“We need to make one important stop before leaving, and it will drain both of us before a long flight.”
I groaned, but Erik just laughed gleefully. Dylan’s mothers were the kindest women, but damn they were noseyandrather intimidating.I’d met them twice before Dylan and I started dating or rather, prior to our bonding. Now that we had to see them as a couple, I felt so out of my depth. They’d facetimed us a few days ago and we’d promised to visit them soon. Dylan had to warn them not to show up because in his words,we were likely cuddling… or more.They didnotneed to see that. I’d died a little inside when the words had tumbled out of his mouth with no remorse. What was worse, was that they’d laughed gleefully at it and mentioned how happy they were that Dylan had found someone.
“What if they don’t like me?” I asked, trying to swallow my nerves. It did absolutely nothing but make my stomach queasy.
“They already love you,” he assured me, driving down the streets I knew led to their home.
Erik’s head popped in between me and Dylan, not that Dylan knew that. “I like Linette the most,” he said, grinning. “She’s feisty.”
I rolled my eyes. “It’s not nice picking favorites, you know?”
Dylan ignored me, knowing by now that I was likely talking to Erik. I liked that I didn’t always have to translate. Dylan also knew I would tell him everything Erik and I talked about before bed. That way he felt like he was a part of things, too.
“Penny is nice too,” Erik said, sounding like he meant it. “She’s just not Linette.”
I looked past Erik to see Dylan smiling softly as he drove toward his childhood home. “Erik likes Linette the best.”
Dylan just laughed at that.
“Denmark?” Penny gushed excitedly. “I love how you two get to travel together. It’s important for a healthy relationship to experience things together.”
We sat in their living room enjoying a cup of tea while Linette somehow kept bringing more treats out from the kitchen. Not gonna lie, Linette was my favorite, too.
Dylan, who had a mouth full of lemon tart, nodded eagerly at that, and with a hand covering his mouth replied, “It’s all because ofMike. He needs to travel for work and they were kind enough to hire me as well to help him out.”
“I still can’t believe you’re bonded,” Penny sighed happily. “And to such a handsome man as well.”
“Me neither,” Dylan grinned, squeezing my thigh. “And I get to work by his side forever, there’s nothing better.”
“And you have your blog,” I reminded him. Dylan had decided that he wanted to blog about food while we travelled, sharing recipes and pictures from restaurants all over the world. Cooking was a hobby of his and I loved that he could do this while we worked, not because we believed it would be something he could make money on, but simply because he enjoyed doing it. I would enjoy it, too, since it meant a lot of fun restaurants and trying out different dishes while we travelled. “I can’t wait to cook Danish food with you,” I said, bumping into his shoulder.
“Uuuh,” Penny exclaimed, excited all over again. “You’re even cooking together?”
We nodded.
“Linette, they’re so meant to be,” she said, her tone so serious it made me smile.
“Definitely,” Dylan agreed, shooting me a proud smirk. “Mike is too precious not to keep forever.”
“Aww,” they both cooed.
“Our little boy is truly a man now,” Linette teased.
“Nothing little about him,” Erik quipped from my right, making me choke on my ginger cookie.
“Are you okay, hon?” Penny asked, handing me a glass of lemonade.
“Yes,” I croaked, gulping down the sour liquid. “Just a crumb that got stuck.”
“I hate when that happens,” Erik laughed.
This hour would be pure torture it seemed.
Chapter Seventeen
Dylan
“That wasn’t so bad,” I grinned as we drove home to pack. Mike glared at me from the passenger seat, but I figured it was mostly aimed at Erik because his gaze wasn’t fully meeting mine.