“Oh fuck.”

My attention moved from the television to Ben, who was staring at his phone, his jaw tensed and his body locked tight.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, worried. Hearing him say “oh fuck” could mean so many things right now.

As usual, I hadn’t seen or spoken to him during the week, but he’d checked in more than just the usual good morning and good night text. He’d check in and ask me if everything was good, and he’d made me promise to text him if I saw any sign of Edward.

Thankfully, I hadn’t.

This morning I woke up to my usual good morning text, but in it he asked me to come to his place to spend Sunday there. I’d um’d and ahh’d for an hour, then I said screw it, jumped in my car, and here I was. We took our cake and coffee out to the balcony. I lay on the sun chair, and he pulled up one of his regular outdoor chairs. It was the perfect Sunday morning. After we finished eating, Ben had brought out the morning paper to read, and I pulled up my Kindle app on my phone to dive back into the latest romance novel I’d been getting lost in.

Seriously, it was perfect.

Too perfect.

His eyes came to mine, and I braced for the unknown. “You know how Dee invited us to her place to watch football?”

“Yes.”

“They are on their way here. Now.”

“What?” I screeched, and jumped off the couch with such force it would seem I had crackers up my . . . “I should go.”

His hand shot out and grabbed mine, halting my escape. “There is no way you are leaving. I want you to meet my family, my family want to meet you, and they’d give me shit for years if they knew I’d let you leave. Believe me, that’s something I do not want to deal with.”

There were so many things he just said that gave him permission to chip away at my wall. And right now, I had no reason to stop him. He wanted me to meet his family. That was huge. His family wanted to meet me. That was astronomical. Warmth washed through me. Nerves fluttered in my stomach. The butterflies were back, and all because of the man I’d tried so desperately to stay away from. The same man who refused to spend Sundays without me. Through all of this, one thing was becoming crystal clear: I’d spent too much time avoiding what could be beautiful, because I was too afraid of the ugly. I surrounded myself with beauty every day at work, so why not allow beauty to meet me at home after work, hug me good night, and kiss me good morning? Ben offered me that and so much more.

“What’s going through your head?” Ben asked, standing up and moving in front of me. “Talk to me.”

“I’m about to meet your family, Ben, so I’m freaking out a little.” I looked up at him with pleading eyes. “Am I dressed okay?”

His hands lifted and cupped my cheeks as his gaze penetrated mine. “You’re the first woman I’ve wanted them to meet, so they’ll be more focused on that fact than what you’re wearing. But Sweetheart, you look great, you always do. Mom hasn’t stopped raving about you since she met you at Sass, and Dee—fuck, don’t even get me started on Dee. It’s going to be okay.”

I opened my mouth to reply but stopped when I heard the front door open.

“Fuck me, they were closer than she said.”

I couldn’t stop the giggle rising in my chest.

“Uncle Ben!”

I swung around and only just stepped out of the way of the young boy who launched himself at Ben with a huge smile on his face. The young boy wrapped his arms around Ben’s hips and started talking at a million miles an hour about everything from football, to video games and a girl named Chrissy.

When he realized I was in the room, he stepped away from Ben and held out his hand to me. I looked at Ben and then at this young boy’s hand. I went to shake it, but he had other ideas. He grabbed my hand, kissed it, and bowed. My face split in a grin.

“You are very pretty,” he declared, still holding my hand. “I’m Joseph. Uncle Ben’s nephew.”

“Nice to meet you, Joseph. I’m Sasha, Uncle Ben’s friend.”

“We know you are his special friend. Mom hasn’t stopped talking about you. She told me I had to call you Miss Hamilton, but I prefer Aunt Sasha.”

He dropped my hand and jumped on the couch, while I tried to pick up my jaw from the floor.

Aunt Sasha!

“Breathe, Sweetheart,” Ben soothed, as I tried to blink away my shock.

I opened and closed my mouth, looking like a goldfish as I tried to formulate a sentence. Aunt Sasha!

“You good?” he asked, before leaning down and brushing his lips against my temple. “

I nodded and smiled up at him, then I got ready to reply, but my words were stolen when I heard my name called in a gruff voice behind me.

“Sasha?”

“Christ, here we go,” Ben muttered under his breath. “Remember to breathe.”

What the hell did that mean? He stepped away and disappeared into the kitchen with the rest of his family, and I took his advice, sucked in and slowly turned around.

I came face to face with an older version of Ben; same eyes, same height, same demeanor. It was like looking at Ben in thirty years. I watched, completely stunned and overwhelmed as he crossed the space between us and pulled me away from Ben. Before I could say, think, or feel anything, he wrapped me in his arms and pulled me tight against his chest. I’d never met this man before, but my head told me to fall into his embrace. I pressed myself into his chest, and my cheek rested over his heart while one hand cupped the back of my head and the other wrapped around me. My head swam with flashbacks of being in this exact embrace with my father. With everything that had been piling up over the past couple of weeks, I’d missed the embrace of a parent, so I drank it in.

Reluctantly, I pulled away and took a step back. His eyes bounced over my face and he nodded his head slowly.

“I heard what’s been going on darlin’. My boy told me bits and pieces. I know your Dad’s gone and your Mom isn’t around, but what I also know is that a girl needs a dad hug every now and then. So, whenever you need one, you come to me.”

A lump formed in my throat, and I sucked in a desperate breath as my eyes started to water. I nodded, as the words I wanted to say jammed in my throat. This man was a stranger. I didn’t even know his name, but he’d given me something that only one other person had given me before: the hug of a father. He gave me another soft look before he turned around and started walking away.

“Wait.” I found my voice, then he stopped and looked back over his shoulder. I moved to him, and when I was in his space, I rose onto my toes and softly kissed his cheek. “I’ve tried to forget what those kind of hugs felt like, but yours is one I’ll want to remember.”

“Happy to hear that. Now, let’s go and see my son.”

The moment we appeared in the kitchen, Ben stalked toward us. He looked between his dad and me, then he grabbed my hand and stepped into my space. I knew we had an audience; I could feel everyone’s eyes on us, but he didn’t seem to care.

“You good?”

I smiled big before responding quietly. “I love your dad, and I don’t even know his name.”

He shook his head in amusement. “Ron, but everyone calls him Ronnie.”

“Ronnie is a such a cute name,” I said softly, my heart squeezing.

A breathtaking smile hit his face, and he linked his fingers with mine. “Let me introduce you to everyone else.”

All the nerves I’d forgotten came swarming back full force. I squeezed Ben’s hand tightly and the look he gave me hit me harder than the nerves. It was a look of pride, ownership, and excitement. Like this moment we were about to share meant the world to him. I didn’t have time to process what that meant, because I now had six people staring at me with different degrees of smiles on their faces.

Ben wrapped his arm around my shoulder and I stood frozen.

“You’ve already met Mom, Dad, Dee, and Joseph,” he said, and I nodded and smiled at each of them. “The gorgeous girl is my niece, Ava, and the idiot wearing the wrong team colors is Dee’s husband, Terry. Everyone, this is Sasha.”

“Oh my goodness, Honey, your dress is stunning.” That came from his mom.

“Mom, I want her shoes.” That came from Ava.

“Why do girls always talk about shoes? Do you like football?” That came from Joseph.

“Nice meeting you, Sasha. Grab a beer, take a seat, cause the games about to start.” That came from Terry.

“See, that wasn’t so bad.” That came from Ben.

I replied by giving him a huge smile and shaking my head. It really wasn’t as crazy as I thought. But then again, I didn’t really have much experience to base it on.

His eyes shimmered with something I couldn’t put my finger on, and he focused on my mouth. He took a step toward me, once again ignoring everyone in the room. To my left, I swear I heard a gasp, and to my right a giggle, but I couldn’t be sure. All I was concentrating on was this stunning man, looking at me like I’d just given him the world.

“What?” I whispered, getting overwhelmed by the intensity of his gaze.

“There it is. The smile.”

My heart burst into a thousand magical pieces.

And my smile grew even bigger.

* * *

“How can I help?” I asked, announcing my arrival in the kitchen after deciding to have a break from watching football.

Dee and Ava both looked up from what they were doing. Dee greeted me with a huge smile, and Ava looked at me shyly.

“I’m about to get these ribs in the oven, but if you could help Ava make some French Onion Dip that would be great.”

I nodded and made my way to Ava, who watched me closely. I was about to ask her what I could do, but I was interrupted by a familiar voice coming from the front door, followed by another familiar voice.

“What’s this? Benjamin, you forgot to invite me to your party.”

“I see Sassy’s car out front so she forgot to invite me too.”

Two things immediately came to mind.

What were they doing here? And why were they together?

“Who is that?” Ava asked, looking between her mother and me.

“Sasha, we have visitors.” Ben’s amused voice floated into the kitchen.

Dee, Ava, and I stepped out of the kitchen and moved back into the living room, just as Crazy John was shaking Ronnie’s hand and Joseph was looking at Gigi in her bright orange matching tracksuit set with wide eyes.

“Sassy, I made a new friend at the diner the other day. Gigi girl invited me over for cake, then we started watching Passions. Remember that show? Little Timmy. One episode turned into five, then I looked outside, saw your car, and we thought we’d pop over. So, here we are.”

So many things in his statement made no sense. Did he just call her Gigi girl?

“We’re going to go out on the town one night. Johnny boy is going to be my wingman and find me a good man,” Gigi said eagerly, and then to my horror, nudged Ben’s mom in the ribs and nodded at her, as if she was saying “you get my drift.”

Johnny Boy? Wingman?

“Yeah Gigi girl, I’ll find you a good man. Maybe Ben’s folks can come out with us. We can have a night out on the town. What do you two think?”

At this stage, Crazy John hadn’t actually been introduced yet, but he was already planning a night out with them so he could find Gigi a man. I looked at Ben, silently pleading with him to do something.

He came through for me, but with laughter hanging on his words. “Mom, Dad, this is Crazy John and Gigi. Gigi is my neighbor, and Crazy John is Sasha’s family, Crazy John and Gigi, this is Ronnie and Dianne.”

“Good to meet you. We’re all family now, seeing how these two are setting up house,” Crazy John announced, jerking his thumb in the direction of Ben and me. “We’ll all be sharing Christmas and Thanksgiving soon. My girl is stubborn, but your boy is strong. He’ll crack her soon enough. Thinking he’s already cracked her pretty good, she just needs to let those fuckin’ walls fall.”

I choked on the breath I’d just taken, and shot another “help” look at Ben. He did nothing but laugh.

“Um, there are young people around here. You might want to stop the cussing.”

“They grew up hearing Ben cuss, so they’re used to it.”

Great, now Ben’s family was on Crazy John’s side.

“You know what?” Gigi announced, focusing on me.

Oh god! I did not want to know.

“I haven’t seen you over here lately. I mean in the morning.” Then she focused on Ben’s mom, and my stomach dropped to the floor.

My eyes shot to the ceiling as I began to say a prayer that she wouldn’t . . . nope, she did.

“I first met Sasha when she answered the door wearing your boy’s shirt. Such a cute little thing. Had no clue who I was. We bonded over chocolate cake and Benjamin’s abs.”

Ben, Ronnie, and Terry burst out laughing, while my face flamed with embarrassment.

“How about we get the food ready?” I stammered, desperate to end this conversation. “Suddenly, I’m hungry. Ladies, shall we?”

Dee was still laughing when we made our way back into the kitchen, and Ava giggled every now and then. This was hands down the weirdest day ever.

I crossed the kitchen and Ava shyly watched my every step. She was a gorgeous teenage girl, who I assumed was about fifteen. She had long brown hair with a natural wave and chocolate brown eyes.

“Let’s make this French Onion Dip. What can I do?”

“Well, we make it from scratch, so can you chop up the onions?”

“I can do that.”

I grabbed two onions and Ava handed me a knife. I went about chopping up the onions while hoping that my eyes didn’t start watering in the process. I concentrated hard on the job and didn’t notice Ava staring at me the whole time. I also didn’t notice the soft look on Dee’s face when she looked over at the two of us standing side my side.

“You’re the first lady Uncle Ben has introduced us to,” Ava said beside me. “Me and Joseph thought he was gay.”

“Ava!” Dee clipped, with an amused undertone.

“It’s true. My friends mom’s always say how hot he is, and how they ask him out on dates, but he always says no. He never has girlfriends. Come on, Mom, you know you’ve thought it.”

“Your Uncle Ben is definitely not gay,” I revealed, and I felt my cheeks flame immediately. I was still trying to come to terms with everything happening around me, so I didn’t even think about what I said or what I had insinuated. It was only when I looked at Dee and saw a knowing smirk hit her lips that I realized the can of worms I’d opened. “I just meant that, uh, well, ah, crap. You know what I mean.”

“I know Uncle Ben has sex,” Ava stated matter-of-factly. “He’s hot. I’ve heard ladies talk about him, and I even heard a lady at the hairdresser say she wanted to lick him. That was kind of disturbing, seeing he’s my uncle.”

My eyes shot wide and I looked at Dee for help, but she gave me nothing.

“Uh, yeah honey, he does have sex. But I meant he isn’t gay because I’m in his life, and the way I’m in his life means he’s not gay.”

“I knew it,” Ava whispered, and her eyes shimmered as she gave me a full-blown, heart-stopping smile.

I didn’t have time to try and work out exactly what Ava knew. I was still trying to work out what I meant when I said I was in his life.

I needed wine. A lot of wine.

Ten minutes later, I walked into the living room carrying the French onion dip with a packet of crisps lodged under my arm. Like magnets, Ben’s eyes came to mine and I gave him a small smile as I walked toward him and placed the dip and crisps on the table.

Ben’s hand shot out and grabbed mine, and he pulled me down beside him on the couch. Chatter started around us, and everyone frantically grabbed at the food on the table. I stared into space, trying to come to terms with the craziness of the day. He squeezed my hand, then I blinked out of my trance and shifted on the couch to face him. His intense gaze ran over every inch of my face, and his hand cupped my cheek. Gently, and without a care of our audience, his thumb swept over my bottom lip. It was intimate. It was precious. It was the calm to my chaos.

“You okay?” he whispered, leaning in so he was the only thing I saw.

I nodded.

He smirked, and I sucked in a breath. “I know you’re not, but we will talk about it when Dee and Ava aren’t watching us like hawks.”

My eyes darted from his, and sure enough Dee and Ava were sitting across the room watching with wide eyes. Dee didn’t hide her smile, but Ava’s eyes moved straight to the television after she was caught.

“Aunt Sasha, who is your team?” Joseph’s excited voice distracted me, and my heart stammered once again when he called me Aunt Sasha.

“I don’t really have a team,” I admitted casually.

His eyes bugged wide and his mouth dropped open. It was obvious straightaway that I’d just made my first mistake with Joseph, and it didn’t take long for me to make my second.

“To be honest, I’ve never really watched football.”

“You don’t have a team,” he gasped. “You don’t watch football?”

I felt Ben jerk beside me as he silently laughed.

“I know, Buddy, she’s lost her mind,” Crazy John piped up. “She thinks there are teams called the Denver Dolphins and the Texas Cowboys. If I didn’t love her like my own, I’d throw her to the curb.”

“The Denver Dolphins?” Joseph laughed, loud. “Aunt Sasha, you really have lost your mind.”

Oh great, now Crazy John was influencing the youth. I glared at him, and all he did was wink.

“Uncle Ben, you need to buy Aunt Sasha a Patriots jersey. I mean get your phone out right now and buy her one. We are a Patriots family, even though we don’t live in New England,” he said with pride. “And you will be coming to every single one of our football Sundays. I can’t wait for you to watch the Super Bowl. Uncle Ben, I’m going to have to sit beside Aunt Sasha so I can tell her the rules. Crazy John, you need to come too, and Gig’s, you too if you like football.”

“I like any sport that has men running around in tight pants. I’ll be here.”

I dropped my face into my hands and I couldn’t hold it back. I burst out laughing at the craziness of my life, and laughed loud, to the point that my stomach ached. I’d freaked out at the thought of meeting his family, but in the space of an hour, I had been called Aunt Sasha, was getting a Patriots Jersey, was being taught all about football, confirmed Ben wasn’t gay, and my family had connected with Ben’s.

“And there is the laugh,” Ben said softly beside me.

I turned to him, still laughing.

“Fuck, it’s good to hear that.”

Seriously, Sundays were freaking fantastic.