I'm scared shitless. Lacey's parents are important to her and I have no idea what to expect from a seemingly normal parent child relationship. What do I know? My mom left when I was six and my dad spent more nights at work than at home. I was practically raised by a nanny before I went to boarding school.

I feel like a girl right now because I've changed my clothes three different times before Linc came and yelled at me for stressing out too much. I'm doing meet the parents for a girl that happens to be my best friend. Not stressful at all.

Cassidy moved into Lacey's apartment yesterday and I finally got a good night's sleep in my own bed. I'm happy to help Cass out, but I really missed my bed.

I went and picked out a new car after shift yesterday so I'm now the proud owner of a convertible BMW after trading in my Corvette. I don't want anything to do with the car or Maddox.

I'd been doing everything possible to avoid him and Paige. Maddox came here drunk a few days ago looking for Cass and thankfully she was with Sephine and Tessa. I had no problem kicking him out because she deserves so much better than him.

I finished tying my tie and I've tried to tame my curls into looking somewhat presentable. I'm ditching my usual leather jacket to wear a suit jacket, coincidentally the same one I wore to the charity gala Cass and I fought at.

There's a short knock on my door before it opens immediately and I turn expecting it to be Linc or Cass. It can't be Lacey because I'm supposed to pick her and her parents up from her apartment.

"Hi," Paige says hesitantly and I freeze. "Don't get mad at Linc, I kinda pushed past him. I knew you wouldn't let me in if it was me."

I'm at a loss for words because I can't believe she'd show up here. "You're right. I wouldn't have let you in. Go away Paige, I don't have time for you and your drama tonight."

"I want to apologize and explain."

"Explain what? How we were pretty much in a relationship and then you fucked my brother?" I say bluntly trying not to let my temper get the best of me for once. I'm not letting Paige ruin tonight by putting me in a shitty mood.

She crosses her arms over her chest, "That's the thing Dean. We weren't actually in a relationship because you wouldn't commit to one. You have no idea how sorry I am that I slept with Maddox, but I can't do anything to change it. I want to be with you and that's all I came to tell you."

I grab my wallet off the bedside table, "I'm not sorry to tell you that I don't know if I'll be able to get over this. I trusted you and you broke it. I have to get going and I don't think I need to say that you're not welcome to stay."

"You're right. I did break your trust, please tell me what I need to do to fix this." Paige says stepping closer to me in my personal space.

"You're going to have to give me time." I say, brushing past her to leave. Linc is sitting on the couch looking quite guilty and I give him a look, "Really? You couldn't keep her out?"

Paige must be standing behind me because he glances over my shoulder, "Sorry man, but she was a marine. She'd totally kick my ass if I tried to stand in her way."

"Weak," I scoff, grabbing my keys off the counter. "I'll be back later, I don't know if Cass is coming over or not but try not to be a jerk if she does."

I ignore Paige as we unfortunately have to go down the elevator together and I get into my car without another word. My nerves are slowly starting to get the better of me as I start to think about how tonight can either go really well or really bad. Hoping for really well but I also know how shitty my luck can be.

We're going to Per Se; I don't call in many favors with my last name, but tonight is an exception. The waiting list for a table is usually booked out weeks in advance. Lacey's said a few things about it and I thought it would be a nice way to thank her for putting up with my moody ass the last week. I also wanted to give her parents the real New York experience so they know that I'm looking after her. Maybe it's the other way around and she's looking after me. I don't know.

I wonder if Chase has met them? He didn't say anything about it on shift yesterday so I didn't say anything either. I guess they aren't even technically dating so why would he meet her parents?

Then again, I'm meeting her parents as the best friend. The little voice in my head loves to remind me that I'm the best friend.

Well, it does put me above Chase so that's something I guess.

My thoughts shift from Chase to Paige and why she would show up tonight? I want nothing to do with her and I don't think it's a hard concept to grasp. I've only ignored every single one of her texts and calls since last Saturday. I don't want to forgive her.

Trust is something I struggle with more than I care to admit. I don't make friends easily and I certainly don't let people close to me. But, I let Paige in. She accepted everything there is about me and I thought that could be enough.

She's right though.

I couldn't commit to a relationship with her. I can lie and say that the sole reason was because of Maddox and their previous engagement, but it wouldn't be the truth. I guess a part of me wasn't ready to completely let her in.

People lie. People cheat. People keep secrets.

Paige proved all of that correct.

I push all my terrible thoughts and worries out of my head when I pull up to Lacey's apartment building. Tonight is about Lacey and her parents.

I wipe my hands on the front of my pants before knocking on the door; I literally have no reason to be nervous. She made them sound nice and normal... who am I kidding? I have every reason to be nervous. Nothing about my family is nice and normal.

I can run into burning fires on a daily basis, but meeting my best friend's parents is scaring the shit out of me.

The door opens seconds after I knock and Lacey is smiling widely at me. "Oh good, you're here. I was starting to worry."

I look at my watch confused because I'm still ten minutes earlier than I originally planned. "Worry about what?"

She shakes her head and grabs my wrist to pull me inside the apartment. Cassidy is sitting on the couch with Boo laying at her feet, chatting with the people I'm assuming are Lacey's parents. "Mom, Dad, this is my best friend Dean."

Her mom gets up and hugs me immediately, "Oh it's so nice to meet you. We heard so many nice things about you from Ruth. I wish I could say the same from my actual daughter, but she's terrible at telling her mother anything."

I hesitate for a second before closing my arms around her small frame. She's around the same height as Lacey with the same hair color. "It's nice to meet you too Mrs. Edwards."

Lacey's dad follows not far behind, offering to shake my hand firmly. "Thanks for taking care of our Lacey. She likes to think she's very independent but I'm glad she has some good friends up here to lean on."

"Dad," Lacey says in a warning tone and I smile at her feeling my heart pounding in my chest.

"What's wrong Lacey? Afraid your dad is going to tell me a secret you've been keeping?" I tease and she stares at me stubbornly. She as a bit of a spark in her tonight. She purses her lips and I chuckle before turning my attention back to her father. "In all seriousness, Lacey's been taking care of us recently. She's a great... person."

Cassidy zeros in on my hesitation and I avoid her all knowing gaze. I don't have time to figure this out.

"So what's the plan for tonight? Are we dressed according to whatever you have planned?" Lacey asks and that's when I notice her outfit. She's wearing a dark off the shoulder dress that I can only assume she borrowed from Cassidy's closet. I'm not entirely sure though, it looks like something that Cass would wear.

"Dean, doesn't Lacey look nice?" Cassidy prods reminding me to use my words. She can't hear the words that are in my head.

I nod once, "Yes. You all look great." The generalization is not lost on her and I set my shoulders back. "Should we get going? I've got some social sway, but I don't know if they'll hold the reservation for us if we're late. I'm not my...my cousin." I push a smile on my face because I was going to say I'm not my brother. The truth is I'm not because I never could have done what he did, and I offer an arm to Lacey's mom who beams at me.

"You're quite the charmer; Ruth warned me about that." She teases looping her arm with mine.

"Only for the Edwards women." I say smoothly, winking at Lacey who shakes her head at me. "Bye Cass, I'll see you later."

"Have fun." I hear her call after us and I try to find more similarities between Lacey and her parents.

Lacey and her dad are chatting about something and her mom watches them closely. It's an interesting dynamic with them. There's a smile on her face as her dad jokes about something. She seems more at ease with her parents here.

It's hard not to be jealous of her for having grown up with these two for parents.

"So Lace was telling me that you guys are fostering Boo together." Mrs. Edwards says and I nod, unable to take my eyes off of Lacey.

"She said it was on her bucket list and that we both have time and love to share so why not give him a temporary home? He's a great dog; I don't know how long we're going to have him but since he's not a puppy, I imagine we'll get a few weeks with him."

"She has a lot of love to give."

I glance over at her, noticing the look Mrs. Edwards is giving me. "She really does."

Lacey hasn't seen my new car yet and she gives me a small head shake of disbelief because it is more than I should have spent on a car. I just don't want to owe Maddox anything.

"Young man is this your car?" Mr. Edwards asks and I feel my cheeks grow warm. It's too flashy, I should have rented a more subtle car for the night.

"As of last night, yes. It's the newest model." I say opening the backseat door for her parents.

He looks quite confused, "I thought you were a firefighter? How can you afford this or did I choose the wrong career?"

"Honey," Mrs. Edwards says sounding very much like Lacey, except this time not directed at me.

I chuckle, "It's fine. I am a firefighter, but I worked for my family company my first few years out of college."

"Why leave?"

"Dad we're going to be late for our dinner reservation," Lacey says practically pushing her dad in the car before climbing into the front seat. I walk around the car to open the other door for her mom before getting in myself.

The engine purrs quietly to life and I wait for traffic to slow before pulling out. "How was your guys' trip up here?" I ask glancing in the rear view mirror.

"It wasn't too chaotic. We're just glad we finally made it up here." Mrs. Edwards answers, looking out the window at everything to see.

Lacey shifts in her seat, "So where exactly are we eating?"

I take my eyes off the road for a second to smile at her, "It's a surprise."

"I'm getting a little tired of all your surprises," She jokes, playing with the hair hanging over her shoulder.

"Yeah right; you can dislike surprises but don't even try to say you're getting tired of mine. I have the best surprises," I say confidently and she laughs.

"Just keep telling yourself that."

I turn to the left, knowing the way to Per Se like the back of my hand. It's not too far from Benson Pharmaceuticals which is hard to miss as one of the tallest skyscrapers in New York City.

"So Dean, how long have you lived in New York?" Mr. Edwards asks curiously and I try to think because with boarding school and college, I'm not quite sure.

"I grew up here but I went to boarding school in Connecticut, college in Massachusetts, and then I lived in Dubai up until two years ago." I leave out the fact I went to Harvard because I don't want them to think I'm pretentious. I also haven't explicitly told Lacey that's where I went to school considering I don't even use my business degree at my job.

Lacey isn't shocked by this since she knew about most of it but that doesn't mean her parents have the same reaction. "Dubai as in the one in Asia?"

"Yeah, we have a branch of the company over there that I worked at after I graduated." I'd really like to change the conversation because I don't want them to see me as someone whose never had to work for anything in their life. Which would essentially explain me up until high school graduation. I know I'm lucky or whatever for the opportunities I've had growing up, but I've worked really hard the last few years to accomplish things on my own outside of the family name.

When Lacey changes the conversation, I feel so relieved I could almost kiss her. "Mom, Dad was telling me that there's a new doctor at the hospital. How is that going?"

I rest my hand on top of Lacey's and squeeze briefly before pulling up to where the valet is waiting while Lacey's mom talks about how smart this new doctor is. I would hope he's smart if he's a doctor. That's a lot of school to go to waste. However the same could be said about me.

It's only after we get out of the car that Lacey gets where we are and she has no problem cutting off her parents, "We're eating at Per Se?" She asks excited and I nod, trying to contain my smile. I know Lacey's been wanting to come here. She throws her arms around me, "Thank you Dean. You're the best."

I close my arms around her, holding her close like I have many times before; it just didn't always feel like this. "Anything for you."