"Ex-girlfriend," I said. My father was fast becoming an awful shade of purple, but I decided to go with his “honesty is the best policy” course of action. "I broke up with Trent because I caught him having sex with another man. Owen kissed me in a ridiculous ploy to make Trent jealous. It was childish, but that was it."
"He also almost knocked my head off my shoulders," Trent said.
For a moment, it looked as if my father might applaud Owen's efforts. "You should have been honest with me on the phone, Trent. I do not appreciate you coming here to cause a scene. Now, if you'll please excuse us, I believe it would be better for you to go before my wife-"
"Sorry I'm late to the party. Just a few finishing touches," my mother said. She swept into the room in a flowing black dress with a coral red necklace. She often overdressed for dinner, especially when she thought her daughters were entertaining young men.
"Turns out I made a mistake," my father caught her in the door. "Quinn broke up with him and now Trent is here with his new boyfriend."
"Boy toy," Trent corrected him.
"Honestly, Quinn, you can't stick with anything these days, can you?" my mother asked. She peered over my father's shoulder at Trent and Nicky. "Well, boys, the least you could do is pour us all some of that wine."
She took the glass Trent gave her and, in front of everyone, popped two pills into her mouth before her first sip.
Both my parents gave me angry and accusing looks. The room was painfully quiet, as if they expected me to be the one to buoy up the conversation. I pressed my fingernails into my palms and tried not to scream at everyone. How was this supposed to be helping me get back on track? What kind of track was this?
I caught a wicked gleam in Trent's eye before he launched into the raunchy story of how he and Nicky met. My mother pounded her glass of wine and Nicky poured her another before my father could intervene. The entire night was coming apart before my eyes, and then the doorbell rang.
"Hi, I heard you were home. Maybe we can grab some Chinese food before you crack down on studying?"
"Oh my God, Owen," I said. "You could not have come at a worse time. Please, just turn around and run."
Owen laughed. "There is no way I'm leaving now. Whose car is that?"
I pressed my forehead with both hands. "Seriously. I am so glad to see you. I didn't think I would after my dorm room and all that. But I'm telling you that you do not want to be here now."
"I'm not letting your father's misplaced anger keep me from seeing you," Owen said.
He dropped a kiss on the top of my head and strode past me to the front parlor.
Chapter Eleven
Owen
I was ready to face Mr. and Mrs. Thomas, but I was not ready for the other dinner guests. Trent met me in the doorway with a glass of wine. I almost wiped the cheeky smile off his face with my fist. Mrs. Thomas's white carpet was the only thing that saved him.
"Do I know you from somewhere?" I asked Trent.
His smile slipped a little, but he brightened with malice when Quinn joined us. "I'm Quinn's boyfriend."
"Ex-boyfriend," she said.
I handed her the wine that Trent had given me. "The cheater," I said. "Little late to be kissing up to the family, don't you think?"
"Advice you might want to take yourself," Trent said.
My father bolted to his feet. "Barbara, why don't you come help me in the kitchen."
It was too late. My mother was already weaving to her feet with a red-painted fingernail pointing straight at Owen. "How dare you come in here. How dare you come anywhere near Quinn. You must
be the devil sent to steal my daughters. I can see horns on his head, can't you?"
Nicky was too afraid to answer, and tried to hide behind Trent.
"I can, Mrs. Thomas," Trent said.
"Barbara, dear, why don't you lay down before dinner? I can handle things down here," my father interrupted.