Page 49 of Broken Heart

I hugged her back, completely baffled, and confirmed, “I am.”

She stepped back and said, “I’m Cooper’s mom, Evelyn. And this is my husband, Malcolm. We’re so happy you could join us today.”

So perhaps I had it wrong. Maybe I didn’t need to be worried about Cooper’s family looking down on me. At the very least, it seemed his parents were welcoming.

I smiled at her. “Thank you for having me.”

“Are you kidding? We’ve been dying to meet you,” Malcolm said as additional members of Cooper’s family came to a stop around us.

I’d only met two of his family members so far today, and my mind was already blown. How much had Cooper talked about me that they already knew my name and were “dying” to meet me?

Whether he recognized I was feeling slightly overwhelmed or not, Cooper wrapped his arm around my back, his hand landing on my opposite shoulder. Then he swung his free hand out in front of us and pointed at each individual as he said, “This is my brother, Wyatt, and his girlfriend, Rhea. Her family owns the Marks Dairy Farm that buttresses up against Westwood’s campus.”

I offered a wave, feeling a hint of solidarity with Rhea, if for no other reason than her being an outsider like me.

“And this is my brother, Tate, my grandmother, Wendy, my grandfather, Larry, and my sister, Ivy, whom you met last night,” Cooper went on.

“It’s lovely to meet all of you,” I said softly to a sea of warm faces.

“You two have perfect timing, because the last bit of the food was just finished up. Let’s all grab something to eat, and you can meet the rest of the family, Skye.”

I gave Evelyn a nod of agreement just before she turned and started moving in the opposite direction. Cooper and I remained where we were, because his grandparents shuffled forward to offer him birthday wishes. Only after they’d done that did Cooper urge me away from the spot we’d been in and toward the food.

But it wasn’t a direct shot there. On the way, I was introduced to Liam and Jules as well as Cooper’s best friend, Marco, and Ivy’s best friend, Ava. I’d already felt overwhelmed when Cooper’s Aunt Mina approached with her brood, leaving me to wonder how he kept everybody straight.

While I could certainly admit I’d been wrong so far to think the worst would happen once I was here, a new set of fears had popped up. I had been introduced to so many people, and I was utterly terrified I was going to forget somebody’s name.

My hope was that I’d be able to do one of the things I did well, which was to observe for a while, and hopefully, I’d be able to practice names in my head while everyone else was communicating with one another.

For the next few minutes, the entire crowd was occupied with small talk as everyone went about loading up their plates with food. I stayed by Cooper’s side, grateful he was communicating with me, but I couldn’t help feeling as though there were more than a handful of eyes on us.

Not wanting to appear paranoid, even if I was truly panicking inside, I did my best to pretend it was just Cooper and me by ourselves. It wasn’t as though it was impossible to get caught up in him anyway. Cooper had made that easy enough. And the truth was that I’d been looking forward to spending time with him today, so I thought it was wise to simply do that. If there was one thing Cooper had proven to me already, it was that he could recognize when things were uncomfortable for me, and he’d take charge in those situations.

Surprisingly, by the time we sat down to enjoy some food, I’d almost forgotten about everyone else, because Cooper had done something I hadn’t been expecting and distracted me.

“Are you okay?” he asked, his voice slightly hushed as he rested a hand on my thigh.

I nodded, my belly trembling at the intimate touch. “Yeah. I just wasn’t expecting so many people.

“I understand that, but that’s not what I’m talking about,” he said.

Confused, my brows pulled together. “What do you mean?”

He jerked his head toward my plate and noted, “You didn’t load up.”

“What?”

“We go overboard with food here, so there’s a large variety, and nobody goes home hungry,” he explained. “Is there a reason you put only two things on your plate? You don’t have any allergies, do you?”

I shook my head. “No. I just…” I trailed off. Until that moment, I didn’t realize exactly what was happening. But now I knew. I didn’t just want Cooper’s family to like me in the way that anybody wanted people to like them in general. I wanted them to like me in the way that meant they’d ultimately want me to be one of them. Sure, I was nervous as heck about being around so many of them, but from what Cooper had told me and what I’d seen so far, this was a family that cared deeply about people. I never wanted anything more than that. And I wasn’t sure I knew how to express that to Cooper without bursting into tears.

Cooper must have realized I was struggling with something and said, “Sweetheart, I need you to be yourself. That’s all you’ve got to do.”

“I’m trying,” I murmured, dropping my attention to my lap after squirming under the intense scrutiny of his concerned gaze.

I managed to take a settling breath before Cooper placed a crooked finger beneath my chin and tipped my head up. Once my eyes were on his again, he cocked a brow, a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. Seeing his softened features and the playfulness in his expression instantly helped me to feel better. “Oh yeah? So, you’re telling me you didn’t want to try the surf ‘n’ turf packets we had on the grill, or one of my favorites, the honey-garlic grilled shrimp?”

My mouth watered, and Cooper must have realized the reaction I was having. He looked down at his plate, picked up a skewer of the grilled shrimp. Then he slid one off and held it up to my mouth. Between the way he was looking at me and the scent of the honey-garlic marinade, I couldn’t not take the shrimp.