Faster We Burn

said back as everyone else broke into chatter again. There was a microscopic part of me that wanted to shut the oven and run out the front door to my car, but one thing kept me from doing it.
    Katie. Her fingers dug into my arm, and I could feel she was as nervous as I was, maybe even more so. She cared if her parents liked me or not.
    “What am I, chopped liver?” An older man wearing a flannel shirt with more than a few holes in it marched over, his hand out.
    “Stryker, Grampa Jack. Grampa Jack, this is my friend , Stryker.” I shook his hand and he winked at me.
    “Welcome to the family, son.”
    “Oh, he’s not—” Katie said at the same time I said, “I’m not—”
    He laughed, wheezing. Clearly, he’d smoked more than a few cigars in his life. He crooked his finger for me to lean in.
    “Just be careful with my granddaughter,” he said, giving me a roguish wink from under his unruly white eyebrows. He only gave my appearance a quick glance, but I still felt like I wanted to crawl into a hole and hide. I wasn’t afraid of a whole lot of people, but this guy scared me. Katie had barely mentioned him when I’d asked about who I’d be meeting, but I did remember her saying he was ex-military, which sounded less intimidating when the guy wasn’t standing in front of me.
    I looked at Katie and she rolled her eyes.
    “I will. Thank you, sir,” I said, wishing I’d taken my piercings out. Too late now.
    He clapped me on the shoulder and wheezy-laughed again.
    “Come and sit next to me. I want to hear all about you.” He grabbed my shoulder and steered me toward the living room as a few kids ran by screaming. I sort of wished I could join them.
    Katie was right behind me when I heard her mom say, “Katie, can you help me with something?” She gave me an angry look and then smoothed a smile over it.
    “Sure, Mom.” Be right back, she mouthed at me before going back into the kitchen.
    Great. I had to face the grandfather interrogation alone. There was no choice but to let the man with the iron grip steer me into the next room.
    The living room was beige with more beige and simple furnishings, which I guessed made a nice canvas for all the Thanksgiving things. I moved a stuffed cornucopia pillow so I could sit on one end of the massive sectional. He took the other end, and sat back.
    “Why did you do that to your face?” he said, pointing at his own lip and eyebrow. It took me a second to get enough moisture in my mouth to talk.
    “What?”
    “You’ve got metal in your face. How do you go through one of those detectors at the airport?”
    For about five seconds, I had no idea what to say. Then he started laughing as if it was the funniest thing he’d said in his entire life. The laugh turned into a cough and I wondered if I should get off the couch and bang on his back or something.
    “You okay, sir?”
    “I’m fine, son. The look on your face was priceless.” He wiped tears from his eyes and slapped his knee with one hand.
    “So, what are your intentions with my granddaughter?”
    I was about to form some sort of response that wasn’t She’s using me for sex when the front door opened and someone called out, “Surprise!” The talking stopped as everyone rushed to the door to see who it was.
    “Oh my God, Kayla?” Katie shrieked and ran from the kitchen, launching herself into the arms of a girl who had to be her sister. They both hugged, rocking back and forth and I was afraid they were going to tip over in their enthusiasm. Guess it was genetic.
    “Hey, Katiebug!” Kayla said, pulling out of the hug, but not letting go of Katie’s hands.
    “What are you doing here?” Katie said, her face lit up like a kid on Christmas morning. Christ, she was beautiful.
    “It’s Thanksgiving and I got on a plane. Hey, Mom.” There was a flurry of hugging and tears and laughter as the family welcomed their new guest. I stayed in the living room and watched it all. Katie beamed and kept her arm around her sister. Even though Kayla was taller, you’d have to be blind not to see that they were two peas in a pod, with identical brown hair and eyes.
    Kayla cleared her throat and then whistled to get everybody to shut up. “Um, so everyone, I have someone I want you to meet.” She opened the door again and grabbed the hand of a tall black guy who looked like he wanted to get back in the car, and led him in. Kayla threaded her hand with his and gave him an encouraging smile that he somehow