Chapter 289: Christian

Anybody want a peanut?

~Fezzik in The Princess Bride

Could someone die of nerves?

Christian was about to find out.

The cauldron of snakes he'd apparently swallowed when he wasn't looking were writhing around in his stomach, and he was a little afraid that if he didn't die first, he was going to puke up his guts instead.

What on earth made him think that he could meet Carla's family? When she'd asked him, he'd said yes because of course he'd said yes – telling Carla'no' wasn't an option. But still, it was one thing to say yes to meeting her family; it was another thing to actually do it.

He gripped the neck of the wine bottle that Jennifer had told him to bring like a man clinging to a life preserver. He'd panicked when she'd asked him what gift he was going to bring to the party, and sensing that his answer was going to be, "Uh, a gift?" Jennifer had steered him toward the wine aisle, even telling him which kind to get.