Jesse's POV

The large, cream, two-story house adorned with a lovely flower garden seems like the most daunting place on earth. Behind those French doors are my boyfriend's parents, Esmée and David. Bryan's arms wrap around my waist and he nibbles at my neck. "It's not too late to cancel," he whispers, gently sucking on my ear lobe.

I spin around in his arms, tug his head downwards and connect our lips. "Nope, let's do this. I'm awesome and she will love me," I say, to psyche myself up after breaking the kiss.

"Of course she'll love you! You're the best!" Bryan pecks my lips after each word. "And I told you, I'm more worried that you won't like her." He smiles and kisses my lips one more time before saying, "Okay, let's get this over with."

After I give him a brief nod, he grins and intertwines our hands before we walk towards the front door. The ivory curtain is drawn back and the door flings open as soon as we are standing in front of it; I barely have time to register what happens next.

"I thought you two were going to spend the whole day kissing outside!" A bubbly voice says, a millisecond before I am squished against plump breasts. "It's so nice to finally meet you Jesse!"

I gingerly wrap my arms around, who I can only assume is Esmée's waist. Seconds later I feel a tug on the back of my shirt as Esmée's arms are peeled from my body.

"Mother!" Bryan whines, snaking his arm around my waist and holding me close to him, while trying to fend off his mother who is trying to embrace me again.

She is a few inches taller than I am and when compared to the pictures I've seen of her, she is even more gorgeous in person. Her thighs fill out her light blue skinny Jean and her elegant, white blouse sits just above her collarbones, but exposes her flawlessly smooth and clear shoulder save for a tiny black mole on her left shoulder. A face with few wrinkles, shining, shoulder length brunette hair and a smile as bright as the sun, Esmée looks like she just stepped out of a magazine. There is no way she's fifty five!

"Dad! Help us!" Bryan yells, just as his mother succeeds in squishing both of us into a tight hug.

A deep laugh sounds from behind Esmée and David appears behind her. His salt and pepper hair is perfectly styled with a side part. The dark blue polo and white slacks that he is wearing look like they were perfectly tailored for his body. He is well built and it's clear that he works out. A five o'clock shadow adorns his angular face and his lips are curved up into an amused smile.

He pats his wife on the back and says, "Honey, if you do this, you'll scare him off. Give him some time before you start attacking him with your hugs."

Esmée sighs dramatically and releases us. "I don't mind, I like hugs," I say truthfully, before Esmée can start apologising.

Her face lights up at my response and she engulfs me in another hug. This time I hug her back tightly and she is all smiles when she pulls away. "Come, let's go inside!" She chirps.

Bryan interlocks our hands before his mother can latch onto my hand. She pouts but doesn't say anything and enters the house with David following close behind.

"Why did you tell her you liked hugs! Now she'll hug you at every opportunity!" Bryan whispers in my ear.

"Because I do like hugs and she seems very sweet," I reply.

Bryan gives me a horrified look. "I've been so worried that you wouldn't like her, I forgot to consider the possibility that you two might get along!"

I laugh lightly in response as we sit at the table across from David. "We really are glad to finally meet you, Jesse. I-"

"Don't start without me!" Esmée exclaims as she rushes into the room with a large dish and places it in the middle of the table.

"Lasagne!" I all but shout, licking my lips in anticipation. It's my favourite dish but Chase isn't very fond of it, so I don't make it as often as I would like. If I could only eat one dish everyday for the rest of my life it would be this. That's probably why, even though Chase and Shawn made lasagne for me yesterday, I'm still so excited to dig into Esmée's.

She releases a delighted laugh at my enthusiasm. "Bryan told me it was your favourite!" She heads back to the kitchen and returns moments later with some stir fried vegetables, tossed salad and a bottle of wine.

Once she puts everything on the table, she cuts the lasagne and puts a portion on everyone's plate, while David serves the vegetables and tossed salad.

Everyone is looking at me expectantly as I pick up my fork. An explosion of flavour erupts in my mouth once the lasagne touches my tongue. "This is amazing!" I say, once I'm finished swallowing my food.

Esmée releases a sigh of relief. "I'm so happy you like it!"

"It's definitely one of the best I've ever tasted!" I exclaim, and not because I want her to like me, but because it really is divine. However, I should have expected it, Bryan did tell me that his mother was a chef.

With his father's business skills and his mother's knack for cooking, his parents opened a restaurant about two years after he was born. Over the years, they expanded their scope and now own a very successful restaurant franchise.

"You really think so!" Esmée says, grinning from ear to ear. I bob my head up and down in response, not wanting to talk with my mouth stuffed full of lasagne. "Then I'll cook it, or anything else you or Chase might want, whenever you'd like."

I chuckle lightly at her enthusiastic tone. "Thank you! We would really appreciate that!" I reply, after I've swallowed everything.

She smiles and looks thoughtful for a moment. "Would you show me a picture of your brother? I'm curious about him too and I have a feeling that Diego will be even more reluctant to share information about Chase than Bryan was to share information about you."

Chuckling again, I reach into my pocket and pull out my phone. I flick through my gallery to find a picture of Chase and Diego, while Bryan scolds his mother for being too nosy.

Chase usually sends pictures of him and Diego to our brothers and me, so it's not difficult to find a photo. "This is a picture of them at a film festival. It was the day when Chase officially asked Diego out."

She releases an excited squeal. "They look so happy! Dave, look at Diego's bright smile!" David smiles and nods in agreement and she returns the phone to me, after smiling at it for a few more seconds. "And do you have any photos of you and Bryan? He has only shown me two photos of you. Do you have any cute ones like that with you and Bryan?"

My boyfriend elicits a surprised grunt when I poke his side. "We have so many cute photos together and you didn't send any to your mom!" I scold and he pouts.

My gaze returns to Esmée, who has moved her chair so that she is now sitting next to me. "So just scroll in this direction." I hand my phone back to her and watch as she squeals excitedly and coos at how adorable Bryan and I look together, while Bryan and his father talk about business on the other side of the table.

I serve myself another portion of lasagne, finishing up my story on where and when the photo was taken. Refocusing momentarily on my lasagne, I take a big bite as she scrolls to the next photo. When she releases a surprised gasp, I turn towards her to determine why she made that noise.

My eyes drift down to the phone in her hands and my cheeks immediately turn crimson red. In my haste to say something to explain the photo which shows her son and I in a sexual position, I accidentally spit my food on her.

Red sauce splatters across her white blouse. Ground beef hangs from her brunette hair and bits of pasta cling to her cheeks. Oh shit! Oh shit! OH SHIT! I snatch my phone from her grasp, since she is still staring at it with wide eyes and toss it aside to grab some tissues.

"I'm so sorry! Oh my god! I thought that was in my secured folder! Oh god! This can't be happening!" I shriek, rubbing her face with tissues and trying to get the ground beef out of her hair. Oh my god! Why am I not being swallowed by the earth! A black hole would be amazing right about now!

"What happened?" Bryan asks, noticing my almost indecipherable shrieks. He looks at his mother's shocked, food covered face and starts to crack up before giving me a quizzical look. I ignore him, reaching for more tissues to try getting the tomato sauce stains out of her shirt.

This is so embarrassing! Oh my god! I can never see her again! Should I move to another country? OH MY GOD! "Your top is ruined! I'm so sorry! I'll-"

Esmée suddenly bursts out laughing, cutting me off. "Oh dear, you're both so nimble!" She chokes out between laughs as she swipes a piece of pasta from her eyebrow. "That was quite a unique position!"

The hotness of my face and ears is spreading to my chest as I blush an even brighter shade of red. At this point, I honestly think a tomato could mistake me for its family. "I really didn't know that photo was in my regular gallery! I thought I hid it! Oh god! I..." I don't even know what words follow after that, but I know I'm still talking.

"Jesse dear, I was a little shocked, that's all," Esmée says, trying to stop my incessant rambling.

From the corner of my eye I see Bryan pick up my phone and unlock it. His cheeks also turn red but he releases a soft chuckle, while I still can't seem to stop myself from talking. "This is terrible! I can't believe-"

Bryan spins me towards him and embraces me in a tight hug, pressing my head into his chest, cutting me off.

"I'll be right back after I change. We can chat then. Come on Dave, let's give them some space," Esmée says and I feel a gentle pat on the back before I hear retreating footsteps.

"Do you have a time machine or a memory wipe device?" I mumble against Bryan's chest after a few minutes of clinging to him and trying to calm down. I hear his resounding chuckle as he tightens his hold on me.

After a few more minutes, he releases me and strokes my now permanently red cheek with one hand, while his other arm remains around my waist. "Jesse, my perfect tomato, don't worry." He pecks my lips before continuing. "My mother is very sex positive. I begged her beforehand not to ask any inappropriate questions but you might have just opened a can of worms."

I release an exasperated groan and drop my head back into his chest, tightening my grip around his waist. "Shall we make a break for it?" He whispers in my ear and I release a sound in between a cry and a laugh.

"No?" I say hesitantly after raising my head and Bryan bursts out laughing, probably from the look of mild horror on my face. He peppers my face with kisses, repeatedly telling me that it's okay while I wait for his parents to come back into the room. 

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