“You’re too young to be in love,” her father snorted, then ignored the glare from his wife.
      Before Alex could respond, her mother prodded, “Isn’t it time we meet Kiel?”
      “Yes. It. Is.” Alex enunciated firmly. “You’ll have that pleasure this afternoon. I’ve invited him over.”
      Rotating toward her parents, she pointed the pancake turner blade at her father. “And you will be on your best behavior. None of that shit you pulled on the boys I’ve brought home before.”
      “Language,” her father warned.
      “You heard me. That’s all it was. Well, not this time. Not with Kiel. First of all, he doesn’t deserve it. Second of all, neither do I.”
      “What?” he grinned. “I just had a little man-to-man conversation with them. To see what they were made of.”
      “Bullshit!” causing her father’s eyes to open wide and his grin to disappear. Ignoring her mother’s admonishment of ‘Alexsia’, this time it was her index finger pointing unwaveringly at him. “You were toying with them like a cat torments a mouse. I know because they told me what went on in your office. In detail. It had very little to do with me, and I didn’t need your protection anyway. It was all for your own entertainment.”
      “What do you mean ‘they told you’? Our conversations were supposed to be sub rosa.”
      Alex looked to her mother, disbelief evident on her face. “Are all males this naïve?”
      Her mother couldn’t help but smile. “I don’t know, Alex. Your count of past boyfriends is much higher than mine. I think you’re a better expert on that subject.”
      Turning to her father again, she explained. “I was the girlfriend. You were merely the girlfriend’s scary father. Who do you think had more influence on those boys? I think the record for holding out on me was maybe a day. But you know what? I didn’t know any better and I didn’t care. But now I do. Treat Kiel like you want to be treated, not how Grandpa Horvath treated you. Understood?”