimidation anymore.

After another half hour of faking civility, I was exhausted. Watching what I said to Cal and monitoring Sara’s reactions had made the time I’d spent here feel more like decades.

My offer to help with the dishes was shot down as well. Apparently, their housekeeper would do it in the morning. Instead, I was told to go into the living room where Timothy and Cal would be having their after-dinner drinks. Sara and I gave each other a look, both of us knowing that, as much as I needed a drink, having one with Cal would be counter-productive.

“Actually, Declan should probably be going.” She turned to me. “You have an early morning tomorrow, don’t you?”

I could’ve kissed her. But aside from the inappropriateness of kissing in front of her family, it would’ve distracted me from coming up with a logical excuse. “Yeah, I have a meeting with my manager.”

“I’ll walk you out.”

After thanking Elaine for the meal and saying goodbye to Timothy, I found myself in front of Cal. Neither of us bothered sticking out a hand.

“I’ll keep an eye out for you at the clubs,” I said, my tone disguising the underlying warning.

“Sure. See you around, Declan. Take care of my sister, would you?”

“You shouldn’t doubt that for a second.”

Once we were outside, I took a deep breath of fresh air. “Wow, that was fun. And for some reason, I’m totally cured of that desire to have a brother.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” I brushed a lock of hair off her cheek. “Eventually, you might meet my parents. That will give you all sorts of reasons to be sorry—you’ll feel sorry for me, sorry you ever met me, sorry you didn’t run when you had the chance, and a bunch of others. Although, I do have a couple questions for you.” We walked down the driveway to the street. “If Cal hadn’t been here tonight, were you ever planning to tell me he was your stepbrother?”

“Honestly, I try not to think about him. But, as disgusting as the thought was, initially, letting you think he was an ex seemed like the easiest way to keep some distance between us. Ever since then, it just never felt like the right time to tell you the truth.”

“Fair answer. Next question. This one’s harder.”

She grimaced, expecting the worst.

“What kind of name is ‘Cal,’ anyway?”

Smiling, she shrugged. “I always figured it was short for ‘calorie’—because nobody likes them either.”